(Be forewarned - I may cross-post in my gaming blog, familygamingxp.blogspot.com)

October 30, 2011

Finally got Paypal working so I could pay and play.

As I was reading the welcome sign, a creeper came and killed me.

Thankfully Brofinn and later Praxismaxis were around to help me out.

I was a total n00b. My husband had to come over to show me what were probably the controls for walking. Then Liam showed me how to change the controls.

Just in case I forget ...

• the arrows are now my directions for walking
• when in doubt, I've used the first letter of a word for the action (e.g. A for attack, U for use)

The safe house is gorgeous! Great view, multiple levels, well-stocked.

I have to find a new pickaxe - I accidentally threw mine down and lost it. I was swinging my bow instead of shooting with it, but no one was harmed.

My son watched me play for a bit. He wanted to take over but I told him I had to learn. He had a lot of comments comparing it to Terraria. (Terraria takes a 3rd person perspective instead of 1st person, so I had a lot of trouble navigating.)

Here's a screen shot of my first time on Minecraft. I don't know if it will show up, since I had to stick it in a docx file. We'll see.

1st Minecraft Screenshot.docx

November 1, 2011

Not quite as successful as last time. I was on by myself. I decided to watch a video about how to do stuff - like open the chest. Then I decided to be brave and open the door and go exploring, so I could practice shooting with my bow. I accidentally threw away all 64 of my arrows. Then I thought I'd hit a tree and collect wood so I could craft something like I saw in the video. Before I could shut the door, a creeper came up to me and ate me! I respawned near some tree and I headed towards what turned out to be a building that wasn't our house. I died a second time when I accidentally tried to swim in lava.  I got lost again and I left my character hiding in some maze of passages. In good news, I put on my new skin. I think I need to watch more stuff and go on when others are around - I think I'll also ask my students how to do some stuff.

November 3, 2011

I definitely am a go-on-together sort of player! I coordinated with MissColby to play together and I'm glad I did. She found me wandering near the blown-out section of one of the safe houses. We went wandering together. MissColby gave me an axe and a raw chicken, which I can't eat yet. I picked up some rotten carcasses. I also figured out how to pick up the torch, even though it will only stay lit if I attach it to a wall. It's also not a good enough weapon or tool on its own. I killed my first pig! It took a long time but I was able to do it with the axe. I accidentally hit my friend once with the axe while hunting. She forgave me. I even helped MissColby make a hidey hole for night security while Denise and I were wandering - I piled dirt up! MissColby got attacked by a spider and I tried to help but I couldn't get to her. Denise gave me my best tip yet - don't use the laptop to play! I don't have a mouse for my laptop and it helps to have one. I loaded stuff on my desktop and it works just fine. My students were telling me about how to use the lava to get diamonds but I'm not at that stage yet.

November 6, 2011

This was a really fun session because, for the first time, all three of us were online at the same time!

I watched some videos about how to cook my raw chicken and worried a bit because I didn't know how to make a furnace. Lucky me, Praxis already made one and had it in the house. He unlocked it and I cooked my pork and chicken! I was so pleased! I also learned how to shoot my bow and arrow. I have different control settings so right-click alone doesn't work. I needed to use the U (for use) key. I was told that holding shift meant I wouldn't fall over the edge, and that sleeping in the beds Praxis provided made the night go faster. I have awful aim but it was fun to practice shooting. I patrolled for spiders and creepers. I screamed out loud when a creeper jumped high up where we were on the balcony - my whole family complained about the noise. When MissC came on, we decided to visit her house. I don't have a house yet - I feel like a bit of a slacker. I joked last time that I was on a Minecraft IEP. I am so lucky to be playing with such talented gamers. They showed me the pool in the main house and where to get boats. We were all boating at the same time as we traveled to MissC's place. I was totally impressed with MissC's sculpture (and both Praxis and MissC's gardens). Here they are making art, forming culture! I'm still at the prehistoric man stage before even the cave paintings! I killed a sheep (badly) while at MissC's (I think I hit someone with an arrow while trying) and got spooked by a creeper peeking at me through the window. I "slept over" at MissC's place because I had to put my own kids to bed.

My son watched part of my game play and controlled my character for a bit. He ditched me to watch his dad play Borderlands but then started to write a "Minecraft Tips" sheet for me - of course, I just learned most of the stuff he was writing, but it'll be a good reminder. He liked talking to Liam.

