A dystopia is a literary genre in which a utopian society emerges, but triggering events change the protagonist's perception of the "utopia" they live in, revealing the society to be a dystopia. The Maze Runner series is a good example of this, as the boys' serene green glade feels like home at first, where Thomas may live without anxiety. When he discovers that others have been killed after stepping out into the maze, he realizes that he and the other lads are confined here, and the setting shifts from paradise to dystopia.
But when you think of dystopias in video games? What do you think of? Wolfenstein? Papers please? We happy few? Well, I’m sorry, but just like the fact you chose to do IB, you’re absolutely wrong. Minecraft is the true pinnacle of all dystopias in video games.
When you play Minecraft and you see villagers, what do you do? Well, it doesn’t matter if you ask this question to your average Minecraft gamer, sweaty speedrunner or just a new noobie player, they’re all going to rob the villagers’ houses, steal all their items from chests and crops from farms.
In the world of Minecraft, the working class has been exploited and abused. Take a look at the settlements that can be found throughout the biomes. There is clearly a wealth divide among the villagers, since there is a significant disparity in the houses, with some being well-built for protection and sustainability and others being shacks prone to mob attacks.
Of course, the village churches are better than most residences because the oligarchs undoubtedly offer them tax exemptions in exchange for the church's influence over the poor working class.
Why do you think so many mine shafts are left abandoned all across the world? They are a true reflection of capitalism's failure, as monopolization has caused the mineral industry to collapse due to bad working conditions and low pay. Because only a village can give safety from the perils of Minecraft mobs, the lower class villagers have little choice but to dwell in the same conditions as the wealthy.
The worst thing of all is that the villagers aren’t the only ones being abused in this dystopian society, we, everyday players are constantly being abused, used, and manipulated by this modern society as well.
In Hypixel, the large Minecraft server, the pit has a prestige structure, with higher-status players essentially bullying lower-status ones, a harsh and unfair criminal justice system: Anti-cheat system Watchdog, which only works for the most blatant cheaters but falsely bans other users.
Also, it has public or private dissension: It's no secret that no one is satisfied with the situation of The Pit, it’s culture that discourages originality and diversity: Clearly, this is a poisonous environment, and the game's rules force everyone to adopt a specific strategy: sweaty 6 beastmode till prestige 20 is reached, then uberstreak for cash. You can use a bot or cheat in any way you like.
It’s absolutely disgusting that as we speak, thousands and thousands of villagers and players are being robbed, killed, abused – exploited, yet absolutely no one is doing anything, we were too dumb to realise the truth, too ignorant to see what was happening, too blind to see we’re being lied to.
But on the 23rd of April in 2019, the trailer for the village and pillage update was uploaded to Minecraft. The update added a bunch of new features and a bunch of mobs, but most importantly, they added the pillagers. This is the start of the revolution. The villagers aren’t just men and women, but rather the very entities that lifted Minecraft from its grave, and defeat the evil spirits of Notch and Herobrine, and restore honour and justice to Minecraft.
From now on, we should support the Pillagers' revolution, let the ruling class of the oligarchs and the monarchs fall and tremble under new rule of the pillagers. The United free villagers, the pillagers, stand to lose nothing but their chains. All pillagers from all biomes should join the revolution.
Comments