Digital Media Concepts/Ethoslab

EthosLab or Etho is a Canadian YouTuber and video game commentator best known for his Minecraft Let's Play series Etho Plays Minecraft, and his involvement on the Hermitcraft server. In this Let's Play series, the viewer follows Etho through his various activities and adventures in his Singleplayer play-through. Much less frequently, Etho has played other games such as Hearthstone, Don't Starve, Terraria, and Sam and Max: Hit the Road. Etho had his 10 year Youtube channel anniversary on September 15th, 2018, and to celebrate, fans on the subreddit /r/ethoslab organized a community build and a video which can be viewed here.

Season 1
Etho Plays Minecraft (called Let's Play Minecraft at the time) Season 1 ran from December 17, 2010 (Episode 1) to September 15, 2011 (Episode 101). This was due to a number of changes in the update, causing many contraptions in the world to break.

Season 2
Etho Plays Minecraft Season 2 started in September 30, 2011 (Episode 105) and is still running today. Three interim episodes of the series exist between Season 1 and Season 2 (Episodes 102-104), however these are not officially included as part of either season on the channel. He started Season 2 because Minecraft was just about to update to version 1.0 (called Beta 1.9 in the prereleases), and with it would bring changes to world generation among other things. Etho would have to travel farther in his current Let's Play world to experience some new features, so ultimately he decided to create a new world. In episode 128, Etho decided to change the name of his Let's Play series to Etho Plays Minecraft from Let's Play Minecraft because he believed it would allow his videos to get approved for ads quicker.

Points of Interest
Throughout Etho's Let's Play and related series, several jokes or recurring subjects have spawned either made by Etho himself or his viewers.

Harvest Clay
Harvest Clay is of the first jokes Etho created, originating in Season 1 of Etho Plays Minecraft. The Harvest Clay is in reality a deposit of clay blocks formed from Minecraft's terrain generation which generated close to Etho's spawnpoint. The joke first began in Episode 4 when Etho, in response to comments on previous episode, decided to not harvest the clay for the rest of the series. Then, at the start of Episode 15, he labels the 'island' with a sign reading "Harvest Me!" In Episode 41, Etho destroys the Clay, along with the rest of his base, in a test world in celebration for his Youtube partership being approved.

Chocolate Island
Chocolate Island is the name a commenter gave to Etho's home in episode 37 of Etho Plays Minecraft. The name comes from the lack of grass on the island where Etho lives; previously, in episode 35, Etho removed the grass in favor of dirt for a passive mob farm, making the island look very brown if seen from above. In the same episode, to label the island, Etho places a sign on the Harvest Clay, reading "Welcome To: Chocolate Island Population 1 =(". In episode 50, for his 1-million-view special, he dug a trench around the clay, to let it "survive as abstract art."

Blue Shiny Rocks
In episode 58 of Etho Plays Minecraft, Etho calls diamonds - items that are normally considered very important in Minecraft - "Weird, Blue Shiny Rocks" while reviewing the resources he collected from mining. In episode 59 he tries to figure out what the 'Blue Shiny Rocks' are used for, and with help from comments on the previous video he tries to make blue fire by throwing the diamonds in fire and lava. At the start of episode 167, while playing an audio clip from a fellow Youtuber, Etho throws hundreds of diamonds in lava before continuing to the main part of the video. At some point, Etho decided to put blocks of diamond ore in the walls of the Man Cave. In episode 228, as part of his 400,000 subscriber special, Etho rigged the diamond ore to trigger an explosion when it is mined. As part of a skit in the same episode, Etho addresses commenters complaining about the diamond ore by mining it, leading to the entire Man Cave blowing up. He blames the explosion on Spaz. In episode 292, Etho uses blocks of diamonds positioned in above the ground as a target for a TNT cannon.

