Work Text:
In the vast multiverse, there are many similarities between the universes therein. It is infinite after all and, although universes branched from another will always be nigh exact, sometimes universes from wildly different ‘Areas’ will end up with familiar traits. Not counting the common observation ‘World A is fiction is World B’, as that is a completely separate phenomenon, the jokingly named ‘Ripoff Effect’ [1] or, more seriously, the ‘Genre Phenomenon’ is more complicated than can be covered in the scope of this essay. However, even the lay-traveler will have seen the effects of this phenomenon, and the details are not necessary to understand how it manifests. Some of the more well known are the Bioshock Area and the Ink Machine Area, the Metroid Area and the Castlevania Area, and the Minecraft Area and the Terraria Area [2]. Another connection, also with the Minecraft Area and the topic of this discussion, is with the Roblox Area.
The Robloxians and the Craftiens [3], the main sapient species within the Roblox Area and Minecraft Area respectively, are similar enough on the surface that someone inexperienced with them could be forgiven for thinking they are the same species. Those who have actually interacted with them will quickly realize that is not the case, but that is not the full story. Spending more time on both sides will reveal many places where the two echo each other. World composition, the social culture, and their relationship with their world have similar tones, even with the differences in biology and religious figures. While it is not a textbook example of the Genre Phenomenon, it is one of the more interesting to examine [4]. Mostly because of the sheer disparity. For every difference, there is something that could fit in either Area of the multiverse. To appreciate the similarities, one first has to look at the distinct.
Robloxian internal biology is surprisingly like humans. In fact almost all organs and bones have similarly named counterparts with the same jobs [5]. They are not exactly humans however, and do have features alien to a human. Robloxians are not continuous beings, their ‘joints’ are much like magnets giving all Robloxians the ability to disconnect their separate body parts with no repercussions. The number of parts does change and Robloxians are sorted into two body types, called R6 and R15 with six and fifteen parts respectively. With the lack of parts, Robloxians don’t have fingers, rather they use the same property that allows them to separate to hold items [6]. How this is possible is complicated, and outside of the scope of this essay. Suffice to say, their physics has more in common with computer code than most other Areas. Indeed, they even call their DNA ‘Code’, and much of their terminology is computer based [7].
On the other hand, Craftien biology is absurdly simple. In contrast to Robloxians, Craftiens are one continuous part on the outside. However, they have more in common with a balloon than a human. Their outer skin can look like anything, as they don’t have to worry about organs, bones, or even needing to breathe [8]. Their interior is composed mostly by a gaseous material called simply, Void Energy. This Void Energy suspends and is generated by their only organ, called a Heart, but acts mostly as a soul and/or brain [9]. As long as the Heart is undamaged, a feat on its own as the organ is intangible, a Craftien can always reform their body. This is a good thing as they are a prey species and die surprisingly easily. Their skin is very fragile and semi-pourous, it is honestly easier to list what they can’t die from rather than what they can [10].
While Craftiens are functionally immortal and Robloxians are decidedly not, both societies have very similar views on death. Robloxians have found a way to, temporarily, cheat death by essentially copying their Code at death and reconstructing it at a ‘Respawn Tile’ [11]. Interestingly, it bears an almost exact resemblance to Craftiens Reforming ability, even if the process is completely different.This has led both societies to treat death as an inconvenience and True Death similarly to a catastrophic massacre on Earth [12]. When dying has no permanent consequences other than retrieving whatever you had on you at the time, the culture will change to reflect that. Many stories, real and fictional, will have their characters die multiple times as a small roadblock or to remove a specific character for a tense moment. True Death meanwhile is used as the driving force or a warning of an impending disaster.
With death almost a non-factor, gladiator matches, survival games, extreme parkour, and combinations thereof are common entertainment for the lay-man [13]. That’s not to say the arts have no representation, painting, sculpting, and architecture are also all pillars of the culture. Especially all of the various forms of architecture. For Robloxians, creating new games and having others play in them is seen as a great work, having hundreds playing at the same time the highest of honors. Cheating or destroying those games is seen as a life altering shame, and, in very rare, very extreme cases, are banished from society [14]. Craftiens see building as a rite of growing up, that making your first building for only aesthetics means you’re no longer a child. They give each other building materials and houses as a common way of communicating. Destroying a creation of any kind is a declaration of war, and Craftiens are very good at war. It’s not like they can die.
