Today, it begins

So we haven't picked up my Step-Daughter from her Dad's yet, but I spent some time getting everything in order over the weekend. I purchased two licenses of Minecraft, set up the server on my desktop, and installed everything needed on both my laptop, and my wife's desktop where we will be playing.

Just before things start, I wanted to make sure I was familiar with things. In my previous posting, my Step-Daughter mentioned that she only wanted to play in the Creative Mode, and not the Survival Mode or anything else--which is fine, let us be creative and crafty together.

So, I made both of our accounts Operators, and went ahead and switched their game mode to creative. Then I just...explored. I figured out how to fly, how to place items, and just traveled. Mostly down, but then other ways too. Then I hit that moment that I always hope for in a game (at least once):

"Holy shit. This is amazing."

This isn't a moment of, 'Woo, this is awesome, yeah!' It's something more than that. So what is that moment? Let me give another example:

Last night, my wife, my friend Dave, and I, were playing Dark Souls (the first, because we still haven't beaten it). And we were moving forward in underground chambers in Demon Ruins. We crossed a bridge and I was just taken aback at the raw size of everything--and all of it could be reached. I found a similar picture online of the area, but it doesn't do it justice:

Dark Souls: Demon Ruins
Used without permission: Tap-Repeatedly.

It's not the quality of the game, mechanics, or the openness of the world...it's that sense of wonder that you get when you go somewhere new, and it's similar to when you climb a mountain and look down at the world.

"There's going to be so many enemies that I get to kill down there."
Le Grand Bornand, France
Used without permission: Kiva.org

And exploring caves in Minecraft granted me that....because they just kept going. And since it was creative mode, I explored. No fighting, no worrying about health or getting my way back...I just went. I hope my Step-Daughter might have the same feelings. I'm not sure, we'll see. We leave to pick her up in an hour, so I'll try to record some of the things she says as we play. 

Today, it begins.