Let's try an experimental discussion. What is Minecraft to you?
Note!: Please use spoilers for these sub-topics, as it would benefit all of us.
-What was Minecraft when you first started?
-What is it to you right now?
-What could it be, if you would jump into the newest version as a complete newbe?
I came to this discussion idea bc i consume to much yt content about minecraft ;-)
The last video i saw was a well done critique, from someone who absolutly loves minecraft but has very different opinions then me.
But he explained his frame very well, which was damn straight interesting! That's why i'm gonna tell you my past,
my current play-behaivour and my opinion on what i would think about minecraft as a complete newbe.
I do hope, that you tell us your past, your present and your opinion as a "potential newbe" as well.
So let's have some fun with this!
My past
Here is how it went down for me:
Soo... i got minecraft recommanded by my best friend. I started playing at version 1.13.2,
when swimming, tridents and waterlocked stuff was new. But i didn't know anything about minecraft then. I completly ignored the hypetrain. And my firend didn't tell me anything.
(And i'm glad he didn't!)
So my first impression was an ugly (yet beautiful) world. I didn't have high hopes for minecraft but i don't give a [CENSORED] about graphics. Born in the 90s I'm a pixelgame supporter for life! I explored the demo world (Seed = North Carolina) (wasn't sure if i should buy something like Minecraft) untill the night came.
Yeah!! I experienced my first death! I don't even remember what killed me the first time.
Guess i drowned before sunset bc swimming is kinda hard for newbes. No joke, i drowned like 30 times, untill i tried to "inspect river mechanics to NOT [CENSORED] DIE!" ...ahem..
So anyways, i learned, that creepers destroy my builded stuff, spider climb up to me, skeletons shoot me from the far and babyzombies are pure NIGHTMARE!!!
That's my retro-perspektive from my first night, without any help.
After My friend told me about crafting table and beds, i became an addict...
I Purchased minecraft, we started multiplayer. I learned about dimensions.
(Like What the Fork!!) In addition to what i had suffered to, there was a dimension called NETHER!?
So anyway..
I fished a whole day to get a saddle, just to get annoyed by forests.
We raided the nether, we located the Strongold, we beat the enderdragon!
After that we tried to raid end cities, but my firend died and ragecuitet for the last time. That was our last "multiplayer".
After that i watched a lot yt about redstone and tried some servers. In the end i joined a german citibuild/economy server (I'm a german, my very name is a german joke about heavy, rustical oak-furniture).
That citybuild server was the perfect environment to learn the indeapth-minecraft mechanics ect to me! Of corse a server like that has custom plugins and commands, but the overall griefing protection and the common will to (get stuff, sell stuff, get rich AND...) buy an own citiy (aka own map with custom rules defined by you as the mayor of that citiy) drived me to the extreme! In the end i came up with an Polar_Bear Spawnerfarm, that was just below the spot, where i stood fishing. (Salmon was the best spawner trade for admins shops After i Cashed in a lot, some Adminsho items got "tweaked").
Since both had to be "active" used, i figuered that if i watch some anime and rightclick everytime i here the exp-ching! As well as keeping an eye to my Minecraft i was safe.
That of corse became boring after some time. I noticed an odd behavior of mine, when i was trying to relax. The MCMMO plugin of that server had of corse other "jobs" as well. So i changed my eraly game miner job to hunter. Instead of beeing rewarded for mining ores, i got rewarded for killing food...
And that's where my nomad behavior took shape.
My Present
Yep! Nowdays i describe myself as a nomad! I don't think about myself as a homeless hunter who tries to trade or settle down once in a while. Insted i try different servers, modpacks, my own modpack creations. But my ingame behavior seems pritty constant now.
I punch tree, i craft tool, i kill food.
I go cavemineing & exploreing. (Instead of stripmining & using beds)
I tend to use hardcore mode.
Phantomes? I absolutly hate and disable insonia, when ever i have a chanc
I tend to activate reduced debug info + using mods that show coordinates ect while holding the specific item for that function. (Compass for coordinates beeing the main item, there are other settings as well)
I love challanges!
And fore some reason i am somewhat stuck on 1.12.2
It might be bc my pc is a poisonous potato...
But then again:
-The amount of mods!
That is somehow what coused me to most actively play on 1.12.2
I can customize Minecraft in almost anyway i want to, without knowing programming at all.
After all this time i got a feeling for .Json scipt "grammar" if i may call it that way.
