EcoCityCraft and Real Life: My Perspective

I sat down at my laptop on a day in February. The screen glowed, and I moved my mouse to a small icon to my desktop labeled "minecraft.exe." The school day was done, and the perfect opportunity had arrived - with a brand new market shop waiting for me to build, I could relieve my brain from another taxing school day. Fifteen minutes were gone, thirty, forty-five.

I heard the voice from the kitchen.

"Richard? Rick, come here, please."

My name isn't Rick, but let's assume it is for the purpose of this thread.

"Yes?"

I hastily pressed the escape key, and reluctantly spun out from my swivel-chair. Before I knew it, I had dishes in the kitchen to take care of, some boring, rather monotonous homework to complete before the day's end, and a pixelated computer game known as Minecraft snatched out of my reach until further notice, for failure to complete such tasks on a repeated basis.

Now I consider myself an honest kid. I upheld the request, and I would go on and get back to real life - things had to be done, and a bit of real fun had to be achieved. And like this, time passed without a little computer game for a month or two. Life was like it was before - I got things done in a timely fashion, I had some fun with friends, I no longer had an addiction to the time-killer, fun-generator, outstandingly perfect game we call EcoCityCraft.

-​

The weeks continued to pass, and summer came within reach. EcoCityCraft was back, and my good friends (@goblizz @oRON647 @SEAHAWKES) and I had some big plans for the upcoming weeks known as summer break. Towns were sitting, waiting to be completed; star tools, spawn shops, survival games, and more awaited. Between the weeks during which one of us wasn't prancing around in the outside world, we wanted to commit and morph at least a handful of our wildest dreams into reality.

Summer 2015 came for each of us, as scheduled. Unlike last summer, we were more matured human beings; we had a glassful more of freedom, and a blender-ful of responsibilities, activities, and whatever the world had to offer. We found ourselves on vacations, volunteering, camping, working out at the gym, playing pickup football games. All the while, projects in EcoCityCraft waiting to be completed sat patiently for days, weeks, months. And by the time midsummer rolled around, I realized that this was much unlike the summer of 2014. Although I surely played my favorite computer game often, I had some new priorities, and EcoCityCraft could wait. Gone were the three-hour-long morning Skype calls, during which we would battle our enemies on good ol' Chernobyl 2015; in were mornings of sleeping in, playing an hour of EcoCityCraft on my own, and enjoying life outside with my friends in the afternoon. I found myself no longer going for the sought-after voting coupon, my main source of income. Few were the times where my friends and I would all find time to open up Skype, chat about life, and play our favorite game. EcoCityCraft stood little a chance against the fun that the outside world brought my good friends and I.

-​

Let's get one thing straight: EcoCityCraft is a great game. There's reasons I have been addicted to it to some degree in the past: there's always something new to work on, and money to be made. The community is kindly to others, led by a staff team of users who get the job done, whatever it may be. I have had great times playing the game, especially with my friends.

And one more thing: This wasn't all some revelation that I had sitting, staring at the ceiling one day. I didn't just go from a nerd who sat there doing nothing with life but playing Minecraft, to snapping my finger and becoming an extroverted young man who never touched a video game again. No, when EcoCityCraft sucked me in, I still had an outside life; I have since transitioned out of EcoCityCraft, more or less. And I still play EcoCityCraft from time to time; I still have a lineup of in-game goals waiting for me.

But realistically, will I complete everything? Will I really have the time to sit down, knock some things out, and feel happy with them? Maybe, but I can surely guarantee you that I, for one, am going to be a busy young man in real life in the coming months. And I'll do my best to keep my priorities straight: in a real world, where I am known as Rick, where the outside awaits.

I'll be continuing my time in high school next year, and one of the best pieces of advice I have learned is to make the most of high school. If you take advantage of opportunities, try something new, you'll have a great time, they say. I took a few harder AP classes this year, but I'm enjoying it. I'm also making more of the clubs I'm a part of. Next year, I have plans to get involved with a couple more clubs, as time allows, and get involved with school leadership. I also want to get to as many of my school's sports games as I can, and mix in a few fun classes along with AP courses. I'm very much looking forward to involving myself more than I am now.

Outside of school, I have plenty of things going on as well - for the privacy of myself and my friends, I have decided to keep said things undisclosed. Long story short, though, I sure am having a lot of fun.

My friends and I are sure enjoying our time, too. When we hang out every now and then, no longer do we sit in front of our laptops going on EcoCityCraft marathons for a few hours; instead, we find ourselves at the gym, playing some football, being the weirdos we are. We'll even volunteer sometimes; all four of us have been doing so since we were young, and it is fun working together to accomplish the needs of the community.

So what about EcoCityCraft? The game that has bedazzled my friends and I time and time again? The land where our stresses can be relieved, going around building, buying, and bringing in the bank?

