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UC Berkeley hosted a virtual graduation on Minecraft

195 points by apengwin 6y ago

lawrenceyan 6y ago
Proud to call myself a graduate of the #1 Minecraft University.
- darwinwhy 6y ago
  A play on Berkeley's claim to being the #1 Public University
- Alkhwarizmi 6y ago
  GO BEARS!!!
tpetry 6y ago
How do they prevent trolls destroying everything they built?
- nexuist 6y ago
  Can't speak for Berkeley, but for our virtual graduation we just set a server property to put everyone in adventure mode on join. Adventure mode prevents you from breaking blocks or opening chests so the only thing you can do is walk around.
  - swiley 6y ago
    You can also set a certain radius around the spawn read only in the official server. I’m not sure what practical difference that would have vs adventure mode.
- mhh__ 6y ago
  Haven't played Minecraft for years but even 8 years ago-ish there was a fairly mature ecosystem for server owners to control permissions to build/remove etc. Even a few years into the game some of those mods were ridiculously good, thinking about it.
- moooo99 6y ago
  There are a few ways, the easiest and only way the vanilla Miencraft server implementation offers is to set everyone to adventure mode. Adeventure mode doesn't allow players to destroy blocks, but they can play blocks if you manage to get any. More advanced server implementations like Spigot have a plugin api. There are plenty of popular plugins like WorldGuard that allow you to manage what players can to within a certain region. You can define a region in the world an allow or prevent players from destroying and placing blocks. You can also control other things like mob spawning, PvP, etc. These server implementations have quite capable APIs and building plugins using them is actually a lot of fun. Its what originally brought me intro programming.
  - dannyw 6y ago
    I learned Java because of CraftBukkit. For many teenagers, some even under the age of 10, Minecraft was their first experience in server administration. From setting up game servers, optimizing settings so Java did not crash, installing plugins, setting up config files, maintaining backups, writing their own plugins, learning basic networking issues, dealing with abuse (griefers), etc... Minecraft has taught a generation a lot.
nexuist 6y ago
I helped do the same thing for UConn! https://youtu.be/lyqD7X9MBKE https://youtu.be/lyqD7X9MBKE On commencement day we had about 200 users in game and viewing on stream. It was chaotic, but so worth it. I have so many plans for Minecraft UConn, and we had such a great volunteer team spend their off hours making campus picture perfect. Full stream here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/616924960 https://www.twitch.tv/videos/616924960 (starts around 0:55:00)
- mentos 6y ago
  Cool! How did you go about building an agreed upon design was there an offline blueprint you guys created first?
  - nexuist 6y ago
    We mostly used Google Street View to guesstimate where to put things. We started off building a 1/3 scale model of Gampel Pavilion (the stadium where commencement takes place), then we expanded on the roads around Gampel and started on the buildings connected to those roads. There are a variety of console commands (like /fill) that enable you to basically cut and paste portions of the world, so we could start building something in an open area and then transfer it to where it belonged once it was done.
zuhayeer 6y ago
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/623155434?t=00h32m52s https://www.twitch.tv/videos/623155434?t=00h32m52s Commencement starts at around 32:50
blhack 6y ago
Wow, this is really, really cool. They're doing a music festival today at mc.blockeley.com.
codeulike 6y ago
I went to a minecraft music festival at blockbyblockwest.com yesterday
Communitivity 6y ago
Kudos to UC Berkeley for using a virtual world. Somehow I read the choice of virtual world as a comment on our education system. Even if they had a restriction on using Open Source only, they could have used OpenSim. If they had been ok with commercial servers and free accounts, they could have used Second Life. Instead they used Minecraft, and "A team of more than 100 UC Berkeley students built the virtual Blockeley University in the popular Minecraft video game"[1]. Where is the lasting contribution of this? How can others reuse these students' work? [1] https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/05/16/watch-blockeley-uc-berkeleys-online-minecraft-commencement/ https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/05/16/watch-blockeley-uc-berk...
- Pxtl 6y ago
  Well, if you want the Minecraft experience in open-source, there's MineTest. I used it for my daughter's birthday party: https://www.pxtl.ca/2020/05/05/minetest-birthday/ https://www.pxtl.ca/2020/05/05/minetest-birthday/
- ReverseCold 6y ago
  > Where is the lasting contribution of this? How can others reuse these students' work? The Minecraft format is well understood, and you're free to convert worlds to whatever other format you want. It's like making a PDF in Adobe Reader. Yes, it's proprietary (was?)- but it's so well understood it might as well not be. Also, Minecraft is both easy to use and familiar. If we used something else, this project would probably never have gotten as big as it did. I think that's more important.
- ImprobableTruth 6y ago
  How would doing it in second life be a more lasting contribution than in minecraft? At least with minecraft people can always host their own servers using the world, while if second life shuts down, everything is gone for good. And why is there even a need for a lasting contribution? A normal graduation doesn't, so why does a virtual one?
  - Communitivity 6y ago
2008guy 6y ago
Am I hell banned?
caogecym 6y ago
Wow, that’s great way to host virtual graduation! Feels like the world is becoming more virtual, and in an accelerated manner - because of the virus. How long would it take for one to spend more time everyday in his virtual identity than the physical one?
- ganzuul 6y ago
  Probably until there are 5 or so robots for every living person, unless the way capitalism works is re-imagined.
billme 6y ago
Microsoft’s marketing department should leverage the opportunity to host graduations for free.
nimbius 6y ago
disclosure: ive never been to college, I went to a trade school. Im sure this is a novel and gimmicky way to hold a graduation during a quarantine, but do college kids get any refund on tuition for having to do this? To ask another way: How much money did the college take from students specifically for their ceremony before deciding to use a video game. This is an important question. most college students will face decades of undischargeable debt after college, and im concerned that this gimmick is flashy enough to distract them from the fact that they are graduating on the cusp of a financial depression.
- ReverseCold 6y ago
  Important note: this was an unofficial, student-run (but still university affiliated-ish) "graduation". The "real" graduation is indefinitely postponed.
- foogazi 6y ago
  > but do college kids get any refund on tuition for having to do this? Did they get the degree?
  - Spivak 6y ago
    Of course, but that’s not the point. At my alma mater graduation is a huge huge event. Easily millions of dollars to actually run the event. Musicians, professional photographers, videographers, full AV crew, event staff, parking staff, very famous speakers, swag, catering. To just cancel it it does really suck for the students and parents who want the experience and memories. Just because the ticket price is hidden in the tuition doesn’t mean it’s not there and deserves to be refunded.
ValentineC 6y ago
A Japanese school had an unofficial virtual graduation, also on Minecraft(!), two months ago in mid-March [1]. As did Singapore's Temasek Polytechnic last month [2]. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/51930728 https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/51930728 [2] https://www.asiaone.com/digital/graduation-ceremonies-cancelled-temasek-polytechnic-students-hold-virtual-one-minecraft https://www.asiaone.com/digital/graduation-ceremonies-cancel...

