Dear Minecraft Owners,

[pikachief]

I write this letter to you, in request for a solution to my minecraft predicament. I have just recently read all about the latest thrills and joys of this "minecract" experience and I was thinking of hoping on board. But alas! I had also discovered this new "Steam" technology and it seems I have thrown all my precious shillings into it, mostly purchased items I won't ever play only because the price was so pleasing! Ahh Steam, what wonderous new inventions they will make with steam power! Like steam powered trains...


Anyways! After spending all of my hard earned Francs I have realized I have just barely enough for this "Minecraft" I've heard so much about. I am also going to a far away land that prohibits games for several months in only 2 weeks.

So this is what I am asking my fellow FKLers. Is Minecraft worth all the money i have now ($20) to play for 2 weeks then not play till may, or wait till may and buy it for $25? :)

I await your responses feverishly, Sincerely Pikachief.

[Outrider]

If you are willing to spend the entirety of that two weeks doing nothing but playing Minecraft, then yeah, you should be good.

It can be hard to stop playing once you really get into it.

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

your only options.

[spoiler-box]With all those I Messages, I think you owe me money for having to get through it.

You now have $10.

Would you like to play again?[/spoiler-box]

[spoiler-box]
What kind of non magical place bans the gaming?

Sounds evil, beyond words can describe.

Lets hope you didn't have to pay money to go there. And even so should still get a refund and the thing that nobody gets, from court thing, what was it---distress something.
[/spoiler-box]

[W0LB0T]

Why not just "borrow" it off the internet.

[Akaimizu]

I got Minecraft during the Alpha stage, so I know it is more than worth it. It's very very hyper addictive, but your mileage will vary. It's kind of a combination of building, exploration, and survival. Your end game can vary based on what you want to do, though there are some things which are obviously *late game-only* if not end game. Taking note, it's quite an adventure of discovery and invention to eventually make it to the Netherworld and partake of its treats against the most dangerous monsters in the game.

Make sure, when you go, you take very little with you, with the exception of simpler mining tools, Good weapons, and a good stock of arrows. It's much easier to lose everything on you when you go in the Netherworld and are forced to respawn. For some, their end game is to not only build themselves a great palace, but to build one in the Netherworld as if you claim ownership of it. It's dangerous in there, but to make your castle in that place would be the ultimate achievement, from a survival point of view. Not sure how badly the Ghasts would hinder you, though.

Still, it may take you quite a few hours to get there. You need to find some of the more rare and *dug in* materials to not only find your substances, but to produce the tools to mine them. Where everything is psuedo-random. What I mean by that, is that there is an order of what kinds of materials to expect and where, but whether you'll find that strand at any given place is unknown.

Good rock materials kind of work like a root system. You may find an iron ore block, but you may find a 10 block chain of iron ore all connected to each other in a straight line, or any other kind of shape. It's like you find one thing, and you look to see how far it spreads. The discovery is well rewarded because it gives you something new you can build.

You may make multiple Mines and Domiciles. Eventually making a transportation system between them. All the while, still defending yourself from monsters.

Still, the big aspect of Minecraft, when it comes to price. If you're interested in it. Buy it as early as you can. Always remember, the earlier you buy it, the cheaper you have to pay for it. You'll get the full and expansions for it anyway, might as well save as much money as possible when you legally support it.

[Outrider]

I just died for the first time yesterday. I was exploring what I thought was a shallow cave, then took a wrong step and fell down into a bunch of skeletons. I lost a bunch of items. :(

But now I rebuild, and I will get the last laugh.

[pikachief]

Thanks :D One of the main reasons I was thinking of putting it off is because I wouldn't be able to play it like crazy and I thought that would make my purchase not feel worth it, but hey the game's not going anywhere and the price is only going to increase so investment! :D yay lol

[Tetsaru]

Minecraft is a great timesink game, especially if you love building things and exploring a massive world. My friends and I have our own server! :D

[HeartBreak301]

Virtual Legos with things that try to kill you. Sounds fun to me.

Seriously though, the game is definitely worth the buy. No longer half price though like it was during alpha.

http://images1.memegenerator.net/ImageMacro/4817422/see-creepers-out-window-never-go-outside-again.jpg?imageSize=Large&generatorName=Minecraft-Creeper

[Sord]

get it, play it, never beat it

[SpikeOtacon]

Worth every penny

[Outrider]

I have a confession to make.

