Way OT: Dumb Minecraft questions - what to buy for my kid?
As the title suggests, I have some questions which seem pretty basic, but have proven to be anything but. Minecraft is not just an expansive world, but it's also apparently very expansive in terms of how to play.
Starting point is that I'm a dad who recognizes Minecraft, but I have never played it and have no desire to do so. My younger daughter really likes it, though, and plays primarily on her iDevices.
I've been wanting to get her Minecraft for our Xbox One, but I gots questions.
- First, is it better to get a digital download version or the disc version? Are there any differences?
- What is the Bedrock edition? Is that just the standard version of the game now, or is it something else?
- I understand the concepts of the various packs. But if I buy a version with various packs, will she be able to use those on her other devices as well, or just the Xbox? E.g., say I get her the Starter Pack - can she use the included packs on her other devices?
- Any recommendations as to which versions are the best? e.g., starter collection, master collection, explorer's pack, etc.? I see that some versions also give you coins, which seems like a good thing, although I have no idea have far 700 or 1000 coins would get you. Would you get these if you did digital downloads of these various versions, or just for the hard copy versions?
As you can see, I'm quite ign'ant 'bout these here stuffs and could really use your insights. Thanks.
i have been playing the non modded vanilla version (bedrock) on switch with my 7 yo son.
he loves it. sometimes he would ask how he can change things in the game based on what he would see on youtube clips. i would explain i would have to pay extra money to buy mods which i will not do and he doesn't argue too much.
i'm not familiar with the coins, we do not play online. maybe something specific with iDevices?
Here's what I know for sure: watching my 7 year old play Minecraft is waaaaay better than listening to him watch people play it on YouTube. There must be a million teenage boys with channels, all waiting for their voices to change, making videos with tips/hints for Minecraft. Seriously, insufferable
To answer your first question, there would be no real advantage to buying the XBox physical disc version over the digital download. I haven't bought a physical game disc in a couple years at least and do almost everything via digital download on my XBox.
As to the rest...
So, a little background on the game Minecraft:
Minecraft was originally made by some guy over in Europe (Germany perhaps?) in his spare time. It took off via the internet and the dev team slowly grew and grew. This initial version was the JAVA version (because the game was written in the JAVA programming language). Minecraft got bigger and bigger based off of the JAVA version (the only version at the time) which was strictly played on PC (no mobile devices or consoles).
Eventually, Minecraft got big enough that Microsoft wanted a piece of the action. So Microsoft bought Minecraft. The game was still just the JAVA version, which requires that you have JAVA installed on your computer and isn't the most optimized. While the game may look simple and low graphics, it actually requires a TON of CPU to run the game smoothly, partially due to how it was coded in JAVA and some of the limitations of the JAVA language and RAM utilization. However, the one big advantage to the JAVA version is that it's easy for the Minecraft community to "mod" the game (user-created variations of the base game which can be downloaded and installed for free). These mods ranged from different "skins" (changing the way the player looks), different texture and resource packs (changing the way the blocks look but leaving actual functionality default), to full on game functionality mods (adding new abilities, types of blocks, and other game mechanics that don't exist in the base game). This JAVA version allowed for full multiplayer with other people but everyone had to be using a PC.
Enter the "Bedrock" version. Microsoft saw the potential with the game and started completely re-writing the source code for the game in C++. Not only did this allow for more game optimization (runs smoother with less powerful PC resources) but it also allowed them to begin cross-platform play. This opened up the game to mobile devices, consoles, as well as Windows 10 PCs and allowed all of them to play together. Microsoft also took this opportunity to introduce a fully monetized Marketplace to allow content creators to actually sell their mods and skins to players (I'm not sure if Microsoft takes a cut or not).
At first, as you can imagine, the Bedrock version wasn't as good as the JAVA version. This was simply because the Bedrock version had to play catchup with all the features the JAVA version already had, not to mention Microsoft continued (and still is) to develop and make updates to the JAVA version. Eventually the Bedrock version caught up so that virtually all of the features of JAVA are in Bedrock (and vice versa), though there are SOME minor differences between the two.
Most "hardcore" Minecraft players still use the JAVA version on PC, but there is a very large and growing user base of players on the Bedrock version as well. I've played both versions on my PC and both are just fine. However, since you mentioned you wanted to get the game on your XBox, then you can't get the JAVA version as JAVA only works on PCs.
As far as data packs, map packs, and any other kind of packs out there on the Minecraft Bedrock marketplace, I could be wrong but I don't believe those transfer from one device to another. I do know for sure that if you set a custom player "skin" on your iPad and then launch the game on your XBox, your XBox will NOT have the custom "skin" as technically these would count as two different installations of the game.
There are also some slight variations of the base game that are part of the Bedrock "family" that you can buy. Such as an actual story mode, etc. I haven't actually used anything other than the standard base game so I can't really comment on those.
