#minecraft interview

i was wondering if anyone wants to be interviewed for an upcoming video of mine! it's about minecraft and moreso the state of the game nowadays!! pretty easy, and everything you need is right here!

ps: this isn't the actual interview form! just a way for me to arrange a time for me so we can do it!

This interview is with one of my IRL friends LordTalos. I've had many fun adventures play on a private server with him. You can read more interview here.

When did you start playing Minecraft and how did you hear about it? I originally heard about Minecraft from some players of another indie game, Cortex Command (http://www.datarealms.com/). Amusingly, the game usually came up in conversation when people were annoyed at the game's dev for not keeping the community informed the way Notch does. The first time I heard about it, the game was still in the stage that we know today as the free creative mode, and I was initially deterred by the odd art style and the simple fact that I had other games to play. Last September, I finally got around to reading a bit more about the gameplay and watching a few videos, and I was quickly fascinated. I've been playing pretty steadily since then. What's your Minecraft username? LordTalos    What's your current skin? My skin looks a lot like the default model, but the clothing is tattered and dirty, and is wearing knee and elbow pads, and a gas mask. I like it for making my avatar look like a bit more of a hardcore cave explorer than your average pedestrian. What texture pack do you use? I actually don't use any texture packs - I've tried several, but I really like the textures and look of the original game, so I've stuck with it. What about mods? Same - if it ain't broke, why try to fix it? I've never yet run out of stuff to do, considering how much Minecraft rewards creative thinking.    Any funny/scary/awesome stories that have happened to you? Too many to remember . . . a lot of times, for example, I've often jumped so much when a zombie popped out at me that I've fallen off of cliffs and into lava. One funny experience that comes to mind, though, was when I first tried item spawning in our multiplayer server. I've seen a lot of videos of people building TNT cannons, launchpads, and similar devices, so I decided to take advantage of the unlimited items to make one such cannon. Unfortunately, I elected to build it on the roof of my house. Even more unfortunately, I somehow decided it would be a good idea to use myself as the test projectile. I loaded myself into a cart on the front end of the cannon barrel, triggered the 15-ish TNT blocks via a handy lever . . . and was immolated in an earth-shattering fireball. Also, I didn't actually get shot anywhere at all.

When I got back to my house, the cannon was notably absent. So was my roof. Do you play SMP or Singleplayer primarily.  As you know, we had a multiplayer server of our own running for awhile, and while that was running, I did primarily play SMP. Since then, I've been sticking with single-player until I can find a new server to call home. If you play SMP do you play on any public servers? Not really - all the public servers I've tried so far have been laggy and barren of resources, for the most part. It's kind of depressing for me - I love the game's natural geography and try to build with it instead of destroying it. What's the coolest thing you've ever found? Definitely a giant cave system I discovered with you in that same server - the tunnels corkscrewed around on themselves enough that it made a titanic honeycomb of tunnels over a lava reservoir in the depths. The natural beauty of this game is still one of the highlights for me!    What's your favorite and least favorite mob? My least favorite mob is definitely the skeleton. Those things are harder to deal with (especially en masse) than anything else. My favorite - and I expect people are going to hate me for this - is the Creeper. Not only do they give you gunpowder and music records, but they're the source of more funny stories than anything else in the game! Personally, I don't have a hard time managing them, so I'm content to let them hang around.

What's the first thing you made when you found diamonds? I hoarded mine for a little while, but I think I eventually made a pickaxe to take advantage of obsidian.

If you could add one thing to the game what would it be? Some kind of block that can be set to move a set distance in a particular direction when triggered with redstone. It'd give you the ability to make floodgates, portcullises, new and inventive traps . . . the possibilities are endless.

What's one thing you hope never gets added to the game? Anything excessively modern, or something that makes the game too easy. I'm actually sort of dubious about the new beds in this regard - forcing players to deal with a night cycle gives them more incentive to explore underground, in my opinion. What's the most valuable thing you've ever lost? A diamond pick and assorted ores - I accidentally fell in some lava while caving one time. What's the coolest thing you've ever built? Probably a giant castle in my single-player world; it's huge, built on a mountain, and is wired with TONS of redstone doors, minecart transit systems and stations, and secret passages. It's also just pretty darned cool-looking.

What's your favorite Minecraft website, LPer, or Youtube video? As far as websites go, I'd rather have the wiki than anything else - it's a resource that we all need at some point or another. Video-wise, I love the "In Search of Diamonds" music video . . . I may be imagining this, but it always seems like I find more ore for a little while after listening to it.

Where can people find you online?  Check out my blog at http://sandboxempires.blogspot.com/ - it's mainly themed around Minecraft, but I'm doing occasional features on other games (indie and otherwise) as the time arises.

This is the first in a series of interview I'm doing with various Minecrafters. I thought it be fun to hear about how other people play the game and some of their stories from the game. You can see a list of all the interviews here.

Special Thanks to Geekstylo, who was the first to respond to my call for interviewees. I really enjoyed reading his answers.

