In all honesty, I believe the experiment took place, it made for an interesting read. Just not as dramatic as it was portrayed by the op. Players most likely had similiar ideals, but these huge gaping holes were never made. There would be branch minds, and caves explored. This picture was most likely taken from the experiment, then a few after effects added.
Half the interest I've had in this is all the people commentin' about it later...
Now, I think it'd be interesting if it was a tighter community, say, a group of friends (instead of random strangers) that were close and connected, and give them the same situation, again going into the dark about it.
I would like to see that.
Half the interest I've had in this is all the people commentin' about it later...
Now, I think it'd be interesting if it was a tighter community, say, a group of friends (instead of random strangers) that were close and connected, and give them the same situation, again going into the dark about it.
I would like to see that.
It would not be nearly as interesting. There would be no conflict, as they would most likely work together for some common goals, such as creating farms, a central base and a way of fairly distributing resources. With their only real enemy the artificial mobs and night. Which does not pose a true threat.
It would not be nearly as interesting. There would be no conflict, as they would most likely work together for some common goals, such as creating farms, a central base and a way of fairly distributing resources. With their only real enemy the artificial mobs and night. Which does not pose a true threat.
Similar issues may arise with a group of volunteers who go into the experiment knowing what to expect. However at this point, I'm not sure that can be helped.
Another thing I forgot to point out that seemed strange is the merchants guilds base.
Their floor is made out of wooden blocks, they could have used that to makes sticks and then tools to mine the iron and gold I pointed out in my earlier posts. And before anyone says it's half-slabs the prerelease for them came out right near the end of the experiment. Also why would the merchants guild even trade to get netherack from the griefers, the merchants guild has a nether portal and it's the only one on the map so they had all the netherack they could want.
The Merchants guild was fine. They had resources. It was the other factions that didn't. Also the Merchants Guild was the one selling the blocks and getting the food/wood/saplings.
Regardless of whether or not this experiment is true and not just some well-written hoax, a lot of you are missing some important details.
Social experiments similar to this one have been done in all sorts of different mediums, and many have similar results. Regardless of whether or not this specific experiment is true, the results and observations can be related to numerous others of similar types. Do a little research, your most common result for these social experiments is chaos and destruction. There are other possible outcomes - and at that point you're just looking at the ethics of your specific group of testers. It's possible for there to be more positive results, but just as possible - if not more likely - to see a more horrifying conclusion.
A lot of you questioning some of the observations with "well, there's plenty of iron!", most of you are forgetting all of the mechanics in this game. Most of you probably play without limitations such as the ones listed here. You are playing a near infinite world, where removing entire materials from the equation is unheard of. Iron, for instance, is extremely important to a player fresh starting a world - but not long into it, it is hardly a rarity and is just expended like candy without a second thought. Yeah, it sucks if you die and lose a bunch of it - but you probably aren't set back miles.
You have control of your wood supply. Cut down a tree, you got saplings for another 10. Soon you can manage an entire forest by yourself, and you have ridiculous amounts of wood. The only struggle you have with that resource is whether or not you brought it with you on your mining expedition. You slap a few sticks with coal and you get torches, use a few with some wood planks and you have a set of basic tools.
Over the course of 2 months, in such a tiny world, it's completely reasonable that those who want to ensure their own dominance and survival are going to reap what they can. You hoard renewable resources all for yourself and your own struggles become easier while simultaneously taking that away from others. Wood is probably the sole most important resource in this game, as it is the building-block for everything. You take away wood, and you're left with people who can punch dirt. As the struggle for survival becomes tougher, people become more desperate. They might charge in - defenseless - in hopes of being able to steal some resources that they could then use - then making themselves a target.
There are plenty of variable in Minecraft that could not relate to real-life. The fact that you can have a house in the sky, is one of many. Death being nothing more than a setback is another, but dying to the hands of an enemy can be catastrophic if you give them resources they could turn against you.
I might have missed it, but assuming that the experiment had an up-time of a few hundred or thousand hours, I can totally see this result from the experiment. It could be fake, but I see no blatantly obvious reason why it couldn't be real either. You all have to keep in mind ALL of Minecraft's mechanics. It's very easy to take basic things like wood for granted.
EDIT: This seems like it would be ridiculously fun and I would have loved to be a part of this. Oh well!
I want to do this experiment as much as the next guy, but guys this isn't going to work if we read all this already.
We'd know they we have to save on resources and we know that grass will become important in the end. It won't work if we already know all these things.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Signatures are for the homeless and the fergots of the world.
I want to do this experiment as much as the next guy, but guys this isn't going to work if we read all this already.
We'd know they we have to save on resources and we know that grass will become important in the end. It won't work if we already know all these things.
That's the problem. You cannot replicate this experiment with any of the userbase on this forum without them finding out about the original experiment or having prior knowledge to the experiment. That's why I'm attempting to see if this could actually have happened, if thirty people in two months could truly have caused this much destruction.
I want to do this experiment as much as the next guy, but guys this isn't going to work if we read all this already.
We'd know they we have to save on resources and we know that grass will become important in the end. It won't work if we already know all these things.
