Josh Gregory - Minecraft: Mmorpg

Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.cherrylakepublishing.com

Reading Adviser: Marla Conn, Read With Me Now
Photo Credits: Cover and page 4, Phils Mommy/Shutterstock; page 6,
Maskot/Getty Images; page 10, Syda Productions/Shutterstock; page 14,
Joe Scarnici/Stringer/Getty Images; page 15, makar6809/Shutterstock;
page 16, Niferure/Shutterstock; all other images by Josh Gregory

Copyright 2019 by Cherry Lake Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any
form or by any means without written permission from the publisher.

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for 21st Century Learning. Please visit www.p21.org for more information.

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Chapter 1

Exploring New
Worlds

M inecraft is a truly massive game. No matter
how much you play, there is always something
new to do. There is better gear to craft for
your character. There are new places to explore and

Every time you start up a new game of Minecraft ,
youre in for a completely different experience
from the last time.

Playing together with friends in multiplayer
mode is one of the best parts of Minecraft .

new things to build. And if you think youve run out of
things to do, you can start a brand-new game with a
whole different world to explore.

One of the most fun ways to play Minecraft is to
meet up with friends online for multiplayer adven
tures. In most versions of the game, up to eight players
can meet online to explore, build, and battle together.
Minecraft s built-in multiplayer mode has provided
countless hours of exciting adventures to the games
millions of players around the world. But what if there

was a way to play with more than just a few players at
once? Can you imagine a version of Minecraft that isnt
just multiplayer, but massively multiplayer? Believe it
or not, such a thing already exists!

From the very beginning, Minecraft has always
been a game about creativity. Players get to build
and reshape the games world in almost any way they
can imagine. Some highly talented players take their
creativity outside the boundaries of the game. They
have programmed many additions and changes to the

Minecraft has always had a strong following
among computer programmers and game
designers.

Making Changes

Minecraft is constantly growing and changing. Since the games first version was
released in 2009, its creators have regularly released updates for players to download.
Some updates simply fix bugs or add support for newer computer hardware . But others
make major changes to the game. Most of the features that are now a core part of the
Minecraft experience were not originally in the game. These include weapons such as
bows and arrows, enemies such as creepers, and even multiplayer mode.

Sometimes modders played a role in bringing these important features to Minecraft .
Today, horses are a common element of the main Minecraft game. But they were
originally created as a mod. The games developers saw how popular the mod was and
how well it worked. They asked its creator to help them make horses an official part of
Minecraft .

main Minecraft game. Then they put their creations
online for other players to download. These unofficial
updates to the game are known as mods .

Mods played a big part in Minecraft s growing
popularity during the games early days. The same
kinds of players who were drawn to a game about
building things were even more interested. They real
ized the potential for adding their own unique twists to
the game. As word of Minecraft s amazing possibilities
for mods spread around the world, a huge community

of modders grew online. They shared ideas for new
projects and programming tips with one another.

Since the first version of Minecraft was released in
2009, thousands of different mods have been shared
online. There are mods that increase the games
difficulty and mods that change the appearance of dif
ferent objects in the game. Other mods add new types
of enemies, building materials, or objects. One popu
lar mod adds massive dinosaurs to the game. Another

User-created mods are available for download
on countless websites. Be careful, though. These
downloads are not officially supported by Mojang.

lets players use real programmable computers within
the world of the game.

The most amazing mods completely change the
way Minecraft is played. There are mods that place
your Minecraft character into a sticky situation, such
as being stuck on an island in the sky or a vast desert
with few supplies. They make you think creatively to
find a way out. There are also mods that turn Minecraft
into a puzzle game. But perhaps the most amazing
mods of all are the ones that turn Minecraft into a
massively multiplayer online role-playing game, or
MMORPG.

MMORPGs are far beyond anything youve seen
in regular Minecraft multiplayer. Hundreds of players
can join together to go on adventures. You can also
forget everything you thought you knew about
playing Minecraft . Some of the most popular MMORPG
mods change almost every aspect of the game, from
how you earn new equipment to how you explore the
world. Are you ready to give it a try?

Chapter 2

Massively
Multiplayer

M MORPGs might seem like the kind of game
that could only exist with the latest technology.
But they have actually been around for much
longer than you might think. People have been join
ing up online to explore fantasy worlds since the early

Massively multiplayer online games are a great
way to meet up with friends online.

Some people still play text-based
MUDs online today.

days of personal computers and the internet. In the
1970s, computer programmers began creating online
games called multiuser dungeons, or MUDs. MUDs
did not have the incredible graphics and huge worlds
that players are used to today. In fact, most of them
were little more than text displayed on the screen. The
words players saw would describe their surroundings
and what was happening around them. The players
would enter text commands to say what their in-game
characters would do next.

The first modern MMORPGs were released in the
late 1990s. Ultima Online (1997) and EverQuest (1999)
drew hundreds of thousands of players into MMORPGs

Ultima Online might look simple compared to
modern games, but it was groundbreaking in the
1990s.

for the first time. Unlike MUDs, these games had color
ful graphics, sound effects, music, and everything else
you would expect in a modern video game.

Today, MMORPGs are among the most popular
and successful types of video games available. There
are many different ones for players to choose from. By
far, the most popular example of the genre is World of
Warcraft . You may have even played this game. More
than 100 million players around the world have cre
ated accounts on the game. And even though the

By Fans, for Fans

Most of the earliest MUDs were not created by big game companies. Like Minecraft ,
they were created by game fans who had their own unique ideas. They used their
programming skills and creativity to design and build online worlds for other players to