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Minecraft online on switch for 8 year old

  • 18-11-2018 8:17pm
    #1
    antix80
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,419 ✭✭✭


    My 8 year old nephew has a Nintendo switch with minecraft. He likes watching pat and jen with their mods and fun challenges on youtube, so it would be nice for him to have a similar experience, despite having no friends who are still playing minecraft, and the fact he only has a Switch.

    i set up a microsoft account and he played away for a few hours but i still have some questions.

    1. There are a choice of 5 servers for online play.
    Can someone please fill me in on which one he should be using, or are there better alternatives that can be added to the list?

    2. Is there a nice server where he can busy himself exploring and have only friendly interactions rather than being pwned by pros who trap him under lava and demolish his buildings? Is there a way to stop that? Creative/peaceful mode, community rules, etc?

    3. If he dies does he lose all items and go somewhere random on the map?

    4. Finally, safety is an issue. Just wondering how chat and friends lists work. Voice chat doesn't seem to be on and i didn't see chat messages appearing on screen, though i believe i saw friend requests/add friend menu popping up. Can he chat online to these people?

    Hope someone can clarify these things before enabling online play through the parental controls.

    Thank you!


Comments

  • #2
    DavyD_83
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,992 ✭✭✭DavyD_83


    Hi OP,
    Did you ever done answers to above, or have you figured out all out in the meantime.
    My eldest is still only 5, so think I have a little while to go, but have never managed to get a simple handle of what exactly Minecraft is and how it works as a 'game'. The only explanation I ever seen to get is that you can build stuff and site of what you have built.
    And at some point I know i was told that it can be great for learning coding.

    K, typing the above just made me feel like an old lazy dumbass. I'll go check wikipedia and have a look around to figure out some basics (although I still worry that my questions are too basic to actually docs answers to) but still curious about the answers to your questions too.


  • #3
    antix80
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,419 ✭✭✭antix80


    Well, he plays it and I'm not too sure of the ins and outs of it but there seems to be special servers for switch users that don't have chat enabled. He's happy tipping away at it and doesnt seem to have problems with other users.

    As for gameplay.. It's basically like lego. Really no idea if there's gameplay as such beyond the enemies roaming about and ender dragon but he's played it for hours on end though it's been superceded by roblox which he plays online with friends.


  • #4
    DavyD_83
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,992 ✭✭✭DavyD_83


    antix80 wrote: »
    Well, he plays it and I'm not too sure of the ins and outs of it but there seems to be special servers for switch users that don't have chat enabled. He's happy tipping away at it and doesnt seem to have problems with other users.

    As for gameplay.. It's basically like lego. Really no idea if there's gameplay as such beyond the enemies roaming about and ender dragon but he's played it for hours on end though it's been superceded by roblox which he plays online with friends.

    Cool. I did spend a good while last night reading Wikipedia, and am still kind of at a loss on the whole thing. But like you said, I think it might be like googling "how do I play with Lego?".
    I'll hold off for another while without bringing consoles into the house I think.


  • #5
    Shiminay
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 28,633 Mod ✭✭✭✭Shiminay


    Minecraft is the sort of game you can play in a dozen different ways.

    You can build things from a small house to a gigantic castle. There is a role playing game element where you have a "quest" to kill the Ender Dragon which will require you to perform several tasks to let you get to the dragon (YouTube guides will really help explain this). You can also play multi-player with friends and collaborate on both of the above. There are monsters (mobs as they're known) in the game that can make it a challenge and who will, when they sneak up on you in the dark if you're not careful, frighten the bejesus outta you :D The good news is, if you're concerned for smallies getting freaked out, you can turn on a "peaceful mode" where they won't be a part of the world. So they can still do the mining and digging for resources, but they're not going to be blown up by a creeper.

    Beyond those basics are, on the PC at least, the ability to use "Mods" on the game to expand its functionality and allow for crazier contraptions to be built. It takes a little know-how to get them working, but it's remarkably straightforward - again, YouTube videos are out there to step you through that process.

    I've been playing the game on and off for over 10 years and I've never gone to fight the Ender Dragon, but I don't feel like I've missed out on anything.


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