Hey everybody. Welcome back to infinite Quest. Before you begin this episode. We have one very important announcement in this episode. We're going to talk about Haven craft which is the ADHD. Minecraft server that we are starting surprised we're doing that. However literal second the page was still loading was when we realize that we actually didn't like the name Haven craft as
much as we thought. Did it's a really close to hermit crab to meet ya any of their toes and so we are officially in this moment retconning that and it is Called Quest Craft. Yes so anytime you hear us talk about Haven craft just mentally say Chris Kraft in your brains and from here on out when we were doing our twitch streams, whatever we're we will refer to it as Quest Craft but we just wanted to let you know that going in literal literal actual s. Yeah we say oh no.
Otherwise I said, like I referenced a project that we were going to announce in the episode and I realize I didn't actually announce anything until like a half an hour in. So I figured also in this. Hey, check it out. We're starting a Minecraft server for for for for its destination for infinite Quest. Come on by. If you got a little bit Quest podcast.com there's a little form to fill out but we'd love to see you there.
Join the Quest Craft Server, it'll be great without further Ado, listen to us talk about how Minecraft is really a wonderful allegory for life and other big-headed. Yes, so retcons. And without further ado, Here's this episode. Everybody it's me. Katie asaurus. Hey, what's up? And it's me. Hey good and welcome back to infinite Quest. I said a different thing that I normally say I usually say hi. Oh hi, hello, yes, I hello. It's me. Hey dude. You did I just feel? Okay.
Do you wanna start over? Is have to burn all those t-shirts? Now that said, yes. I'll oh it's me. Hear you do I do all that March that we definitely made. Yeah, oh yeah, totally definitely great a mall. This is the first time we've recorded in a hotel. Since I moved across country since Oklahoma. Yeah. So if you're listening to this and you go oh this this On sounds funky. It's because here we are in Madison Wisconsin at game polka. Yeah, Chillin in our hotel room,
drop in this episode. I'm not going to say late, but I'm not going to say early either. I just looked on you say drop him, it's Thursday but this episode will be out on us on Thursday as traditionally promised, you know, that's fine. That is just fine. You may have noticed by whatever Kate decides to name this episode that we're going to be talking about Minecraft today. And a lot of you are like, wow. I don't give a living shit about Minecraft. What this whole episode Burn It
To The Ground? I'm leaving Burn It To The Ground. Burn It To The Ground. Burn it to the ground. There's a nice little low-key reference for you. Thank you. We have to burn it to the ground. We won awards. Are about Minecraft today. One, because we've been talking about it at conventions, for, like ever. And a special project that I've been keeping pretty secret for a while.
Is officially going live today? By the time you're listening to this it will be Lyle have been life, but before we do that, like Eric said, even if Don't know a lot about Minecraft. Today, we're going to talk about executive dysfunction. We're going to talk about Choice paralysis. We're going to talk about a lot of these sort of very common experiences of the neurodivergent brain. But we're going to contextualize it around Minecraft. Oh yeah. If you like Minecraft cool,
you'll get the inside jokes. Bradstone. Am I right? Well, you do with all this Redstone and I are doing all these. Look at these blocks are blocks. I've been in mining and I got a craft but if you don't it's okay because honestly we just were just want to talk about that. Some cool stuff in. That's how we're contextualizing it. So these listen, because we need the ad Revenue, just say it just put it on in the background on silent travel. Adventures is very expensive, very expensive.
But I did, I mean, I think, one of the reasons that microtubules to make one, I just want to say, I tend to Galaxy brain about this. Yeah. But you don't need an explanation to like all the things that you like that too. Me a long time to I was like 23 when I realized like wait a minute I don't have to rationalize to people. Why I like stuff. I can just like stuff, you know? That is honestly very wise thing. Thanks, very wise observation.
Thanks. I mean, I think I learned that from years and years of like, explaining why I like Iron Man is an allegory for like hubris and stuff, like that's like I can just like a Iron Man, you know, I'm also free to think about why I like Iron Man, but similarly with Minecraft so I can to get to the Galaxy rid of the stuff, but ultimately I just like, like crap. With that being said, the reasons I like Minecraft are vast. And I think they tend to put on a sort of a blank canvas.
A lot of the things that I struggle with my everyday life, my remembering things planning, multiple stepped projects, doing a thing in order to do a thing in order to do another thing and it's a safe place to do that. Like if I mess something up in Minecraft the world goes on, I'm not going to like, you know, have to miss a flight in Miss A convention because I forgot my thing. If I forget some And I just have to turn around and go back to my base and get some more iron.
I feel like it might be prudent as we start this episode. For those people who don't know what Minecraft. Yeah. Yeah. Your how it works or or display it, this is the first episode, you decided to listen to you. Saw the convention. Can you give a brief overview of what Minecraft is? And I will give you my, my explanation, what I think Mike was just because I'm playing Minecraft for 10 years. I've so I'd love to hear some Italy, 10 days. Yeah. So, I'd love to hear your take
on it, too. Should I go first? Yeah. Actually, you want to go first. Okay, so Minecraft is it is an open world game in which the game renders itself as you play and you play as this little guy and you're walking around the world and you can do whatever the fuck you want. Like that's basically that is the that is the Crux of Minecraft Like You Can Mine like
there's different. You can blink build tools and you can like go around and you can like mine but you can also like build stuff and then Also within the game, there is this stuff called Redstone and Redstone is like you can build
actual functioning computers. Like if you like the complexity just like it just, is, it grows exponentially like the better you get at Minecraft, the more stuff that you can do, but it is, it is fundamentally a game about walking around and finding resources and then managing those resources to create other things. Yeah, to do. But it's but it's way less boring that I make. It sounds. No silly.
I mean well it's hard to describe because one of my favorite things about Minecraft is what I like to play from a very technical standpoint. I like trying to figure out really efficient ways to do things and automating processes. That's just how I enjoy the game, but there's no correct way to enjoy the game. It's one of the only ones I think all safe saying it's the most successful game that you
can't actually beat. I mean, there's this thing called the ender dragon or there's a dragon that you can find, and then kill and it like rolls some But that's not really the main this sort of to gives you something to do but there's no winning Minecraft. Like a lot of people will defeat the Ender Dragon and the first, you know, our because there are speed runners or whatever and then add, then they just keep
playing. So there's no real winning in Minecraft which is also something that I find really interesting because one of the hardest things to do for me is to figure out what the hell to do. Yeah, which is something. Again, I struggle with, in my everyday life, but so for every, for my first off, I think that was a perfectly good explanation.
