#How Minecraft fails to captivate me, specifically

Time and time again.

#Not many memories

I can't really say I have much nostalgia for Minecraft. I played it a few times when I was in my early teens, around 14 or 15 years of age, but I didn't even own the game then, either playing offline or hosting a server for my friends, because that was free and I could turn off authentication so I could join them.

I only purchased Minecraft after I'd gotten a job, and had my own money, in 2020.

#Cycle of (dis)interest

Ever since then I have been in a cycle of revisiting the game around every three or six months, playing it for a week or two at most, then quitting, for the cycle to repeat again.

I decided to take some time to analyze why Minecraft fails so consistently to captivate me, and keep my attention, when arguably less interesting games can make me hyperfixate for months at a time.

#Steps of the cycle

So let's take a closer look at how this cycle goes.

#1. Let's play Minecraft!

The cycle begins with an invitation to play, of course. Whether it comes from an outside source, friend groups or recommended YouTube videos, or from myself, being reminded of its existence.

It's at this time I'll boot up trusty ATLauncher, make a new server or instance, and start playing.

Most of the times this happens, I'll actually be asked to host a server for someone else, because for one reason or another they were not able to do it on their own and I'm the one who has done it time and time again for years.

#2. How are we going to play it, then?

Spoilers: It's never Vanilla.

Ever since I first started playing Minecraft, I took a liking for the Fabric modloader. It was a time at which the only options were Forge, and Fabric was just taking off. I read up on them and the philosophy behind Fabric caught my attention. So, for the same reasons I use Linux, I decided to stick with Fabric for all my modding needs¹.

#3. Modpacks!

Since the servers I host are never just for myself, I end up taking mod recommendations from everyone who plays, and it ends up turning into a mess. Sometimes there isn't even any time to play before it becomes a mess, being sent a huge modpack full of incompatible, unnecessary or bloated mods.

In my attempt to please others I end up making a gameplay experience I'm not invested in myself, and my participation and engagement suffers from it.

My own lack of moderation and control over how my server will function is probably a big part of why I don't like playing to start with, but at the same time, I aim to please, for no good reason.

#4. Left behind

Everyone with whom I play has already been playing the game for many years more than I have, are more familiar with it than I am, and have intentions that conflict with mine.

Usually, my Minecraft playthroughs involve getting materials, making gear, building a little house, maybe making a Nether portal, and not much else.

After a day in the server, the space surrounding spawn will be full of player buildings, their bases, their statues, the communal chests. Some will, of course, move far away from spawn to setup base in the perfect biome, can't fault that. It's very nice seeing what others come up with. Glass buildings, tree houses, decorated mountain caves, it's a delight.

A few days longer, someone will have a chunk dug out, have farms built and banalize the little bit of progression the game has, and then I lose interest.

#5. General disinterest and Death

A few days longer, someone or a group goes to The End, kills the dragon and that marks the end of the server itself. Two or three days longer, nobody is logging in anymore, I quietly shut down the server, and nobody asks me to bring it up again. I keep every world saved, but realistically, none of it will ever be seen again.

#Detraction

I already have little interest in the game itself, confusing mods that get in the way of the experience, an imbalance in player experience and progress, and ultimately the general loss of interest just serve to put finality into the cycle. Playing alone isn't fun either and I get no enjoyment out of it.

#A matter of taste, or a matter of your head being weird?

I think what it comes down to, though, is that I don't really know how to enjoy Minecraft. After some analysis on the games I actually like, it seems like sandboxes are not in my favorites at all. I like to be guided and given a goal to strive for. If I'm put in a sandbox and given the space to learn, and explore, and interact with it with no guidance, I'll be lost. It seems to me that my ideal experience is a curated one, rather than an emergent one.

#Of your head being weird, then

And if I think about it hard enough, it would seem this goes for how I interact with the world around me as a whole. For instance, I try to be careful with my words and guide others to engage with the aspects I want, being misunderstood is paralyzing, thus, I am careful so that I am interpreted exactly as I intend.

That constant policing of my own behavior, the fear of sounding dumb, gave many the impression of me being smarter than I really am, which sounds good on the surface, but also made me unapproachable. I have mostly gotten over that fear in recent years, as it affected my communication negatively².

It's not all bad though, designing with intent is good, steering an experience is good. As someone who gets lost and confused in games a lot, I end up thinking about design a lot, and give it a lot of value. A bad, or confusingly designed game just won't be finished by anyone like me. And I definitely intend to give a more detailed write-up of that at some later point.

#But maybe there's still a way?

I don't think my distaste for Minecraft is irremediable, though. I would just need the sort of guidance I get from games that are designed with intent, externalized. When I set up and play on a server, it really isn't that different from playing alone, most of the time.

I think playing the game with few or no modifications, and engaging constantly with other players would be a very sweet experience. I just have yet to have that experience at all³.

It all comes down to the fact I am a little slow and I require a little bit of patient guidance to be good at anything. The problem is that I don't seem that way to most, I make myself seem like I've got it all figured out⁴.

#Closing

Minecraft is cool, I hate it. Maybe an experience made with intent will make me hate it less. Maybe I should check out custom maps or something.

I think this cycle is common for people other than myself as well, but probably not for the same reasons. If this is true I would like to know what causes that cycle of disinterest for you, hit me up.