Spaz
Spaz first appeared in episode 25 of Etho Plays Minecraft for his 2500 Subscriber special. In the episode, we learn that Spaz is a Creeper, his official title is General Spaz, and he rules all the creepers in Etho's world. Etho makes a treaty with Spaz declaring that he is forbidden from making videos in his Let's Play World. In a series of unfortunate events, Etho eventually ignites TNT, destroying Spaz, starting a feud between Etho and the creepers. In episode 50, Etho revisits Spaz at his grave but is blown up while standing above it. . At the start of the next episode, Etho's base burns down, and he blames it on Spaz. In episode 59, for the 10000 subscriber special, Spaz manages to place signs on the Harvest Clay, declaring war on Etho. Then, Etho finds Spaz in what appears to be a fortress constructed from cobblestone, glass, and dispensers filled with arrows. Whenever Spaz moves, he triggers more dispensers, shooting arrows towards Etho. The battle results in a resignation from Etho, promising to come back "once [Spaz] is ready to fight like men". They meet once again in episode 68, for the 15000 subscriber special, Spaz and Etho play a game of chicken. In episode 91, Etho meets Spaz Jr, another creeper, and tries to make him an astronaut by launching him vertically with TNT. In episode 181, Etho reveals that the CTM map he was working on was themed around Spaz.

The Man Cave
In season 2 of Etho Plays Minecraft, Etho decided to build his base inside a cave. He decided to do this because it allow him to get resources more easily and because he believes recording is easier in the cave. The Man Cave has become a staple of the Etho Plays Minecraft series.

Get Your Snacks
"Get Your Snacks" is a phrase Etho occasionally uses in his video intros, which he first started using in episode 112 of Etho Plays Minecraft. There was however a prior use of "make sure you got your snacks and beverages all ready" in episode 104, the last episode of season 1. Here is a partially complete list of every time Etho used "Get Your Snacks" in his Let's Play series: Episode 128: Hot Sand Episode 153: Pearl Fun Episode 155: Silverfish Factory Episode 157: Probability & Stuff Episode 261: Bomb Factory Episode 281: Etho's Lab

Comment of the Day
In episode 204 of Etho Plays Minecraft, Etho started a segment at the end of his videos where he reads a comment from the Book and Quill - then a recent addition to the game from the 1.3 update. Later on he decided to store all the Comment-of-the-Day's in the library he built.

Emerald City
In episodes 206-208 of Etho Plays Minecraft, Etho attempts to build an artificial village to test the villager mechanics added in versions 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2.1 of Minecraft. Etho struggled to find a design for the village, and only after much trial and error did he find one he liked. Unfortunately, he was ridiculed in the comments section of the video for his poor choice of blocks; Etho never finished Emerald City, but later on he started another underground village, this time with more skill in building.

Wilson
Wilson is a redstone contraption which acts as a Tamagotchi pet that Etho built in Season 2 of Etho Plays Minecraft. He first revealed his plan in episode 248, stating that he wanted to build something challenging with the new features added by version 1.5 of Minecraft. It's features include age, happiness, hunger, health, weight, and a face. The player can input various food items to Wilson, which can modify his hunger, health, weight, or happiness, depending on the type of food. The face indicates a combination of the four previously mentioned features. The logic behind Wilson is done with a combination of pistons, hopper/dropper combinations, hopper timers, among other redstone logic features. The project was spread over almost 200 Let's Play episodes, with some additional modifications made in episode 444.

Famous Contraptions
Etho is known for several creations in Minecraft that serve various purposes.

EATS Road
The EATS, or Etho's Awesome Transportation System, is a contraption that allows for quick travel via boat. Etho had the idea for the EATS very early in his Youtube career, with it being the 10th oldest video currently on his channel. Since its inception, it has received numerous modifications and reworkings partially caused by Minecraft's frequently changing boat physics.

BUD Switch
Etho is credited with naming the BUD (Block Update Detector) switch with his contraption using boat physics. While he was not the first to come up with such a system, the name stuck.

Hopper Clock
While Etho is likely not the first to come up with hopper clocks - timers that output redstone signals at a constant frequency - several of his designs bear his name.

Groups and Organizations
Etho has been part of several groups that made/continue to make video content with one another.

Hermitcraft
Hermitcraft is a popular minecraft server that involves many of the most popular minecraft youtubers such as Grian and Mumbo Jumbo. Hermitcraft is currently on its 10th season and is going strong.

Mindcrack
Mindcrack is an organization of YouTubers who made videos on the Mindcrack server. Etho joined Mindcrack in December of 2011 and made his first video on the server on December 7th, 2011

Team Canada
Team Canada a group formed by Etho, PauseUnpause, and VintageBeef, two other Youtubers he met on the Mindcrack server. A popular activity of theirs was pranking other players on the Mindcrack server. They have also played several CTM maps together as well as the occasional non-Minecraft game; more recently, Etho and VintageBeef started a series of videos on No Man's Sky.