Finding the Minecraft Stronghold
So, farming, right? Sounds pretty tedious to begin with, but imagine you’re on your own in an uncharted land and the only way to get some sustainable food is to plant some seeds in the ground. Sure, you could just… hmm, what’s the word… slaughter some cows nearby, but that food supply will run out pretty quick if you don’t make a farm for them. Well, you’re in luck because you found a redstone tutorial for an automatic farm on Reddit!
If you’re new to playing the hit game, Minecraft, Reddit is a great place to get tips for the typically complex redstone system, the game’s version of rudimentary electricity, or to help you survive, whether it’s your first night in the game or your 200th. If survival mode doesn’t float your boat, you can find fantastic inspiration for builds in your creative mode world, with literally thousands of houses or castles or even pixel art to peruse. Let’s take a look at this little society.
Wow, That’s a Lot of Zombies
According to the subreddit, “r/Minecraft,” there are currently 4.8 MILLION Reddit users who have joined this group. Out of these, 36.8 thousand people are active on the site now, which I think is pretty impressive, considering that most people who play Minecraft are kids and teens (and probably plenty of younger adults) who have school or work at the moment.
Since Minecraft is a relatively cheap online game (only about $25 for infinite worlds, maps, servers, and most importantly, ~possibilities~), more people can have access to it, so it makes sense that more people from all around the world play and communicate with each other regarding the game. Want proof? Minecraft has such a wide impact, you can log onto any server or forum and look at the chat; I’ve seen people speaking in Spanish, German, and even Russian talking and asking for help (knowing this only based on my prior understanding of Spanish). You don’t even have to have a laptop or consoles like XBox or PlayStation to join in the fun; Minecraft Pocket Edition is a perfectly good mobile option for people with possible financial or accessibility issues.
Minecraft “IRL”
Although Minecraft is not based on a real-life interest or a physical space, a physical space was made for it! The first ever Minecon (also known as Minecon Earth, Minecon Live, and Minecraft Festival) in 2010 was organized to allow players to meet each other in person and even speak to the developers from Sweden’s Mojang Studios. This convention typically sparks a lot of conversations over forums, YouTube, and of course Reddit, because the panel event usually reveals what will be included in the new update and attendees can even vote on a new “mob” (what the Minecraft community calls any passive, neutral, or aggressive NPC, or non-playable character) to be included in the update.
For example, 2020’s event (held over livestream) offered new mobs such as a “Glow Squid,” which I think is pretty self-explanatory, a “Moobloom,” a yellow cow-like animal with flowers growing on it, and an “Iceologer,” a hostile human-like mob that would make traveling through snowy biomes a lot more… interesting. The Glow Squid winning the vote caused a lot of discourse all over the community because many (including myself, after seeing what the community could have had) wanted the cute Moobloom to win even though the “drops” from the Glow Squid are more useful to the player.
The Smaller Sub-Communities
If you think you would learn best about this community through memes, you’re not alone. Sometimes, it’s easier to learn about something if humor is added. Places to find these ~dank memes~ include Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok. The community is not nearly as large on these platforms as Reddit and there is much less player-to-player interaction and communication, but Minecraft content certainly does find its way there.
The biggest difference between these platforms and Reddit is that Reddit neatly organizes the content of the subreddit into ten categories: News, Builds, Art, CommandBlock, LetsPlay, Help, Tutorial, Redstone, Maps, and Creative. If you try to look on the other platforms, you can definitely find a plethora of Minecraft content, but it won’t be organized and you surely won’t see as much conversation between players on these topics. What’s more is that if you wanted to, let’s say, look up inspiration for a city you’re planning on building and fanart, you’d have to hop from website to website to find what you want. With Reddit, it’s all organized and prepared just for you! You’ll probably also notice a few of the same people posting in different categories, making the community feel more connected.
