MINECRAFT

[Lazybones]

Sorry again Lazy... you just happen to be hitting some RL sore points between me and others in my life circle... especially around my wedding and xmas events.  If you can't justify the priority no worries.  Know you will be missed.

ON my weekends I also tend to host board game and munchkin nights at a higher frequency than we used to do DnD. So ya, I am making time for gaming, but not the online kind.

PS everyone here should try Munchkin at least twice...

[Melbosa]

Well I was able to do some more exploring at lunch... wow did I ever find a large cavern area... connecting caves upon connecting caves.  Found 3 dungeons so far, one had two chest in it full of Iron Buckets - have to figure out what to do with them .

For some reason I could see the creepers this time and catch them before explosion.  But Mr. Analog is right; for some reason the Mob population near my big hall is very high!!!

[Mr. Analog]

Yeah, there are like two or three interconnected ravines on the east side of the map (where you is).

If you find a lot of mobs spawning there are two things to check:
1. Is there enough light? (dark areas will spawn mobs)
2. Are there openings or otherwise high ceilings

Mobs will spawn in any dark area, so if you have a big room with a high ceiling and not enough lights mobs will spawn.

If you take a peek at my mine system you'll notice a few things: narrow corridors, lots of light, no area larger than 16x16 metres.

[Melbosa]

If you take a peek at my mine system you'll notice a few things: narrow corridors, lots of light, no area larger than 16x16 metres.

I have but your system is yours... wanted to be unique.  My big area hall there is well lit, never get any mobs inside... but out in those caverns... man I have lights everywhere and still damn things spawn...  it is kinda kewl actually, makes a heightened sense of adventure.

[Mr. Analog]

If you take a peek at my mine system you'll notice a few things: narrow corridors, lots of light, no area larger than 16x16 metres.

I have but your system is yours... wanted to be unique.  My big area hall there is well lit, never get any mobs inside... but out in those caverns... man I have lights everywhere and still damn things spawn...  it is kinda kewl actually, makes a heightened sense of adventure.

If you mean the area with your furnaces there were two skeletons there when I was making my way out... but yeah you'll get baddies wandering around in cave systems, that's usually why I wall them off when I'm in mining mode. I like exploring but I make sure to dump my valuables (diamond, iron ore, etc) off first and just keep the essentials (picks, shovels, torches, armor, weapons, food...) that way if I die in lava (or die in a place I can't find again lol) I'm ok

[Thorin]

Minecraft on iPhone / iPod - has already invaded my house.

D&D - it's been a while (end of November), but yes I enjoy this game and its priority is below kids' sports but above relax-at-home-doing-nothing family time and TV time.

Munchkin - absolutely!  I like how you put "twice" instead of "once".  The second time through it's a lot more clear what you should do than the first time through.

Time sink and addictive personalities - The "addictive" part of the personality is what makes one ignore timers if they've been set.  Seriously, I've done Freeciv until 4am, whereupon my wife tells me to come to bef, whereupon I say, "One minute" and continue playing, and at 7am it's time to get off the computer to go to work.  Sure, it's easy to just get up from the computer and walk away, but my body likes the release of endorphins it gets from playing and at that point I'm not thinking rationally.

Lunchtime play - my lunchtime is usually spent making lunch for my youngest, going out with work colleagues, or catching up on work so I can knock off early to go to a rink / sports venue.  Those rank higher in priority than video games.  Also,. wasn't this originally about getting us all online in the evening together?  Maybe I read that wrong.

"when you have kids" - I know, it sounds like an excuse, same as "when you get older".  However, there are things I _must_ do because of my children that I would otherwise give a negative one billion priority (assuming higher numbers mean higher priority).

Anyway, at the moment my default zone-out activity is watching TV.  Maybe I could use that time to play video games instead.

Also, it sounds like you're complaining about people not coming to weddings or Christmas parties because they're too busy.  They should probably try to make a point of attending such life events.

[Mr. Analog]

I think it was Woody Allen who said half of life is showing up.