Last time I checked a grass block wasnt important, but the dirt it's self to grow trees and stuff :/
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” — Albert Einstein
"Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig." — Robert Heinlein
Since everyone knows grass is important in the end, it will be what everyone will be getting. They will raid grass and dirt blocks like diamonds and keep it for them selves, until they get raided or lava and the cycle continues!. This will actually speed up the end of civilization in the game
Grass is not that vital in the long run now though. There are several enchantments and ways to protect this sacred thing for the later game. Since enchanting has been made so much easier now, it won't be long before they're grinders that get you to level thirty, and inevitably someone will obtain silk touch.
When this was made animals spawned on grass. They still do, but it's only a few per chunk now.
Very rarely, new animals can spawn in already generated chunks, just like monsters do. When animals spawn in this way, they do so only on grass blocks with light level 9 or greater above them. This is also a requirement for animals spawning from monster spawners. Unlike monsters, animals do not spontaneously despawn, except for wild ocelots and wolves.
In a wasteland with little to no food, this can be vital, especially if others are taking out your wheat farms.
Let me know when you do.
In all honesty, I believe the experiment took place, it made for an interesting read. Just not as dramatic as it was portrayed by the op. Players most likely had similiar ideals, but these huge gaping holes were never made. There would be branch minds, and caves explored. This picture was most likely taken from the experiment, then a few after effects added.
Now, I think it'd be interesting if it was a tighter community, say, a group of friends (instead of random strangers) that were close and connected, and give them the same situation, again going into the dark about it.
I would like to see that.
It would not be nearly as interesting. There would be no conflict, as they would most likely work together for some common goals, such as creating farms, a central base and a way of fairly distributing resources. With their only real enemy the artificial mobs and night. Which does not pose a true threat.
Similar issues may arise with a group of volunteers who go into the experiment knowing what to expect. However at this point, I'm not sure that can be helped.
The Merchants guild was fine. They had resources. It was the other factions that didn't. Also the Merchants Guild was the one selling the blocks and getting the food/wood/saplings.
Social experiments similar to this one have been done in all sorts of different mediums, and many have similar results. Regardless of whether or not this specific experiment is true, the results and observations can be related to numerous others of similar types. Do a little research, your most common result for these social experiments is chaos and destruction. There are other possible outcomes - and at that point you're just looking at the ethics of your specific group of testers. It's possible for there to be more positive results, but just as possible - if not more likely - to see a more horrifying conclusion.
A lot of you questioning some of the observations with "well, there's plenty of iron!", most of you are forgetting all of the mechanics in this game. Most of you probably play without limitations such as the ones listed here. You are playing a near infinite world, where removing entire materials from the equation is unheard of. Iron, for instance, is extremely important to a player fresh starting a world - but not long into it, it is hardly a rarity and is just expended like candy without a second thought. Yeah, it sucks if you die and lose a bunch of it - but you probably aren't set back miles.
You have control of your wood supply. Cut down a tree, you got saplings for another 10. Soon you can manage an entire forest by yourself, and you have ridiculous amounts of wood. The only struggle you have with that resource is whether or not you brought it with you on your mining expedition. You slap a few sticks with coal and you get torches, use a few with some wood planks and you have a set of basic tools.
Over the course of 2 months, in such a tiny world, it's completely reasonable that those who want to ensure their own dominance and survival are going to reap what they can. You hoard renewable resources all for yourself and your own struggles become easier while simultaneously taking that away from others. Wood is probably the sole most important resource in this game, as it is the building-block for everything. You take away wood, and you're left with people who can punch dirt. As the struggle for survival becomes tougher, people become more desperate. They might charge in - defenseless - in hopes of being able to steal some resources that they could then use - then making themselves a target.
There are plenty of variable in Minecraft that could not relate to real-life. The fact that you can have a house in the sky, is one of many. Death being nothing more than a setback is another, but dying to the hands of an enemy can be catastrophic if you give them resources they could turn against you.
I might have missed it, but assuming that the experiment had an up-time of a few hundred or thousand hours, I can totally see this result from the experiment. It could be fake, but I see no blatantly obvious reason why it couldn't be real either. You all have to keep in mind ALL of Minecraft's mechanics. It's very easy to take basic things like wood for granted.
EDIT: This seems like it would be ridiculously fun and I would have loved to be a part of this. Oh well!
We'd know they we have to save on resources and we know that grass will become important in the end. It won't work if we already know all these things.
That's the problem. You cannot replicate this experiment with any of the userbase on this forum without them finding out about the original experiment or having prior knowledge to the experiment. That's why I'm attempting to see if this could actually have happened, if thirty people in two months could truly have caused this much destruction.
"Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig." — Robert Heinlein
http://www.minecraft...periment-2-tdm/
Diamonds for you
.
Grass is not that vital in the long run now though. There are several enchantments and ways to protect this sacred thing for the later game. Since enchanting has been made so much easier now, it won't be long before they're grinders that get you to level thirty, and inevitably someone will obtain silk touch.
When this was made animals spawned on grass. They still do, but it's only a few per chunk now.
In a wasteland with little to no food, this can be vital, especially if others are taking out your wheat farms.