When did you start playing Minecraft and how did you hear about it? 

A friend of mine told me about the game back when it was still in alpha. But I confess I didn’t understand the mechanics and appeal of the game that early on just from browsing a few quick gameplay videos.  It wasn’t until the game first hit beta that I got a chance to sit down and watch my buddy play through his world; I then understood the true potential of this wonderful sandbox.  I was hooked -went home that night and began to absorb all the material I could find about the game; fell asleep coming up with ideas and designing creative structures in my head, by the next day I had registered and bought my own copy.

  What's your Minecraft username? 

geekstyle

  What's your current skin? 

Right now I'm using what I call a "survivor" skin; it's a guy wearing a torn black suit --looks a lot like the character Jack from the show "Lost".  I picture my character was aboard a plane that crashed in the ocean and he miraculously managed to wash up alive on the shore of this mystical land.

  What texture pack do you use?

I'm using a custom built Painterly pack – I love the ability to customize every last detail and texture till I’m satisfied... check em at painterlypack.net.

  What about mods?

I've been having a blast with vanilla Minecraft so much that I haven't jumped on the mod bandwagon.  I was tempted to try the "better lighting" mod just before Notch added it to the game itself but didn't get around to it. I rather not mess with my Minecraft files too much as to avoid damaging the game executable especially during an update.  Plus some mods sort of don't fit the feel of the game; but I would like to try that "Mo Creatures" mod; along with a few others.

  Any funny/scary/awesome stories that have happened to you?

I find it incredibly funny that I've jumped several times while playing at night with the lights off...  it's crazy how Minecraft feels so relaxing at one moment while you're exploring / building and then suddenly BOOM there's a creeper or an arrow head shot out of the dark when you least expect it!  I've literally jumped out my seat several times and I love it.

  Do you play SMP or Singleplayer primarily. 

I like both; but I'm focusing on singleplayer right now due to my schedule, it allows me to come and go at my own pace.  Plus, I want to look back and see how much I could accomplish solo on a particular world.  But I'll be setting up a private server soon for some close friends and family and eventually will jump around some public SMP for kicks.  There’s too many to name really there’s a server for every taste out there.

  What's the coolest thing you've ever found?

Probably this insanely huge underground cave system; I couldn’t find the end of it.  Usually you go in deep finding different routes of a cave till they all deadend somewhere and you have to dig through; but this one just kept going and going – it was massive seemed to cover the entire world I never found a deadend or cut off point.

  What's your favorite and least favorite mob?

I like them all; they each pose a different style of threat; I do wish the zombies came out in more numbers to create more of a challenge.  The spider is my least favorite in that it constantly freaks me out since they can jump great lengths and climb walls but I wouldn’t have it any other way —I like to be challenged and I like to be scared while playing survivor mode.  The creepers are my favorite, they have a tendency to show up out of nowhere since they hardly make much noise till they’re right up on you and by then it’s too late. Sneaky bastards, but what I like about them is when they seem to just stand still and stare at you with that sad face…creepy.

  What's the first thing you made when you found diamonds?

You might laugh but I saved my first few diamonds for a while; I just didn’t want to waste them --was so proud to have em' tucked away in a chest – but of course, eventually I armed myself with a trusty diamond pickaxe…

  If you could add one thing to the game what would it be?

More mobs! – not just baddies but npc (non player characters), maybe a traveling merchant you encounter randomly that could offer you assistance or trade goods.  I read there’s talk of adding in goblin towns that could randomly generate and huge dragon bosses to reach high above mountain peaks.  That would make me a happy Minecrafter :D

  What's one thing you hope never gets added to the game?

I hope the game doesn’t go too far off course; it has such a unique feel.  I like that it can be enjoyed by everyone from kids to adults.  I hope they don’t add a lot of blood and gore or change the atmosphere too much from how it is—Notch has a good vision though about where the game is going and in Notch we trust.

  What's the most valuable thing you've ever lost?

Ha, nothing too intense (probably reason why I don’t play SMP much to avoid grievers damaging my creative endeavors) but on my very first world; I had a bunch of goodies with me - was the first time I’d discovered a dungeon and had been making my way out of the cave with all the treasures I had collected there (a music record, lots of gold, red dust, diamond etc) – I was getting tired and sleepy and not paying attention to where I was digging and I opened a lava pool that killed me and burnt what were up to this point my best items lol --

  What's your favorite Minecraft website, LPer, or Youtube video?

The “yogscast” series are my absolute favorite… the humor, commentary and characters they create are like no other; I also enjoy “Coe’s Quest” a lot – his are consistent with quality and he has a great voice for commentary.  A few other notable ones are “Seananners”, “Father and Son Adventures” and “Man Vs Minecraft”.

  Where can people find you online?

My Minecraft site is geekncraft.tumblr.com where I'm creating a letsplay journal type narrative of my Minecraft experiences.  I’m also working on another site at geekstylo.tumblr.com which will start to make it’s way soon along with a portfolio site showcasing my artwork.  You can contact me at [email protected]