Also i got used to understand what is considered "vanilla Plus" & what is heavily modded.
Especially thanks to the discussions i had trhough this forum.
My frame as a newbe
As a newbe, i wouldn't actually think of minecraft different then i did in the past.
We are after all talking about a highly custumizable sandboxgame made of pixels.
When i look back at the warcraft 3 GUI editor (which i was exessivly using untill i was recommanded to minecraft) I exchanged my creativity-deep for a fresh new expirience from someone who played god, to someone who would eventually became a Sub-Mayor of a City and after that: a Minecraft-Nomad.
Well, after Blizzard launched their first trailer of WC3 reforged, i felt betrayed...
However, i do have to give just a little critique, as a "potential newbe":
If I where to join Minecraft now, as a complete newbe...
Crafting, mining, ect. The overworld is awesome!
The Nether is aweseome!
The end
... The end... feels like "Oh c'mon im tired of this [CENSORED]" , this is the END for me.
Huh, maybe i should call this dimesion that way...
Conclusion:
This little unconstructive critique may come around as a rant, but ceep in mind:
I have seen the "old" neterh from 1.13 and was hiped up till 1.16.
The Nether did imprive very well! The end on the other hand does seem like it seriously needs the next BIG update.
Soo... what about you?
Edit:
Since i have mentioned a criticer abouve, i'd like to add his cretique video to this topic, so that you can somehwat comprehend, what inspired me to write all this stuff.
Therefore special thanks to "Like Stories of Old"
Even tough i see Minecraft in a very different way. Your Video howerver has an easy way to understand your frame.
Imo it realy is important cretique to minecraft. Even tough i don't share your opinion.
Does that make sence? No!!
Of corse not! Nothing makes sence, so tell us your strory, allright?
My earliest encounter with Minecraft, believe it or not, actually came about in 2010, when I was just wandering about on a completely different forum, the Incredibots forum. There, I came across a sort of post that told how "Creepers", at least at the time, had a 0.5 mile blast radius, and somehow, they "oinked". When I asked what the heck they were talking about, they said, Minecraft. At the time, this was completely new to me, and didn't express much interest in it - until a whole three years later. Well, technically, way less than three years later, since I came across something different prior to what I'll explain later.
Fast forward to the faithful days before the Christmas of 2012, and I created a Minecraft (specifically a Mojang) account from my mother's email to try it out. But alas, I couldn't even log in at all! I just cut my losses and left, and if only I actually got to play this version first! Because, when I got my first Kindle Fire on the Christmas of 2012, I found Minecraft on its App Store, and I bought it. It was specifically Pocket Edition, and let me tell y'all the tale of how it all got started.
Upon opening up the game, my nostalgia for old pixel games, such as The Amazon Trail and Roller Coaster Tycoon, was suddenly piqued - it looked just like those old games! Excited, I've decided to start up the game and start my first-ever Minecraft world. Not interested in calling it by a simple name like "Matthew's World", I've decided to go with something unique. My childish imagination believed there were different-sized worlds, and so for beginners, I've decided to go with the name "Tinyland", a name that has stuck with me since. I've built a lot on this world. From a wood and brick house, to an iron factory. From the Iron Torch, to Mount Dashmore. Every aspect of the original Tinyland was constructed with intricate detail of the highest caliber possible. Although (I believe) this world is lost forever today, many more Tinylands came after it. Even the larger sizes for the Java Edition, Smallworld, Mediumplanet, and beyond, are there to come in the future. Onward, Tinyland (and such)!
Later, I formed my first survival world. As expected from a beginner, I ended up dying on the very first night! Over and over, I was knocked out by what the game's trailer considered "the dangers of the night", and it all happened over the course of the night. That was, until morning, when the zombies and skeletons, more specifically the undead, burned in the daylight. I didn't know that spiders and creepers didn't face the same fate as these other two, so I still remained at the mercy of their ghoulish deeds. In fact, when on the quest for diamonds in my Tinyland survival world, a creeper happened to come behind me and blow me to bits! A return for my items ended in vain, as they had already despawned. Then, I made the mistake of deleting my world. I thought at the time that a large portion of my resources had been lost forever, and didn't even think about the fact that I could just hunt for more and not even give up. This created a sort of bad habit. Now, I know better, but I will always remember the times I've made that mistake. I've made sure from now on, that history would never repeat itself!
