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How much of this is due to mods and minigames? No one I know plays stock vanilla Minecraft anymore. This is even stranger, considering mods and minigames have

How much of this is due to mods and minigames? No one I know plays stock vanilla Minecraft anymore. This is even stranger, considering mods and minigames have never been supported by Mojang directly.

treeform 10y ago
Majority of Minecraft comes from console/mobile. Minecraft mobile surpassed Minecraft desktop in 2013, with consoles doing same thing later. Most people don't play the original java version that has mods. Most people don't play with mods. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/225643/Understanding_what_Minecraft_really_means_to_Microsoft.php http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/225643/Understanding_what... http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/29/5665834/minecraft-sales-15m-copies-pc http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/29/5665834/minecraft-sales-15m...
Diederich 10y ago
My son and I are pretty deep into Minecraft, and we have been for a number of years now. We certainly play Feed The Beast modpacks, but we spend most of our time on client-vanilla but modified servers. Regarding your last statement, it does strike me as a strange thing as well, but also consider what Linux kernel you're running. For non-HN people, the chances are essentially zero that they're running a Linus kernel. I haven't run a Linus kernel in...I can't even remember. Granted, the analogy has some weaknesses, starting with how one needs to essentially hack mods into Mojang's official releases, a rather different approach than 'modding' the Linux kernel.
- outworlder 10y ago
  I am not sure that the analogy works at all. Any child can download a "Feed the Beast Launcher" or somesuch that's able to install a modpack with a single click. For some packs, that amounts to hundreds of mods. Who cares if that requires hacking bytecode, that's all abstracted away. It's even abstracted away from developers, ever since Forge was released.
ericbarnes 10y ago
My kids and I play the stock iOS version all the time. Could be outliers but we just play for the building aspect.
- rocky1138 10y ago
  Clearly, based on the data, you are not outliers. Do your kids frequently watch YouTube videos of the PC version and ask for Spongebob mod or this or that map? My nephew is 8 and every time I visit he wants me to install some new minigame mod he has found on YouTube.
- cableshaft 10y ago
  I tried the iOS version a long time ago and moving/mining in that game annoyed me to no end. Is that something that significantly improved over time, or do you just don't mind it?
outworlder 10y ago
I had the same opinion, but that may be just our perspective, given the people we know (and follow on youtube). Maybe it's more accurate to say "most old players have moved on from vanilla Minecraft". Frankly, Minecraft does not need mods. However, Mojang took too long to add content to the game. Heck, even Dwarf Fortress seems to add new features faster. Today, vanilla feels... "bland". "Oh right, I have no fluid containers nor pipes, have to move stuff one bucket at a time". "Right, let me build this redstone flip-flop for the umpteenth time". "Oh yeah, there's no way I can automate crop replanting, just harvest". Every game start is grindy in the same way, the only thing that keeps it interesting is the random terrain generator. But that's after playing for a while. New players still get the "discovery" experience, redstone learning curve and so on. That can take months to wear off. Also, many people are using mods without even knowing, depending on which server they play on.
- cableshaft 10y ago
  Well crap, the pipes mod is a completely obvious mod that really should be in vanilla Minecraft that I never even considered. But then again I haven't really played the game since it got out of Beta.
- khedoros 10y ago
  I play vanilla, and have since a short time pre-beta. I like the simplicity; it's kind of like playing a creative version of Solitaire with a giant Lego set. Then again, I also don't play on a server, watch people on Youtube, or really have a connection to any kind of community, so I don't really have the chance to get envious of what other players have available.
  - rocky1138 10y ago
    I try to play Minecraft these days, but it makes me so lonely. This comes from the fact that I run a server which used to have ~20 on at any given time and now has 0, along with the fact that I learned to play it alongside my ex-girlfriend. I wish there was some way for me to get past the loneliness.
skykooler 10y ago
"Minigames have never been supported by Mojang directly" is not entirely true - Realms, which is Mojang's own Minecraft server service, has a minigame mode for the hosted worlds.
- rocky1138 10y ago
  This is very true. I suppose my attitude is from the jaded viewpoint of Mojang not delivering on a modding API after years and years of promises. Even after they bought Bukkit and sat on it.
Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
I run the TrueCraft project - https://truecraft.io https://truecraft.io There are 1,320 users. Which is a very small portion of the Minecraft community, but we do exist.
- rocky1138 10y ago
  This is great. How do you feel about Minetest?
  - Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
    It's very cool, but has different goals than TrueCraft.
    - rocky1138 10y ago
      Do you find that it splinters the community?
      - Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
        No.
  - Teckla 10y ago
    This is great. How do you feel about Minetest? Minetest is great, but ultimately will remain niche. Vanilla Minetest is just too sterile (no mobs, "dead-ish" world--big turn-off for kids), and installation+mods is just too hard for non-technical people.