Minecraft, that's really, I feel like I feel like I have like a really big sense of imposter syndrome about talking about Minecraft because I really, really like Minecraft but I've been playing it for like less than a month. Well, that's an incredibly valuable perspective. I mean that's sort of how I feel about gay and he's like, hey, have me at your convention so I can talk about authoritatively on Minecraft. I'm still not sure how to make
an axe most of the time. I have to look at the little thing. I mean, the thing is, I say all the time, about all sorts of media, whether it, whether it's a painting, or a movie or music, the only really get to be New to it. Once you only get to watch a movie for the first time once ever tie feel about Galaxy Quest, right? I'm so glad I got to watch it for the first time with you. It's amazing. I mourn for the fact that I can't see it for the first time
again. It's but there are movies out there that I'm going to feel. Well probably not I mean Galaxy Quest is that's it. Holy shit. What? A moving it's a good movie. It is but so anyway, so so your perspective as a newcomer to is valid and fleeting and rare and all that. So I really value I think it's great but so for a brief explanation of micro from my perspective, Active what Minecraft is is 41. The map of Minecraft is the
largest map ever created. In the video game to walk from one side of it, to another would take several years. It's been done. But we're talking about I was just about to ask as anybody ever done. Yeah. And everybody's done everything in Minecraft. What the other guy is like, it's been around for so long but like everybody has done the the, like the, some guy, some version. Like what?
If like I yeah, that little bit. Think of it as like a render Farm. Yeah, we're like there are just millions of people all just having ideas all the time and I love it. But basically, so you're a person, it's a first person game. You're a person walking around on this map. The map is just pretty much just nature. You're basically just in a forest, their God dozens of
different biomes. There are deserts, there are mountains there, big Ravines and stuff like so it's this massive, vast, expansive landscape, all of, which, all of which is all true. Abel. There is nothing in the game that cannot be altered. There are supposed to be things in the game that can be altered. But again, the render Farm of millions of people have been figuring out how to sell you. Like some of you right now are thinking the Bedrock, once you go, as far down as you can go,
you can't break that. Yes, you can. So like literally everything in the game is all durable, you can alter the landscape endlessly. There's some people that just dig big holes. That's just how they play Minecraft is. They just dig a really big hole. Honestly, I really feel I'm here for that. Super fun. And once I learned how to build a TNT Farm, I when I tell you that, like, my favorite thing is just building the whole day just making long so much fun.
It's so much fun. I really like that, like, exist. I feel like when I was a kid, I never got to like, make big holes like because I would get dirty. And, and so, like, in Minecraft, I can just make his big ol hole. Not allowed to get dirty. Oh no. Oh dude, it's like a whole thing. I'm so sorry. That's fine. That's sucks. When you're gonna be some time and dig a big hole, you kept their sand at the beach.
Yeah. But if you go low enough, you reach water and its really sad, how much sand with your body? Yes, it's horrible. Defying, speaking of sand. So every, every element in Minecraft, I know mean like chemistry elements but every thing in Minecraft has been simplified into what's called a block. So dirt. There's a dirt block and you can use a shovel and then you pick up this one meter, by one meter
block. And then you have a block of dirt, a block of sand, a block of gravel Ibaka, block of granite Granite, that's it. Exactly what I was gonna say, yeah, I know things about. So everything is referred to in blocks. You can basically think of the landscape of Minecraft is being a massive grid. Most of which is air because it's above ground. But everything is one takes up one block space, basically, even if something is smaller than a block, it still occupies.
So, like, every there's a sort of coordinates and you can alter all of that. Now, as you get these materials, you can build different things that those materials you can use wood to make a crafting bench which then as you gather materials, then you can use the wood from the tree. To make a boat, which then makes you travel faster. Or you can use the wood from a tree, to make a campfire. So you can cook food. There are animals around, all of which have different properties cows.
Sheep cows, and sheep will are attracted to wheat. So if you're holding wheat, which you can grow by breaking grass, such to get seeds, then building a hoe out of cobblestone and wood to till soil, to plant seeds. Eventually we will grow which then you can use to attract cows if you have more than one cow and feed them, we they will start to produce baby cows and you can Farm So you can see quickly how the game is a multiple step doing a thing to do a thing to do a thing to do a thing.
Or what were you could also make cows. So, then that way, you can make a giant Warehouse of cows and break your friend. Eric, I know, I cannot even teasing this prank. I am very excited. It's amazing. It's gonna be cuz cuz that's another important part of my crotch is that you could get to play with your friends? Yes, exactly.
Absolutely. It's a massive collaborative thing, if you want it to be, but so after, A long time playing in like a world eventually, you like you've gathered thousands and thousands of pieces of stone and you maybe you've built a castle and then you're like, what would be cool? Is if I had a moat about around my castle, like, oh, but I want some things in the moat. So I'm going to try to find somewhere to put some things in the moat be cool. What about a drawbridge across the thing?
Like, how do I build a drawbridge? So it's as its as vast or as simple as you want it to be. Like some people just like to just sort of explore the landscape and just look at the cool stuff and and that's awesome to I love doing that too.
But basically it's an infinitely modular game, something I really like about just things in general are emergent properties where 99.5% of everything that has ever been done in Minecraft wasn't not was not necessarily intended to be done the developers of Minecraft. The original developers are getting Notch. They merely created a set of rules and out of those sets of rules. All of this stuff that is now, Minecraft has been created.
All created by the players, the developers, they create the blocks and their properties, but what happens with those blocks is entirely up to the players, which is the best thing in the world. You're smirking? Are you smirking? What are you, what? Are you laughing? Why you smiling about? You have spent a long time explaining Minecraft or sorry. How long has it been? Oh my God. 12 minutes. Where's at 1712? Oh my gosh.
But I think that your explanation also serves An excellent segue because holy shit can Minecraft become a hyper Focus. Oh yeah, like not super easily like especially if you're like working on. Like even I like I got sucked in like right away. Like I was like one of the first that we played together.