195 points by apengwin 6y ago

lawrenceyan 6y ago

Proud to call myself a graduate of the #1 Minecraft University.

darwinwhy 6y ago
A play on Berkeley's claim to being the #1 Public University
Alkhwarizmi 6y ago
GO BEARS!!!

tpetry 6y ago

How do they prevent trolls destroying everything they built?

nexuist 6y ago
Can't speak for Berkeley, but for our virtual graduation we just set a server property to put everyone in adventure mode on join. Adventure mode prevents you from breaking blocks or opening chests so the only thing you can do is walk around.
- swiley 6y ago
  You can also set a certain radius around the spawn read only in the official server. I’m not sure what practical difference that would have vs adventure mode.
mhh__ 6y ago
Haven't played Minecraft for years but even 8 years ago-ish there was a fairly mature ecosystem for server owners to control permissions to build/remove etc. Even a few years into the game some of those mods were ridiculously good, thinking about it.
moooo99 6y ago
There are a few ways, the easiest and only way the vanilla Miencraft server implementation offers is to set everyone to adventure mode. Adeventure mode doesn't allow players to destroy blocks, but they can play blocks if you manage to get any. More advanced server implementations like Spigot have a plugin api. There are plenty of popular plugins like WorldGuard that allow you to manage what players can to within a certain region. You can define a region in the world an allow or prevent players from destroying and placing blocks. You can also control other things like mob spawning, PvP, etc. These server implementations have quite capable APIs and building plugins using them is actually a lot of fun. Its what originally brought me intro programming.
- dannyw 6y ago
  I learned Java because of CraftBukkit. For many teenagers, some even under the age of 10, Minecraft was their first experience in server administration. From setting up game servers, optimizing settings so Java did not crash, installing plugins, setting up config files, maintaining backups, writing their own plugins, learning basic networking issues, dealing with abuse (griefers), etc... Minecraft has taught a generation a lot.