November 8, 2011

I checked out the crafting section of the Minecraft wiki before logging on tonight because I thought it was time I crafted something, for heaven's sake! It reminds me of cooking in Webkinz - combine ingredients in certain ways to get something new. I updated my journal and when I logged on, Praxis was there and I had just missed MissC! I decided to make her a little house-warming present (a picture for decoration - I saw how on the Minecraft Craft wiki). Praxis steered me long-distance and I made myself my first thing - a craft table. I had clued in that my 2X2 matrix was not the 3X3 one I needed to craft but didn't make that next logical step. Unfortunately I did not have enough material to make my present. I went out and killed a sheep in record time - Praxis said he learned how to shear a sheep so you don't have to kill it. That'll be useful. I saw a piggy and went to the roof to try and shoot it but it was too dark. It took a while for me to dismantle my chest (Diana = hold the A button, don't tap tap it) but I now have it in my inventory.

November 12, 2011

Today was a busy day in Minecraft and Mary and Peter (my kids) helped me out a lot. When I logged on, no one else was on. I thought that I needed to get a little braver and do more exploring, instead of hanging out in MissC's house all the time (plus her crafting table, furnace, and chest were all locked with spells). I found my boat and tried to sail back to Praxis' house. I saw an island with mushrooms and I wanted to collect them, but I had a problem - I couldn't get out of the boat! I was stuck. Then night fell. I was too scared to travel back to either of the houses (creepers, don'tcha know). Of course, it began raining. I sat all night in the middle of the water, in the pouring rain, staying on guard. I saw my first duck. I let him live. When it was day, I sailed back. I put out a plea on Twitter to get out of my boat. I looked up how to get out on Google. I must've been sitting for a long time because even the console gave me hints. (Diana tip = to get out of the boat, right-click while looking at the boat). Praxis came to check on me and then had to go afk.  I went back out in the water and saw a cow. I attacked the cow while still in my boat. It was pretty clumsy - I ended up destroying my boat in the process of getting the cow. Thankfully the water wasn't too deep. I ran back to Praxis' house because I saw spiders in the water - scary! I cooked my beef and ate some. (Diana tip = put the food in your hand and hold down U to eat the food). Praxis made this awesome rail system and when he returned, he showed me around. It took me a while to get into the rail car (Diana tip = have nothing in your hand, look at the start button near the side of the rail, and push U to push the button that starts the rail). My kids were laughing at me because I was hollering like I was on a roller coaster. Praxis gave me iron ingot and began to show me how to forge my own armor. He went off and so my kids helped by looking up online what patterns I had to make with the iron on the crafting table to get what I wanted. We were going to travel back via rail with our newly crafted armor and a sword to fight beasties, but I missed my rail car and it went without me. I decided to just walk on the rails to follow it back but as I did,  I fell off the rails deep down below. Praxis himself fell off a cliff and landed on a creeper - he blew up! We didn't know how to get back to the rail station; there was no way out. Peter helped me begin to dig stairs to get out. It was getting late and I needed to put the kids to bed. We are still half-way down, trying to dig our way back.

December 1, 2011

I haven't played in ages but today I surveyed my students to see who was interested in joining the Minecraft Club.

I only asked the two grade 7-8 classes. 31 kids asked for their names to be placed on the list. Two already have accounts. The funny thing is that a pair of boys approached me and said that I should give a quiz to people who want to join because we don't want to "waste time" with people who don't know the game or will just quit. They typed up a quiz for me to use and I wanted to reprint it here.

Minecraft Quiz by Freddy and Wayne

1) What's the best way to survive in Minecraft when you only have 20 torches and 1 stack of 64 woods?

2) What's the best way to start?

3) What kind of tools do youn need to mine obsidian?

4) What can you do with red stone?

5) How do you make a Nether portal?

6) What do you tame a wolf?

7) How long have you play (sic) Minecraft?

8) What makes you want to join the Minecraft Club?

9) How often do you play Minecraft in a week?

ETA: I spoke with the boys and mentioned that I would fail their test if I attempted it. They replied that they'd make an easier one. They were concerned about how the members would be selected. I suggested that I might want to draw random names or look at choosing people who were not already involved in many other clubs. They sounded okay with that.