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AIBU?

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Original poster

To not think it is the end of the world for ds to play on minecraft

65 replies

goodgrief54 · 14/12/2013 12:51

As the title suggests my ds loves to play on computer games especially minecraft. He is not on there 24/7 but I do let him go on for an hour after school in the winter as he is really tired at the mo. aibu to think there is some educational value? He is really quite creative with the things he builds but my friend has made me feel like I am the world's worst mother for allowing pc games after school.. any thoughts?!

OP posts:
secretsantasquirrels · 14/12/2013 14:30

I said up thread that DS2 played it. I just remembered DS1 bought it years ago. If you think it's clunky now you should have seen version 1. I used to joke that it was written by a 17 year old Norwegian in his bedroom. Actually I think he is probably very rich by now.
If you question the cost I can honestly say that the cost in £s per hour of play is the best value my DC ever had.

BakeOLiteGirl · 14/12/2013 14:37

I find the newer version of minecraft tricky to mod so I use 5.something. The best way is to google how to install mods on minecraft. It's a case if dropping or extracting the right download into the right folder in Minecraft. So much easier to watch a video than explain it.

By the way, Steam is for GMod something completely different. Do not get this without heavily monitoring what's going on as it can be violent.

Minecraft is through Mojang or something. Google is your friend.

Original poster
goodgrief54 · 14/12/2013 15:28

Thanks everyone you have made me feel a lot more confident that it is all ok.. shouldn't let it/her get to me. my ds is very creative both on pc and off and takes great joy in learning.. he is 8 & told me the symptoms of the plague the other day so not just fixated with computer games! Wink

OP posts:
misskatamari · 14/12/2013 15:51

Minecraft is amazing! I have spent hours cutting down a tree so I can have a nice view out of my house and make a pretty garden!

Oblomov · 14/12/2013 15:57

Ds1 (9) plays it for hours. Your friend is a berk!

SomethingkindaOod · 14/12/2013 15:57

Ahem, showing off now but Tom Syndicate is the friend of a friend of ours... Since he wished DS a personal happy birthday last year he has been practically worshipped in this house. Anybody who says that computer games are worth nothing needs to look at his career!
Minecraft is amazing and very educational if you want it to be. It's used in some schools to teach geography and computer programming, I think it's the PC version rather than xbox though.
I wish it had been around when I was young..

Nanny0gg · 14/12/2013 16:00

cranberryorange Thanks for the info. Sounds perfect for my 5 year-old DGC.

I shall look into it.

Beastofburden · 14/12/2013 17:46

DS1 played it loads before it was famous and has just got a first in biochemistry from Cambridge so I wouldn't worry about it. He says it is an excellent game, very creative and based on good science.

JadziaSnax · 14/12/2013 20:12

It's brilliant. DS (7) plays it and gets so much enjoyment out of his weird & wonderful creations. I could do without the endless YouTube videos, but kudos to people like Stampy who actually take the time to share their knowledge and skills with other players.

It's also spurred him on into making minecraft style games in Scratch, which is giving him an understanding of simple programming. He comes up with the idea and I help him with the program.

coppertop · 14/12/2013 20:22

Minecraft is what first got my ds into programming.

SunshinemMum · 14/12/2013 20:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Freddiefrog · 14/12/2013 20:29

Minecraft is brilliant, my 2 girls spend ages on it, far longer than 2 hours a week.

My eldest Skypes with my neighbour's son and they play it together. They had a Skype/Minecraft session all afternoon.

As for educational value, I really don't care. They spend all week at school, sometimes they need to kick back and relax and do something fun

autumnsmum · 14/12/2013 20:37

My son loves it

MrPoppy · 14/12/2013 21:04

I wish that the youtube stuff wasn't full of exclamations of "fucking awsome!" and that some of the copied ideas (like the staircase game) lead to looking into the original.

Willabywallaby · 17/12/2013 06:12

I'm really clueless when it comes to computer games and thought Minecraft was fine, but am finding out there is creation and survival. And servers that link you to play with others.

I'm not keen on my 8YO doing this, do you have to 'allow' someone to play with you? He was waffling on about getting onto his friend's server but since I was completely oblivious to what he was on about I could honestly say I didn't know how to. I feel a 'dangers of the internet' talk coming on.

He currently plays it on my Ipad which is usually hooked up to our Wifi except when it's playing up (like now). So I'm concerned he could be playing with unknowns, he did mention the other day about someone coming inot his world Hmm.

Anyway I think I need to learn about this!

He has the Xbox version coming from Father Christmas and that isn't hooked up to the Wifi, but he may ask for it to be...

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