The other day? The day that I died in a dungeon?

That was the first day I actually went dungeon diving.

Sure, I had checked out a few caves that were higher up, but never anything like that.

I just... I was having too much fun building.

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

Dungeon diving alone is pretty dangerous. Gotta plan ahead with torches and many pick axes, with a supply of weapons too. But you do need to mine for all those things. Coal above ground, not so much out there.

[Sord]

Haven't done any group mining expeditions in ages :(

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

Dear Minecraft Owners,

I'd like to think I make things better for user friendly and easy access. So my collected materials to make a very nice door or ladder to scale a backwall where nobody can see but can now climb up to circle around, for your "perfect palace" to just be broken down collected and its right back to your walled off, one exit and entrance thing that takes me 5 minutes to walk back around and attempt to get out, is not fun.

I might be as possessive about my area of the map too if I had anything built up, but we'll see.

[Sord]

I know you had an area of a map, but I never did find it before that server went kaput.

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

Started a glass palace I suppose, right near something I built that surprisingly nobody broke and raged at. Staircase up that way which was inspired by someone's Ash Ketchum friend fell 10 stories there right in front of me: "OUGH!!" Near all Hearts gone. Then we haven't been able to get back going since, darn.

[HeartBreak301]

I suck at building structures, I just hollow out cliffs and stuff to live in.

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

(Cpt.) Caveman style.

Ooga chucka.

[HeartBreak301]

Living in caves has it's advantages.

http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2009/02/13/1234549180-captaincaveman.jpg

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/HAYABUSA-FMW-/orly_orbach.jpg

Other than instead of "finglonger," her armlonger there, that is pretty nice I suppose.

Also living in caves, read other day Batman got married to some ghul. If you didn't know that one, feel free to ORLY Orbach right now too.

[Outrider]

Well, I really just have a big tower.

My first home was a big old, hollowed out cave.

I then dug a tunnel connecting the two of them.

Although, now that I think about it - I have a treehouse way up in this forest at the highest point in the world. I wonder if I could successfully connect that one as well?

[HeartBreak301]

In minecraft, anything is possible.

[Sord]

I've built a lot of structures, big ones, but never really take screenshots that often. Spike might have some of the screenies though.

[Sord]

Built a crappy lighthouse today, has a glass bottom for underwater viewing, lava for the big light, fire blocks around it are the hellworld ones that never burn out. Alternating stone and cobblestone layers, wood bottom with trunk dock. I use the scribblecraft texture pack.
[spoiler-box]http://i.imgur.com/x0eYh.jpg[/spoiler-box]

[Outrider]

Very nice.

I built a tiny little shack near my respawn point so I'll have a cache of weapons and a place to spend the night the next time I die.

[pikachief]

Minecraft is like "Please insert credit card info" "Verify Credit card info" "SORRY NO CAN DO!" :( sadness no minecraft for me :/

[Seth Astra]

I looked at Minecraft, and it seemed awesome. However, I don't have the cash to buy it. Thus, I tried to play the classic version. When I tried, there was an error message. Something about pixel speed not accelerating. Anyone know what that's about?

[HeartBreak301]

I did a bit of digging and I found these two posts on the minecraft forum. Maybe these can help.
----------------------
Pixel Format Not Accelerated is usually one of the following issues:
- Outdated video card. May want to think about replacing the one you got.
- Outdated Video Card Drivers. Your video card drivers are seriously outdated, go check for updates at your manufacturers website!
- Windows 7 Drivers. You're using Windows 7 and the drivers for your video card are not up to speed yet and not usable with minecraft just yet.
----------------------
I had this problem too, and I was able to fix it on both computers. You need to update your graphics drivers.
Easiest way to do this, which worked on both of the 32-bit w7 computers I did it on:

start -> right click my computer -> properties -> device manager -> display adapters ->
right click graphics card or device -> update driver software -> automatically search

[Seth Astra]

Cool. Just one problem... I think that playing that may kill me. Why? I may forget the basic requirements of human life. Reading this thread made me want to download... Basically a 2D minecraft for android. Despite the free version not having any enemies or such, I still got into it and started building a (rather lame) fortress. Now, to attempt what you suggested.

Edit: It said the drivers were up to date, but it still did not work. Could my graphics card be not up to it? I have a RADEON X600 Series.