Anyway, it would be very cool if you guys could join us... but whatever, everyone has different priorities.

Hey so we should hook up voice communication while playing so we don't get exploded while typing in "watch out for th...."

I think a few of us use Skype already maybe that's the best thing?

[Lazybones]

"when you have kids" - I know, it sounds like an excuse, same as "when you get older".  However, there are things I _must_ do because of my children that I would otherwise give a negative one billion priority (assuming higher numbers mean higher priority).

I would also like to add that even when you have "Free personal time" and the kids are around / awake, they frequently require your attention, note for small children this isn't optional even if you believe what they want is trivial... 1) developmentally responding is important for bonding and having them respond to you when you ask for their attention 2) small children do not come with empathy, they develop it over time. IE they place no priority on what your needs are and will escalate till their needs are met. So to be fare to my kids I try not to engage in fixed focus activities I can't drop / pause / resume (single player games are easier this way)

So after 9PM Pacific time, IF the kids are in bed I can play some online multi-player.
On weekends where I am not working on a project, paint-balling (year round outdoor here), cleaning for guests (board game / munchkin nights), out of town visiting my dad, or out doing a family activity all day, I probably have some time, if my partner will watch the kids, or they are asleep....

Now back to minecraft, I have to say I am VERY unsure about this game as I have previously become tired of most pure sandbox type games in very short amount of time. Also given the length of time some here have been playing I wonder if anyone is going to reach burn out soon.

Looking at the tutorials the crafting looks intense and will require a lot of reference to figure out. On the flip side building sky scrapers and monster traps looks like fun...

[Mr. Analog]

So far the drive for me has been that you can build a lot of stuff with just limited resources / game mechanics. I mean I've seen everything from golf to turing complete machines and everything in between.

You can play Minecraft classic for free, if you want to get a feel for it:
http://www.minecraft.net/classic/play

Knowing basic crafting recipes is important for sure:
-Crafting table
-Axe
-Pick

and so on...

What *finally* got me interested in actually playing the game was watching the YOGSCAST videos, I started tuning in last summer after seeing the Enterprise D vids (I think I found it through Captain Sparklez video about it?) I was just amazed at what people were building for adventure maps (even if most were done in "creative mode"), just the sheer variety of stuff...

Their "How to Play" series turned into an epic adventure somewhat by accident as they had left their server open and the IP public. The first few vids sort of show you the basics though, but then things start to get pretty crazy...

Minecraft: Part 1: How to Survive the First Night

The game itself is a lot of fun to play, and the best part is that even in Survival Multiplayer (SMP) you can get a lot of things built in just an hour or two.

[Lazybones]

So what are the basic mechanics of the multi-player server, starting as a noob?

I show up on the server, can I seek shelter in your buildings? Can I open the doors? I am guessing there is a good chance I could spawn at night.

Obviously don't mess with others stuff, but where is everyone building? Where would I start building?

I might muck around with the free game a little and think about it....

[Darren Dirt]

I think it was Woody Allen who said half of life is showing up.

http://www.google.com/search?q=percent+of+success+is+showing+up

[Melbosa]

I jumped in without really talking to anyone a couple weeks or so ago, read up using the Minecraft wiki when I needed to know what to build and started building near the other houses. I had no idea how to stay alive, fight, mine, gather food, etc.  Basically before that point I hadn't even watch much vids or read anything about it.

Within a few hours I had my castle built, and started my exploration. It really is easy to jump into and play.  And still took me till last weekend to really ask a question or to.

And yes on Tom's server most people haven't locked up their stuff so you can run and hide if need be.

Also most materials are recyclable so building something and ripping it down to try again costs you nothing but time.

Try the free one first (which I skipped) and hopefully you enjoy it!!!

[Lazybones]

You guys using any voice chat of any kind when on at the same time?

[Melbosa]

There has been talk of Skype... I have not used any with anyone yet.

[Mr. Analog]

I'll post my Skype id in a private forum uno momento