It was like, holy shit. It's 4:30 in the morning like we have to stop and so, but I think it's really interesting the way that executive dysfunction and honestly function Works in conversation with Minecraft because like what you were saying earlier, it's like you have to get the wood to make the table and then you have to get You know, the stick to do the thing to do the other thing to whatever.
So there is a lot of planning and there is a lot of forethought that can go into the playing of Minecraft. Like, we've been streaming follow us on Twitch Minecraft together, and like, we have like a routine. Like, when we're like, okay, we're going to go on an adventure. Like, we make sure we have like food and a boat, and a bed and like snacks and, you know, that kind of thing. But that, and but that it's really, it's weirdly satisfying, Satisfying to me.
It's weirdly satisfying, like, when we go off on, like an adventure and you're like, fuck, I forgot a bucket. I'm like, I brought a bucket. Oh yeah. You like that kind of thing and I love it because I feel like in some ways, Minecraft is a really good way to practice thinking through those places in your life, where you, where you deal with executive dysfunction and like, for me especially it's
impulsivity. I struggle a lot with being really impulsive Civ. I also struggle a lot with like, not thinking ahead, like I'll do the thing and then I go. Oh, fuck. I just messed up my whole life because of this but in Minecraft, it's like know, if you don't come with the right supplies, you may or may not be able to finish the thing that you're you set out to do that day and so becomes like a really like weirdly healthy sort of like therapeutic thing. And I think that's really cool.
Oh yeah. Oh, yeah. And then sorry, were you gonna please the other but the other half of that too, is that The absolute Choice paralysis that I run into every single time I open Minecraft is like, I have like, like an existential dread every time. Like, unless I, you know, if I go in with a very specific like I'm gonna do a silly prank on your base, or I'm going to do something like that. That's really gratifying. Because it's like okay, I have a goal, achieve it.
But if I open Minecraft and I don't have a specific goal in mind. It is like an immediate shutdown. Like I'm immediately not having any fun. I'm immediately like stressed and I'm like, okay well I I'd go like, do More Cows stuff or I could do more like Wheat Farm stuff, I could go build a thing. I could go dig. I could go whatever and it gets
really stressful. But learning that about myself in Minecraft has become a really really good way for me to sort of like learn more about my own strengths and weaknesses. And I want to be very clear, I am very new to Minecraft but even in the short time that I've been playing, like, I've really learned a lot about my brain and my thought, And how, like my strengths and my weaknesses I guess is maybe a better way to say that and it's fascinating to me how specific Minecraft is in
some ways. But how much is applicable to like the real world? Yeah, absolutely. It it's sort of a good way of this is pretentious as fuck. And I told myself when I thought of this that I wasn't going to qualify. But here we are. There's the poem that loves language. Alfred Prufrock by t.s. Eliot.
The line in that poem that I'm getting probably slightly wrong Reese's but as if a magic lantern would have cast, my nerves upon a screen like in Shadows upon a screen which is basically to say, like if you were to take my whole being and like just just put it on a canvas, put it on a sunscreen just show it entirely Minecraft. I don't know. Maybe to me to make Minecraft that grand but making weird
associations. Like that is apparently part of my brand, but Minecraft is sort of does that to me. Does that for me? Is it? Reveal strengths and weaknesses in in a, in a safe environment, and low stakes environment. I mean, it's slightly higher Stakes for me because I make, you know, I pay rent somewhat with with, with money that I made from people watching me play Minecraft. Shout out to everybody who comes to the two extremes, you're all amazing.
Congratulations to another dementor for finding the Ender Dragon, if you come to the streams, you know what I mean, but it's a low-stakes version of that. So I can discover like, oh, I really suck at this thing, I really suck. At you know for example if you have a big project a big machine you're trying to build in Minecraft, that's a produces. I don't know bones or something like that Farms is they're called Minecraft.
You know, there's a certain there are infinite methods of will not going to bed, but there are many different designs that people have made for doing that all of which require certain materials. Now, the way that people who don't struggle with executive dysfunction do that is they gather all the materials first and then they go to set up the thing and they build the thing. I don't do that.
I get some of the materials start to give myself the dopamine head of having started and then realize I didn't bring enough whatever and I have to go find the stuff again and then I go back and I repeat that process until maybe I finished the project, maybe I don't but learning that about myself in Minecraft is much safer than learning that about myself. You know, skydiving, jump out of an airplane then realize, oh,
actually I didn't pack. The thing, I don't know anything about skydiving is terrible gamble, but Minecraft is a low-stakes version. To reveal those things to yourself about yourself and provide you with an opportunity to practice those things if you want. Because Minecraft, I'm just going to fall on Galax. I'm just gonna like I'm gonna make some really Ricci things about like the meaning of life and shit school. But I fucking love Minecraft so much.
And cut, can I tell you a thing? Yes, of course. Yeah. All of this Eric everything that useless. What started all? No, no everything you're saying has. Really been verified by science shit. Yeah. In recent years this is the Silas was a surprise. I was gonna I was gonna surprise you about this party, really, in the past couple of years, there have been three or four major studies about ADHD and video
games. One was from the University of Kentucky and the other one was from the National Institute of Health and what they found won't surprise you because you play Minecraft. Can I read to you, please study, please, please, please Hold on. I gotta find it because I lost it so they talk a little about what Minecraft is whatever.
This is one possible mechanism of action associated with the effects of Minecraft. On ADHD is the opportunity for reinforcement of positive behavior and punishment, or for negative behaviors provided by Minecraft. The game Minecraft is blah, blah blah blah. And then it says, high performance in several major executive functions noted to be lacking in.
ADHD children is positively By gameplay in that success, yields completion of a specific task acquisition of rare in-game item or even character survival in a given situation. Furthermore Minecraft allows players to re attempt failed challenges as characters respawn. After death though, with certain disadvantages. This post gives the players the impetus to improve in those executive functions to perfect to prevent character, death or Hassle and the ability to continue improving.
Wow, which is a very scientific way of saying, That Minecraft does everything you were just talking about, it allows us to learn and to improve on our skills and then go from there and build on them and I think that is very cool. Yeah I don't know why they even did this study. They could have just asked me. I know, right?
Saving a lot of money. It's also like, I don't know, but there's also something like I it bothers me that they only studied it and kids because I feel like it's too that like infantile ization of like oh well only kids play video.