[DoctorQuark]

Minecraft : Worth every cent, at least in my opinion. Especially after some of the latest updates. Here's the deal: Minecraft Classic (the "free version") is pretty interesting in it's own right. But what it lacks is any real depth. Minecraft Beta gives you so much to mess around with it's like dropping you into a toybox the size of Asia. The basic aspects (mining, surviving, exploring) might not be enough to keep your attention for long, but I can guarantee the numerous other facets of the game will do so easily. Whether it be dying wool to make sprite art, or building a huge minecart rollercoaster, or create a fortress with devious traps, or building an intricate Redstone circuit, or anything else you decide to do, you'll find something that will hook you. It's something I think everybody should purchase; even if it turns out not to be your cup of tea, it's still a unique experience that isn't emulated anywhere else. Take it from a current Minecraft addict. owo;

Edit: Oh, and Minecraft Multiplayer is probably one of the best things ever, even if it's still really buggy.

[HeartBreak301]

It's actually a toybox 8 times the surface of the earth.

[DoctorQuark]

Yeah, until it runs into complications and starts to make senseless terrain patterns and/or crashes.

I haven't made it quite THAT far, yet, x3

[HeartBreak301]

I haven't bothered to go that far yet, I get too into digging my holes.

And Seth, I'm not really too sure. Not an expert in this sort of thing by any means. I guess you could dig around the minecraft forums a bit more for something that might help. Other than that I can't really suggest much.

[Akaimizu]

Hard to say. Minecraft hardly uses the graphics card. In fact, the graphics are almost all CPU driven, right now. That is, it hardly uses any graphic acceleration.

[Seth Astra]

Weird... Ah well, it's a shame, but I'll live.

[Sord]

Woo, one of the servers I used to play on is back up. And now that I have my own internet on my own damn desktop, I can build outside. Previously couldn't do this, as a craptop using stolen internet lagged like a mofo anytime I walked around outside. So I just dug a lot and now I'm finally putting all the cobble to use. Started building this yesterday and here's where I'm at so far.

The big disk thing and the stuff on it is my project, all the other stuff you see is other people's.

[spoiler-box]http://i.imgur.com/XhcOt.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/oTU2s.png
http://i.imgur.com/Dfwzb.png
http://i.imgur.com/Qn2sP.png
[/spoiler-box]

Switched back to painterly pack textures since it updated with new textures today and if I try and run online mode with a higher res pack like scribblecraft my computer starts hating me.

Not so fun fact: so much sunlight is blocked that monsters aren't dying under the disk come daytime. Need to clear out the trees on the mountain and light the place up so shit doesn't spawn.

[DoctorQuark]

@ Sord: Painterly Pack is FTW. x3

[Sord]

@ Sord: Painterly Pack is FTW. x3

Yeah, the sheer number of texture options now is boggling. I remember when it took like 5 minutes to go through the list, back when I first joined (when notch had the free to play for like a week or whatever due to server issues.) Took about 20 minutes yesterday to decide.

[Sord]

Edit: It said the drivers were up to date, but it still did not work. Could my graphics card be not up to it? I have a RADEON X600 Series.

It should be fine, I'm runnin an old Radeon all-in-wonder 9600 from back in '03, and I can run the game at max draw distance for awhile before it crashes, it never really lags me that much, the game just shuts off for some unknown reason. Closes out the java console to, so I can never see what the damn error is.) I can run one notch under that though with no problem. Even if your card is a laptop one (pretty sure the Xs were laptop/mobile cards, not positive though) it should only be a year before or after mine, either way it shouldn't make to big of a difference. I know someone with an even worse card than mine in a laptop that still runs the game (albeit shittily, but still playable.)

[Seth Astra]

It just won't work. Here's the exact error message:

org.lwjgl.LWJGLExeption: Pixel format not accelerated

The top of the message box says "Failed to start Minecraft". This is annoying, since I really want to at least try the game.

[DoctorQuark]

Say, Sord. What's the server you play on?

[Sord]

We don't advertise the server name, better that way, we know who knows the place and don't need to worry about griefers and BS. I can talk to admin dude about letting you in though if you want. No guarantees though.

[Outrider]

It just won't work. Here's the exact error message:

org.lwjgl.LWJGLExeption: Pixel format not accelerated

The top of the message box says "Failed to start Minecraft". This is annoying, since I really want to at least try the game.

Have you googled that exact string? I just tried and found a ton of links to other people having that issue.