Minecraft has its role in my life. For the past two and a half years, it's been my go-to game, whether on the Xbox 360 or on PC. Not only is it a way to stretch my mind more than a typical computer game, it's a way to kill some time with my friends. But as Minecraft has dug out its niche in my life, I have settled into mine on EcoCityCraft. In a world where people call me ChargerBoltz5, I own one town, co-own four others, run a spawnshop, and have won several voting titles. I'm happy with where I am, and the amount I play EcoCityCraft now suits me well.

Will I still be restocking my spawnshop, building towns, and voting for EcoCityCraft in ten years from now? Five? Three? Probably not. While it is incredibly enjoyable for myself and the hundreds of other players on the server, in the end, it's just a game. Regrettably, there will likely be a day where EcoCityCraft shuts down once and for all. Although I am confident that the tightly knit community will keep it going for years, so that we are one of the last major servers to stay together, there will come a day. And after that day, the game that we have put so much time and energy into will fade into the back of our memories, until we tell our children about the great game we played many years ago.

But for someone my age, despite the great things EcoCityCraft has to offer, it'll come to an end without leaving a major mark. Think about it - is EcoCityCraft, the game that we all love, adding to your resumé? That's where the vastness of the world around you comes into play. There are literally countless things to do that will impact your future career, relationships, and life in general. EcoCityCraft is fun, but it won't necessarily help you gain the perspective and the experiences that colleges like, job interviewers like, and you will like. And not to sound like "you must be focused on having a perfect future 100% of the time" - well, there's a time for fun and a time for work. Just try one thing new, though, that puts you a bit out of your comfort zone, but you'd be proud to see written on your resumé.

Perhaps that's joining a club or a sport at school. If you're my age and you plan on college soon, colleges and universities love to see clubs. They help teach you about what you're interested in, or something new you're trying. Plus, the communities and friendships you can form in last eons, and the teamwork and cooperation skills can be used throughout your lifetime.

Maybe it's getting in shape. @goblizz, @SEAHAWKES and I go to the gym sometimes - not just to get in shape. Sure, you can see yourself get more fit the more you work out, but the gym is a great place to chill and just talk about life.

Or maybe it's volunteering. No matter what community you live in, there's countless places that could use your help as a volunteer. I've been actively volunteering since I was about ten years old in several different outlets, and the feeling you get helping out others is beyond description. Once again, it's another great way to make some new friends, too.

Those are just a few things I've done. None of those sound intriguing to you? Ask around! See what some of your friends are doing out there. Maybe even get off of EcoCityCraft for a while - find a good book to read instead. If you're somewhat of an introvert, like me, that's fine. But what's healthier, reading for three hours, or staring at a screen? Perhaps you're more extroverted - see if your friends want to go to the theater and see a movie, play some football, or just goof around. Whatever that may be, go have some fun!

Nothing sounding good so far? Fair enough. I'll leave you with this though: Challenge yourself to get outside of the box in 2016. Stretch your limits and get outside your comfort zone. Take my word for it when I say it will be very rewarding, not only now, but in the long run. Press the escape key and log off of EcoCityCraft every now and then - it can wait, but the world can't wait for you.

Now take a moment, log off of EcoCityCraft, exit the forums, because there's places for you to go out there!

Peace,

@ChargerBoltz5


TL,DR: Sorry that this is too long for you, but maybe take a moment to read it? This is probably the most stupidly long thread you've seen in a while, but perhaps doing more than skimming it would be nice.

 

And one last thing - I know this thread is probably most directed towards kids middle-school and high-school age, but I'd appreciate feedback from all shapes and sizes of people

 

Really appreciate your feedback Oreo, and that's one of the things I probably should've hit on more lol... Definitely agree with you here. As long as you keep things in balance gaming is not a "bad thing" as I may have made it seem, and like you said, positives can absolutely come from Minecraft.

As for everyone else who has replied, thank you all as well, I'm stunned I have so much positive feedback already really appreciate guys.

 

I very much agree with a lot of this. Rule number one about minecraft: don't talk about minecraft in public. other than my irl friends who also happen to play ECC, pretty much no one knows that I play minecraft

As for what ECC has provided? You're absolutely right. There's a lot of things I have learned from ECC and that's part of why it's such a great game. But as long as you balance that with a real life, like you said, that's when you can really take advantage of what's waiting for you in the world.


Side note: It's too bad that Minecraft has a reputation of being a game for 7-year-olds although ECC is probably one of the generally older/more mature servers out there due to the complexity of the game, it kinda sucks that the general public doesn't really get it and all they see is little kids walking around in creeper t-shirts :/

 

Procrastination FTW

 

A strapping young lad named goblizz said I should bump this.

 

Bump for relevancy as many of ECC's players enter spring break. Get some work done, and have some fun, outside of ECC with all this time on your hands!