Minecraft
- Thread starter INVSTOR
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Yup we've been through the addiction.
Best to set a time limit on it like you have.
The good thing is that it is pretty good harmless fun - they need to use their spatial skills, planning, budgeting and memory.
Best to set a time limit on it like you have.
The good thing is that it is pretty good harmless fun - they need to use their spatial skills, planning, budgeting and memory.
My son has been playing it for a few years, he is 14. As Westminster said, its not a bad game, when you have a look what else is out there.
GG
GG
Yup we welcomed Assassins Creed III into our house this week. Minecraft is super tame in comparison
not when they start playing on mixed servers with lord knows who
Finally got my 12 year old back after much pain
ta
rolf
I think most kids go through a period where for a while they get very caught up in the online game world but give it away or tone it down after a while.
My eldest got bored with it pretty quickly and required little intervention from us to regulate his play, whereas son 2 needed some strict limit setting after spending one set of school holidays last year pretty much online for much of the 2 weeks (following that it was strictly no hours on end playing -which severely impacted his online social life- and no daytime playing in the school holidays) .
Since then some of his friendships have shifted slightly and on weekends and school holidays he's got out and about, socializing or playing sport instead.
Much of the last school holidays were spent tramming it to the beach to meet up with girls. Different girls on different days!
In the summer holidays he'll be alternating that with working for dad.
I wouldn't get too concerned unless it gets out of hand and impacts social life, school work and/or reduces their physical activity and turns them into a couch potato.
My eldest got bored with it pretty quickly and required little intervention from us to regulate his play, whereas son 2 needed some strict limit setting after spending one set of school holidays last year pretty much online for much of the 2 weeks (following that it was strictly no hours on end playing -which severely impacted his online social life- and no daytime playing in the school holidays
) .Since then some of his friendships have shifted slightly and on weekends and school holidays he's got out and about, socializing or playing sport instead.
Much of the last school holidays were spent tramming it to the beach to meet up with girls
. Different girls on different days!In the summer holidays he'll be alternating that with working for dad.
I wouldn't get too concerned unless it gets out of hand and impacts social life, school work and/or reduces their physical activity and turns them into a couch potato.
So far he's using the free version and watches it compulsively on youtube also. He has asked for an ipod and $20 to buy the paid version for christmas. He's 10. Most of his conversations with me for past two weeks have been about, "imagine this was minecraft and you could build this here...." and he dreams about the game also. He talks about his friends at school all play it and one watches it on youtube als. He won't play with his neighbour friend anymore that he'd go to the park with a few times a week with their family and dogs. I'm going to have to get a lot stricter.
Rolf - what did you do with your son. It's like he's a zombie to minecraft already, I'd imagine if he had his own Ipod and paid game it would be even worse.
Rolf - what did you do with your son. It's like he's a zombie to minecraft already, I'd imagine if he had his own Ipod and paid game it would be even worse.
My wifes older brother.....yes he is 31, still lives at home playing video games such as these. Because his social 'lifestyle' activities prevent him from getting a job out at the mines, he finds himself only sporadically working or not working at all. So to pass the time, he plays these games at home. He is not the best role model for the 14yo and 10yo who are now addicted to video games as well. It is like an addiction, as they all get irritable when they are told to do something and when they dont get their fix.
pinkboy
pinkboy
My 14 year old plays Minecraft also, enjoys the game, though received a ban of some type for a short period, for using a cheat of some type to get unlimited powers, gems or some such
A synposis of the game
Though he moved onto new game "Bastion" the other day
I can't keep up, sometimes he running Windows on his laptop and had the beta version of Windows 8 running on it ages ago, then he set it up like an apple computer, then its Linux, then it's ubuntu
More recently he designed an Andriod App and put it on the market for free, he mentioned on the weekend that its had 20 downloads and he's working on another better version as the first was just a trial
I've asked him to show me how Microsoft Access works as he recently built a database for a golf game
At school himself and his mate had to work on a project together, so unlike the rest of the class, they used Google Drive where they could both log in and work on the project at the same time, thereby finishing it quicker and message each other throughout
On the other side of the coin, he enjoys camping, fishing etc and is in the SES cadets, they recently did a weekend exercise involving a 30km walk with backpacks
Even the 7 year old is using PowerPoint at School
A synposis of the game
Though he moved onto new game "Bastion" the other day
I can't keep up, sometimes he running Windows on his laptop and had the beta version of Windows 8 running on it ages ago, then he set it up like an apple computer, then its Linux, then it's ubuntu
More recently he designed an Andriod App and put it on the market for free, he mentioned on the weekend that its had 20 downloads and he's working on another better version as the first was just a trial
I've asked him to show me how Microsoft Access works as he recently built a database for a golf game
At school himself and his mate had to work on a project together, so unlike the rest of the class, they used Google Drive where they could both log in and work on the project at the same time, thereby finishing it quicker and message each other throughout
On the other side of the coin, he enjoys camping, fishing etc and is in the SES cadets, they recently did a weekend exercise involving a 30km walk with backpacks
Even the 7 year old is using PowerPoint at School
9 yr old plays minecraft on her ipod ... although she has asked for the upgraded (?) version for Christmas - costs something like $30.
She does enjoy, but also has a lot of other activities - she rides horses, draws, makes toys for our new kitten, plays tennis with her father and like to help out cooking/gardening etc.
I do wonder what it's going to be like next year (yr 5) when they get their own macbooks at school?
However, I do think back to when I was a little older than her. Used to spend days on a very early version of computer games on my dad's very early version of a portable computer (about the size of a very large sewing machine with a 1/4 a4 sized screen). They were the days of the words games where you'd have to say "go north", "pick up the cage" etc. I think my parents were glad for the break.
