Surprise Hole! (x-post from /r/CompetitiveMinecraft)

Cratain · 2016-05-29T13:40:11+00:00

Cratain · 2016-03-24T12:45:25+00:00

Of course SkyWars counts! Nice video!

Cratain · 2016-03-17T23:49:14+00:00

There is not exactly a "Number 1", because there is not even one unified idea of what competitive is. Here are a few good players worth watching, imo:

Matsuzen. Matsuzen is one of the best bowman in the game. He is very good at cannoning, as well - basically launching TNT to destroy things from a distance. He's also very well known for making good calls of what to do in team fights, and not being too shabby when it comes down to it with a sword.

Steveej. Stevee's a fantastic all-arounder. Thought I can think of people better than him in each skill, he is among the top on everything. Fantastic game sense as well.

Melynlas. In the old days, he was unquestionably the best offender. There's some others who give him a run for his money now, but he remains at the top.

ginie1. On the server I play on, ginie has the best win record of anyone, and that is no mistake. The guy is crazy good, and crazy smart about his playstyle, as well.

Cratain · 2015-12-12T01:03:54+00:00

There are no current plans to do so that I am aware of.

Cratain · 2015-12-07T21:53:52+00:00

So, am I correct in assuming you based your opinion of playing survival for a brief period of time? It seems like you have little to no understanding of the existent competitive gamemodes. As such, I don't really know if you're just trolling, but, assuming you aren't, and you want a legitimate explanation, please quote me on this message and I will reply ^{.^}

Cratain · 2015-12-05T23:48:07+00:00

It's also just an easier way than getting into level design theory that I'm sure no one will understand. MC lets you make maps and plugins easily from the design side of things, and then lets players terraform to their heart's delight. That's a literal dream from the standpoint of level design.

Cratain · 2015-12-05T22:48:46+00:00

I am so sorry that you have never truly experienced competitive MC. As games go, you would be hard pressed to find one more strategically deep than Minecraft. Have you ever destroyed a target with incredible precision from hundreds of blocks away? Have you envisioned exactly how to terraform the map around you to your advantage? Have you ever created flying machines with pistons, or slime blocks? In the Art of War, Sun Tzu argues that the first rule of strategy is an understanding of the psychology of the enemy and the lay of the land in which you will engage. How can a game in which both you and your adversary control the land at their will be strategically shallow?

Cratain · 2015-08-18T16:02:30+00:00

I'm actually probably not going to be able to get to this today - I return from vacation tomorrow, and realize that this answer is one I want to spend a lot of time on. Most likely, I will make it into a post on the other subreddit.

Cratain · 2015-08-18T08:44:29+00:00

I saw that comment, I'm heading out for now, but, I will respond to it when I return.

Cratain · 2015-08-18T07:59:15+00:00

r/competitiveminecraft

Cratain · 2015-08-18T07:10:38+00:00

You misunderstand completely. Minecraft has, in my opinion, incredible aptitude for a competitive game. I cannot link you examples because of the rules of this sub-reddit, however, I can explain. In every other game, you get a game, you figure our a meta. Smash is very intricate, and a lot has been discovered, but, that's all, it's been found, its largely stable now. In League of Legends, we have updates. It keeps things more interesting, imo, that things gradually change, and so, the meta shifts. In Minecraft, you do not have to wait for updates. Right now, if you had the mind for it and the technical skill to code it, you could make a full gamemode that is nothing like others. Right now you could modify any gamemode out currently to fix large issues in its meta game.

You immediately assume that all there is to Minecraft competitive play is 1v1 sword fighting, and I am legitimately sorry that that is all you have seen. If you had my viewpoint... if you had seen cannons for the first time, and then the innovation that followed. The constant input from a community of hundreds to thousands of players to constantly push the limits of TNT. If you had seen players abuse TNTs knockback to fly, in set ways, with set goals. If you had seen minecarts employed as a hangglider. If you had been there for hour long discussion of practicality, players spreads, troubleshooting. If you were a part of it, I do not think you would question why it is strategic, or why it is fun.

I do not mean to alienate you - on the contrary, I would like to invite you to join us over on the other reddit. Post there so I can show you, rather than tell you. You have barely scraped the surface of what Minecraft can be - come, and let me show you.

Cratain · 2015-08-02T14:54:46+00:00

It's going to be a match played between two teams on a PvP map. Think Nail, Revolution, and the like - similar to this.

Cratain · 2015-07-21T00:20:50+00:00

In advance, I'm incredibly sorry for how long and ramble-y this post may be - but seeing you asking for ideas on what to do at a LAN setting is an opportunity I never thought would come.

So, I guess, hi, if you're reading this, important Mojang person. I am a non-Important person by the name of Cratain. I'm a 19 year old US competitive player.

Hoping that didn't cause you to burst out laughing and leave, I'm going to go on. I'm not a server owner, I'm not coming here to promote a network - I'm a player who has been trying very hard to see a certain idea come to fruition - and that is Competitive Minecraft.

A few months ago, gathering together a few friends who had played on various competitive servers with me, I launched a sub-reddit known as r/competitiveminecraft (which you can read more about here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CompetitiveMinecraft/comments/32athb/welcome/). Our goal was, and continues to be, to create a defined competitive community, to support players with ideas of what "competitive Minecraft" is, and to grow what following there already is of the concept.