nexuist 6y ago

I helped do the same thing for UConn! https://youtu.be/lyqD7X9MBKE https://youtu.be/lyqD7X9MBKE On commencement day we had about 200 users in game and viewing on stream. It was chaotic, but so worth it. I have so many plans for Minecraft UConn, and we had such a great volunteer team spend their off hours making campus picture perfect. Full stream here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/616924960 https://www.twitch.tv/videos/616924960 (starts around 0:55:00)

mentos 6y ago
Cool! How did you go about building an agreed upon design was there an offline blueprint you guys created first?
- nexuist 6y ago
  We mostly used Google Street View to guesstimate where to put things. We started off building a 1/3 scale model of Gampel Pavilion (the stadium where commencement takes place), then we expanded on the roads around Gampel and started on the buildings connected to those roads. There are a variety of console commands (like /fill) that enable you to basically cut and paste portions of the world, so we could start building something in an open area and then transfer it to where it belonged once it was done.

zuhayeer 6y ago

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/623155434?t=00h32m52s https://www.twitch.tv/videos/623155434?t=00h32m52s Commencement starts at around 32:50

blhack 6y ago

Wow, this is really, really cool. They're doing a music festival today at mc.blockeley.com.

codeulike 6y ago

I went to a minecraft music festival at blockbyblockwest.com yesterday

Communitivity 6y ago

Kudos to UC Berkeley for using a virtual world. Somehow I read the choice of virtual world as a comment on our education system. Even if they had a restriction on using Open Source only, they could have used OpenSim. If they had been ok with commercial servers and free accounts, they could have used Second Life. Instead they used Minecraft, and "A team of more than 100 UC Berkeley students built the virtual Blockeley University in the popular Minecraft video game"[1]. Where is the lasting contribution of this? How can others reuse these students' work? [1] https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/05/16/watch-blockeley-uc-berkeleys-online-minecraft-commencement/ https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/05/16/watch-blockeley-uc-berk...

Pxtl 6y ago
Well, if you want the Minecraft experience in open-source, there's MineTest. I used it for my daughter's birthday party: https://www.pxtl.ca/2020/05/05/minetest-birthday/ https://www.pxtl.ca/2020/05/05/minetest-birthday/
ReverseCold 6y ago
> Where is the lasting contribution of this? How can others reuse these students' work? The Minecraft format is well understood, and you're free to convert worlds to whatever other format you want. It's like making a PDF in Adobe Reader. Yes, it's proprietary (was?)- but it's so well understood it might as well not be. Also, Minecraft is both easy to use and familiar. If we used something else, this project would probably never have gotten as big as it did. I think that's more important.
ImprobableTruth 6y ago
How would doing it in second life be a more lasting contribution than in minecraft? At least with minecraft people can always host their own servers using the world, while if second life shuts down, everything is gone for good. And why is there even a need for a lasting contribution? A normal graduation doesn't, so why does a virtual one?
- Communitivity 6y ago

2008guy 6y ago

Am I hell banned?

caogecym 6y ago

Wow, that’s great way to host virtual graduation! Feels like the world is becoming more virtual, and in an accelerated manner - because of the virus. How long would it take for one to spend more time everyday in his virtual identity than the physical one?

ganzuul 6y ago
Probably until there are 5 or so robots for every living person, unless the way capitalism works is re-imagined.

billme 6y ago

Microsoft’s marketing department should leverage the opportunity to host graduations for free.

nimbius 6y ago

disclosure: ive never been to college, I went to a trade school. Im sure this is a novel and gimmicky way to hold a graduation during a quarantine, but do college kids get any refund on tuition for having to do this? To ask another way: How much money did the college take from students specifically for their ceremony before deciding to use a video game. This is an important question. most college students will face decades of undischargeable debt after college, and im concerned that this gimmick is flashy enough to distract them from the fact that they are graduating on the cusp of a financial depression.

ReverseCold 6y ago
Important note: this was an unofficial, student-run (but still university affiliated-ish) "graduation". The "real" graduation is indefinitely postponed.
foogazi 6y ago
> but do college kids get any refund on tuition for having to do this? Did they get the degree?
- Spivak 6y ago
  Of course, but that’s not the point. At my alma mater graduation is a huge huge event. Easily millions of dollars to actually run the event. Musicians, professional photographers, videographers, full AV crew, event staff, parking staff, very famous speakers, swag, catering. To just cancel it it does really suck for the students and parents who want the experience and memories. Just because the ticket price is hidden in the tuition doesn’t mean it’s not there and deserves to be refunded.

ValentineC 6y ago

A Japanese school had an unofficial virtual graduation, also on Minecraft(!), two months ago in mid-March [1]. As did Singapore's Temasek Polytechnic last month [2]. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/51930728 https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/51930728 [2] https://www.asiaone.com/digital/graduation-ceremonies-cancelled-temasek-polytechnic-students-hold-virtual-one-minecraft https://www.asiaone.com/digital/graduation-ceremonies-cancel...