Minecraft Forums

The topic and the poll sum it up rather well.

Do bats need to drop an item when killed?

Please vote, then state your reasoning below. No debating. Simply state your reasoning and what you voted (if you wish to do so). Discussion is encouraged, but please only state your opinion once, follow any disagreements with logical arguments, and generally post as if you were this guy:

Spoilered because the moderators hate me.




I'll start: I don't think bats need a drop. I can give a few different arguments for that:

1. A weak argument, but it is true that mobs don't need to drop an item.
2. If they dropped something valuable, they would need stricter spawning regulations, which would be a bother to people like me who enjoy just having bats around because they are adorable.
3. If they dropped something relatively useless, people would be bothered because they would accumulate too many of that item. Zombies and their rotten flesh, for example.
4. Regardless of what they dropped, players would kill them just to get that item. I don't like that because, even though the bats will respawn eventually, it will still decrease their population, which is bad for me because I like having them around because they are adorable.
5. The are adorable, as proven below:

Note: Bonus Questions. A bit off-topic perhaps, but they are questions and ideas that deserve polls, though not additional polls.

I think bats need a drop of some kind, maybe a small chance at a feather or even a new drop that can be made into armor. All together that armor would make you resemble Batman, the lord almighty, himself!
~Sossi.

It doesn't need to drop anything. But dropping something doesn't make it more or less atmospheric.

TBH it not dropping anything seems to me more like it's hollow. A ghost. Not really even there.

Since you interacting with it doesn't do anything.

If it's not really even there, why have it?

I think it will be worse when they add sounds to the bat. People are going to, and will kill bats. For purpose of it roosting in their constructions or making sounds that will eventually irritate them. And when they kill the bats, they will drop nothing dropping the illusion of the atmosphere.

This idea that it will add to the atmosphere if it drops nothing is just an illusion that's dispersed if you interact with it. The only way to get rid of that illusion is to make it not interact-able

Quote from RotomGuy

Meme posting isn't against the rules if the post actually contributes well to the discussion of the thread.

Too bad not all moderators feel that way. I have never posted a meme without it being 100% on-topic. Oh well. It isn't like infractions really mean anything anyway. XD

Quote from PsychoIncarnate

TBH it not dropping anything seems to me more like it's hollow. A ghost. Not really even there.

Since you interacting with it doesn't do anything.

If it's not really even there, why have it?

I think it will be worse when they add sounds to the bat. People are going to, and will kill bats. For purpose of it roosting in their constructions or making sounds that will eventually irritate them. And when they kill the bats, they will drop nothing dropping the illusion of the atmosphere.

This idea that it will add to the atmosphere if it drops nothing is just an illusion that's dispersed if you interact with it. The only way to get rid of that illusion is to make it not interact-able

It is like you are saying that all of Minecraft is an illusion.

That's deep, man. Like... trippy deep.

Seriously, though, I get what you are saying, but if bats get an item I think it would have to be done very carefully. The item would need a use (lest people complain that it is useless) but nothing too useful (lest people make huge bat farms, killed every bat on site, and generally ruin bats for people who like to see bats just flying around).

As for sounds, that is something I honestly hadn't considered. What if bats only made a very rare, very quiet squeak when roosting, and then switched to a more realistic chirping? I've lived near a bat colony before, and I'll admit that the little buggers never shut up, even during the day, but their calls are so high pitched that I was the only one with the ears to hear them. Minecraft bats probably won't have that luxury, so they'll have to be rather quiet when roosting to avoid being as annoying as you suggest.

Excellent point, sir.

Quote from Era_Of_War

I think bats need a drop of some kind, maybe a small chance at a feather or even a new drop that can be made into armor. All together that armor would make you resemble Batman, the lord almighty, himself!
~Sossi.

Bats don't have feathers. XD
As for bat armor... I'll expect skeleton armor and creeper armor before that.

no because i think they will do a fine job scaring the heck outta people

Quote from do it yourself

no because i think they will do a fine job scaring the heck outta people

Fair enough. I don't find them scary at all, just really cute, but I suppose people afraid of bats might find them unsettling.

I think they should drop "wing of bat" for use in brewing blindness potions.

Quote from Bumber

I think they should drop "wing of bat" for use in brewing blindness potions.

I like the sound of that idea, but it raises a problem with the fact that blindness potions are brewed with golden carrots and fermented spider eye already.

If a drop were added for bats, I would choose this and eliminate the existing recipe.

Quote from cadika_orade

Fair enough. I don't find them scary at all, just really cute, but I suppose people afraid of bats might find them unsettling.

When I went caving in the new snapshot, I turned a corner of a dark cave and almost jumped out of my seat when a bat flew at me. I think they are quite adorable, but in the right circumstances they can scare the bajeezus out of you.

More on-topic-ness: I don't really want them to drop anything. That would kinda' ruin the aesthetic of it. Also, they are just so cute I don't want more motivation to kill them. D:

Quote from Floofy

When I went caving in the new snapshot, I turned a corner of a dark cave and almost jumped out of my seat when a bat flew at me. I think they are quite adorable, but in the right circumstances they can scare the bajeezus out of you.

I have yet to encounter one in such a situation, so I look forward to getting the mess scared out of me. XD

They could drop something, although for some reason I want it to be uncommon (1 in 5 bats drop it) and to have more of an endgame purpose rather than something you use all the time in the early game.

Aka, bat wings/guano for potions.

No. Not every living thing needs to have a reason people kill it. I would not object to living bats periodically dropping guano though, a la chicken eggs. It could be used for making something fire-related, or in the same way as bone meal perhaps?

My idea is that bats should drop either a bat wing or a bat eye which will be used to brew a potion of blindness and can also be corrupted (fermented spider eye) to make an invisibility potion.

Quote from cadika_orade

I like the sound of that idea, but it raises a problem with the fact that blindness potions are brewed with golden carrots and fermented spider eye already.

If a drop were added for bats, I would choose this and eliminate the existing recipe.

Also, you brew invisibility potions with golden carrots and fermented spider eye, not blindness potions which are currently not included in the game.

Quote from Creeper in your bed

My idea is that bats should drop either a bat wing or a bat eye which will be used to brew a potion of blindness and can also be corrupted (fermented spider eye) to make an invisibility potion.

Also, you brew invisibility potions with golden carrots and fermented spider eye, not blindness potions which are currently not included in the game.

D'oh. Thank's for correcting me. :3

Looking cool.

- The majority think that a drop is not needed, but it is fairly close.
- Everyone like the bats, and most think they are perfect.
- The hostility issue is all over the map, but the majority hold that bats should not be hostile, but be given the option to do so. Just not in Vanilla.

If bats where hostile they would be like silverfish with wings... Have you ever tried to kill one of the things? They are way too hard to hit and it would get very annoying.