Why do you think minecraft is so successful?
What elements of the game do you think make it enjoyable?
What do you hope to see more of in future sandbox-survival games?

In short, why do you play minecraft?

when i was a child i loved to play with lego and meccano building stuff ...minecrack to me is the adult equivalent that lets folks express thier creativity

I Love Survival Game ! People Are Friendlier Here Moreover .. It Let Us Express Our Creativity 5 Star Rating For MC !

most games, you are a visitor in the world.

I have never played WOW, but from my understanding, you login, kill a few things, or do a quest, and leave. Once you are gone, you have had no impact on the world.

minecraft, is a grinding based game. You build, and you sculpt. You make your mark upon the world, for all to see when you log off.

wonder what WOW would be like, if you could go into the wilderness, and build a house...

wonder what WOW would be like, if you could go into the wilderness, and build a house...

conathan

Hell, is the short answer.

For me its a mix between the lego and making my mark answers. I've always had a fascination with building things, from my childhood with lego, my teens with that "Real Robots" magazine (which admittidly was crap...) right through to now where I actively seek out video games with the most amount of customization options available, ranging from my character to the world I'll be playing in. Minecraft is a game that goes "back to basics" as it were, ignoring the modern day pressure most developers have to shell out a pretty and shiney title, and instead aiming for a quality and addictive gameplay format that allows you to express your creativity. That, or build a giant golden c**k...

2 cents.

Always been into level design, and like others here, lego.

Just creating things, with little restriction.

As i kid i liked to play with (yes uve guessed it) Lego, i absolutly love building with lego i still have a crane i made years ago on my windowcill. Minecraft i love its simplicity yet you can build just about anything you desire. Minecraft is like no other game out there.

Same as everyone else its like lego but not for kids. (And for kids as well)

Well I absolutely love the community here, which is one of the main reasons I enjoy Minecraft so much. I've always liked playing games where I can expand on what you do, instead of doing everything by the book. The possibilities are endless here on Minecraft. Plus it's nice to get away from the rush of life, and just relax for several hours.

echoing what most people said, it seems a damn good way to fulfil a creative outlet that i've had all my life. As you get to adulthood and the realities and expectations of earning a living kick in, these things become a "hobby". Well, minecraft is certainly one my hobbies (and pretty much fills up my computer gaming slot these days). I play multiplayer for the community, and also to show my own achievements in the game to others. It's nice to play a game whereby someone can see what you have built, and tell you "Wow, good job!"- something you don't necessarily get in alot of games.

And ultimately, I guess it's escapism, and a nice way to relax, unwind, or simply "not think" about things for a bit.

Agreed Steven, Minecraft has been a great way for me lately to get away from life's troubles, and not have to think about anything.
Overall, the minecraft community is much more pleasant than the Call of Duty, or other games like that. Those have a much more tense feeling, and emotions are always high, and people tend to snap pretty easily.

I think all of you would agree that SMP > Classic, although a lot of your reasons apply equally to both.

Any thoughts on that?

On SMP, it gives the best of both worlds. It gives you the rushing feel of being swarmed by angry creepers, or finding your first diamond. It also gives you the building aspect of the game, which so many people love.
SMP is a more challenging than Classic. Having to work for your materials, shelter, food, health, and equipment are all things that you don't have to worry about in Classic mode.

I play because I can create, much like legos, and the mobs are a nice touch.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a more powerful AI. Something turning our survival sandbox into a real-time strategy sandbox. Mobs that can destroy walls, or even work cooperatively with each other and see/smell players from long distances. Maybe then we'd have the ultimate 'zombie apocalypse survival' game and have a use for the defensive castles we so often build.

Spawn castle would never be the same.

But then, this scenario isn't very good when you have griefers.

I play because I can create, much like legos, and the mobs are a nice touch.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a more powerful AI. Something turning our survival sandbox into a real-time strategy sandbox. Mobs that can destroy walls, or even work cooperatively with each other and see/smell players from long distances. Maybe then we'd have the ultimate 'zombie apocalypse survival' game and have a use for the defensive castles we so often build.

Spawn castle would never be the same.

But then, this scenario isn't very good when you have griefers.

tuatha1337

Zombie Siege - Minecraft Wiki

...being able to break blocks...

Whaaaaaaat?! Surely not?!

Wouldn't this then mean they can only break basic ones like wood or dirt? Not stone, etc???

you can change everything in the world. you are completely free to do as you choose. other games have a special "paths" that you MUST follow in order to beat the game.

i dream of a future sandbox game that uses some kind of law of physics that everything is built up of. basically minecraft, but in greater detail. a real world simulator of sorts.

you can change everything in the world. you are completely free to do as you choose. other games have a special "paths" that you MUST follow in order to beat the game.

i dream of a future sandbox game that uses some kind of law of physics that everything is built up of. basically minecraft, but in greater detail. a real world simulator of sorts.

404thread

Garry's mod + Minecraft = Real world. lol

i dream of a future sandbox game that uses some kind of law of physics that everything is built up of. basically minecraft, but in greater detail. a real world simulator of sorts.

404thread

That's exactly the game I would love to make one day.

There are one or two issues I can see with making a game like that though (and they're not the ones you may expect).

The first is simplicity. Games need to be simple for people to play them. Allowing truly limitless freedom through a perfectly simple interface is not a simple task.

The second is the level of realism. Where do you stop? In the real world, you couldn't carry thousands of tons of stone as you can in minecraft. There's a point where realism starts detracting from fun. If you start along the lines of hyperrealistic-sandbox where do you draw the line?

Level designing for UT probably helped me towards Minecraft being a favourite game of mine too:

Minecraft basically employes two things that I find irresistible. Minecraft is "Lego Survival Horror". Lego (the creativness of it) is something I remember so fondly from when I was a child, and Survival Horror is my favorite game genre. Together, they created the love child that is Minecraft.

I just got this image in my mind from Kahr's post.
Left 4 Lego. I had to google it...

the same thing here, as a child i used to play and create different mechanisms with lego technics, i used to play almost all the day. As my family didn't bought me the most expensive versions, i was trying to make systems that normaly required other pieces from the expensive packages, finally i was succesful.
This game really is a masterpiece, too bad is not fully packed, many things can be added, and are not.

Has anyone played a game called Scribblenauts?

I want Minecraft to take a page from their book in the future, and go crazy with the items and combinations that you can use/make.

I want to see things like edible plants, multiple drop possibilities (eg: sheep dropping wool or mutton), more combinations of things to craft (eg: obsidian tools/armour) and more items (eg: lanterns).

All in all, I think Minecraft is the kind of game that you should NEED a manual (or a wiki open in the background) because there's so much stuff to know.

Also, more mobs of all kinds would be nice.

Oh, and optimising it. I'm not a programmer, so I don't know, but it seems odd that a game like Minecraft can make my laptop, which can run a game like Fallout 3 or Full Ace Tennis with ease, occasionally struggle with a screen full of cubes textured in 16x16 textures... maybe it's a java thing?