Personally, I would recommend that if your daughter wants to get more into Minecraft, to just buy the standard base game. There's no need for the various packs to start with. If she does end up liking it, then you can explore the various packs out there for sale. Some of the texture packs really make the game look high resolution (though still in blocks) and can look quite nice. Also, the "coins" are just to spend in the Minecraft marketplace and aren't needed for actual game play.
Too long, didn't read version:
Buy the digital edition because discs are more trouble than their worth. Don't buy texture packs unless you feel comfortable shelling out a few more dollars for some "appearance only" content that doesn't change how the game plays. Don't waste your money on the "coins". Those are microtransactions designed to squeeze more money out of unsuspecting parents such as yourself after the initial purchase. 9 times out of 10 they are not worth it at all and are unlikely to improve her experience with the game.
Also the bedrock edition isn't anything special. Just buy the digital version of the game on the Xbox Live marketplace. She will not be able to share content across platforms. Please keep this in mind.
Thanks, that is about what I gathered, with the exception of being able to play across platforms if one is logged into their Microsoft account. Is that not the case?
Multiplayer with friends online is an option with the Bedrock version. But if you’ve already bought the game on a mobile device, you’ll still have to buy the game again on the Xbox.
My 8 year old used to play it constantly. He's since moved on to Roblox, but these are my observations.
He played a lot on a tablet and laptop. So I got him a copy for the playstation (actual disc, I never buy via download because I'm a dinosaur and I like to have physical copies of things I paid money for).
He almost never played it on the playstation. Said the controller made it a pain in the ass. Apparently a keyboard and mouse setup makes it a lot easier to do things within the game.
Yes, K&M are the way to go for sure if you can.
Roblox is the in thing now. That and regular old Lego seems to be en vogue. Just what I've experienced with my demon spawn.
Glad I'm not the only one. There isn't a flat surface left in my house without a fucking lego set on it.
Yup. And then I get perturbed if they vacuum them up. It's a lose-lose situation.
Ya. We have a lego room. shelves and containers full. also one gigantic tote full of random pieces. makes me sad looking at it, but i have no desire to try and rebuild one hundred sets by digging through a pile of x thousand lego. older kid (7) is into the jurassic park/world sets and other (5) loves unikitty/lego movie. they were pumped when they though we were going home after disney, and we pulled into legoland.
older kid (7) also loves minecraft and plays on a switch. watches prestonplayz on youtube a lot and would watch constantly if we let him i imagine.
I feel your pain, mp2. Especially when stepping on a random one in the dark.
My 6 and 8 year olds are obsessed with Roblox. Bordering on unhealthy, but this stay-at-home situation has sucked the parenting out of me.
I just conferred with my resident "Minecraft" expert (my teenage son). Ideally she would play on a computer versus the Xbox. The computer version is about $25 and there are no additional charges for mods and upgrades. She could even play with kids on Xbox. He says the game play is much better there too.
If Xbox is the only option then the starter collection makes sense if she plans to play multiplayer because she will see some of the mods the other players have and will want them too.
He says almost anything available on the Xbox Minecraft Marketplace for a charge is available for free on the computer. Also if she watches people playing on YouTube they are probably playing on the computer.
Depends on which computer version. JAVA Minecraft mods are free. Bedrock Minecraft mods cost money (except you can download and use free skins).
Not dumb questions at all.
1. Digital version is always better. For a myriad of reasons, namely, you *should* never have to worry about losing it. Just redownload and go.
2, Ugh. Minecraft licensing is an absolute cluster fuck. I'm not an expert, so take what I say with hope someone will confirm. There's no easy quick way to answer this because it's massively convoluted. Bedrock edition is the first attempt by Majong (Microsoft) to unify the Minecraft experience on all devices. Up till now depending on what version you bought and on what device you may have different features and abilities. Bedrock is supposed to fix that so no matter what you play it on, it's the same feel and experience. In 2017 though they came out with "Better together" which is supposed to provide cross play. This is really just a way to allow PC players to play with Xbox players or mobile players. (https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/better-together-faq). Better Together is supposed to replace/rename bedrock edition.
3. THis is probably the crux of your question and it's confusing as hell. Many problems come from the fact that most of the information on the net is old and conflicting. If I was you, I'd go here: https://help.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/requests/new and ask your questions. If you're not that interested in figuring it out... I'm 90% sure with Minecraft that you're buying an account, not the game. This means you can play the game (assuming it's bedrock/play together edition) on any device and log in with your account on the device. When you log in, it'll recognize that you've purchased the DLC's in the Minecraft Marketplace and enable the features that you've purchased on the device you're using. This means if you have 2 kids, or you want to play with your kid, you need to buy 2 licenses of it including 2 copies of the DLC.
