It's easy to forget that the people who create games are just as keen on them as you are. I imagine it stems from the industry cycle of creating and updating new content, and the detachment between consumer and provider that brings. Sure, every game usually comes with its inspiration, but I still find it endearing discovering just how deep the fandom goes. It's well known that Harvest Moon inspires Stardew Valley, but did you know that its creator used to roleplay as Basil on Minecraft?
Someone on Reddit stumbled across the server and noticed that Barone's 'concernedape' username was on a forum board. Curious, I reached out to Eric Barone to see if it was him, and to find out more about his time there if so.
"Yes, it is true that I played on a Minecraft Harvest Moon roleplaying server during the early years of working on Stardew Valley," Barone tells me. "The server was called 'HarvestCraft', and it was based on Friends Of Mineral Town/Back To Nature. I played Back to Nature as a kid, so it's a really special world for me. The server was created and run by a player called FiddyPercent, who played as the mayor. I roleplayed as Basil, the botanist. I made a lot of friends on that server, and really felt like part of a meaningful community."
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