What I liked about Empire mode Minecraft (my own creation way to play)

  the Great Map at Cod Bay in the McElvaney Enterprises world, circa year 69

 What I liked about 'Empire Mode' Minecraft, the way I described earlier in this blog about how to play Minecraft in a story mode, world expanding way with imaginary characters and nations, etc...

1.)  When I found a resource it wasn't 'just done'... it was new for that area and expanded with neighbors and used at that place.  I wasn't shuffling it aimlessly along where I needed - I was _trading_ it, and making that area self-sufficient later in it, if possible.

2.) By making the families and housing matter, I paid more attention to the interior rooms and possessions of each person,  putting up signs, giving each family their own inventory and their own farms etc... some of the communities pooled some things, and some of the families helped one another in alliances and marriages and so forth.  I made 'imaginary expeditions' for different groups of friends or relatives  it felt like a much more natural expansion of the world, and it felt more like a 'real world' to walk around in.  Things had names, people had been places, history had been made etc.. and each town developed it's own 'unique' look based on what materials were available, although it was never cookie-cutter - there was always differences, too - because bigger families needed bigger houses etc etc.. it kept it very interesting.

 3.)  The mapping.  I love the mapping with a passion.  And the world as it developed made the map have meaning.. and the changes over time as the world became more and more full, and yet expanding at the edges... 

What I didn't like...

Well, it is a little silly like playing dolls, in a way, imaginary dolls that you don't even really see - but hey, writing any story is sort of the same thing with characters?  

The need to make 'conflicts' to move the story along, to give people reasons to do things that weren't all sunshine and roses.  The sickness at Rosered, for example - although that evolved so naturally it felt right.  The war with Kriganzy, though, that was getting to be 'any minute now' and I was trying to focus on the rediscovery of the reason behind the Great Earthquake and North City... and I felt the two were conflicting..

A friend offered to help, but didn't follow through.  But - now some of the 'promised story elements' were entirely hers, and I didn't feel I owned them well enough to do them justice in finishing the story.  I might have to just go back and cut those out now, because Tanji Vandreas really deserves his moment to shine in the next part of the story - and 've been mulling it over for a while now about the 'Great Saga unfinished'...