Old Blog is Old

[moondoggy23]

I was browsing around the old forum posts and old blogs, when I found this blog from Wooty. Basically, he is saying that Minecraft, like any other game before it, will eventually diminish in its allure and gamers will eventually find something else to do. I remember reading this post (it was actually on the front page for everyone to read at the time) and thinking to myself, "yeah...a game like this...I'll give it a year and it'll start declining." Here we are, going on close to two years now, and we had our population boom sometime around a year ago, give or take a few months (a guy with a degree in History who is bad with time and dates, who would've guessed it?) and the game Minecraft still seems to be going strong, both Classic and SMP versions.

Could the reason Minecraft is still as strong as it was two years ago be it's constantly updated, or that people really find enjoyment in creating almost whatever they can using multi-colored cubes? Maybe it has something to do with the community as a whole. It's places like here, Team9000, that are keeping the game afloat. With dedicated servers for both Classic and Survival, users are still able to find a place they can call home and create and build to their heart's content. Minecraft and predecessor games mentioned in the blog survive for as long as there are servers hosting the game. Whenever the plug is pulled on big, stable servers like ours is when the game will whither and begin to die.

This is just one of the old, insightful posts our Community Manager used to post on this site, which I always enjoyed reading, and I felt that some of the newer members could avail themselves the time and read it and find some of the other posts by Sonic from back in the day. This site needs more of these. From everyone.

 

[kagato]

First I'd like to say thanks for finding that blog post, I'd been looking for it forever (to link to), partially because I agree about how player bases disappear. That being said, a lot has changed since that post. 800,000 copies? Try nearly 7.5 Million! Just think about that number for a minute. Big title releases from folks like EA or Bethesda sometimes don't hit those numbers, and folks are still buying the game. That means a constant influx of new players, especially given that some of the spin-offs and clones have never really taken off and fallen by the way-side.

That's not to say some folks have moved on. Just look at the members in Bastion and compare that to how often you see them in game. Life and it's way of screwing with one's schedule can account for some of that, but I know some folks have waned from the game. Some because it's just not as fun having to save and save to buy plots simply in order to build. I admit I partially fall into this group, and I do miss the days of Oxytown and being able to just pick up blocks and go at it, but I still really enjoy building and find it a necessary evil for protection against a continually changing base of incoming players. Granted I wish we could also still sell diamonds for money as this new system has really cramped our build-out, though I blame myself since we did go for the premium plots.

I'd agree, so long as there are large servers made available, you'll always have at least a handful of people still playing. Occasionally you may even get some of the 'ol timers who drop back in. I think there tends to be a lot of burn-out from what seems like 100's of new folks joining all the time who fail to read the rules and immediately start in with the "How do I..." barrage of questions.

I'd also agree, I miss the more insightful/worthwhile posts, versus the Twitter/Facebook-esque style blogs, ie "Zomg I'm leaving, kbai!".

 

[JerzeyLegend]

I don't think even Co Black Ops hit that number. Does that also include the console and mobile sales?

To be honest, the constantly updating nature of Minecraft is alluring. Things change and kind of rekindle the lost flame (if you fall in that category). Sometimes things you always wish were added are added and sometimes they make your game easier or convenient. A great example is the Ender Chest, I bet a lot of people hated Minecraft just because of that, and I bet the Ender chest bought a lot of them back.

As far as insightful and worthwhile posts... don't restart the whole "blog god" thing.

 

[TheXraptor]

I disagree.

Our Survival server used to be filled with active members with the community. People were on all the time. There was always someone on to share the good times with. This is no longer the case......at all.

As Woot predicted, the only people I EVER see on Minecraft anymore are the extremely dedicated "hardcore" players. I personally have lost interest in the game, everyone I have talked to has lost interest in the game, and almost every city on the server is an abandoned construction site.

I could go on about how Survival is dead, but you've already heard my take on the situation. I'm sorry, but things have not truly been fun since the 1.6.6 World.

 

[JerzeyLegend]

XRaptor it's more or less the initial school shock. It'll get back up soon.

 

[TheGurw]

I have to disagree with you, Jerzey. I actually don't even enjoy the game any more, I only enjoy the social aspect of it. As an example, I had more fun today debating whether a TV was a glorified monitor than building the rest of the WorldHub East Rails. If another game our community plays en masse were to include such an aspect in it, I'd probably no longer play Minecraft at all, other than on my own server.