Video games are like mine. Craft is just like a silly kids game and it's like I am 33 years old and I am literally getting better with some of like my executive function stuff because of playing Minecraft. Yeah, I mean for one just so many ADHD studies, we need to do more ADHD studies as a species about adults. We're doing we doing way more now than we were say 20 years ago, but holy shit.
It's really annoying doing research on something and it's like, oh, this was for, you know, children 5 to 18 or whatever. It's like, Well, I mean I get it because the way that idiot see diagnosis, the onset of symptoms has to be from an early age because it's a developmental disorder, which is a whole thing. But either way, I get that frustration.
But yeah, I mean, my craft it it I would say this as much as Minecraft. Also helps me practice those executive functions and rewards me for those Executives functions and it doesn't reward me like in a monetary way. It's not like you know, hey you get the the The thing that usually costs money for free or whatever, the hell it rewards me
in a way that I created. Yeah, it rewards me anything that I specifically have acknowledged would be a reward because I've spent the last three days trying to do it or some of the completion of a project, the acquisition of an item or something like that which I find amazing.
Like there are a couple different sort of like camps of Minecraft players like at least in like the high-level world but I think you can categorize every Minecraft players, some mixture of these plus some other stuff but There's Builders who like building structures, they like building buildings and statues and you know, replicas of real life, building the Taj Mahal or whatever, or the Eiffel Tower and those people are incredible. I'm not very good at that. Those people blow my mind.
Then there are red. Stoners. Redstone is basically the electricity in Minecraft. You can again like you like you brought up early, you can literally build a working computer, a couple of years ago. Pretty early on in Minecraft. People figured out how to make Gates which are sort of the fundamental building blocks of how a computer works and so people have literally made computers in Minecraft. Somebody made I want to verify again that this is true afterwards.
So please please blast us with me emails of online about this but I somebody made a computer in Minecraft that runs Minecraft. You can play Minecraft and my Minecraft. Somebody also did it with, I think, come on red. So like it's literally just this massive in-game structure, no Chico like in game structure where you can sit and using like the little levers that Minecraft in Minecraft, you can play fucking Pokemon. So like it is, it is insane. How expensive it is.
Anyway, so that's the Redstone world. So Redstone is anything, that would be a an electrical machine in the real world. So a piston system, a sorting system, a whatever then there are the PVP. Is who like to do is to basically fight other players, which sounds kind of simple and barbaric, but it's really not, I mean, the amount because because situations are infinitely, alterable, it's very complicated, they'll times was traps. You can make in strategies that
you can make it's amazing. Anyways I consider myself more of a technical Redstone e, Minecraft player I like figuring out trying to trying to sort of exploit the code of the game. And I am an agent of absolute fucking chaos. That's what I do in Minecraft. I just do stupid shit. Shit just to see if I can and then I do and then I feel bad but the entrance to your base looks, right as fuck it does. There's massive skullet eyebrows with giant Skull Cave for the
entrance. Pretty cool space and that's cool. Um, well I also want it as much as I think. I started this train of thought a million times, but again, I just like my crap. So fucking much, I keep sounds coming out about it. I'm Delight. Like I just had the passion and Joy on your face is just lovely to behold. Thank you. I hope so. But not only does Minecraft allow you to practice those again. Functions that are difficult for
people with ADHD. They also allow you to practice something else that I find to be equally if not more important than practicing those executive functions is practicing forgiving yourself for having a hard time with them. Yeah. Because in the real world if I have, you know, if I always say, forget my keys and easily easy go-to thing and it happens a bajillion times a day, but that has an immediate inconvenience, it is inconvenient.
It to forget your keys like its costs time, it costs literal energy, you have to turn around and come back, it has that immediate cost, which is what it is. But far worse, at least in my experience is, how pissed off I get it myself for forgetting the keys. It'll ruin the next several hours of my day. Yeah, because I'm so mad at myself. Minecraft. Also provides practice in Grace. It's an exercise and practicing forgiving yourself and realizing
like, hey, I forgot the thing. Just go back and get it. It's okay. And I mean, I still get mad at myself in Minecraft, when I'm, especially if I'm like, streaming and I'm doing something live in life, are I keep saying how to do the thing but I forgot the thing.
It provides consistent low stakes, although there still is a cost, you know, you still have to go back, you know, it still - really reinforces that studies dead but, you know, the world isn't going to end if you're not going to miss a job interview because of something that happened in Minecraft, you know? So, it's an exercise in Grace, for me, at the end of the day,
which has rewarded. Words that are specific to the player because it's the reward is whatever the player set out to do, which there's literally infinite things to set out to do in Minecraft and the detriments are soft, depending on how your there's hardcore mode, which is basically you die in the Nets over, which a lot of people play, but I could not, I just couldn't do that. But, you know, you don't, but
you get to try again. It's sort of like skateboarding by skateboarders, a lot, because if you see a skateboarder do a trick, they failed at that trick 10,000 times before being able to do it in the I kept trying, they kept trying and I kept trying and I find that to be an immeasurably valuable. Well, hi everybody. Congratulations. You made it to the middle of the old episode. You shouldn't have a snack and some water. This is you should also. You should do that.
Thanks for listen to us, talk about Minecraft. I don't know if you doing, okay, this is been a lot of Minecraft scenery listener. Are you okay? Are you bored? I hope you're okay. It's, are you? Hey, I hope you're not bored at some point. I go. We're so nervous about this episode, hopefully, em. Well, like, I, it's taken me so long to, like, be okay, with how much I just fucking love Minecraft. I'm proud of you first time. I'm loving something.
So passionately, thanks great. He also, you know what else we passionately? Love going on to her seamless, seamless, seamless transition. And so, if you want to check out our tour, dates that are coming up, we've added a few more stops along the way, and we are still actively adding them as well. So if you go to a convention or you are a convention organizer and you would like to see us come to your local convention, please get out us. You can reach us at infinite
Quest podcast.com our tour. Schedule is currently also on. Are along with a lot of other pages that I keep forgetting to finish. So don't look at those. Just look at, just look at the ones that are done. It's why I added some, I added some new ones. I added some like as seen on because I got to be cool to give people like links to all the different podcast and stuff. Yeah and then I realized how hard it was going to be to like
make it actually happen. And so they just kind of feel like we're like you know there's like old like 90s. Like Zhang has where it was like under construction. That's what our ranga. Yeah. I was like, I don't want to do a whole another podcast during jitan special Tha conception. This is Zenga was like the predecessor to. I forget that you're a baby.