To contrast their common ways of entertainment and views on architecture, their religions are much like their biologies: similar on the surface but very different once you actually start looking. This can be attributed to the fact that their respective gods interact with the common person, or have in the recorded past [15]. There are myths, legends, and stories that may have more fiction than fact, but many of them are based on real events and real people. Even with the fact real people have interacted with the real gods, there are many sects and branches of both. This does include cults with fictional rituals, or worshippers of false gods. Most of the time those groups are small, and often harmless, with few exceptions. Those exceptions are often shunned, with attempts of disbandment and reintegration with society [16]. Occasionally, they are smited, especially if they are perverting the worship of one of the real gods.
The two main Craftien religions are the Developing Pantheon, and the Triune Void. The Developing Pantheon is much like the Greek or Norse pantheons of Earth, with many beings each with their own task. The Two leaders of this pantheon are Jeb, the Bringer of The New, and Herobrine, the Keeper of The Old [17]. There was a third, simply known as The Abandoning One, with tales saying he was Herobrine’s brother and sat in Jeb’s throne before leaving with no warning [18]. The Triune Void is what the name implies, and followers worship the Void Above, the Giver of Life, the Void Below, the Giver of Destruction, and the Void Around, the Crafter of The Worlds. This is a much smaller religion than the Developing Pantheon, with less stories and more small anecdotes, however both religions are seen as equally important [19].
Robloxians only have one religion, with one distinct god, and many demi-gods. The single god is known as 2x2, and is believed that all things that exist have some echo of its form. Those blessed by 2x2 are known as Admins, with the most well known being Builderman, Telamon, Doombringer, and Clockwork. They also believe in an Adversary known as 1x1x1x1, a fourth dimensional being who hates all of 3D space, who is sealed in a Hellish place known as the Banlands. Hackers, Robloxians who have gained Adimin-like abilities, often through unsavory means and to use those abilities for harm, are also sentenced to the Banlands. This is to use their ill-gotten powers for some good, to keep 1x1x1x1 sealed [20]. That hasn’t stopped small cults from forming around the most prolific and dangerous Hackers, such as Noli, C00lkidd, and John Doe. 1x1x1x1 also has a cult, although it’s composed mostly of Doomsday preppers, with no real worship happening.
With all the details about the inhabitants of these Areas, the actual planet they live on has not been given the same look. That is because it is quite the strange system that governs their existence. The Minecraft Area is split into Seeds, and each Seed has its own array of Dimensions. On the other side, the Roblox Area has Experiences, split into a wide number of Servers. To completely understand the different relationships between two Seeds and two Experiences requires an in-depth knowledge up through the 5th dimension [21]. Some boiled down facts are: Seeds share the same 3D co-ordinance with all other Seeds, while Experiences do not. Dimensions [22] are confined to their Seed, but Servers can be shared by Experiences. Seeds are often destroyed and recreated by the Triune Void, while Experiences are rarely removed, even in situations where they should be [23].
Given the split nature of their worlds, Robloxians and Craftiens have both found ways to traverse the gaps. Robloxians gather in a main city called Robloxia and use teleporter hubs, often called Launchers [24], to make their way between Experiences. Switching servers or getting back to Robloxia is as easy as pressing a button on their phone. Why the difficulty decreases involves 5D knowledge, and even then it’s more of a side effect rather than a feature [25]. Craftiens live most of their lives in one or two groups of Seeds, called Gardens or, confusingly, Servers. Seed Jumping is simple, as they all share 3D space. The landing point just has to be clear from both sides. Seed Finders and Speedrunners are the people tasked with finding those points, but some just Jump to explore on their own [26]. Robloxians cannot do that as setting up a teleport in a Launcher requires some form of civilization on the other side.
With the confined nature of Robloxia and the spread nature of Gardens, governments are awkward. Especially as both sides use the same terminology for different roles. Robloxia is ruled by the Moderators, who in turn report directly to the demi-god Admins. Every Experience is overseen by a Developer, or group of Developers, who is often just the person who set up shop there first [27]. This is where it gets confusing, as the Developers are called ‘Admins’ and ‘Moderators’ in the Gardens [28]. The Robloxian Admin position does not exist to Craftiens, and the closest they have are the multitude of minor gods in the Developer Pantheon. In lieu of a name, they are called Developers. This means that the hierarchy is backwards, depending on which direction you look at it from. It makes more sense when the lack of an overarching government in the Gardens is taken into account, as the highest governmental figure is still the Admin [29].
As is the nature of an overview, a lot of details, specifics, science, and general facts have been left out. Every paragraph in this essay could be its own essay of similar length with just as many essays to diverge off of them [30]. Their biology is fascinating, their societies and religions expansive, and the very world they live in is a researcher's dream. Much of those details however, require more than the average person’s knowledge of Multi-Universal Physics [31]. Please be advised that, as the multiverse is infinite, there is a high chance that there is some place where the things covered here are false [32]. To attempt to cover all possible versions and interpretations is impossible in the scope of one essay, or even one person. So, if you are planning on taking a trip through the Multi-Universal Void [33], observe, research, and ask the inhabitants or other travelers if you can.
