Proceso de construcción del portafolio temático

Once the clients have established the need to commission a new Minecraft build, they have to determine the build’s initial characteristics, which range from its functional to its aesthetic details. Determining said details draws upon both textual descriptions, as well as the inclusion of referential materials in the product concept, as discussed below.

It needs to be pointed out that these constitute only approximations of the build’s final specifications, which are solidified during contracting (see section 4.2).

4.1.2.1 Determining functional characteristics

Much like functional requirements in software engineering, these characteristics stand for the exact functions the commissioned map should have. Given that

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these maps demarcate the digital space in which players interact with each other and play, their functional characteristics define the affordances of the mini- game they are situated in and what players can actually do. An example of these characteristics, as identified by a client, is presented in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Snapshot of a product concept document

This example corresponds to a very particular type of “creative server,” the purpose of which is to offer to its prospective players the ability to create in- game content inside pre-designated empty spaces called “plots” (Figure 4). Based on what is exhibited in Figure 3, the build under commission should have:  4 different worlds, each of which would accommodate players with

different levels of experience in building in-game content;

 Differently-sized plots in each of these worlds (sizes measured in Minecraft blocks, e.g. 35x35 blocks);

 Borders of 1 block width in-between each plot;

 A monthly reset of one particular world (contest world).

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Whilst this example reveals a number of functional characteristics that come into play when commissioning a creative server, they do not cover the entire spectrum of characteristics other server types might demand, such as the overall size of the build and the inclusion of specialised in-game areas where players would be able to craft and store items.

4.1.2.2 Determining aesthetic characteristics

This set of requirements are related only to how the commissioned map should look and have no relevance to how it functions. They usually include:

 The materials the build should constitute of;

 The colours that should be integrated into the build;  Decorative elements, such as trees;

 The predominant theme of the build (medieval, futuristic, modern, etc.). Clients attend to pinning down these details in order to have maps that meet their stylistic preferences. On top of that, it is common to run servers with a specific aesthetic theme (such as medieval). In order to maintain the uniformity between the mini-games that are available on their servers or to provide to their players maps with specific aesthetic details, they include such information in the product concept.

Even though Figure 3 is mainly comprised of functional details, there is a reference to an aesthetic one too: that of using stone slabs as the preferred material in creating the borders that demarcate each building plot.

4.1.2.3 Referential materials

Textual descriptions of the build’s characteristics (either functional or aesthetic) are supplemented by the inclusion of visual assets, which represent what the clients want the final build to be like. These assets, which members refer to as “referential materials,” can either be pictures of other builds or build prototypes that the clients themselves have created and attached in their product concept.

Pictures of builds. These are snapshots of builds that either belong to the clients

themselves or other members of Minecraft’s creative community. When it comes to the latter case, clients visit the various Minecraft fora members use for

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disseminating their work, in order to search for builds that they like and could potentially resemble what they have in mind in terms of the build under commission.

An example that was part of a product concept members shared during the conducted fieldwork is presented in the following figure (Figure 5). In this particular case, the commission included the creation of labels that would be placed on top of specific in-game areas. By sharing this picture, the client conveyed to those that would realise the commission his preferences in terms of lettering’s aesthetics.

Figure 5 Example of a referential material that depicts a font

Another example of a reference to a build is depicted on (Figure 6). What is of interest, in this case, is the fact that the client annotated specific areas (red rectangular shapes) as potential spots for the creation of plots, which was part of this particular commission.

Figure 6 Example of referential material which was annotated by the client to showcase points of interest to the contractor

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Build prototypes: These are actual in-game materials that clients themselves

prepare and share with those that are going to work on the commission. Given that they are in-game assets (Figure 7), builders can work directly on them, by appropriating them, expanding them and adapting them (see chapter 5) in the final build.

Figure 7 Example of a high-fidelity prototype, created by a client in order to become the basis of a commissioned build

Tien: “I made this hill using World Edit and then I sent it to

the builder and the builder then made that a larger hill and he made more than just one section of the hill.” [Interview material: The participant, who was a client, was explaining how he might share a build he owns with the builders so that they can expand on it as part of a new commission.]

The above examples make it evident that referential materials supplement not only the aesthetic details of a build, but also its functional characteristics. The inclusion of the sketch (Figure 6) in particular works in tandem with the functional requirement to include a number of plots in the commissioned Minecraft world, as the client points to areas that are considered to be appropriate for the inclusion of said plots.