Why is minecraft so appealing?

[bbhaag]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaHaH0CQnSQ

 

[TheVrolok]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaHaH0CQnSQ

Psh, what does he know?

 

[Rakehellion]

First off, very few people play vanilla minecraft

if Minecraft is so crappy on its own, why not just play a different game? A lot of people mod Skyrim but the base game is pretty solid too.

 

[DucatiMonster696]

The 3 biggest appeals for minecraft IMHO.

1.) Exploration
2.) Building, i.e. building large structures.
3.) Crafting and then learning how to create automated crafting setups which are self-sustaining production systems by exploiting and understanding game mechanics.

Mod and Mods packs can improve on all 3 by a huge factor which can then keep you hooked once you've gotten past the game's initial learning curve.

 

[jackstar7]

Imagination sandbox.

A bit more structure than Garry's Mod.