hey minecraft thread, it's story time! let's shift out of my usual post style too for a moment to make this more readable
Today I met an interesting person who goes by the name livybella. I've seen livybella playing on the DC server for a few days now, and noticed her (assuming "her" going by her skin and "bella") asking for items and jobs almost constantly. I hadn't actually had any direct contact with her until a little while ago.
This evening it was just her and I on the server for about an hour, when she logged on she wasted no time in asking if she could send a teleport request while I was digging out the bottom of one of my towers. I wasn't really afraid of her doing anything, considering PVP is disabled in the area I built in and any griefing can be rolled back. I told her she probably wouldn't like where she'd end up (around level 20 in a circular hole 15 blocks wide) but she sent it anyway and I accepted. So this minecrafter who -- despite having been on the server for a couple of days -- appears with no armor wielding a stone pickaxe to see me who's diamond-clad and mowing through stone like butter. She just kinda walked around, mining a block here and there, trying to move out of my way as I went though layer after layer of stone, dirt, and gravel.
livybella: can i have diamond pick
Now, I had spare diamonds, but not quite enough that warranted me giving them away like hotcakes. There's a minor economy system in play after all, and from what I'd heard yesterday livybella was flat broke, so it's not like she'd be paying for it. I declined and went back upstairs to unload my inventory. While I was putting things in their appropriate chests she asked if she could have a furnace. An odd request considering she had picked up some of the stone I was mining and there were two crafting tables in the room, but I obliged, commenting that it was just eight stone. We'd hit some Redstone and she must have noticed the stone pick had no effect, so once again a request was made, this time for an iron pickaxe. Being practically made of iron I crafted a pair and handed them over. She wanted to help? Great, then that would let her help faster. After another trip down and back up (I learned during this time that livybella really likes to say "hi" despite us being the only two people on the server and her never leaving my side) I was doing another round of organizing when I got the last question I expected:
livybella: how do u make stick
I told her the recipe, and that the Minecraft Wiki had all of the other ones, but it took a second for the realization to hit me: This girl hadn't made a single tool in her entire time playing on the server, or even just playing Minecraft in general. No picks, no swords, no torches. Pretty much everything she had had been given to her. Couldn't believe it.
livybella: how u make plank
Wow. I don't...I'm not criticizing or insulting her or anything, but how do you not know these things after playing for more than a day? I did tell her the recipe, after which she asked for a suit of armor. Despite having plenty of iron to do so I told her that she should really try to do some things on her own. It's not fun if everything is done for you by someone, I said. "thats ture" she replied, and after placing the aforementioned furnace in my lounge to do god knows what she broke a hole in my retractable stone wall gate (ignoring the labeled lever 3 blocks away) and scampered off. I poked my head out the door to see her climbing the nearby treehouse and said my farewells before logging off.
I'm probably forgetting some things here and there (I believe she also asked how to make a crafting table at some point but I don't recall when) but it's really late and sleep deprivation has affected my memory. Looking back I really wish I'd taken screenshots of the chat, it was really weird. She was probably just a kid, or maybe English wasn't her first language, but I still found it interesting how she was able to live off of what people gave her while still maintaining interest in the game for so long.
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