So xango is like the predecessor to like Myspace and like like it was like xanga then livejournal than my space than Facebook was the was that but xanga was like this, like it was like an online like Journal thing and when it wears Napster fall, you know, Nasser was at the same time but Napster was you would Download Britney Spears and sing songs from Napster while you posted on your xango by Justin Timberlake, right? Yes, yes, keep the the it's clean.
Back to the episode. Sorry about that. Transition. Wow, those are really good interstitial wasn't, but it's probably the best interstitial that we've ever have done, and it definitely was. Yeah, we wrote we wrote it first and then recorded it yet. And like, listen back to make sure it was exactly what we wanted. Perfect is really good one. It was so good. I'm also realizing that as I've been sputtering out about my God, I forgot I haven't
announced the project yet. Well, I feel like this is Good. Because now you've absolutely weeded out the insincere that's drives and this is how I approach Minecraft was. You just use? I feel like you just did yourself like a like a wonderful favor I suppose I did. I get here wondering, we're in a hotel. There's a bunch of your room. No I keep hearing that. I think when the door across the hall opens like shifts ours but that's a freak me out last night too.
But everybody. So this part has been in the works for a while although it won't seem that way because there were still throwing stuff together. But today on this day, October 21st 2021. I would like to announce the official start of that did it.
Every drum roll on the table, but I told you not to, because they're Michael, I'd like to announce the start of Haven craft Haven. Craft is a Minecraft server, that I have procured that I would like to be a place for particular learner diversion people, but you don't have to be in order virgin to play on it. It's okay. Is that a you have to present your paperwork or anything like
that, but a place to play. A Minecraft and, and hang out with other like-minded people or people who aren't like, my to have conversations with in whatever, but I've always wanted to have my own Minecraft server. I've played on a bunch of different servers but this community that we've created, I can only imagine what could happen on the server.
I'm a huge fan of hermitcraft. Those are you don't know what that is. It's basically twenty-some-odd, professional Minecraft players who all make content in this in what has become this mess. Of yes and improv exercise. I mean, it's just I can't overstate how much how incredible it is, but it's a bunch of people having fun, creating bits together, creating lure, putting together, massive
improved storylines together. And originally, I wanted to sort of do something like that, but I'm not a super well-established, Minecraft player, you know, and there's a bunch of people that we hang out with on our streams all the time who already play Minecraft and I would love to play with and so I figured screw it. Let's just, let's just open it up. There is an application form. I just want to make sure we don't get trolls or anything,
sort of what? Well, no. I wasn't explained the the application. Oh yeah, because I did it. Yes. Our please. If you go to our pocket, our website, it simply request podcast.com there's a new page called join Haven Craft on. That page is an application form that if you want to be on the server, you have to fill out.
However, when we started this project, we had this idea that we kind of wanted this to be like a hermit After thing for like creators, like calm and like make cool videos and Tic Tacs and like whatever you might want to do, and that's cool. However if you don't want to do that that is also cool. It's fine. And so we so we've created an application to get to know you a little bit.
Get to know the style of Minecraft that you do with the idea that if this becomes something that people really like and they wanted like see that content then, you know, we can start making content in that kind of thing, but there is there's no expectation and you're not going to not Make the list for one if you fall in the content, creation side, or not, content creation side. So just just that we just wanted
to let you know that. But yeah, so it's very much written like a job application, in certain respects and we've kind of left it that way. Just because if there is a content creator that wants to join in like make content on the server, then sure we would want to know like cool. What's your deal? Like they're coming demo. We know you're listening, is your huge fan of will will give you will give you an additional six give you a trial run.
But I mean Minecraft I you know, over the past 10 years had periods of playing and not playing and playing and playing. But particularly in this most recent bout of playing it's become extremely meaningful to me. Not only for what it's done for me but what it has clearly done for other people. I mean something scientifically sound. Well yeah, Frank. Yeah. Scientifically verifiably. What it's done for other people and I mean much it's such an
again. Like I said I'm gonna I'm gonna Oakley Galaxy print about this, but it's such a perfect analogy for life in so many fucking ways. And as I learned to enjoy Minecraft and forgive myself for the things that I, you know, feel I messed up in Minecraft. So to do, I learn to enjoy life and forgive myself in the stuff that I go through in life. I mean, the other day, I sort of it was the middle of the night and I like like shot up in my bed because I realized something in Minecraft.
Ultimately, the only thing you need to quote, unquote win Minecraft in definitely survive because when you spawn you have nothing like you're going to die unless you figure out a way to not die, you know? But pretty quickly, you kind of get like, alright, I have enough food. That's that will replenish as quickly as I can eat it. I have shelter. Once you've done that, you've beaten Minecraft, you could just stay in that shelter and eat that source of food and you will live indefinitely.
And that is one of my least favorite parts of every save in Minecraft. I go through periods where I just, I'll make it'll save and to see how far I can get in like a day and that my least favorite part is when I get there, when I have a shelter and I have consistent food and I'm safe from the monsters that's want night. Because then the question is well, what the fuck do I do now? And very often the answer is, I don't know.
The best times in Minecraft is when you have a goal and you like off, I'm going to build this thing, and it's gonna be amazing because all the different projects that come from wanting to do any given thing. It's just, it's so many different Opera. It's so much time. Well, spent produced from any one given project. If you're like, I want to build a massive Castle. Okay, to do that. I need a lot of cobblestone to get a lot of cobblestone and a lot of pickaxes to get out of pickaxes.
I need a lot of iron to get a lot of iron like so you have, it's a Footsteps thing, and there's a feeling when you sort of complete a project, we're like, fuck, right? What now? And so, similarly, once you have the bed in the food and the shelter, there's for me there's like sort of a moment of I don't want a panic but a moment of just oh fuck shit. Oh no, oh gosh. And I quit the game a lot. And that moment I just started new save and do all that stuff again.
Yeah. And then get there and then start a new save and do all that stuff again. And I'm realizing there have been massive portions of my life. I mean, the eight years before we met Katie where I had the food, and I had the bed and I was just here. Hmm. And then what the hell now? I don't know. I like I did some stuff, you know.