4. No pack is necessarily better than another. It's really about what features you want to have available in game. the coins can be used to buy things in game through the minecraft marketplace. There's always free items on the marketplace. My daughter plays on xbox but we restrict her from playing online, so she doesn't feel pressure to buy anything so I can't tell you how much things cost.
Actually, at least as of right now, if you're buying the Bedrock version of the game, you have to buy it for each device you want to play it on. So for example, I have the Bedrock version on my Windows 10 PC, but if I wanted to play it on my XBox One, I'd have to buy it again there too.
Makes sense. We bought it on each of our kids' iPhones and know we'd need to buy again for the Xbox. We have borrowed it from the library, but they want their own copy.
Oh man...reading this is like looking into a mirror. Both my kids (11 & 8) play and I have next to no idea what Minecraft is or what they are doing. They seem to enjoy it, and do it together without fighting, and it seems fairly constructive, so i guess i'm cool with it.
They do the free version on their Ipads...i actually bought them the switch version for Christmas for $25, they turned it on once, and haven't looked at it again!
I have never played Minecraft, but have been an Xbox owner my whole life and Microsoft has put a lot of resources into this game.
I would buy digital because it's convenient and frequently cheaper if you buy the games during digital sales. Also, used games stores are a ripoff, so physical copies don't have any pros, while digital lets you download on any console you are signed in to.
She MAY be able to play in the same worlds she creates on both iOS devices and Xbox, but she would need to sign into her Xbox Live account in her iOS version of the game. I know she would be able to play with friends cross-platform (she can play on her iPad while a friend plays on their Xbox).
Typically the different "versions" of games are just different bundles. If your daughter likes the different skins and packs they offer, then buying this bundle will save you SOME money. There is not one bundle that includes all skins and such. I typically buy game bundles because they offer some savings. If she does not care about skins, then I would purchase this and have her purchase different extensions, skins, etc. separately.
Most important thing is that she has fun!
The "M" in Mgoblog stands for Michigan, not Minecraft
In terms of download vs disc, isn’t it true that you can save a few bucks by buying a used copy of the disc at GameStop?
Preowned copy at Gamestop is the same price as a digital copy via Xbox Live.
I always buy digital versions. One advantage is I have four xboxone's in my house. Me and my three boys each have one. You can link two xbox's together so that I buy one digital version for each set of two and all four xbox's can download the game. Paying $60 twice as opposed to four times is way cheaper for a game we all want to play.
How do you work your Xbox live accounts? Did you have to buy four separate Xbox gold thingys? I’ve got four kids and three Xboxs
I have two accounts that do all four. Sign in to the account and Xbox you want to make the “home” Xbox. It’s best to buy the games on this account. On the home screen, press Y. Search “home”. Then click on the setting “my home Xbox”. Then make one of the two the home xbox. My son describes it best as the Xbox’s are communicating through the profiles that are linked to each other on the accounts.
We had resisted for my 11 Y/O daughter for a while, but got her MInecraft Bedorck for the PS4 thru digital download during lockdown since it allowed her to connect with friends. Was a great decision, and except for one issue with the loading screen freezing that required a reinstall has been smooth. She plays every day...has been a mental lifesaver during lockdown for a very very social kiddo I did not have PS Plus before downloading so we did need to sign up for that so she could communicate with friends...with the free games (Drake alone was enough) was totally worth it. (My only disappointment was how nonplussed she was by the video of the big house on minecraft posted last week) So, to review, do it...and digital is way to go.
Get the Xbox disk version and get used to the game. Minecraft is not particularly easy for beginners and that is the best way to start.
Ten years ago I got a kid a couple bitcoins. I said hold on to this (jump drive). It’s gone.
I play minecraft regularly, yet have no idea on how to advise you on this, unfortunately. I don't play because I enjoy the game, I play because my nephew enjoys the game and playing with me. I treat it like my old legos. Building tree houses, or forts, or tiny villages, the smaller and more charming the better, and general playing make believe. Most of the time he'll tell me what he'd like to make, and I'll end up building it while he helps, because I make it look really nice, and fill out all the tiny details, while he gets to be the expert on crafting things and feel smart. If I have advice on it I'd recommend basic console edition and play it with her some times, for maximum enjoyment.
Epic games just made civ6 free, get it now and your kid can play it when they grow older, and you can play it now.
Good thread, I've been considering getting my soon to be 6 year old Minecraft as well. Even as a lifetime gamer (sports and CoD games mostly), I don't realy "get" minecraft.
Based on what I've read here, I should probably just get it for him on the iPad, instead of PS4? I have my PS4, but he hasn't really played much it and not used to using the controller. He's been playing CodeSpark on his iPad, but I thin he's quickly losing interest.
Get the digital version on PC so you can play with mods. I highly recommend feed the beast: direwolf. It’s a collection of mods with everything up to the ability to build computers and roller coasters.