First came my first online experience on a server. Then, my first mod. Many more things came after that. And eventually, I came to the time period I know of today. How far I've come! How far I've come.
How I see it now
Little did I know that I was first stumbling into the world of indie games at first sight. Today, I can see that Minecraft might've been long gone today had it not been for the Microsoft buyout. The Mojang Gang at the time was struggling with success; their 1.8 Bountiful Update got mixed reviews! Now, the game is a much larger success than ever before, and what do we have to thank for it? Our old friend, Microsoft!!
Today, I can still see why the AAA department tends to come out better than the indie department; professionals run the AAA show here! On the flipside, however, I can see why indies have their place in gaming as a whole. That being said, I still see potential for Minecraft here. This is why I'm working on a mod similar to that of Better Than Wolves and TerraFirmaCraft, in the since that it overhauls the core game.
Overall, Minecraft still has a place in my heart! Sure, we've had our differences and struggles, but overall, I think Minecraft still deserves its fame and then some!
What if I were a newbie in the current version of Minecraft?
Chances are, I wouldn't even recognize that version from the classic versions. I still would've seen it as exciting. As for getting used to it? Well, the same old same old would've happened when it all came down to beginners. Except things would be a lot more "vibrant" and "colorful" as I spoke. I still would've enjoyed it, nonetheless, and I most certainly would've enjoyed the older versions that came before all this!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Order of the Stone - A mod idea of what Minecraft could've been had it been developed by a team with more expertise; by professional developers and producers.
I first started on the Minecraft Lite version. It was very simple, you started a survival or creative world and played. Only downside if is you closed the game the world would not save and I used to keep my tablet on for the night just so I could keep building. The world was very limited but I had so much fun on it. I remember building a school out of dirt, a McDonald's with a rollercoaster and whatnot. It looked so different from what it looked now and browsing through my foggy memory I can say that it looked simplistic, didn't have many features and the textures looked bland but yet it was perfect.
My brother and I got an Xbox 360 and we played the demo a whole lot. It was this small area that had the minecraft logo floating in the air and a castle. Few months later we brought Minecraft and played it. I remember my first world like it was yesterday. I started in survival and got scared so I turned it to creative and explored the snowy biome. A few worlds later and I find the most amazing thing, a superflat world. Oh the things I did in my superflat worlds. My brother and I built an entire city with a huge mall, sewer system, a plane, a ghast locked in a cage, cable tv wars, oh what nice memories. Some years later our Xbox decided to delete the hard drive's memory so we lost all the worlds we made and everything we did. We were pretty sad but at the same time not because we had the PC version. My brother got an account of his own and I played the hell out of multiplayer (I joined in version 1.6.4 btw). After school I would hop on his account and play on draw and guess in Mineplex, plotme or creative in Minetime and Edawg787. I loved roleplaying for some reason, it made me feel like I was acting in a movie. Then, I got my own account and played for hours and hours, building in creative and playing minigames. I had this phase where I wanted to be a staff member so bad but I was around 11 at the time so nobody would take me seriously and I did get staff in a few servers but most of them are shut down or I got demoted.
I never really liked singleplayer, especially survival and I really don't know why. Maybe is because I felt alone and playing online was the only way to strike up a conversation and make new friends.
Minecraft now:
Right now I can't play Minecraft without getting bored of it, maybe I overplayed too much or my taste changed. I tried playing with my only 3 friends but it doesn't seem to help either. I can make a new survival world, punch a tree, make a temporary house and suddenly I get bored. I go play on a creative world but it feels like I built everything already. I place a few blocks with a huge image in my mind but then I don't have the energy to keep going anymore. I've stepped away from Minecraft for quite a while playing games like Roblox, Team Fortress 2, GTA V, and NBA 2k. I don't know why I feel like this when I open up Minecraft, it just happens.
Perspective as a newbie:
If I was a newbie I would be very very confused at first. So many things have been added to Minecraft and let's pretend I heard so many good things about this game so I am eager to learn about everything this game has to offer. Trying to gather materials, expanding my house, mining and finding ores, new enemies and discovering cave sounds, building a farm for my animals, gathering enough resources to explore the nether and the end. Opening up the minecraft wiki to discover recipes (even though now you don't have to look them up online). I'd probaby go online and play in some popular servers and meet new people. That's all I got to say.
