In this world the landscape is simple, the ground is flat and covered with emerald green grass, trees and flowers dot the earth and there is hardly an animal in sight, save a small flock of pixelated sheep. In this world the shackles of creativity are broken; this is the world of Minecraft, the sandbox survival game, where players can be as creative or destructive as they please.
Members of the Emporia State community can now play with, or against, each other in this creative landscape on the new Minecraft server provided by the ESU Esports. Tristan Howard, senior marketing major and president of ESU Esports, said that the purpose of the server is to bring the community together while playing a game that most people are familiar with.
Minecraft is typically a single-player game because the game requires significant storage. However, individuals that possess a computer with ample storage, or employ a third-party company, can open the game to other players, this in essence is a Minecraft server.
ESU Esports uses Apex Hosting, an American company that remotely provides the hardware for game servers, to run the server. Since their founding, Apex Housing has managed over 300,000 Minecraft servers, according to their official website. Apex Hosting has a network of computers all over the world and people can rent storage for their private servers; this niche business model is lucrative and can be expensive, especially for a college student.
“I pay out of pocket like $20 a month for it and it can handle (about) 50 players,” Howard said. “I volunteered to pay for it out of pocket so it wouldn’t come out of club funds.”
Scott Honea, senior business administration major, has been playing Minecraft since 2012 and has participated in several Minecraft servers over the years. He likes the collaboration and comradery that comes with playing on a Minecraft server.
“I just feel like it’s a game, especially if you are on a server, where you can kind of come together, work together or kind of create chaos in your own way,” Honea said. “I see it as a game to let loose and be creative, whether you are playing on survival (mode) or creative (mode), just kind of have fun.”
Currently 20-30 people have joined ESU Esports’ Minecraft server. The server is free to join, but all players must be local to the ESU or Emporia communities. People interested in joining the server can email ESU Esports at [email protected].
