Realism. Now, obviously we play a game here and that should not be taken too seriously. But the community is as real as it gets and even though you'll come across the occasional trolls or griefers who don't care either way most of us realize that there are real people behind those avatars and names and that they should be treated as such. The controversial forum here? Some people will say that discussions can heat up because some players seek drama. Possible, I can respect that. In my opinion those discussions heat up because they're real. Just so we're clear: I'm not necessarily addressing discussions which I participated in, but which got a little heated. Real players, real opinions, real discussions. Sometimes you get along with each other, sometimes you end up disliking each other. That's real. And I think that realism is a big part of why people hold EMC into such high esteem. And this is only the players... Can you honestly say you like everything there is about EMC? I sure can't I think the Blizz 'ards are ok, but I don't necessarily like them because of their continuous firing mechanism. Of course Aya keeps telling me that I should put up some real armor, but ok Firefloor? I tried it, I enjoy seeing players enjoy themselves (really) but it's not for me. Too much lag. And don't get me started on UHC and PvP in general. And don't take me mentioning this the wrong way please but I also don't like it that we can't put shulker boxes in the /vault yet. Thing is: I may not like it, but I do accept that it's all part of the game. A game where there's only things which you like is a game without realism nor any challenge at all. Dealing with obstacles and things which you don't like (in a mature way obviously) will only make you a better player. So yeah... EMC is as real as it can get where players are concerned, and I seriously like that.
EMC means a lot to me. I feel like it's mainly about the people. And yet, if most of my friends would leave, and the reasons that made them leave wouldn't make me leave, I probably wouldn't leave. So it's also something about the atmosphere. EMC has definitely been very important in my development. Practically, I learnt a hefty chunk of my English through EMC. But much more importantly, I developed social skills. Really, 5 years ago, I was super unsocial. Now people go as far as calling me 'friendly'. I've met many of my best friends on EMC. Without EMC, I probably wouldn't have known them. I might've known other people instead, but still... I'm glad to know these people. Palmsugar, Alice, Jamie, Dufne... people who have meant a whole lot for me, while I've only met one of them IRL. And I have so much more friends. People who I enjoy having around and people who actually enjoy me being around. Hashhog, Fendy, Krysyy, Kytula, Tom, Tim, Jelle, Shel, Caden... and the list goes on. That's special. I've been spending big parts of my days here for the past... 4 years, almost. That's a significant amount of time. I have grown really attached to this place. EMC fuelled the invention of Piwi Day. Piwi Day is the day I most look forward to all year. That's quite something. EMC has motivated me, inspired me, comforted me, surprised me. That's not 'just another Minecraft server'. EMC is a community, and a really special one. And I'm sure there are more great communities around like this one. I'm in other communities myself, and they're fun too. But I'm always glad EMC is my main home. Because I love EMC. Because I love you. <3
EMC for me is, the best a game can get, the best way to sit back there is, and more. Maybe it's just because I'm really close to my family, but I whouldn't call it one. I think I'll go for "a group of friends" instead. Siriously, it is sad school is such time-taking, but I think I'd otherwise spent way too much time here. I do sometimes think that EMC is too much fun, that I'm spending too much time here, and you know what, I like it. I mean, I have played other games aswell, better said, I have played minecraft before EMC aswell, but that was, and is, for me, just a way to get through long times with nothing to do, but those times don't excist anymore for me, but I keep playing EMC, it being designing in single player, or it being reading though the forums, or it being building things here in game whilst chatting with people I do or do not know. Whilst typing this I think, "do I answer the question" "no, I don't" "why am I typing it than" "it will all make sense later" "'okay, if you say so" Anyways, what EMC actually is to me has been changing a lot, it wasn't much more than singleplayer at the time I started, but that only was dude to my leak of Englisch, (It still isn't that good at this point in time, but I hope that you can understand what I mean to say, and that I do understand all your words right) but it slowly started to be more, I started to understand the thing called "multiplayer" better every day and I started to join the forums, and that was the moment EMC started to be more than a game to me, it started to be the way they said games were, it started to be a place to escape to, loads of things happened around me, and EMC was the place to go if it all became too much (I'm talking about about two years ago now) (if you think you want to know all that happened at once, you don't) But today, to actually answer the question, it is all going better with me, I don't really need that place to escape to anymore, I'm only playing when I need to relax at the place that feels, saved me from myself.
EMC = is an adventure from reality. A perfect combination of real people living in a virtual world. A world I most definitely love being a part of. I can't thank you all enough for being who you are and being a huge part of what makes this server the best of them all. It's not just one person who makes this place what it is but each and every kooky one of us. I love you guys.....Keep on keeping on.
I think my enjoyment of EMC correlates with my dis-enjoyment of real life. Unfortunately, real life's not too bad for me right now. Honestly the biggest thing keeping me here right now is I don't want my five years of stuff to just be deleted. I never made any really strong friendships here. I don't feel that powerful family connection that a lot of others have reported. I've met lots of cool people here, and I really like this community, but anyone here whom I consider a friend also has several other, better friends here than me. Nothing is missing if I leave. I'm not fishing for pity or whatever, btw; just trying to get my thoughts out. Minecraft is a game that I've had plenty of fun with, but it finally got boring for me, and there's loads of other games I want to play, and many more coming out. EMC is a place where I've had lots of fun, and yes, I have so many good memories from here, but that's all they are now; the new memories seem to have stopped coming. So what does EMC mean to me? I think EMC represents a chapter in my life. One of the best so far; make no mistake. But the chapter's pretty much over, and the last few paragraphs are kinda droning on.