I you know, I I loved my time as a cook In a baker and and as a as a musician and all that stuff, but the question was always just once you have that stuff and you're like, all right, I'm surviving. What do you do now?
And I'm learning to overcome that in Minecraft really and again, I know, I'm Galaxy bringing about this, but learning to do that in Minecraft learning to get to that point where it's like, okay, I have the food, I have the bed, I have the shelter and if having that feeling of like a shit, shit, fuck, would I do what I do? I'm bored, I'm bored!
I'm bored! Oh no. Learning to not just start a new save and just get to that point again, which is not an option in real life in Minecraft, it is learning to go know, what do I want? What am I actually going to do? What am I going to work towards? And as I get better at doing that in Minecraft, I realized that I can get better at doing that in real life too. I can get I can strike an want things more than just surviving.
I mean, even even now with with infinite quest which is sort of you know the what do you want to do, I want to do whatever fucking glasses like that's what I, whatever that turns out to be I still even now I still have to fight that feeling of like, wait a minute, like I make enough money to pay rent and buy food. So that's it. I'm done like I don't need to start new projects. I don't need to meet new people. I don't need to go to conventions.
I have the food and the bed. But what's the point in that, you know, I don't want to survive, I want to live. And in Minecraft, take it to consistently practice that every time I finish a project. Every time I finish setting up my little Hut, or whatever you have to. What am I going to do now? You don't have to do anything.
You could just sit in that little house and eat the wheat or whatever the bread, but where's the fun in that and so learning that and if in countering that in Minecraft, if allowed me to integrate that sort of thought process into my life in a way that didn't feel Horrifying and Grand.
Like, I've already have that thought first about myself or which I probably have at some point when we're talking about ourselves in our own lives, it seems Grand and terrifying like oh fuck, what if I make the wrong choice, you know, what am I going to do with my one true life, you know, or whatever. But in Minecraft it's a goddamn video game at the end of the
day. So I could approach that thought of like, oh shit, once I'm sustainable, I don't have to do anything else but I got to think of it on this like simple little Scout of like, oh well I play Minecraft to enjoy it. That's what Minecraft is for is just to be Enjoyed and however you enjoy playing it. And I got to approach that thought from that perspective of just I want to enjoy this game. I have enjoyed this game. I like this game.
A lot of the time. I just have to decide to leave the Hut and do stuff in Aspire. So to do I feel about life. Minecraft has helped me, learn that and it continues to help me learn that as I keep playing. Anyways, doing Haven Craft Server. So that was all fucking speech house, really nice thanks. I hope so. But I mean, so they'll know why the server is just you know you don't have to think of Minecraft as whatever as I just ask. What you can do you can just like playing Minecraft.
That's like I said, the beginning. You don't have to explain why you just do whatever you want, but I just wanted To to try to give that experience to people. And I don't know, provide a space for people to do that particularly neurodivergent. Because that's the group that I'm in and identify with very much and I want to help them us and, for whatever reason Minecraft is now an Avenue through, which I can do that and I feel like I owe it to the
community to, I don't know. Try to provide some And like that, I don't know. That's really nice. Eric, thanks sweetheart. Are you gonna play on the server? Yeah. I know we have Katie town and go to pests and all that stuff. It's okay. We're here. We could rebuild, we can rebuild it'll be fine before. You've we've left a lot of really do pass basis behind. Yeah. Yeah. We have. It's fine. It's fine. Emily. That's the thing. That's, that's the thing that
I'm learning. You just gave like, a beautiful speech. I feel like we should just end the episode but I don't know how much more time do. We work? 39. We can do it short if you want to do, that's fine too. But I mean no, but like it. That's something that like, I really struggled with when I first started playing was like I would get Call this like sweet stuff and then I would die and I just get so mad I can. So fucking bad about fuck because I have a very low frustration tolerance.
But like as I've been playing I've been like oh well like losing the fucking gold is not the end of the world like there will be more gold or there will be more whatever you know you get your could run back really fast and get your diamond pickaxe back here like that kind of thing.
And so that's really, really helpful because like having to start over and like having to have those moments of like, oh no, I died like It is really actually made me confront how often like I just in man that hallway conversation is cool but it's made me realize like how much like I think frustration
tolerance. Like I deal with but also like, how much of it I've just been like suppressing because like I'm not, you know, like in conversation with like socialization like it like Not supposed to get mad. You're not supposed to get angry, especially me because I,
you know, look like a girl. And so, like it's just been really interesting to like, have those moments of like just I freaking the fuck out because I lost my diamond pickaxe in the lava or whatever and then I just go, oh well that's a feeling that I felt and I was okay, feeling that feeling and I didn't I didn't perish from getting angry or upset or whatever and like that's really interesting to me as well.
Hmm, But going back to Haven craft we're gonna we're gonna The applications are now officially open. We are going to. How are you going to? What's the plan are going to do like a rolling basis or you just going to let people in as they come? Like what it was that what's the plan? Well, there's a lot of slots on the server right now. I just like again, like if I was going to do this, then I didn't want to be like we really young people can enjoy. Yeah. Well, what's his we sought or I
thought? Well that we thought very specific aspects of this through but it was like oh shit. There's no Discord Surfer yet. So I like before we record this as Shit like there just has to be 1, so like, just so people can go to it. Um, but no, I have I think three hundred and fifty some odd slots. That being said, I've never run a friggin Minecraft server before. I mean, I've run like ours just the two of us, but this is a new at.
This is a new Endeavor and I'm still learning how to do all this to very important. Caveat, this is a jerk free zone. No jerks. Ha jerks ha jerks. Yeah, well, I mean the rules. Another thing is nice nice. Nice people, think 352 slots. I think that was like, the upgrade I think I actually have less than that. I have a lot of slots. They don't have like, infinite slots but I have a lot of spots.
