Minecraft Forums

So here's the deal; I'm taking a virtual cultures course during January that is 3 weeks long, but has enough class time to be worth the three credit hours of a normal full semester course. We had to pick a virtual culture and study its' members and write a massive paper. So i thought, what better place than Minecraft! I'm fairly new to both the game and the forums, but I would much appreciate it if you would take the time to reply to this and answer a few questions that I will now post below. I have also posted this question in general and in survival so I can get a broader feel of the members of the forums, and the different users of the game.

the main question I am trying to answer is; What makes this a culture, and what do people find fun and exciting about this game? i know this seems obvious, but I have to hear it from some other users, not just my opinion.

also, is there a language that Minecraft users use? For example, the lolcat people have their "kitteh" speak. I haven't noticed this one, but maybe someone can shed some light on this topic for me.

are there any rituals that are followed by the memebers, on the forums, or in game?

im sure that I will come up with more questions, but I would love it if some of you would reply with reasonable answers, don't just sit there and troll this.

I will contribute my perspective and wish you success in your class.

A culture is a group of individuals that share ideas and beliefs about all aspects of life. Many of us would identify into smaller niche groups for hardcore survival, creative building, or role playing but the attraction to the game remains the same for most. There is a beautiful world made entirely of blocks that constantly changes and is full to the brim with adventure and discovery. I think the universal draw is that Minecraft makes worlds with few limitations. We are free to interact and express ourselves in ways we normally could not, especially when it comes to building things. Cobbling together some spare electronics in the garage doesn't scratch the same primordial itch that building a scale replica of the Sydney Harbor Bridge or the Canterbury Cathedral does.

In my experience the language of minecraft is English. Probably because that is my first language. I also speak German, but I don't use that much.

I suppose thinking about the last question really gets me to thinking about how most of us all came from the cultures we grew up in and around, and sort of came together with all of our experience and differences and made a sort of second over-culture in the Minecraft world. We recognize ideas about art and beauty, morality and fairness and most of the time respect others when their opinions differ. We all sort of bring along rituals and practices from our experiences and try to make them fit as well as developing totally new ones to fit. The only thing I can really think of right now is the sharing of picture or video of the things we do and build. Let's Play series I think are still fairly popular and it doesn't take long to find new threads full of picture galleries that users are posting and giving critiques of each others work.

Minecraft even has its own myths and a little lore whether they have been disproven or not. For example the herobrine myth and the chicken conspiracy are both commen topics ont he forum and have been part of the minecraft culture from the start

Lol we got plenty of language here
For example:

I SAY GREEN D!CK YOU SAY.....

PUNCHIN TREES

DIAMONDS TO YOU

DON'T DIG DOWN


TILL I TOOK AN ARROW TO THE KNEE Oh wait wrong game.

Good luck my friend.

Interesting topic choice.

The Herobrine myth may be an interesting topic to reflect on in your report.

Indeed. A large culture, complete with it's own vocabulary, terminology, citizenship, even myths, legends, and religions (to a point).

I'd suggest both browsing the forums and playing on some online servers to get a "feel" for the game.