EMC means friends, and I've made many of them on here. <3 It's also a break from IRL, and I get to just be a silly kid again much of the time. You all keep me young, thank you
EMC means, well... a lot to me. I couldn't exactly put it into words unless I sat down and thought it out. Perhaps I'll come back tomorrow and write it down
This is a question that I hadn't actually considered too much before. When I joined EMC 5 years ago, I thought of it as 'just another Minecraft server' that I would probably leave soon after getting bored with it. Now, as the future goes on, I only play Minecraft because of EMC. And sometimes I ask myself why. I don't build things any more, I don't play singleplayer or factions or anything of the sort, but I've been playing on EMC for the community it withholds. EMC, as a whole, is just one of the better online communities that I've seen, with active members and staff who actually take care of it.
I can't say what EMC means to me in a word. Right now, it doesn't actually mean a whole lot to me. I could leave right now and I'd be absolutely content with never coming back. I don't feel like I have any reason to be here anymore, if I'm perfectly honest - the only thing that keeps me tied down here is that I have nowhere else to go vent or share my thoughts and opinions and things I've created. All but one of my friends truly care. Here I feel like everything I do can be validated or debated on or conversed about, and I like that. As much as I love to grill on it sometimes, I like the community here. However, saying that 'it doesn't mean a whole lot to me' is actually an understatement, and it's only how I feel in the moment, on top of being a partial lie. When I look back on it - it's played a huge part in my adolescence - which is an important time for anyone. I wouldn't be the person I am today without EMC and I know I'd have gone down a very different path had I not discovered EMC/stayed as long as I have. I've been here since I was eleven years old, and I'm seventeen in May. That's a pretty damn long time and it's a time that's been spent with my mind developing and other people's opinions leaving imprints on what is a very impressionable young brain, as well as thoughts and feelings being thrown all over the place. It's been a very tumultuous five years for me, filled with varying degrees of some kind of anxiety issue I have swelling up more and more, a black cloud that likes to hang over me all the time but sometimes decides to stop for a few, and a lot of good bits I'm forever grateful for. I have EMC to thank for helping me deal with some of that stuff, learning how to independently manage that, how to help other people with it, and definitely for making some of the good moments I've had in my life come into being. I also have many friends whom I've made here, and one of the most important people in my life probably wouldn't still be in my life and have as strong as a relationship with me as they do without the help I got from EMC. I can only thank all the staff who manage and run this place and keep the lights on for that. All in all, if I had to say something short about it: it's complicated.
Honestly, EMC doesn't feel like family for me. It probably never will, not because of our members. I don't like social media in general. In fact, I have had a tough time through 'social media.' I think social media is really dumb when my irl friends say, "How much followers? or Look at this meme!" My irl friends get distracted by it a lot. My cousin doesn't use social media and I am very proud of her. Too much people fall into the trap of electronic devices. Almost all of the girls in my class become addicted. I see no purpose. I don't believe in a family on internet communication. It isn't possible for me. I go to a team-building martial arts school, so I guess thats why. However, that is not the case for emc. I feel different when I am on the EMC forums. For me, its the ability to express my creativity. Whenever I talk about my stories or art in irl, my friends are NOT interested. Same as Krysyy, I love making people happy. Through my stories and art, I feel like I'm doing that right now. Unlike other forms of online communication, EMC is usually a friendly environment. I can make some dumb graphic or random story and you guys will still be happy. There is hardly any negative activity on the forums, but there is some drama and I get upset over that. The positives outmatch the negatives. This makes me really proud and its probably what keeps me here. And I can't wait to reveal our awesome yearbook at the end of the year. So, thanks everyone. Happy 2 years for me and many more.
To me, EMC means crazy good times, terrible (and epic) adventures in the untamed wilds and being together as one big family or friends, whatever you want. You guys are great and I got to admit, I've never met anybody like all of you. You got a good combination of weird, serious, funny, moody and awesome people and that's what I like.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond. Even (especially!) the cases that aren't quite as rosy and sentimental - honesty is very much appreciated here.
I agree. Of course I loved reading about people's experiences and feelings that are similar to mine... but it was arguably even more interesting to see the different insights some other people were able to give.
A place to tell jokes, play a really cool economy experience, make new friends, and build whatever I feel like. Pretty simple, really.
I'm just about to hit 5 years and I've practically grown up on the server as I joined when I was around 10 1/2. Quite honestly I've been putting a lot of thought into what it means to me, and why I've stayed. I've honestly never come across a definite answer. What I have noticed though is that to me it is a place to burn time just talking to people, and learn about all the different people and cultures on the server, or spend a day helping someone out with who knows what. It's even a place to learn things you may have never known, or even thought of (it has taught me a significant amount about businesses). While that may seem like quite a bit for not coming across a definite answer, I feel like I'm just scratching the surface of what I could say. On the other hand though, I can't say I haven't thought about taking a break. I've been playing Minecraft since some of the later versions of beta, but the game is losing the novelty it used to have. Nothing new, original, or fun and unique has been coming out like what used to happen. I remember when horses were added, or even slime blocks (one of the better and actually interesting new-ish things) came out. So many unique and interesting things were able to be made, not just on EMC, but in the minecraft community as a whole. The game just isn't as fun as it could be, and used to be.