Um, but oh yeah. So tell us you know in certain Minecraft servers that are things called anti griefing rules which says, you don't know. Griefing in a video game is generally being a massive dick to other players for the sake of being a massive dick to other players. It can take many forms like griefing in Call of Duty, looks different than griefing in Minecraft, you know. But basically you like in Minecraft briefing would be like going to someone's base and
burning it down. Or stealing all their shit. So merely following them around and killing them a bunch of times. None of that shit, please. If you do that, we will kick you out of the server. Nice, Chill Vibes, only. I didn't want to, there are mods and things that you can do to make it. Like so that you claim areas that only you can build on which we've done on some other servers before. But it is a nerd of urgent, fucking nightmare to navigate
all that. Yeah. Like you have to read all thing and it's like you have to take the shovel and him to hold it in your left hand and then you can claim this. It's just like, oh my God. God, can I just want people to feel to just join and play that being said? A lot of this is sort of honor System. We're like, if you have a project that you want to build, you go to the Discord and say like, hey I was going to claim this hundred by hundred block thing. Is that cool that all right,
cool, you know? Yeah, just everything has to be civil and all that and I know that's that's a lot to just you know, put on on human kindness. But I trust our community were all lovely people you know, are all right. I trust it's you know, Be a practice, problem problem, resolving, all that. If you have any questions about the project, if you are a content creator, like, Creator, Creator and you want in on this and, you know, just want to chat
with us before you. You know, sign up, just get her email. Its infinite Quest podcast at gmail.com. I'm going to start like, I'm the admin person for this. Eric is like the brains. I'm the admin. So yes, I'm just like, I'm just wondering. Like what like How many minutes after this podcast? I don't know. Think we get the first one. I don't know. Well, that's the thing. It's so what if nobody applies. All right. What is then we have altered ourselves. It's also, it's also what's
called a whitelisted server. So basically, Nobody's allowed on until I or you. You're also a server operator person. I'm drunk with power, specifically say that you can come in. And the reason for that is I just do not want to risk. Randos just come in and being like hey let's go destroy this
whole server, you know? So that so it's not like you do the thing and then all of a sudden you like we have to get the applications, look at them and then, so the server itself, I mean, who knows, maybe we get a whole bunch of today and then we just pop it up live. But either way, I'm going to go ahead and say, you know what, I'm going to go ahead and do this. This, this this right now, this right here. Okay. Um, this coming. What's today, Thursday? So it's Thursday. All right, cool.
Yeah. Thursday this is 21st. I mean I want to just be like You want to say next week? That's what I'm excited. I'm just I'm so excited but I also do want to like maybe pollution Lanka over here was thinking like I think we can just approve things as they as they come in and people can join the server. I don't know what type of volume to expect though. You know. Yeah. But again I'd like manually type in each person's name into the console you know. So it might take a second.
Well most early years is a start you know, because the server has existed for like a month now and I've like gone. Like to make sure everything works. You secretly surviving in the background, but I haven't actually one. I didn't want to like, have somebody joining. It's like, I've already built an
entire Kingdom, you know? But also one of my favorite things about Minecraft is is not just what individuals do, but what groups of people do so like, I'm hoping like some people come on and in a couple people who really like, you know what, like like you said, you might just want to collect every flower and the game. That's my that's like my whole ass plan. Now, he's okay. Now, like I might have Kate's greenhouse and everybody can
comment. At my cool flowers and that's all I do like that's that's it that's your one that's your what I'm hoping people like start a menagerie you know like they try to capture every you know mod or every every animal in the game or every plan in the game. So it's like a whole museum of like every single thing collected, a dope-ass museum. Uh-huh. I have to find so much sand for the greenhouse. Yeah. Oh yeah. I also I really like the concept
of like stores. So like if one person builds a big farm that produces like a lot of iron they can be like rather than mine. You can come to my store and it's, you know, one diamond for three stacks of iron or whatever. Have to talk in an old-timey. Yes, you promised you have to get your diamonds here. Get your diamond, get your eye magic Alexis. There's a guy had a nun, hermitcraft named, um, good time with Scar and it's all bit that he's been doing this.
This most recent season, is, you can name objects using an anvil. So you can just get like a rock but nana Bob or whatever. And so, he's been selling pieces of like, died glass, but he's been going around selling Um, as like magical crystals that were going to and everybody know like they're in on the July, everybody knows that they're not actually going to do that because there's no function a game that can do that.
But he's so he's just this like traveling Merchant like snake oil, salesmen like pedaling and everybody just goes along with the bit and like, all right okay I'll give you three diamonds for your magical, you know? It's just like a rock that he's named like, magical, whatever. That's so funny, but I'll let you say anything. I mean, that's where I'm most looking forward to is one. Just what people do, but also That it becomes a community that's like living.
It's like again, like 99.5% of everything that's ever happened in Minecraft happen because the players started doing and it because Minecraft intended it necessarily. Yeah. So like if people wanted to build like a farm that sold every single item, what are you smile, you got an idea, just realized something. What's the name of the Minecraft server behaving? Craft was the name of where we live in ADHD. Haven Loft. Somebody could build a even
loved. I well I know I just like I was just saying it looks and that's cool. And even think about that until. Yeah. I just made that. That's interesting. Yeah. Okay. I have a little infinite Quest. Media. Fucking umbrella, grows Doug. I'm also curious if you dear listener or not, somebody who cares about Minecraft. I'm really proud of you for making it this far. Lapis, what are you doing here? So I can we just see the watch time just like as people go like okay which is fuck.
I don't expect doubt it. Don't hear well, guys, thank you for for dealing with us. Talk about Minecraft for this entire episode. But anyways, I'm really excited about it. I'm nervous as all fuck. But you know, we had a conversation, a little while ago where I've dipped my toes in so many things for so many years and it's like, you know what, I like Minecraft. So Mike has changed my life. Minecraft continues to improve my life for whatever reason that I vaguely curious about but
whatever. Feel validated by Minecraft. I feel genuine success when I get better at Minecraft and I lost my train of thought it's coming back. Oh yeah. But as you know, it's time to go on and so I'm fucking terrified, I'm scared. People are going to be mean to each other and and all that well, but I don't know that if it comes to what you have the house you have the bed, you have to food, Don't stay in your Hut. Thanks sweetheart. Well, that was really sweet.
I was going to say the name of the website link one more time, but you said such a nice little so kind that was such a wrap up. Those really nice, I just I need you to know. Why don't you just a really nice stuff about you on the podcast? Because I don't know what your head explode. But I'm really proud of you because I'm not really proud of you. This is gonna be great. Thank you sweetheart, I'll be fun. Not fun. Yeah, I mean people are Dirksen
will eat them into the sun. We fight, you'll be summarily you needed. Yes. And I do also, I do plan on making content on the server same, I will be doing that too, just so you all know. I don't know how what protocol will be, but, you know, like if I'm recording a thing and then somebody runs up in like I don't know, like us, there's no griefing so they could like, blow up my whatever, but I don't know, it's just easy. We'll see what happens. You are.
