Running a Server

I started running a Terraria server yesterday. When I came home and logged into the game, I was thrilled to see that a friend was there already, playing in my world!

It was a really interesting feeling, to think that my friends could be accessing my computer at any moment, playing in this world I’ve created for them. At any time, the media server in the corner could be full of life, stories, and character.

I always seem to have trouble organizing a multiplayer game – choosing a game, announcing a time ahead of time, making sure everyone is updated, and then probably playing for an hour or so before someone has to leave and the group falls apart. A server like this is such an interesting idea…the game is always up, people can join or leave as they see fit, and yet we all get to see the permanent changes that have been made.

So, I know about Terraria and Minecraft. Any other communal creativity games that I should think about hosting?

Terraria, Minecraft, and order out of chaos

I got caught up in playing a few hours of Terraria tonight, and I think I finally understand the great appeal of Minecraft. It’s not so much about the pyramids, the recreations of spaceships, the working computers…it’s about coming to something which is random and disordered, and making something meaningful out of it.

The situation that brought this to mind was just walking off a ledge. When I turned around, I found that the ledge was slightly too high to jump to. So I build a wooden platform, attached it to the wall, then jumped up. I realized then that anyone who hypothetically came there after me would benefit from my work, be able to get up the cliff easily, and would see the randomness of nature changed into something suitable for human use. That’s kinda cool.

So now I have a tower and a mine and I’m figuring out what to do next. Ping me if you want, and let’s start building together.