Reply to comment

I'm not good at video games.  My brother has always been the one who could sit down and figure out a game in little to no time.  By the time I would even decide to give it a try he would practically be a pro.  That's not to say I don't enjoy them.  I love video games, and I love games like this, where the idea is based in creating instead of purely destroying.  That's not to say that my first day with the game today was by any means easy.  I struggled a lot (and am still struggling a lot) with the logistics of the game.  As mentioned by others, moving was hard and I still have trouble jumping.  I decided to play around in single player.  At first I started off playing on easy, where monsters and things still spawn.  I decided though that having to hide out at night to avoid dying wasn't really working out for me, so I eventually switched to peaceful mode.  I figure I'll try to grasp the basics before I start worrying about giant spiders and skeletons that shoot arrows.  I like the option of the game to play in "peaceful" mode.  I still have to worry about things like drowining and starving, but I'm not limited by whether or not the sun is up.  I plan on moving back up to "easy" or even "normal" mode once I have a better grasp of the game.  I've also spent a lot of time today exploring the Minecraft wiki.  I found it really interesting that so much information existed about a game that..doesn't really have rules or a plot (although there is a type of "Ending" which involves travelling to another dimension and slaying some dragon...which seems cool, but I don't know if that's much my style).  There are so many ways to play this game that I'm honestly beyond excited to explore it more.  Just during my first day I can see how the open format and freedom of gameplay could be useful in working with imagination.  I think the game allows for the development of authorship as well.  We could see in class today how a lot of people were looking to be told "what do I do?" (I was one of them at some points).  The game isn't about that though, it's about making it what you want, and I think that's a skill (the ability to explore and figure things out on your own) that isn't always focused on in schooling.  

I explored some youtube videos of people playing the game as well, and I was blown away by the additons and changes some people make to it.  I also was just flawed by how effortless building was for these people who made the changes as well.  I guess you can say I still have a lot of learning to do.  

As far as questions go, I can't help but wonder about the broader community of minecraft.  Once I understand the basics a little better I might be interested in exploring some other servers just to see how other people play.  Logistically questions I'm working on, I feel like this is a very "hands on" learning experience, and the wiki explains things when I just can't figure them out.  Basically, I'm exploring and learning as I go, and enjoying the process along the way.