It hardly matters anymore, because unless the reduced air exposure problem is reversed with mining I see no motivation to continue playing, when a friend gets back on Discord after work I'll discuss it with him and ask him if he wishes to play a different game with me for a change, otherwise he is free to do whatever he wants, but just know that if I'm not in the mood to play Minecraft, then if he wants to play it he'd need to join another friends realm or something.
Minecraft did mean something to me at first, but having the game become more of an unrewarding slog over time, it just doesn't hit the dopamine center for me anymore. There are better games out there, retro games like from Sega Genesis, Streets of Rage 2 for starters. It may be an apples to oranges comparison but at least there's actual skill involved in that game and it doesn't drag on for an absurd amount of time for its style of gameplay. Borderlands 2 a first person shooter RPG game, does have a lengthy gameplay when you include the DLC's, but there is real pay off at the end of it because you can buff your character to the point where you can slaughter raid bosses without too much issue, Master Gee is tough without cheats or bug exploits, but beatable if you know the routine.
I've accepted that Mojang is a lost cause. I could suggest another company that could do better, but what would be the point? it's not like my word is just going to hand over the Intellectual property from Microsoft to somebody else. Mojang/Microsoft has become the new Sega imo, they start off with great games but then destroy them through their own hubris years later.
It hardly matters anymore, because unless the reduced air exposure problem is reversed with mining I see no motivation to continue playing, when a friend gets back on Discord after work I'll discuss it with him and ask him if he wishes to play a different game with me for a change, otherwise he is free to do whatever he wants, but just know that if I'm not in the mood to play Minecraft, then if he wants to play it he'd need to join another friends realm or something.
I can understand your pain, man. I've actually had my beef with Minecraft in the past, despite my usual perspective as an all-too-important optimist. Nowadays, I believe that the game itself could've been backed by a team with more expertise.
Minecraft did mean something to me at first, but having the game become more of an unrewarding slog over time, it just doesn't hit the dopamine center for me anymore. There are better games out there, retro games like from Sega Genesis, Streets of Rage 2 for starters. It may be an apples to oranges comparison but at least there's actual skill involved in that game and it doesn't drag on for an absurd amount of time for its style of gameplay. Borderlands 2 a first person shooter RPG game, does have a lengthy gameplay when you include the DLC's, but there is real pay off at the end of it because you can buff your character to the point where you can slaughter raid bosses without too much issue, Master Gee is tough without cheats or bug exploits, but beatable if you know the routine.
I would agree to an extent with your idea here. Minecraft doesn't really encourage you to progress in the game itself, given how long it could take to even get the resources necessary for something like Diamond Armor, Iron Golems, and even the deceptively-simple Eyes Of Ender for the Enderdragon herself. (I know this because she spawns an egg upon her defeat.) Usually, I only make it up to Iron-tier tops, and things just about stagnate from there. There were even "total overhaul" mods I've tried out that just led to the same situation, but far earlier on than vanilla. Better Than Wolves and TerraFirmaCraft are just two examples here.
I've accepted that Mojang is a lost cause. I could suggest another company that could do better, but what would be the point? it's not like my word is just going to hand over the Intellectual property from Microsoft to somebody else. Mojang/Microsoft has become the new Sega imo, they start off with great games but then destroy them through their own hubris years later.
I would disagree with the part about Mojang/SEGA self-destructing after years of success. Sonic Forces is one example of how a company like them can recover from years of a losing streak. Hey, we all do; SEGA and Mojang/Microsoft are no different. However, as for Mojang being a lost cause? Well, not exactly. But like I said, the game itself could've been backed by more professional developers than Mojang would ever be, such as Microsoft, EA, Activision, and Bethesda. True, you could argue about their continuously slumping quality, but I still appreciate what is good in those games, and like I said, we all have losing streaks from time to time.
Responses in bold. Your entire reply and argument makes sense, even though there are some points that I disagree with. One more time, a more professional team of developers and producers could've developed Minecraft, and that's why I've decided to take the lead in building a mod to fulfill just that purpose; you can find it in my signature. Thanks!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Order of the Stone - A mod idea of what Minecraft could've been had it been developed by a team with more expertise; by professional developers and producers.
Responses in bold. Your entire reply and argument makes sense, even though there are some points that I disagree with. One more time, a more professional team of developers and producers could've developed Minecraft, and that's why I've decided to take the lead in building a mod to fulfill just that purpose; you can find it in my signature. Thanks!