Also used to spend days with the older kids playing PS2 games like Spyro.
But like everything - after a while one gets bored with it and moves on.
I wonder if restricting the time is the answer ... the game then becomes taboo and desirable ... I wonder if letting them have unlimited access - with fun alternatives on hand - would give then an overload (like allowing someone in a chocolate factory unlimited chocolates - by day 3 they're sick of them) and they'd be over it?
Hmmmmm - looking back I sometimes wonder how I survived my teens ...
She does enjoy, but also has a lot of other activities - she rides horses, draws, makes toys for our new kitten, plays tennis with her father and like to help out cooking/gardening etc.
I do wonder what it's going to be like next year (yr 5) when they get their own macbooks at school?
However, I do think back to when I was a little older than her. Used to spend days on a very early version of computer games on my dad's very early version of a portable computer (about the size of a very large sewing machine with a 1/4 a4 sized screen). They were the days of the words games where you'd have to say "go north", "pick up the cage" etc. I think my parents were glad for the break.
Also used to spend days with the older kids playing PS2 games like Spyro.
But like everything - after a while one gets bored with it and moves on.
I wonder if restricting the time is the answer ... the game then becomes taboo and desirable ... I wonder if letting them have unlimited access - with fun alternatives on hand - would give then an overload (like allowing someone in a chocolate factory unlimited chocolates - by day 3 they're sick of them) and they'd be over it?
Hmmmmm - looking back I sometimes wonder how I survived my teens ...
My view might be biased, coming from a gamer who has been through the minecraft phase already.
The game is like electronic lego. While I wouldn't say it's great for kids to spend 8 hours a day playing it, one does have many fond memories as a child of sitting and playing for countless hours on end with my (real world) lego blocks. In that sense, it's a great game for firing up the imagination. It could also be a great game for friendships, provided it's shared with the right social company. People shouldn't poo-poo it for being a "video game".
Disclaimer: I played most of the lego by myself and ended up being somewhat of a introvert during high school. So my argument would be it's not the lego blocks, or the minecraft - it's how you play with them.
The game is like electronic lego. While I wouldn't say it's great for kids to spend 8 hours a day playing it, one does have many fond memories as a child of sitting and playing for countless hours on end with my (real world) lego blocks. In that sense, it's a great game for firing up the imagination. It could also be a great game for friendships, provided it's shared with the right social company. People shouldn't poo-poo it for being a "video game".
Disclaimer: I played most of the lego by myself and ended up being somewhat of a introvert during high school.
So my argument would be it's not the lego blocks, or the minecraft - it's how you play with them.At the moment with his free version he can't save his games so I think about 80% of the time he spends watching Youtubes of it. I had a look back over calender and it's been about 4 weeks that he's been compulsive about it and watching it. I've been painting the house and doing markets and stuff lately so I haven't always been on the ball and I find that I've finally got him to get off the laptop in the loungeroom and then he's snuck into another room and found another device to watch it on. At the moment I threaten him he won't get an ipod for xmas if he doesn't get off. You do see his personality change, he doesn't even bother to eat! First thing he asks for when he hopes in car from school is my phone. I have tried distracting him a bit with taking him out of the house and to use the pool which helps a bit. I may need a plan for when he has paid versions though! I've finished painting so can watch him more now.
That obsessive behaviour you describe is always a little alarming.
If prior to this he spent for example 3 hours combined on passive entertainment per day, ie. FB, TV, gaming, but now spends 3hrs on gaming, but zero time on FB and TV, then it's probably not that bad.
If his overall passive entertainment time has increased substancially and it cuts into homework, friendships/family and sport, I'd put my foot down.
I found with son 2, it was easier to say no day playing, or no weeknight playing, rather than have him cut down from 4 back to 2 hours for example.
If prior to this he spent for example 3 hours combined on passive entertainment per day, ie. FB, TV, gaming, but now spends 3hrs on gaming, but zero time on FB and TV, then it's probably not that bad.
If his overall passive entertainment time has increased substancially and it cuts into homework, friendships/family and sport, I'd put my foot down.
I found with son 2, it was easier to say no day playing, or no weeknight playing, rather than have him cut down from 4 back to 2 hours for example.
If 80% of the time is viewing "other" minecraft creations - I'd let him play the brain creative game, but significantly curb the passive watching.
As pointed out - it's not a lot different from physical lego from when we were kids and the game can be as social or solitary as the individual chooses.
Times have definately changed and children are taught to think/evaluate differently - my daughters' maths homework is on computer via the mathletics website and she doesn't use pen and paper at all.
As pointed out - it's not a lot different from physical lego from when we were kids and the game can be as social or solitary as the individual chooses.
Times have definately changed and children are taught to think/evaluate differently - my daughters' maths homework is on computer via the mathletics website and she doesn't use pen and paper at all.
You definitely would have to draw the line at obsessive behaviour. I played games all through high school and university, but study always came first, and I trained karate 4-5x a week as well.
Unfortunately most kids are not able to self regulate.
I would really suggest people buy their kids the full game. Having the cut down version that always destroys their creations at the end removes the satisfaction of watching their creations grow. This constant denial, funnily enough, can funnel back into stronger cravings.
Unfortunately most kids are not able to self regulate.
I would really suggest people buy their kids the full game. Having the cut down version that always destroys their creations at the end removes the satisfaction of watching their creations grow. This constant denial, funnily enough, can funnel back into stronger cravings.
Yes, another household with young Minecraft fans here. I am actually feeling a bit relieved that, judging by this thread, the fascination with this computer game seems to be common among pre-teens/early-teens especially. I didn't realise it was so popular. Lucky for us our kids are also sporty-types who really enjoy outside activities too, but Minecraft is definitely a favourite at their free computer time.
