• sneak100 [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      8·
      4 months ago

      sorry, but it was mine craft all along

      extract from link

      Colonialist Myths

      • Game mechanics dictate what is true in the game world, and imply things about the real world.
      • Several Minecraft mechanics support colonialist myths which help justify past and present colonial domination.³

      Accumulating Blocks

      • Ore is finite, but can always find more by moving on.
      • No large-scale consequences of extraction.
        • Reinforces myth that ‘natural resources’ are plentiful and extracting them is harmless.
      • Mass extraction is made easy due to enormous inventory.

      Terrain and Exploration

      • Most generated terrain is uninhabited.
        • Reinforces myth of the ‘wild/empty frontier.’
      • Villagers don’t use land outside of their small villages.
      • Maps position player as discoverer.
        • Reinforces myth of Western ‘discovery’ of Indigenous territories as creation of new knowledge.

      Monsters and Illagers

      • Intelligent, but unconditionally attack player on sight.
      • Implies some creatures are inherently/irredeemably evil.
        • Reinforces myth that morality/behavior is biologically determined, and justifies aggression as self-defense.

      Villagers

      • No combat, building, or crafting ability (despite living in constructed dwellings).
      • Not shown as builders of advanced ruins like shipwrecks.
        • Reinforces myth that Natives had no technology.
      • Depend on player for defense against monsters.
        • Ironically, monsters are only attracted by player.
        • Sets up player as “savior,” villagers as beneficiaries.
        • Reinforces myth that Natives were helpless and therefore benefited from colonialism.

      Advancements

      • Tutorial & achievement system rewards certain actions.
        • Incentivizes colonialist activities (even killing villagers).
      • Provides an overarching narrative of progress.
        • sneak100 [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
          4·
          4 months ago

          Yeah definitely, I feel like there are so many ideas to explore!

          Back in the day Notch (groan) would post on Google+ (groan) about creating self sustaining ecosystems within minecraft e.g. chopped down trees drop seeds to the floor, rain make them grow & regrows, sheep feed on the grass, the sheep breed, wolves hunt the sheep, wolves corpses get reduced to dirt by mushrooms etc. I suspect that last part of the cycle is why this never came to pass in what was being marketed as a game for children (god forbid white children’s ego is in any way challenged). Anyway that sounded like such a better idea than wherever the game ended up going i.e. more progress, more colonial (con)quests for exotic treasure.

          With the success Minecraft has seen, I’m shocked we haven’t seen more cracks at a block builder game in general, but specifically it would be heartening to see a project that has a different focus than technological progress. Or maybe I’m talking out of my ass and haven’t explored enough Minetest mods.