Mojang can't even make up their own minds about what items they want to add in the game anymore, they add features, then a short time later on they remove them, it's so random it's almost as if a child made the decisions. For example, Drowned Zombies used to drop gold ingots, but during the 1.17 update, that got removed just so they could drop copper, a much less useful resource, even though the crafting recipe for the Notch apple was removed so they can't legitimately use that as an excuse for the nerf any longer.
My friend lizking10152011 who also has an account on here also wasn't happy about the Netherite Hoe being removed from the Piglin bartering system in 1.16, and you know what Jeb's reason for it was? because apparently PVP players complained about it being OP as people were using the Netherite Hoe as a weapon. The correct way to address this issue would then be to simply nerf the attack damage of Hoes, that would've made sense since Hoes are not supposed to be weapons, but instead, Jeb makes a completely absurd choice to remove it from the Piglin trade system altogether, punishing players who didn't abuse this feature as an all purpose weapon.
Also in the Caves and Cliffs update, at least from the evidence we have so far from 1.17 and 1.18 snapshot, the ore distribution system has been completely ruined, now strip mining is much more time consuming than it was before, it doesn't really add a challenge to the game, it's artificial difficulty, causing people to waste time for the sake of wasting time. With decisions like this I'm not so sure Mojang will ever learn from their mistakes, perhaps I'm wrong, perhaps things will turn out for the better post 1.19 Wild update, but right now I'm not seeing it, if a company is this obsessed with nerfing things that they're willing to make their game so tedious and repetitive, they have bigger problems. Tedious and boring games don't exactly have a history of being liked or well received.
I do compare Mojang to Sega, because what they're doing right now isn't much better than
Sega's choice to add Big the Cat's fishing missions in Sonic Adventure, different mechanics, different games,
but still boring. Introducing changes to a game does you no good if it doesn't entertain people or offer any replayability
or make players feel rewarded for the time they put in. I've seen far better suggestions on how to improve Minecraft,
even ways to add a challenge, like adding in newer hostile and neutral mobs to the game, animals even, although we are getting newer animals in 1.19, I liked the Aquatic update because of the Drowned Zombies that were added which did make oceans more dangerous, but in exchange you can get interesting loot from them, why can't we have more updates that were as exciting as this? End update was good, End cities adding Elytra and Shulker boxes was a game changer, and made Ender chests much more useful, and gave people more reasons to explore End after defeating Ender Dragon, despite the risks, it was rewarding. 1.17/1.18 nerfing ore generation just makes exploring the Overworld and even the new caves a waste of time, as you're not rewarded for exploring any longer, who cares what the caves look like when there's hardly anything in them worth taking?
I sense that talking about Mojang's development choices is kind of beside the point here... but I feel I ought to respond anyways. I don't see Minecraft so much of a game as a world unto itself; and trying to treat it like the usual, linear type of gameplay obviously makes it seem pointless and boring. The whole whole idea is to create a universe; a system that players can utilize however they want. (Hence also why modding is such a big part of Minecraft.)
When Mojang implements new content, it's not going to be from the 'let's add some straightforward new challenge to the game,' so much as 'let's try and add something interesting to the world, and see how players explore/interact with it.' I'm not saying they're perfect, but by and large I've really approved of the direction Minecraft has been going. Toeing the line between the classic vanilla experience and interesting new ideas can't be easy, and Mojang has increasingly been taking more community feedback into account. Obviously, Minecraft is filled with weird and arguably buggy gameplay mechanics... but on some level this is a kind of emergent gameplay. (I don't think iron farms, for example, were ever intended to be a part of the game- but they became one, as players came up with new designs and ideas for them.)
That, and when you have so many people working together on a single project, over so many years, it's obviously going to be a bit of a muddled final product, instead of some streamlined work of creative mastery. ...But I kind of like that. Without its countless bizarre little quirks, I feel like something crucial would be lost. (Can't get vauger than that.)
...All rambling aside, I'll try my best to stick to the prompt...
Past
I got into Minecraft around version 1.11, and was initially about as skeptical as you'd expect a young person to be confronted with such a game, (without much access to, say, convenient internet forums or whatnot.) For awhile I mostly played around in creative mode, trying to decipher a game that was so utterly different from anything else I'd played before. (I still remember watching the game's trailer for the first time. 'A game with no rules?' How was that even possible?) I didn't think this could possibly be the case, and when it did turn out to be the case, I wasn't entirely sure what to do.
