Remember about a month ago when I said I started playing Minecraft, tossing caution and productivity to the wind? That fire burned bright for a solid week. Oh, how it burned. Several late night sessions, as well as a weekend WLAN party. People built many majestic structures and we chatted the evenings away. It made me feel like certain WoW play sessions from years ago. I even installed phpBB on my host and set up a one-pager explaining how to log in to our servers if anyone recommended someone else come and check it out.

I wish I could say the phenomenon lasted, but it did not. Both Rock Band 3 and Fallout: New Vegas came out in the following weeks, and my interest in logging in waned. I look forward to exploring the Nevadan desert or improving my Pro Guitar skills more than I look forward to starting some new project in MC. When I did sporadically check in to our shared multiplayer world I found others still building things here and there, which is pleasing. Even if I’m not contributing, our shared universe is growing. Seeing others still building both made me want to build something at the same time that it made me mentally overwhelmed. The more time that went by without logging in just increased the lethargy. After complementing this with a steady drip of YouTube videos and Reddit image posts of the Internet’s creations, I’ve become pretty darned unmotivated to do anything. The thought of creating something that has any value next to what’s been done just tires me.

Minecraft still holds potential, however, as it gets improved constantly by its creator. In a year, the game may not even be recognizable from what it is now, so I won’t discount it entirely. But for now, Minecraft is just not on the table for potential distractions, relegated to a game I read up on but don’t participate in.