 

[JerzeyLegend]

I guess. Perhaps its because I'm gone, and Bastion isn't giving you anything to compete with. :3

 

[TheGurw]

Nah, I never cared about the supposed competition. Bastion and WorldHub are two different philosophies about building and design.

 

[Damashki]

I wouldn't quite say the active survival community is as strong as it was two years ago. On that note, we do seem to have been slipping from minecraft at a much slower pace than anticipated. Only recently have I been starting to slightly get tired of playing minecraft, and I've been around since before the xankul/firethorn/arcane map (amused at how many people forget there was an arcane zone). While the constant game updates and loads of mods created by the minecraft community certainly help keep the game fresh for us, we'll still eventually no longer desire to play the game.

I personally think that one of the main reasons we've played for so long is because the game allows us to put our own input into the world we play in. When you think about it, the mobs don't really provide much of a challenge at all, there's no real storyline in it, the graphics are pretty basic, etc etc. Yet, because we can craft and create our own builds and (in the case we join a server) be part of a community within the game, we tend to gain a lot of enjoyment from it. Not really sure if that really expressed my thoughts well enough, so I'll try giving an example. The best part about legos isn't really the new sets they always come out with, even though it certainly helps. The best part is that we're not just limited to how the company designed the sets. Instead, we're given the choice of keeping the sets as they are or making our own designs how we wish to. Allowing for this user input in a product really tends to help us enjoy it longer. That's probably why I've still held on to a few of my sets and custom lego builds all of these years (lego mechwarrior anyone?).

I'm not really good with words, so I apologize if this post tends to confuse people rather than portray my feelings on this subject. Feel free to ignore it if you wish.

 

[JerzeyLegend]

I understand very well.

 

[Melexiious]

Honestly, if I had a good computer. I'd put about 2 more months into the game. But I had been playing Classic for about 2 years before I came to this server, even back then my interest in full Minecraft was dwindling. I also couldn't play by myself, I need that social aspect of the game to keep me going. If I don't have a buddy there to build a house with I get bored faster than a 2x4 (huehuehue).

Unfortunately, my computer sucks and can play on the internet... also nobody I know wants to play XBL Version.

Ah well, soon as I get a good PC, Minecraft probably wont be the major played game. I'd probably be sinking my teeth into TF2 or Skyrim...
Anyway, what I'm trying to say, personally. Minecraft is dead to me as of now.

 

[GreenEarth]

The Halo CE community is still strong, there are plenty of servers and they are fun as hell. Even Halo CE demo servers are always full. UT2004 has a decent amount of servers. Age of Empires 2 has a decent amount as well but you have to use GameRanger. Starcraft Brood War kind of died for some reason. Quake 3 Arena is alive on Quake live but if you want servers directly through the game you gotta look around for servers, but when you find em they are always full and fun. Counter Strike is still alive with Condition Zero through Steam. However I really really miss the original Half Life 1 Deathmatch but it is still sort of alive through Half Life Deathmatch Source through Steam. Some games like Homeworld 2 or anything from EA had their communities die which is kind of sucks.

Basically if the game was successful and is fun on a basic level there will always be servers even if they get harder to find. Minecraft is going to take a long long long long time to die.

As for Minecraft I don't think people have lost a passion for it deep down. The game (especially T9K) takes time and some people just don't have a lot of it. I'd be playing 24/7 on t9k and have been wanting to start on a new cathedral but school has made me lazy, but that doesn't mean I wont come back. Besides I've been playing Halo CE a lot lately, speaking of which does anyone here play that game anymore? It's so mawch fun, especially some of the modded game modes.

 

[_Joostb]

I have minecraft for 5 months or something now, and I think it might be the most addictive/awesome game I ever played. Especially when some mods will be updated, it will be the only game i play. TF2 is awesome too, but the thing is, that with minecraft, you can make everything. It is like Lego, but even better, because of the mobs, needing to get everything yourself, and redstone. Minecraft will -obviously- stop being this popular. I think that in 10 years everyone will be playing some cool 3d game or something. But you can't stop that. I mean, Tetris was like the best game ever when i had it on my Gameboy. But i haven't played it in years. And i will probably never play it again. But that doesn't matter, because i think other games are better now. This will happen to Minecraft too, but it will take some time.