I eventually got into servers almost completely by accident, and that drastically changed my view of the game. I got hooked on this one obscure Australian server, (that, for the life of me, I cannot remember the IP of), complete with creative building, some simple minigames, a survival and shopping district... and I was astonished, simply by the things people could build, the sheer size and detail and color of it all. (I still had no idea what I was doing, or how servers worked at the time, but it was still a spectacular experience.) And indeed, a lot of my experience with the game has been like that, seeing new levels of exploration that I had never considered.
Present
I suppose my 'Present' in Minecraft really began when I tried out Survival for the first time. After some frustrating early experiences, I was determined to play the game 'as it was intended,' and oh boy, was I in for a rude awakening.
In short, I was not exactly great at survival. I've gotten better, admittedly, but even having played the game for years by the time I finally played the default game mode, I still had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I died, a lot, and very nearly would have just given up... but I kept coming back to it, over and over and over again.
My first few Survival Worlds were all lost to the hands of time. Some new game came up that I wanted to try, and I forgot about them. Or I got frustrated, and abandoned them. Or I just wanted to start over. Whatever the case, I've gone through at least eight at this point, and it's never really clicked.
I did at one point get into modding, and initially downloaded literally anything that looked interesting... but ultimately, (to my own surprise), found myself coming back to the classics. Now, aside from the beloved 'Stay True' resource pack, and Complementary shaders, ...I guess I don't really feel as inclined to download mods. Which is strange considering my initial enthusiasm, and the enormous number of fantastic mods and modders out there... but I guess I'm not entirely sure.
Future
At this point I've been working on a project in creative for awhile now, and have been waiting for the release of 1.18 to start a new survival world- and this time, I've resolved to make it last. I'm tired of the cycle of frustration, and I think it's at least in part because I've never really had just one world to come back to. (Or perhaps because I set my own expectations too high?) Whatever the case, I want this one to be the last.
I honestly can't say where the game is going... but contrary to the doomsayers, I don't think Minecraft will ever 'die,' not in the traditional sense. Once again, because Minecraft... isn't really a 'game' in the traditional sense. Its popularity may fluctuate, maybe it will vanish entirely, a day might even come when it recieves its last update... but that doesn't mean the game is over. Most games do have an End. (Minecraft has a literal 'end,' but it's not actually the end of the game, ironically), but Minecraft doesn't. It exists as a medium for players to utilize; it isn't 'over' after the credits roll. As long as there are players who want to explore its depths, Minecraft will remain. Consider that while some franchises have endured for ages with new installments... Minecraft, a single game, has been around since 2004, and has been constantly updated since then. And in fact, Mojang has consistently made choices that, (IMHO), have been in the best interests of the game, rather than immediate profits. (How easy would it have been to release caves and cliffs prematurely? Or make 'new' versions of the game that force people to buy it over and over again? Admittedly, they're one of the bestselling games in the world, but still.)
In the short term, I can see the End being updated, new things added that enhance or improve upon the old. Minecraft continues to evolve, without losing the voxely core that makes it... 'Minecraft.' Endlessly malleable, infinitely vast. Maybe something better will come along, or maybe the game will end abruptly... or maybe we'll all still be playing some version of Minecraft well into 2082. Who can say?
...This is a really cool prompt, by the way. Just figured I ought to say it.
I sense that talking about Mojang's development choices is kind of beside the point here... but I feel I ought to respond anyways. I don't see Minecraft so much of a game as a world unto itself; and trying to treat it like the usual, linear type of gameplay obviously makes it seem pointless and boring. The whole whole idea is to create a universe; a system that players can utilize however they want. (Hence also why modding is such a big part of Minecraft.)
When Mojang implements new content, it's not going to be from the 'let's add some straightforward new challenge to the game,' so much as 'let's try and add something interesting to the world, and see how players explore/interact with it.' I'm not saying they're perfect, but by and large I've really approved of the direction Minecraft has been going. Toeing the line between the classic vanilla experience and interesting new ideas can't be easy, and Mojang has increasingly been taking more community feedback into account. Obviously, Minecraft is filled with weird and arguably buggy gameplay mechanics... but on some level this is a kind of emergent gameplay. (I don't think iron farms, for example, were ever intended to be a part of the game- but they became one, as players came up with new designs and ideas for them.)