You are overthinking. I am overthinking. Don't don't sweat. It will come, you're not as good. We will learn as a community. We will grow as a community, which is what we've been doing since day one with a request. So I'm gonna be rad and if you want to be a part of it, you can go to and then a quest. Podcast.com, there's a new page that's called join. No, it's not easy. George Haven crap.
I wasn't nervous about the HC but yeah, Hayden craft just just just clicked for me because it's a Haven. You know, it's like a Haven. You can come here and everything hang out with cool people and not worry about people being jerks. Even his quest podcast.com click on over to join a Haven craft and we are opening the application as soon as this podcast goes live, and if you are it once that happens, look for contact from us and Some way
shape or form. And we'll get you on the Discord server and we'll get you in the in the Minecraft server and it will know when you can join great and red and it may be a little bit. It's going to be it's only in the beginning on depending on genuinely. We're just letting you know, is if you're like weird, casual episode I feel like but generally, we just want to let you know, we're really, really excited about this project. There's a lot of back-end admin that has to happen.
Yeah. And so like we're learning Duncanville toilet and take it right away. Just know that we're figuring. Some stuff out. It's we will we will let you all know as it goes but at some point hopefully within the next week or so, we will officially like open the gates to Haven craft and we will go from there. So yeah. Oh and also I this goes without saying and it's on the application and all that.
But obviously, the server is a safe place for people of all any set of all n. He's yeah, exactly. No, no jerks. Because every atom in Turk if you're a jerk you're not allowed but everybody else. Is everybody else is allowed safe place. So Obviously that, unfortunately, I feel like that's necessary to it, but anyways, of course that anyways, we should probably put this episode out because we're all ready as he's hours later. What of nowhere are dead.
We are to do convention stuff all morning. So doing that. Is it is what it is, like half very educational to half the most casual like well shit through a plan that will. This is what you know what I've been working on. To some capacity for the last while in so I just fits the announcing.
It feels weird. I keep wanting to like wait no no we should wait so I can make sure that the icon on the thing is perfect you know and and just FYI if you do follow us on Twitch we that's where we're going to. Like when we are streaming Minecraft will be streaming on that server so you can come check it out. Even if you don't like play Minecraft but you want to see what's happening, what's one girl in chitchat about though?
Whatever the heck, you know, as yeah, so just just know that going in. But, uh, but yeah and if you're interested, Did in being a an admin on the Discord server. There is a little click, click thing on the on the application form. I guess, that's what we're calling it. But, you know, also, you know, email us if you like, hey, I really good at all this stuff, actually, you know, I don't know. Yeah. But anyways.
Thank you all everybody. So much for listening to this strange episode recorded in a hotel room. I think it's gonna sound pretty good will sing and I really just appreciate you all supporting us in all the ways that you have from from the shares and the right review. On the things and the patrons and the in the the bit donations on Twitch and all that it just holy shit.
I never thought a lot to us. I never thought in my life that I would be able to just like get to do the stuff that I actually want to do and get very getting meaning from and, you know, survive in the capitalist hellscape, it is try to make it legal but it's, you know, I've been a, I don't know. It just means the world. Thank you so much. And again, if Nick was podcast.com, click on the little link. Little Haven craft thing and
we'll see you there. Eric. Yeah, like some people say to the end of this episode. Oh my gosh, if you say Julian this episode boldly, but Jeepers, Star Gold Star A+, check under your seat has a gold star. You get a free car, that was a joke. You don't get a really hard for you about. Was a joke really later. But seriously, thank you so much.
If you stay to the end this episode, this was a very strange one, but Minecraft is something I'm very passionate about and have been sort of working on in secret and today's like the big announcement day. So anyways just thank you so much and if you are all interested in playing come on by infinite Quest podcast.com click on the link. Also Katie, I'm just realizing this moment right now is you may be as well. We have no instruments in this
hotel room. We could fashion some instrument that will always empty water bottle. Trust me. I was thinking about it, but we also need to get this fucking episode about. We're so late that I was honestly, like, wait a minute, we could use the elastic from our Master. We could make like a harp or lyre. The most underwhelming version of Stomp is it was what we have sent would create in this hotel room, nothing like the Anna, Kendrick thing from Pitch Perfect, and she's got the cup
and just like that. I couldn't. Can you do that? I don't know. You probably think I had like an hour after I saw the movie. I was like yeah I do the same thing. I like hyper fixated on it for like 20 minutes and I got bored but if you did just join the patreon you like oh where's my name in the sun? Don't worry your name will be in the next song and will be even better. Even better have two instruments. Yes, yes. That's right.
Two instruments. And I'll holding a harmonica in my mouth the whole time but I'll still try to say the names that be good. I'll be good. I look forward to 30 so I'm committed. I just said it out. I just love said it. Well hey speaking of how weird this episode has gotten if you like are we Word episodes. If you like our weirdness, if you like just weird things in general and you are interested in becoming a supporter of infant a quest. You can do that by visiting infinite Quest podcast.
Nope, you can't. That's not the right address. I'm so tired. I really had to come /. Infinite Quest. It's patreon.com slash infinite Quest. I mean technically there is a link on the on the web. Yeah. What am I doing next? I'm very tired. They'd ruin.com infinite Quest and just so you know I know Eric said this at the end of the episode but Today's been a very weird day and I just like we walked into a room full of people who were there to see us and to learn about neurodiverse.
I'm going to cry neurodiversity and gaming today, here at gamehole Khan, and we're doing more this weekend and we just want to say thank you like we would not be here if it were not for all of you and your support and your continued generosity and your enthusiasm and I know Eric said all of this earlier but it's just it's really Hitting us today especially with Haven craft and everything that's that's going to be happening, it's because of all of you.
And so we we hope you know that we're just really really grateful for all of you. So Drink some water. Eat a snack, take your meds be kind to yourself, be kind to others. And from all of us, an infinite Quest except for Brian. We love, we love you. Thank you. Brian thinks that you're an asshole? It's awful. We've been meaning to talk to him about it. Brian, could you come in here? Just yeah. Just as for a second. Okay. Hold on, let me stop recording.