Just a Minecraft Day

On 05/06/2017 at 09:59 PM by KnightDriver

Things are just too stressfull for me this week so it was a day for Minecraft with Mark. We did the usual thing several times before we turned the game to creative mode and let loose with the mayhem. I never did get to Stardew Valley and I'm going to cancell my Gamefly membership. I don't have the money and I just can't get interested in games that I will probably have to play solo. Co-op is so much more fun and therapeutic.

One thing in Minecraft that kind of stopped Mark and I from getting to the Ender Dragon was the collection of Enderman Pearls. You need to kill an Enderman for them but Endermen are not always easy to find and they don't always drop one when they are killed. Endermen usually appear at night but not always and sometimes they are also in The Nether like today. But even in our best round we only got about six Pearls. You need at least 2 to hunt down the Stronghold and then another 10 or so to open the End Portal and fight the dragon. That's a lot and inevitably we get everything else and are just wondering how to get more Pearls. It becomes a grind and that's what usually gets us to restart the game.

But it's fun to get close anyway. Most of the fun is fighting our way through the Fortress in The Nether. I developed this routine of getting all the resources for a Nether Gate, making iron armor, enchanting all my gear, suiting up and entering The Nether to do battle for the resources needed for Eyes of Ender, Brewing Stand and potions. Then it's on to the Stronghold for bookcases for improved enchantments and The End Portal.

I have to say, though, I am thoroughly done with Minecraft for a while. What I might play tomorrow is unsure. Kind of like my life right now in general. I just hope for the best.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

05/07/2017 at 12:21 PM

any job leads? ideas?

KnightDriver

05/08/2017 at 12:37 AM

I keep taking jobs and then quitting them in a few days or a week. I'm on a new plan this week to work at a drug store and study Pharmacy Tech stuff. I'm going to try it part time at first to make sure I stick with it for a while. I just hope my family supports me in this for a little while. Otherwise I won't know what to do next. Thanks for asking.

Super Step Contributing Writer

05/07/2017 at 03:25 PM

I couldn't get into MineCraft. Too shallow a graphics whore for it to appeal to me. Plus, I'm more into a challenge being made for me than I am crafting my own experience in a game, to be honest.

05/08/2017 at 12:24 AM

I was the same for like a year after it hit Xbox 360 and then I tried the demo just for the heck of it and got pulled in. I like seeing it as a kind of RPG and playing it that way. Creative mode is too open ended although sometimes I use that to try things. Like the other day I was trying to figure out how minecart hoppers worked.

05/08/2017 at 09:03 AM

I mean I've played it and i have it (really just bought it for computer teacher mom who never used it) but ... Eh. Maybe I'll try again some day.

05/08/2017 at 08:59 PM

I remember scoffing at it for the same reason you did, the graphics. I was like, "this is just a bad looking game. Who'd want to play this?". Then I tried it and was quickly hooked by the expansive world and all the things you could easily build there. Then I discovered the Enderdragon and decided this was really a RPG and from then on only played it that way. Well, except when I was going for achievements and had to build this monumental beacon structure. That took a lot of resources.

There's also circuits and railway in the game. I always want to fool with that but it usually isn't that usefull towards beating the Enderdragon, so I don't do it. But the other day I tested some special minecarts in creative mode and tried to think how that could make things go faster. I've been trying to speed run the Enderdragon objective.

05/08/2017 at 10:39 PM

See here's the thing: it's not the graphics. I've enjoyed ugly games before. It's more that I've just never been interested in building things in a game. Even leveling up characters can be a chore to me. I honestly prefer to have a clear challenge laid out for me and overcome it, where building-oriented games and RPGs often turn me off with ... I googled and still couldn't find the term I've seen used for having too many choices, but that.

Now, I'm not saying that I'll neglect a game that lets you choose how to tackle it or what upgrades you get or allows you to build etc. But I need to be eased into it and hate large menus in a game. I didn't like having so much text thrown at me in the Minecraft tutorial either. I love to read, just not in a video game where I'd rather baby step my way through learning by doing.

Anyway, did you think the inventory in Stardew looked an awful lot like Minecraft? I did. Of course, they both might be borrowing from older games I never played. Maybe Harvest Moon always had that type of inventory and I just wouldn't know, having never played it.

05/09/2017 at 07:05 PM

I also get overwelmed by choices in big RPGs. I really had trouble with Oblivion for a long time until I just used the achievement list as a guide. Some people love this wide open sandbox with not much instructions. They love to figure it all out on their own. I get that but I too need a little direction to keep interested.

05/08/2017 at 10:41 PM

I still am going to give MineCraft a chance; I'm just saying the type of game it is usually doesn't appeal to me. But since I have it, I'll still try it again at some point. Sunk cost fallacy and all ...

05/09/2017 at 07:01 PM

It didn't appeal to me for years. I was like, build a massive city? Why? I still say that because I can't get into creative mode just to build stuff. I thought I would though because I like to be creative but there seemed no real point to it.

goaztecs

05/11/2017 at 10:57 AM

Waiting for the pearls would drive me nuts, and it sounds odd that you're going to stop playing Minecraft for awhile. I always figured you and Mark would always play it.

05/11/2017 at 06:02 PM

My current strategy is to go after Endermen from the very beginning, like, everytime I see one to attack it. Trouble with that is though they have become more fearce then they used to be and they can kill you if you don't have armor or a good sword. But of all the resources, that seems to be the one to really go after. I've got diamonds and blaze rods down by now. Those I can get easy enough. Endermen, on the other hand, you have to be just hope they randomly show up where you are.

We will always play it, just, I'd like to take a break and do something else. I have Prey coming in the mail as a rental soon. I HAVE to check that out.

PixlBit