That, and when you have so many people working together on a single project, over so many years, it's obviously going to be a bit of a muddled final product, instead of some streamlined work of creative mastery. ...But I kind of like that. Without its countless bizarre little quirks, I feel like something crucial would be lost. (Can't get vauger than that.)
...All rambling aside, I'll try my best to stick to the prompt...
Past
I got into Minecraft around version 1.11, and was initially about as skeptical as you'd expect a young person to be confronted with such a game, (without much access to, say, convenient internet forums or whatnot.) For awhile I mostly played around in creative mode, trying to decipher a game that was so utterly different from anything else I'd played before. (I still remember watching the game's trailer for the first time. 'A game with no rules?' How was that even possible?) I didn't think this could possibly be the case, and when it did turn out to be the case, I wasn't entirely sure what to do.
I eventually got into servers almost completely by accident, and that drastically changed my view of the game. I got hooked on this one obscure Australian server, (that, for the life of me, I cannot remember the IP of), complete with creative building, some simple minigames, a survival and shopping district... and I was astonished, simply by the things people could build, the sheer size and detail and color of it all. (I still had no idea what I was doing, or how servers worked at the time, but it was still a spectacular experience.) And indeed, a lot of my experience with the game has been like that, seeing new levels of exploration that I had never considered.
Present
I suppose my 'Present' in Minecraft really began when I tried out Survival for the first time. After some frustrating early experiences, I was determined to play the game 'as it was intended,' and oh boy, was I in for a rude awakening.
In short, I was not exactly great at survival. I've gotten better, admittedly, but even having played the game for years by the time I finally played the default game mode, I still had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I died, a lot, and very nearly would have just given up... but I kept coming back to it, over and over and over again.
My first few Survival Worlds were all lost to the hands of time. Some new game came up that I wanted to try, and I forgot about them. Or I got frustrated, and abandoned them. Or I just wanted to start over. Whatever the case, I've gone through at least eight at this point, and it's never really clicked.
I did at one point get into modding, and initially downloaded literally anything that looked interesting... but ultimately, (to my own surprise), found myself coming back to the classics. Now, aside from the beloved 'Stay True' resource pack, and Complementary shaders, ...I guess I don't really feel as inclined to download mods. Which is strange considering my initial enthusiasm, and the enormous number of fantastic mods and modders out there... but I guess I'm not entirely sure.
Future
At this point I've been working on a project in creative for awhile now, and have been waiting for the release of 1.18 to start a new survival world- and this time, I've resolved to make it last. I'm tired of the cycle of frustration, and I think it's at least in part because I've never really had just one world to come back to. (Or perhaps because I set my own expectations too high?) Whatever the case, I want this one to be the last.
I honestly can't say where the game is going... but contrary to the doomsayers, I don't think Minecraft will ever 'die,' not in the traditional sense. Once again, because Minecraft... isn't really a 'game' in the traditional sense. Its popularity may fluctuate, maybe it will vanish entirely, a day might even come when it recieves its last update... but that doesn't mean the game is over. Most games do have an End. (Minecraft has a literal 'end,' but it's not actually the end of the game, ironically), but Minecraft doesn't. It exists as a medium for players to utilize; it isn't 'over' after the credits roll. As long as there are players who want to explore its depths, Minecraft will remain. Consider that while some franchises have endured for ages with new installments... Minecraft, a single game, has been around since 2004, and has been constantly updated since then. And in fact, Mojang has consistently made choices that, (IMHO), have been in the best interests of the game, rather than immediate profits. (How easy would it have been to release caves and cliffs prematurely? Or make 'new' versions of the game that force people to buy it over and over again? Admittedly, they're one of the bestselling games in the world, but still.)
In the short term, I can see the End being updated, new things added that enhance or improve upon the old. Minecraft continues to evolve, without losing the voxely core that makes it... 'Minecraft.' Endlessly malleable, infinitely vast. Maybe something better will come along, or maybe the game will end abruptly... or maybe we'll all still be playing some version of Minecraft well into 2082. Who can say?
...This is a really cool prompt, by the way. Just figured I ought to say it.
Iron farms wouldn't have been needed in the first place if Mojang made mining an actual rewarding experience, which was the point of my complaint about Caves and Cliffs with their ore nerfs, which even iron ore duplicating with Fortune enchantment isn't enough to make up for. I realize harping on about this isn't going to change anything, it's not like Mojang are going to listen to us or me, or even care about what I write on these forums which aren't even affiliated with them.
