Is minecraft mostly just an age thing?

I have to say, I feel quite old now when I think about this. Because the game just doesn't appeal to me at all, which is why I haven't played it. And I've grown up playing video games (though I play far less these days).

I mean, putting blocks together in VGA graphics seems to me to be tedious, and surely people who want to build the Enterprise one block at a time have better things to do? Or at least playing something modern and mainstream like BF4/LOL. I didn't build a £1k+ desktop to go back to 1994.

But people younger than me seem to like it, I work in schools and it seems a really popular thing with teens, where as I'm in my twenties.

Reply 1

Jammy Duel

I can see the appeal, but can't say I enjoy it a great deal either. I should think part of it is that you can get away with playing it with minimal hardware, fair enough it will still be crappy if you havea crap CPU, but it's a method to pass the time and be creative, you can't build in Bf or LoL, only destroy, and you need to be committed to play them really with decent hardware; they're targeted at the more hardcore crowd, minecraft at anybody with a computing device.

Reply 2

Rian7

Well, it all depends on the person.. To me it's not just about age, i play with some friends that i know from CoD that have family and babies, and still they enjoy wasting an hour or two a week building houses, and whatever comes to mind and having a laugh. Minecraft is not meant to be serious like FIFA, COD and etc.. its meant to make people have a relaxed time whilst enjoying something slightly different to the normal games.

17 and i still love to play the game, although not as much as before because of time and other games but 2-3 hours a week is reasonable to spend on it. :smile:

Reply 3

HandmadeTurnip

People think FIFA, COD and Battlefield are serious? Minecraft has more depth than all those games put together, particularly when you take into account mods.

Reply 4

Jaz_A

I don't think it's necessarily an age thing, just preference and what games you've been brought up on?

Personally I can't play Minecraft, it is too boring/long winded for me.

Reply 5

Rubgish

Minecraft has a very wide range of appeal, not just to young people. It's very popular with young people because it allows you so much freedom to do what you want and to make whatever you want, and young people tend to have pretty wild imaginations that work on overdrive compared to older people, so it works really well in that regard.

For the older gamer, it's a build your own adventure system. The basics like mining & building simple houses are obviously not going to be as exciting for a 20-something as they are for a younger kid. However when it comes to things like running technic mods or playing on larger multiplayer servers, then it becomes way more intricate and detailed. You can just take a look at things like in-game computers or giant cathedrals, basically it's a system that allows people to set their own goals and achievements without having to be directed. Some people don't like that style of gameplay and would prefer to have set objectives like in your COD and your FIFA games, but there are a lot of people who do enjoy the freedom to set their own goals and achieve them.

Reply 6

noggins

Original post by thisistheend

It's just not your cup of tea. Why you decided to create a thread about disliking MC instead of going to find a game that's "modern and mainstream like BF4/LOL" for your overpriced PC is beyond my understanding. MC is probably more popular with kiddywinks as they love using their imagination to build stuff, e.g Lego structures or dens when they play outside. I don't think too many of their parents would find games like BF4 entirely suitable for them either. There's a ton of retro themed games coming out in this nowadays. Retro 3D is still a bit of a niche genre though, I must admit. Yeah, it could be an aquired taste for some.

Reply 7

ChaoticButterfly

I'm sure Microsoft will find a way to ruin it anyway.

Reply 8

TroyAndAbed

The only person I know who plays it is my 10 year old cousin who is OBSESSED with it. I'm sure it has appeal outside of that age range though as it's essentially a game that allows you to use your imagination to create what you want which is quite an appealing concept. It's just not something I'd want to sink time into. :tongue:

Reply 9

Skyarex

Original post by thisistheend

It is a mixture between when you got the game and how old you were when you got it.

I assure you that you would have appreciated the game a lot more if you were an early adopter and as a result, have never seen a game before like minecraft, where there is an infinitely procedurally generated world, mining, crafting and no real set goals other than you're imagination. When it first came out, people were intrigued less because it was actually good, and more because people just never saw a game like that before. Here was a game that never held your hand like many modern games, and instead just plopped you into its world and let you go nuts. And best of all, everytime you play it is entirely different.

When your older that charm sort of goes away though and the games flaws are far more prominent. I can see why it may not appeal to you.

Reply 10

username321708

I bought it for the first time last week and I'm in my twenties. I''ve only played survival mode but I'm surprisingly enjoying it. It's good to relax with for a little while rather than blasting off someones face in Borderlands like I usually do. The game may be block based with low resolution graphics but there is a creativity in it that most other games do not offer. Being able to adapt and change the environment in which you are playing is probably what makes it so fun.

Reply 11

username612415

For me it's a social thing rather than an age thing. Played alone Minecraft bores me after half an hour, in a group I can lose entire afternoons to it.

Reply 12

Ozzin

Minecraft is a great way to relax for anyone, just play a relaxing game of survival or make a structure from pure imagination.

Of course it's got a solid platform for business-age individuals, projects, videos and the like are more applicable to older people therefore minecraft spans the entire age spectrum.

Reply 13

Munrot07

I'm 18 and have never ever seen the appeal in it. I've tried it and it is sooooo boring. It isn't my sort of game at all. Plus I'm sick of some youtubers I watch doing so many minecraft videos...it just gets old and boring. But thats just my opinion :smile:

Reply 14

PinkMobilePhone

Volunteer Team

no it's not an age thing. I've known people from 4 up to late 30s who all like it.

Reply 15

NineBurgundy

I used to love it a few years back, when I was in my early teens, but it kinda lost its value after a while. That said, I think the reason it was so fun was that I'd play it with friends, which doesn't happen so much now, partly due to time and partly because they're bored of it too. The social elements- making a community, showing off your skill- were what made the game great.