Minecraft game - what do you know?

[trulyscrumptious43]

DS age 14 is obsessed by this game. I limit his screen time to 2 hours a day but it seems to be all he thinks about too. Does anyone know, is there any eductional value in it? It looks very basic from what I've seen, am I just not getting it?

educational

I hate it but dh loves it.
It is educational to an extent and is a bit like cyber Lego. There's a low violence threshold as you have to beat zombies with a stick.
When dd is older I will let her play it as I think it can encourage imaginative play.
The only thing I would monitor is that if he joins a server to play with other people and can chat with them. Obviously you don't have much control over what is said.

Ah thank you. DS isn't into the zombie thing, I've looked at his stuff on there - he likes to show me what he's built - and I saw no zombies.
I understand the cyber lego comparison, DS used to really into lego til last yr (he's 14). It just all looks very basic to me, can't see the appeal (ok, I'm 45, that might be the problem). DS says that most people on it are his age...and grown men. No surprise there then!

Oh I love Minecraft - it's really creative :) I haven't played on a multiplayer server much and only then with people I already knew, so I'd be wary of that for a child unless you could set it up with just his mates from school.

Very little in the way of violence, ime - the main aim is to build interesting stuff and survive the night by hiding away!

I suddenly have the urge to design the second floor in my castle now...

DS is always showing me things on it and telling me about who he's playing with, he seems very aware of my fears that he's talking to some fat middle aged american in a stained string vest!
It does look to be cyber lego and he has just acquired a collie dog in there - shame his real dog is sitting by his feet waiting for some attention...

My partner plays on it all the time. He & his friends created their own server to play on which other players can use. They create big buildings etc. The monsters on the game will appear anyway in "dark" places as far as I'm aware? e.g. if you built a big house with no windows, it would be dark inside and monsters could appear there. They are block monsters....scary

It's a hugely creative game, but at the heart of it, remains a game. You can create some entirely amazing creations on there or simply dig and create - it's basically lego but with imagination cranked to 11.

Yogscast and Awesome Video Games do some great series on Minecraft (both have offensive language though, so watch out for that).

My DS, age 12 and all his friends are obsessed with this game at the moment - TBH i am glad as it takes him away from the playstation for a change.
I don't really mind him playing on this, as he gets 1-1.5 hours of sport every day as well, and its his relaxation time. He doesn't really watch TV

Its like lego until you get to mining, redstone, nether, farms, pistons and the community is great, some language in multiplayer but some amazing mods out there, adding new stuff to the game. www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Minecraft_Wiki

DS1, who is 12, has started getting into it, and as far as I can tell it is a more healthy alternative than COD and the like. I don't know a lot about it, though.

Oh, I am an expert at minecraft, its a game made by mojang what is small company.

Luke the fact that it is creative and no guns but ds3(10)is obsessed and would do nothing else given the chance ,it dies seem highly addictive and I'd casing a lot of grief re screen time

Then stop blocking it and start playing.

And there is a mod for guns, but there not really like "HIGH GORE CALL OF DUTY MINECRAFT EDITION"!
There more like "Pew pew pew"

I don't want to play it ,but in general I don't block things,I really like some aspects of the game,the creativity and logical thinking but I have never known any of
my children to be so addicted to something .ds3 will do minecraft in preference to everything else,he talks about nothing else ,he dreams about it FGS

So reluctantly I have had to ban it for now,apart from anything else no one else can get near the computer if he is allowed unlimited access to it,he even watches minecraft videos on my phone if we are in the car and apparently tells me you can get a podcast!

I prefer to encourage my children to self regulate but this has become a big problem for us so I think he has to go cold turkey for a bit and rediscover other pleasures.

Yogcast, I believe you mean.
Anyway, I dream of it.
And its not just placing blocks, there is redstone wiring.

My DD1 aged 13 is getting quite addicted to Minecraft (she just has the free version) and I am having to limit her screen time - she'd play it from waking to bedtime given half the chance.

And I want to get on the laptop to MN occasionally!

It seems fairly harmless, I do keep an eye on her play but don't want to play myself. I'm not one for games.

Minecraft is the crack cocaine of the gaming world for kids as far as I can tell.

It causes so many argument in this house!

Noooo, every ones into cannabis nowadays norma, not cocaine, get with the times mon.

Anyone know how to limit the access to chat on this game?

My son (12) plays this online and has been bullied by two other users - adults, apparently. They have been saying really nasty (sexual) things to him. I only found out today, but DS says it has been going on for about a month. He didn't tell us because he didn't think it was 'serious', but now he's getting really upset about it and says it makes him feel sick and scared. He already suffers from an anxiety disorder and uses Minecraft to relax, so this is all he needs. Am thinking of reporting what's been said to CEOP. So, spendit, I would say definitely watch out for the 'chat' option, as you just don't know who is out there.

Anyone have any advice about what we should do?

And I agree about the addictive nature of Minecraft. DS would happily play it all his waking hours if we didn't have parental controls that turn the computer off.

My DS is another fan. Could someone tell me if its safe to download mods for him or how do I check they're ok? I'm pushing the boundaries of my technical knowledge.
Thanks

@Justinepants.
In my experience, the mods are okay, the problem usually lies in the download sites they are hosted on. It can often be very difficult to find the correct link to download the actual mod, when it is surrounded by a dozen other buttons saying "Download now", most of which are adverts/malware.
Also be aware that applying a mod to Minecraft (the one installed on your PC, not a server) is not a trivial exercise for the uninitiated - there are tutorials on the internet - but it involves finding and then opening up the minecraft "jar" file (a collection of files, a bit like a "zip" package), and then replacing/inserting the contents of the mod.
You'll need a piece of freeware/shareware called "WinRAR" to do this. You also need to apply something called a "modloader" (I think) to Minecraft first (a one-off activity) before you can then install the actual mods. Check the internet for full tutorials.

Yep. Boths DS's like this I have limited time for younger DS.
13yr old now has 1hr during week and 3hrs weekend.
I'm getting tougher!
I'm not keen but I can see the creative benefits.
Chloe x

It's great afaik but I'm not sure about the whole servers thing - where you connect with other players - I worry about that, I think ds just plays on the download so not connecting as such.? But he always wants to go on youtube to look at how other people play it. I don't worry about minecraft 'violence' or weaponry at all. It's funny, not threatening.

The other day I found him on Gunbuilder though. He said his school friend has it. I don't like that and got cross.

I'm a bit feeble and reactionary about internet use, I don't have a clue what I'm dealing with so probably get it wrong a lot.