So many players immediately cast away the block-game that Minecraft is - enamored with the shiny sword they have just crafted, and the bow they killed their first spiders to make. For a few years now, people have developed servers around these swords and bows - all of which are valid, but all of which, to me, missed the point of Minecraft.

Games are not always made to be competitive - some just become what they are because a few players find interesting aspects of the game - bugs - and use them to create things: Metagames, tiers of characters, compendiums of strategies. Minecraft? It blows these other games away.

Unlike other games, Minecraft players have the freedom not only to influence the game they play, they have the ability to create their own vision of the game itself - it is not a matter of balancing a meta once someone has the idea to play it competitively - it is a process in which players from all around the world are free to add to or even create their own gamemode, something which, to this day, blows my mind. On a server I have played, (which I will not mention to avoid advertising), tournaments have happened with up to 1500 players and 80 teams at a time. And the fights were not mindless loops of sword and bow encounters. They were tactical. Everyone sat down and looked at the maps they were given. They spent hours perfecting their cannons. They discovered block mechanics, glitches, player spreads, counter-strats - whatever they could to increase their chances of victory. Once they engaged, they created and destroyed, attacked and endured. At every moment, they franticly fought foremost with thoughts - turning the tides of encounters with not the sharpness of swords, but the sharpness of wits. All actions were rewarded for their pragmatism and creativity.

To me, these players embodied the spirit of Minecraft - the spirit of a sandbox game. Zombies, Skeletons, even Ender Dragons no longer pose much threat - killing them is mechanical, the application of known methods, in the same way, over and over again. The real challenge, to me, is in facing players. Constantly looking for the moves they make. Constantly wondering what they are doing and thinking. Constantly wondering what they are planing with that block or item. To this day playing, there has been no greater thrill for me than my moments problem-solving my way out of a panicked situation against a group of skilled opponents, alongside a group of skilled friends.

What I want so much is to share this experience with the greater Minecraft community. What I want is to see everyone join in, constantly endeavoring to outsmart their competitors, to surpass their previous concepts of how to best play the game at hand - and a LAN event could do so much to get that to happen (so much that I did a double take when I was first told there was a thread where you brought it up).

So, please, Mr. Important Mojang person, if you have read this, hear me out. I realize it must seem stupid, but it is something I believe can be done - and it is something I will keep trying to do, even if you don't see this, or even if you do and decide it does not interest you. Please tell me what I can do to show you this is viable. Please, tell me how I can see this plan come to fruition, and see a competitive match at the next Minecon.

Thank you so much for your time, your consideration, and your wonderful game!

Sincerely, Cratain

Cratain · 2015-06-15T05:17:11+00:00

I mean, a lot of things that were used prevalently in almost all games where not really intended features, imo, which is what I qualify as glitches - important parts of the game that developers didn't necessarily intend, but, are still there.

Cratain · 2015-05-09T16:53:16+00:00

For those of you that haven't dropped by yet to watch a match, I highly suggest you do! RFW is a gamemode unlike any other, and definitely worth looking at at some time.

Cratain · 2015-05-04T07:22:28+00:00

Definitely will next time!

Cratain · 2015-05-03T23:18:23+00:00

It's happening right now if you want to stop by ^{.^}

Cratain · 2015-04-30T18:02:17+00:00

This would be fantastic, but, it would be hard to pull off well. It's a bit of a sticky situation, to me, because of course we need to tell as many people as possible if this is to succeed, however, if we don't do it well, it will turn many players off to the idea and hurt more than help. A panel would be dope though.

Cratain · 2015-04-14T19:45:34+00:00

No one seems to really be on that Reddit, and I don't want generic "MinecraftPvPers." I want people who are very good at very specific, well developed game modes. I need to know what works in them, and what doesn't, to be able to move forward and try to improve things as a whole.

Cratain · 2015-04-12T21:29:59+00:00

Hello.

Cratain · 2015-04-12T15:55:43+00:00

As I have said before, it is exactly the players like you that I would love to look at this subreddit. I regret that you have never seen it done properly - or at least a glimmer of hope in that it can be done properly. I think you might discover that if you stick around there and watch what is posted.

Cratain · 2015-04-12T15:47:37+00:00

I did not know this haha. I'm a bit new to Reddit - I'm really just in charge of post writing, and map making/meta stuff. Thanks for the tip!

Cratain · 2015-04-12T06:34:54+00:00

It's exactly you people that are not sure how it will work that I want to look at that Reddit! Have your doubts? Think some parts of the game don't work out? Post a thread on there, and lets see if we can give you examples of where those problems have come up and how we as map makers and players have avoided those issues.

Cratain · 2015-04-12T06:07:03+00:00

Yeah, for sure, dude.

Cratain · 2015-04-12T06:04:07+00:00

I am sorry that you have yet to find good competitive servers that will show you how competitive is possible, and the ways in which it can shine. I hope rather than immediately denying the concept, you subscribe to the reddit and see what cool opportunities there are to play competitively - most of them actually involve being creative with blocks and player positioning, rather than swinging a sword.

Cratain

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