After some trial and error on the forums here I was finally directed here by TheChromiumSlime and Warpshard (thank you). I am finishing up a novel where two of the characters play Minecraft. I have never played but there are some mentions of the game in the novel and I want to make sure I get the terminology correct. Here is the first and most basic mention. Any feedback on making it as accurate as possible is appreciated.
In this scene, Jack (the main character) is trying to locate his computer as a hacking group has kidnapped one of his sons. They communicate with Jack through IM. The scene starts with Jack talking to his wife. Jack's youngest son, Declan, is the Minecraft player in the scene.
“Honey, we can make all of this end if I can just find my computer and talk to them. All they want is the information on Marshall Armstrong. That’s it,” said Jack, “where the hell is my computer?”
“It was on the kitchen table.”
“God damn it! Where did I put it?”
“Jack, we need to call the police.”
“They said no police. Just please, help me find my laptop.”
“What’s going on in here?” Declan had entered the kitchen, looking for something to eat.
“Declan, have you seen my laptop?”
“Yeah, I’ve got it upstairs playing Minecraft. The battery died on mine.”
Jack flew out of the kitchen and up the stairs. “Dad! Don’t log me off. I just downloaded a new mod.”
Jack burst through Declan’s bedroom door and landed on his bed in front of the computer. He ended Declan’s game and logged on to his Gmail, and waited.
“Dad, don’t...”
“Declan, not now.”
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing you need to know about right now.”
“Whatever. My computer should be charged now anyways. I’m going downstairs.”
Jack flew out of the kitchen and up the stairs. “Dad! Don’t log me off. I just downloaded a new mod.”
Jack's reaction is WAAAY too dramatic. Minecraft autosaves regularly (including when you exit the game), so Jack didn't lose any progress. The only thing Jack can really be angry about is being denied the time to play, and even that is trivial, since he could just play it on its own laptop while it's charging (this is because Minecraft can be downloaded on any number of computers; you pay money for the account, not the program per-se) While it's possible that Jack's computer is a mid-20th-century toaster and thus incapable of running Minecraft, this seems unlikely. If I were a parent buying a laptop for my child, and my child liked playing Minecraft, I would want to make sure that my child's laptop could play Minecraft, for selfish as well as selfless reasons, and because Minecraft can run on pretty much any half-decent computer anyway.
As a matter of fact... why is this conversation even happening in the first place? Is it really that hard for Jack to plug his charger into his laptop while the battery is low, or just wait a few minutes for it to charge? And if Declan's laptop is so important to him right now, why didn't he use a login password?
Furthermore, if I were Jack, and I was watching my dad log into his e-mail, and he told me to not pay attention, then that would make me instantly want to know what he's doing.
Conversely, if I were Declan, I wouldn't want my son to watch me open sensitive e-mails. I would tell him to leave my room immediately.
Thanks for all of your thoughts asanetargoss. Jack is actually the father and Declan is his 14 year old son. Sorry, I should have made that clear. As with most 14 year olds, Declan had no patience when he found his computer's battery was drained and simply logged in to Minecraft using his dad's computer even though it would have only been a few minutes for his own to boot up once he plugged it in. Does that make more sense now?
Sorry mate, not even fourteen year olds have patience that short. At least not in Ireland. No idea about America but over here we just plug the computer in before the battery runs out. In fact it's considered a mark of stupidity if you didn't immediately go for a charger the second it hits 20%.
EDIT: Plus, wouldn't it take just as long to boot up his Dad's computer as to boot up his own? I'm assuming it was turned off beforehand or at least in standby mode.
In this scene, Jack (the main character) is trying to locate his computer as a hacking group has kidnapped one of his sons. They communicate with Jack through IM. The scene starts with Jack talking to his wife. Jack's youngest son, Declan, is the Minecraft player in the scene.
“Honey, we can make all of this end if I can just find my computer and talk to them. All they want is the information on Marshall Armstrong. That’s it,” said Jack, “where the hell is my computer?”
“It was on the kitchen table.”
“God damn it! Where did I put it?”
“Jack, we need to call the police.”
“They said no police. Just please, help me find my laptop.”
“What’s going on in here?” Declan had entered the kitchen, looking for something to eat.
“Declan, have you seen my laptop?”
“Yeah, I’ve got it upstairs playing Minecraft. The battery died on mine.”
Jack flew out of the kitchen and up the stairs. “Dad! Don’t log me off. I just downloaded a new mod.”
Jack burst through Declan’s bedroom door and landed on his bed in front of the computer. He ended Declan’s game and logged on to his Gmail, and waited.
“Dad, don’t...”
“Declan, not now.”
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing you need to know about right now.”
“Whatever. My computer should be charged now anyways. I’m going downstairs.”
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Curse PremiumJack's reaction is WAAAY too dramatic. Minecraft autosaves regularly (including when you exit the game), so Jack didn't lose any progress. The only thing Jack can really be angry about is being denied the time to play, and even that is trivial, since he could just play it on its own laptop while it's charging (this is because Minecraft can be downloaded on any number of computers; you pay money for the account, not the program per-se) While it's possible that Jack's computer is a mid-20th-century toaster and thus incapable of running Minecraft, this seems unlikely. If I were a parent buying a laptop for my child, and my child liked playing Minecraft, I would want to make sure that my child's laptop could play Minecraft, for selfish as well as selfless reasons, and because Minecraft can run on pretty much any half-decent computer anyway.
As a matter of fact... why is this conversation even happening in the first place? Is it really that hard for Jack to plug his charger into his laptop while the battery is low, or just wait a few minutes for it to charge? And if Declan's laptop is so important to him right now, why didn't he use a login password?
Furthermore, if I were Jack, and I was watching my dad log into his e-mail, and he told me to not pay attention, then that would make me instantly want to know what he's doing.
Conversely, if I were Declan, I wouldn't want my son to watch me open sensitive e-mails. I would tell him to leave my room immediately.
EDIT: Plus, wouldn't it take just as long to boot up his Dad's computer as to boot up his own? I'm assuming it was turned off beforehand or at least in standby mode.
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