Farming Session 1 - 15 August

The session got under way after I had gone through the Brief for this Challenge. It is farming-related, focusing on growing crops because this is the main theme for the school this term. Of course, my main interest is in the collaboration and engagement of the players - so I'm looking for ways to observe how players support each other, work together, and whether they build a community.

The game is being played in Survival Mode, on easy level. But, this seems to mean that I can't fly over and see what everyone is doing, and if I want to be on the Map, I am in danger too! Is there any way to change that (so students play in Survival Mode, but I don't). Changing my own player settings doesn't seem to help...

It was VERY noisy at times, particularly near the beginning, because players were entering the world that had been made last week, and it was almost dark so creepers were already attacking before players had a chance to get established. Of course, there was the excitement of finding out about the map they were on, too. My Principal, sitting in the office directly across the hallway, mentioned how loud the voices were and that the students didn't seem to realise. But this is largely a typical group of noisy boys anyway, and there was an awful lot of excitement happening! It was all completely focused on the game, and no one seemed to be at a loose end today.

Some players went off exploring, and as the session passed they found that they were too far from the other players, and came back to where the action was, where they could more easily establish themselves, and where they could be part of the larger group. 

With this diagram, I am trying to show some of the relationships and groups that developed during the first session. Each player has an associated colour, and you can see the lines of that colour representing the links they considered they had made with other players by the end of the game. At the start, everyone was working on their own, some being more anxious about that than others. But partnerships soon began to develop, once the creepers started to attack. Also, with some players helping others, they began to build a connection. Soon there were mainly three clear groups (with one or two still on the periphery to some extent). Some players had built their own farmhouses, but they were too far away, so they apparently destroyed them and eventually formed a larger group that seems to have Jg1025 as the leader. By the end, there were two main groups (one on the left of the diagram), and there was another smaller group (on the right). 

I asked students who they had helped during the session, and everyone had helped someone at some stage, sometimes many times - helping them survive, giving them materials, giving advice (OwlsRCute possibly not being quite skilled enough to help, but working collaboratively, and grateful for Jg1025's assistance when difficulties arose). In fact, Jg1025's assistance of practically every player was fantastic, and I could see the other players gaining a respect for this player's skill and knowledge, and being grateful to be included in his group. This was especially interesting because it was this player who had been banished by the group in the Kiwiana game, for disrupting the play and not focusing on the goals of the project. This change in motivation and obvious willingness to help has led to a noticeable change in his status and was a highlight of the session.

D1amond and NOCH were both away for this session, as was DOXINWHAT (but this player had unfortunately not returned the signed permission slip from a parent anyway).

There were a few technical glitches today, with a couple of players facing multiple freezes and restarts. Very upsetting for them and I don't know what the cause was.

Another problem that occurred (and, not being a player, I don't really understand this), but the players tell me that at night, a player can't sleep unless EVERYONE is asleep at the same time. So, they had to make sure everyone had beds, and then wait till everyone was in them...

I still had players asking to join the Minecrafters group, which is not possible at this stage, but they were welcome to come and watch during the break time.

Before this session I had done some Minecraft plant, crop, and farming researching, finding the following links to be useful (I have never planted crops)!

• Growing Plants in Minecraft - Minecraft101.net
• How to farm - Minecraft Info article
• Crops - Minecraft Wiki
• Types of plants you can farm in Minecraft - For Dummies
• Minecraft Farming - Minecraftopia