Elliot Johnson

Peter Berge

EN 103

21 September 2019

The Games We Play

Minecraft. It’s the ultimate game in my opinion. Players can do whatever they want, no matter what consequences those might bring. In many ways it is the epitome of the American dream, working to learn more and using that knowledge to become successful. Minecraft reaches its audience of anyone from as little as 8-year-olds all the way up to people in their mid-thirties through the development of community and background knowledge crucial to in-game success. This is accomplished using platforms like YouTube and online forums as well as in-game mechanics such as the requirement to explore and to learn how to use items to build your success.

In order to be successful in a game of Minecraft, the player needs to have a certain set of knowledge about the game. How does the player obtain this knowledge? The solution has been developed over modern history, especially over the past 10-15 years. Since the game appeals to a younger demographic, platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, and online forums provide a seemingly endless amount of information the player needs to be successful in-game. If the player gets stuck or finds an item that he/she does not know of, they can simply look it up on the internet and find every answer they might need. Having an online community has become a crucial mechanic for the game, as it provides entertaining and educational content for players around the world.

There are certain subcommunities within the game that have become very popular over the past few years. Since Minecraft is such a diverse game, communities that focus on specific elements have sprung up and grown to become a good way for anyone to enjoy the game. There are different communities based solely on survival, creative, multiplayer, and single-player modes, as well as challenges/achievements and even coding with Redstone (an in-game item). The players are successful in these certain communities because they have access to people with similar interests and maybe more experience than the player has in the game. This mechanic allows people within communities to build off each other and make their experience that much more enjoyable as they become more and more successful. What is even better is when these communities merge inside a game, such as an online faction server, and help each other out as they build an entire community based on the different knowledge and skill levels each player brings. Worlds such as these tend to become extremely interesting and rich. These communities create the ultimate experience to be had when playing Minecraft.

In the single-player world of Minecraft, the player might have a harder time being successful compared to if they were in an online game playing with others who have more experience. The mechanics of the game allow the player to learn as they play, using tactics such as pop ups when a new item is found explaining what the player has discovered or a tutorial the player can load before playing a full world. However, many players want to skip straight to the action, which is hard to blame them for. A lot of the fun of the game comes from the vast diversity a player discovers in a world. Different biomes, mobs, caves, and oceans leaves much to be found by the players themselves. This mechanic drives the player to play more, learn more, and become more successful as they continue to play. The online communities, as mentioned before, allow the discovery to be less overwhelming for new players as they figure out what it is that they find. This learning curve for the game is what hooks the player and keeps them playing.

Minecraft has been going strong for 10 years now, which says a lot about the dedicated players and developers. The old players are always learning more from new updates, and the new players get to use the resources provided by the old players to become successful. Having this community built around the game has been crucial for the game’s continuous success, as well as the player’s success within a world. The game’s overall purpose of driving players to become more successful has been accomplished tenfold by building a community of players surrounding it to teach other players the game, as well as providing endless exploration and freedom in a typical game of Minecraft.

Minecraft. Java ed. for Windows 10, 2019.

Proposal: Minecraft survival. It’s the ultimate game in my opinion. Players can do whatever they want, no matter what consequences those might bring. In many ways it is the epitome of the American dream. Capitalist ideology seems to build the mechanics of the game, as players can be as successful or as poor as they want. It all depends on how much work they put in.

• Intro
  • Popularity of game
  • History of game
  • Thesis
    • Epitome of American dream/capitalism/freedom
    • Success in game models success in America
• Paragraph 1
  • Compares American school system to learning different things about game
  • Talks about how one needs information to be successful
  • Networking for jobs during college = building community to work with in-game
• Paragraph 2
  • Success in game is directly related to how much effort one puts in
  • One can go as far as beating the game or just surviving on what is given/what they know
  • Game mechanics push players to always keep searching and learning more
  • Ultimate freedom in-game allows players to do whatever they want
• Conclusion
  • Minecraft can be as complex or as simple as the player makes it
  • Game models capitalist ideology

In “Tropes VS. Women in Video Games”, Anita uses lots of visual aides as well as compelling audio commentary to explain her view of the subject at hand. Her argument is that many video games made in the 1990’s and some made in modern culture have a sexist “damsel in distress” plotline that displays women characters as weak, helpless prizes that the protagonist acquires once he beats all the trials faced throughout the game. Since this idea was displayed as a video, it was able to have a more compelling argument by use of clips from video games mentioned, as well as dialogue from the games. One specific example is when the video displayed a scene from “Donkey Kong”, showing the monkey kidnap the princess and force the player to get through the obstacles in order to obtain the princess back. This displayed her argument of the general plot used: male hero to save the “damsel in distress.”

The article, “How a Star Wars video game faced charges that it was promoting gambling,” explains the conflict between EA Games, and partnering companies, as well as the franchise’s fanbase. The conflict surrounds the implementation of in-game purchases that allow players to have the chance to win upgrades they can use in game to be more successful than the opponent. Those opposing EA claim that this tactic is a form of gambling, since the players can purchase the chance to win these upgrades. In fact, social media had a large impact on the conflict between the fanbase and the developers. EA posted on reddit their argument for implementing this mechanic, and the fans backlashed. The post got the most downvotes any post has gotten on reddit in 12 years. This showed EA that this mechanic was widely unpopular, so they decided to postpone the mechanic. This issue has shown up in multiple areas other than just EA; mobile games like Clash of Clans and similar games have implemented these microtransactions, making the game a “play to win” scenario. Clash of Clans, for example, uses gems as currency that players can buy to speed up building times or buy gold/elixir to upgrade buildings inside their base.