.
.
.
.
.
Footnotes
[*] These are fun facts, personal anecdotes by the author, or simply jokes and are not required for the reading of this essay.
[1] I had to make this reference. A ripoff, once done enough, can totally be considered it own genre.
[2] I wanted so badly to use Everything that’s going on in the FNAF area or Undertale/Deltarune Area as an example, but that is just way too complicated for one sentence.
[3] They are also known as Minecraftians, but the specific species I was interviewing spelled it like this. Which is a good thing as otherwise the names would be way too similar.
[4] Interesting for me at least. I have been a scholar of the Minecraft Area for a very long time, and when I started to research the Roblox Area for an expedition into the Forsaken Experience, I was struck by the similarities. Then I wrote this essay.
[5] Given just how often human anatomy is mentioned or displayed, I almost have to wonder if humans used to exist. Or if they still do…
[6] I tried, so hard, to get a reference to the fact that since R6 don’t have elbows, they need to disconnect their arms to eat. It never fit with the flow.
[7] Another point in humans might have existed. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole place was some kind of simulation. Then again, there are some weirder universes out there, looking at you Xianxia Area.
[8] I have seen some things. I am lucky that, out of the group I am friends with, the oddest skin just has working wings. I have seen some that are nothing more than paint splatters or objects.
[9] They also suspend their inventory inside themselves. The Void Energy converts the mass of an object to something that’s not quite energy, allowing them to store as much stuff as they have room inside themselves.
[10] If they are given the Fire Resistance effect, which prevents them from dying by fire, they can breathe Lava. They can also exist in the same place as glass, bars, leaves, and other
objects without any issues. Anything else just leads to a lack of Void Energy, and their version of suffocation.
[11] The Respawn Tile itself is weird and probably needs more than a single sentence about it. But this is a case of it could be an essay in of itself, because how the heck do you explain quantum cloning, memory storage, and the range thereof easily?
[12] This is assuming the person reading this is human, or has knowledge of human society.
[13] This is another moment of ‘what's real in World A is fictional in World B’ as the Hunger Games is a common pastime.
[14] I wanted to say the Banlands, but it hadn’t been explained at this point.
[15] While I doubt most from either side have met their respective gods face to face, there are quite a lot of people who have. No one I know personally, but there have been pictures.
[16] Yes I am throwing shade on Spawnism.
[17] Others include Agnes, Lady of the Animals, and Lydia, the Live Wire Messenger.
[18] I think you can guess who this is.
[19] At least to the Craftiens who I interviewed. But I have seen many others cuss by the Void so…
[20] This is an assumption (headcannon), but it’s not like I could just ask them about their version of Hell.
[21] If you're traveling the multiverse far enough to actually need this information, you have to have working knowledge up through the 7th. I just didn’t want to write it.
[22] The Nether also shares the same 3D space as the rest of the Seed, but just a little to the 5D ‘right’. The End does not.
[23] Yes this is shade on exactly who you think this is.
[24] It was also referred to as ‘Accounts’ by a handful of my research documents? But it aslo could have been referring to something else.
[25] Some part of their Code, the same part that allows Respawning actually, is left behind upon teleportation. So, a single press of a button to disable the Respawn Tile for you and you snap right back. Except way more complicated than that.
[26] There is also such a thing as a World Spawn, that grabs incoming Craftiens to deposit them on one 3D co-ordinate. Used mostly for social Seeds.
[27] I would have used the word ‘colonization’ but that implies there was something there in the first place. Indeed, most Experiences start as nothing but a flat plain.
[28] As close as it gets of course. Seeds don’t start as flat plains, and both need to be built on. The person who does that is a Craftien Admin and a Robloxian Developer.
[29] Each Seed, or Garden, is ruled by the Admins. Even if Craftien Admins are not the Creator blessed demi-gods Robloxian Admins are.
[30] I might get around to writing them eventually. I have other things on my plate.
[31] Refer to footnote [21].
[32] My personal world building is not everyone’s personal worldbuilding, this is just the 4th Wall explanation for that fact.
[33] There are so many names I could have called this thing in English. The ‘True Name’ that most of my friends, acquaintances, and others call it by is just “The Void Ocean” or rhN2 zN`V5.{33*}
{33*} Explanation for the language here.
[#] There are many other topics that I wanted to cover, like family units, how generations work (much more important to Craftiens than Robloxians), reproduction, production of goods and services, and other minor everyday details. However at that scale, there are no more similarities that are not also found in every other society in the multiverse. If I do end up writing more essays on this topic, I will be certain to cover them.