How much of this is due to mods and minigames? No one I know plays stock vanilla Minecraft anymore. This is even stranger, considering mods and minigames have never been supported by Mojang directly.

treeform 10y ago

Majority of Minecraft comes from console/mobile. Minecraft mobile surpassed Minecraft desktop in 2013, with consoles doing same thing later. Most people don't play the original java version that has mods. Most people don't play with mods. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/225643/Understanding_what_Minecraft_really_means_to_Microsoft.php http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/225643/Understanding_what... http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/29/5665834/minecraft-sales-15m-copies-pc http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/29/5665834/minecraft-sales-15m...

Diederich 10y ago

My son and I are pretty deep into Minecraft, and we have been for a number of years now. We certainly play Feed The Beast modpacks, but we spend most of our time on client-vanilla but modified servers. Regarding your last statement, it does strike me as a strange thing as well, but also consider what Linux kernel you're running. For non-HN people, the chances are essentially zero that they're running a Linus kernel. I haven't run a Linus kernel in...I can't even remember. Granted, the analogy has some weaknesses, starting with how one needs to essentially hack mods into Mojang's official releases, a rather different approach than 'modding' the Linux kernel.

outworlder 10y ago
I am not sure that the analogy works at all. Any child can download a "Feed the Beast Launcher" or somesuch that's able to install a modpack with a single click. For some packs, that amounts to hundreds of mods. Who cares if that requires hacking bytecode, that's all abstracted away. It's even abstracted away from developers, ever since Forge was released.

ericbarnes 10y ago

My kids and I play the stock iOS version all the time. Could be outliers but we just play for the building aspect.

rocky1138 10y ago
Clearly, based on the data, you are not outliers. Do your kids frequently watch YouTube videos of the PC version and ask for Spongebob mod or this or that map? My nephew is 8 and every time I visit he wants me to install some new minigame mod he has found on YouTube.
cableshaft 10y ago
I tried the iOS version a long time ago and moving/mining in that game annoyed me to no end. Is that something that significantly improved over time, or do you just don't mind it?

outworlder 10y ago

I had the same opinion, but that may be just our perspective, given the people we know (and follow on youtube). Maybe it's more accurate to say "most old players have moved on from vanilla Minecraft". Frankly, Minecraft does not need mods. However, Mojang took too long to add content to the game. Heck, even Dwarf Fortress seems to add new features faster. Today, vanilla feels... "bland". "Oh right, I have no fluid containers nor pipes, have to move stuff one bucket at a time". "Right, let me build this redstone flip-flop for the umpteenth time". "Oh yeah, there's no way I can automate crop replanting, just harvest". Every game start is grindy in the same way, the only thing that keeps it interesting is the random terrain generator. But that's after playing for a while. New players still get the "discovery" experience, redstone learning curve and so on. That can take months to wear off. Also, many people are using mods without even knowing, depending on which server they play on.

cableshaft 10y ago
Well crap, the pipes mod is a completely obvious mod that really should be in vanilla Minecraft that I never even considered. But then again I haven't really played the game since it got out of Beta.
khedoros 10y ago
I play vanilla, and have since a short time pre-beta. I like the simplicity; it's kind of like playing a creative version of Solitaire with a giant Lego set. Then again, I also don't play on a server, watch people on Youtube, or really have a connection to any kind of community, so I don't really have the chance to get envious of what other players have available.
- rocky1138 10y ago
  I try to play Minecraft these days, but it makes me so lonely. This comes from the fact that I run a server which used to have ~20 on at any given time and now has 0, along with the fact that I learned to play it alongside my ex-girlfriend. I wish there was some way for me to get past the loneliness.

skykooler 10y ago

"Minigames have never been supported by Mojang directly" is not entirely true - Realms, which is Mojang's own Minecraft server service, has a minigame mode for the hosted worlds.

rocky1138 10y ago
This is very true. I suppose my attitude is from the jaded viewpoint of Mojang not delivering on a modding API after years and years of promises. Even after they bought Bukkit and sat on it.

Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago

I run the TrueCraft project - https://truecraft.io https://truecraft.io There are 1,320 users. Which is a very small portion of the Minecraft community, but we do exist.

rocky1138 10y ago
This is great. How do you feel about Minetest?
- Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
  It's very cool, but has different goals than TrueCraft.
  - rocky1138 10y ago
    Do you find that it splinters the community?
    - Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
      No.
- Teckla 10y ago
  This is great. How do you feel about Minetest? Minetest is great, but ultimately will remain niche. Vanilla Minetest is just too sterile (no mobs, "dead-ish" world--big turn-off for kids), and installation+mods is just too hard for non-technical people.