[pikachief]

yay i was finally able to buy it :D i spent all of the daylight showing my sister around and she asked me to do stuff with the water lol so now thats done, its night and i have no idea how to defend myself XD

I was like man i wish it wasn't so dark... OMG MONSTERS WHAT DO I DO!? so now im just running away until the sunlight returns lol

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

yay i was finally able to buy it :D i spent all of the daylight showing my sister around and she asked me to do stuff with the water lol so now thats done, its night and i have no idea how to defend myself XD

I was like man i wish it wasn't so dark... OMG MONSTERS WHAT DO I DO!? so now im just running away until the sunlight returns lol
Aqua sisters, so Barbie girl. :nono:

Also no no no, "Dig up stupid!"

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2430/4098896373_0c4faeaf98.jpg

[DoctorQuark]

@ Sord: That's understandable. On my usual server, we have anti-griefing measures, but it's never enough to keep all the "filth" out. xP If you can get me onto the server, that'd be great, but it's no big deal if you can't, so don't sweat it if that's the case.

[Sord]

So remember that disk? I put a roof on it...

http://i.imgur.com/WpUbN.png

Unfortunately my huge lack of foresight led to a sizeable chunk of the town not being displayed on our maps, also made a massive spawning point for monsters that won't die because the sun is blocked out (until I finally went and put down like 3 or 4 stacks of torches,) and I'm pretty sure there was something else... guess I'll chalk it up to "the end justifies the means" and not repeat those means in the future.

[HeartBreak301]

That is one big wacko cookie.

[Tessu]

I just got Minecraft. It's fun.

[pikachief]

the game just made me lost and confused. put it on my brother's laptop and he has lots of fun with it! not a waste! yay! :D lol

[Nitro Vordex]

How do you get lost and confused in a game with no direction or meaning.

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

He plays that PSYOU, they weird like that.

[pikachief]

i found out how to make a workbench and i got into the game now lol

also the game makes me think of this song -->


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHSPVNbF5lY

[Uncle_bob]

Minecraft is shit now because Notch got lazy and fat.

Don't waste your money; this is one of the rare circumstances where I would suggest piracy.

[W0LB0T]

inb4 Notch defense force

[HeartBreak301]

Or Notch Slime horde.

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm42/mewditto/Notchslime-1.pnghttp://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm42/mewditto/Notchslime-1.pnghttp://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm42/mewditto/Notchslime-1.png
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm42/mewditto/Notchslime-1.pnghttp://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm42/mewditto/Notchslime-1.pnghttp://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm42/mewditto/Notchslime-1.png
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm42/mewditto/Notchslime-1.pnghttp://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm42/mewditto/Notchslime-1.pnghttp://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm42/mewditto/Notchslime-1.png

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

Minecraft is shit now because Notch got lazy and fat.

Don't waste your money; this is one of the rare circumstances where I would suggest piracy.
Rich then lazy fatcat.

First it was
probably made a Million bling Euro-fashionista dollars

Check out the office some post it notes lining this one table, doods.

Then it was:
JUST SOLD A MILLION SUBSCRIPTIONS!!

Don't do the math*[spoiler-box]Including raised rates like a tenant owning jerkbag who hates rent control.[/spoiler-box] Don't do it.

[Sord]

So today me and a couple people pitched together our iron to make a rail system. I built enough boosters on them for the cart to constantly propel itself around the track even with no one in it. While testing this, this happened:

http://i.imgur.com/7ACIm.png

Needless to say, I was fairly amused. I'm not to sure how he got on it, as the track runs through fairly well lit mostly-enclosed areas. It went around the track a few times before despawning out of the cart.

Unfortunately, the minecart doesn't work quite as well as hoped, because if you're standing at one far end of the track, the cart goes so far out of loading distance it either A. stops until something is within loading distance, or B. turns invisible and keeps moving until you stop it and move it a bit, or relog into the server. The point where the picture is taken though is pretty close to the middle though, so I got to watch the creeper make a few laps before despawn.

Oh, also managed to get a green music disc the other day by getting a skeleton to shoot a creeper and kill it. Took me 2 or 3 night cycles of trying, ouph.

[Nitro Vordex]

After a few friends of mine and I went on an expedition, we ended up a bit farther away from our base than we expected. We found TWO dungeons while down there. As we broke into daylight, one of us built a place to show where the hole is. There was a random pile of dirt, and I managed to take some pictures on it.

http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/6188/20110126014500.png