Missives from Isolation #6 – Old Favourites

I would say that being at home so much has let me watch a lot more videos and shows than normal, but that would imply that I don’t constantly consume content regardless.

Recently, though, I’ve been watching one of my favourite streamers (Jordan Maron, aka CaptainSparkelz) playing on a Minecraft server with another streamer I watched as a kid (Tom Cassell, aka Syndicate), as well as a few others. They haven’t really played together in years, since another multiplayer server that turned into something much grander and more complicated: Mianite.

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Mianite started as just a server, but as it became more popular and the players started messing around with made-up lore and running gags it turned into a full-blown story experience. The second ‘season’ of the livestreamed show, which was running during my first year of university, had a full team of story-writers, builders and more besides – it was a magnificent beast barely recognisable as Minecraft anymore, a sprawling fantasy world that was a genuine achievement. And it was great to watch.

I actually ended up with a far more personal connection to the series than just being a viewer, though, because I worked, off and on, for about two years on a spinoff Mianite MMO project. I was actually one of the lead writers, making characters, quests, and generally building the world alongside a bunch of great people. It was really fun – for a while, until my increasing uni workload and some not-insignificant friction on the writing team led to several of us bowing out. The project never really went anywhere after that, as far as I can tell, but it was still a great experience. How many people get to watch a show they love and then get to work on it themselves afterwards?

The point of this post is that I thought the world of Mianite was done. So did pretty much everyone else. But then a few weeks ago, because they’ve got time on their hands in isolation, Jordan and Tom started playing Minecraft together again. I started watching, because I too have time on my hands, and it was a nice throwback to years gone by to watch them messing with one another again.

And then a couple of days ago that Minecraft server, once again, became a spinoff of the world of Mianite.

There’s not been any real story yet – though there’s some coming soon – and it’s not a continuation of the story they left off many years ago. It’s basically Half-Life: Alyx – a prequel out of nowhere years after a huge cliffhanger. I don’t know what it’s going to turn into. I don’t know how long it’ll last.

But seeing that old story that I’d almost forgotten brought back, in any form, was a really pleasant surprise.