I've decided I can only remedy this issue by going back to Minecraft Java, and locking it to 1.16. Minecraft Java edition is my least favourite version of the game because of how poorly optimized it is, however I can make the lag spikes issue virtually non existent by using a 16 chunk render distance, as well as making sure Google Chrome isn't running in the background, keeping the load down.
I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but it looks like I have no other choice. This is the only vanilla way to fix this problem, without the condescending "cheater" label being associated with me and people who play on my worlds. Mojang does also have the power to remove older versions of the game in their launcher, but it is extremely unlikely they'd ever do that considering the community that still supports Java in all its forms. I have less reason to worry about this than what they might do to bedrock edition at some point in the future. I need some vanilla survival way of getting a lot of resources, if I don't, then I have no valid reason to play this game, for the type of builds that I do.
Minecraft is a video game in which players create and break apart various kinds of blocks in three-dimensional worlds. The game's two main modes are Survival and Creative. In Survival, players must find their own building supplies and food. They also interact with blocklike mobs, or moving creatures.
I sense that talking about Mojang's development choices is kind of beside the point here... but I feel I ought to respond anyways. I don't see Minecraft so much of a game as a world unto itself; and trying to treat it like the usual, linear type of gameplay obviously makes it seem pointless and boring. The whole whole idea is to create a universe; a system that players can utilize however they want. (Hence also why modding is such a big part of Minecraft.)
When Mojang implements new content, it's not going to be from the 'let's add some straightforward new challenge to the game,' so much as 'let's try and add something interesting to the world, and see how players explore/interact with it.' I'm not saying they're perfect, but by and large I've really approved of the direction Minecraft has been going. Toeing the line between the classic vanilla experience and interesting new ideas can't be easy, and Mojang has increasingly been taking more community feedback into account. Obviously, Minecraft is filled with weird and arguably buggy gameplay mechanics... but on some level this is a kind of emergent gameplay. (I don't think iron farms, for example, were ever intended to be a part of the game- but they became one, as players came up with new designs and ideas for them.)
That, and when you have so many people working together on a single project, over so many years, it's obviously going to be a bit of a muddled final product, instead of some streamlined work of creative mastery. ...But I kind of like that. Without its countless bizarre little quirks, I feel like something crucial would be lost. (Can't get vauger than that.)
...All rambling aside, I'll try my best to stick to the prompt...
Past
I got into Minecraft around version 1.11, and was initially about as skeptical as you'd expect a young person to be confronted with such a game, (without much access to, say, convenient internet forums or whatnot.) For awhile I mostly played around in creative mode, trying to decipher a game that was so utterly different from anything else I'd played before. (I still remember watching the game's trailer for the first time. 'A game with no rules?' How was that even possible?) I didn't think this could possibly be the case, and when it did turn out to be the case, I wasn't entirely sure what to do.
I eventually got into servers almost completely by accident, and that drastically changed my view of the game. I got hooked on this one obscure Australian server, (that, for the life of me, I cannot remember the IP of), complete with creative building, some simple minigames, a survival and shopping district... and I was astonished, simply by the things people could build, the sheer size and detail and color of it all. (I still had no idea what I was doing, or how servers worked at the time, but it was still a spectacular experience.) And indeed, a lot of my experience with the game has been like that, seeing new levels of exploration that I had never considered.
Present
I suppose my 'Present' in Minecraft really began when I tried out Survival for the first time. After some frustrating early experiences, I was determined to play the game 'as it was intended,' and oh boy, was I in for a rude awakening.
In short, I was not exactly great at survival. I've gotten better, admittedly, but even having played the game for years by the time I finally played the default game mode, I still had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I died, a lot, and very nearly would have just given up... but I kept coming back to it, over and over and over again.
My first few Survival Worlds were all lost to the hands of time. Some new game came up that I wanted to try, and I forgot about them. Or I got frustrated, and abandoned them. Or I just wanted to start over. Whatever the case, I've gone through at least eight at this point, and it's never really clicked.
I did at one point get into modding, and initially downloaded literally anything that looked interesting... but ultimately, (to my own surprise), found myself coming back to the classics. Now, aside from the beloved 'Stay True' resource pack, and Complementary shaders, ...I guess I don't really feel as inclined to download mods. Which is strange considering my initial enthusiasm, and the enormous number of fantastic mods and modders out there... but I guess I'm not entirely sure.
Future
At this point I've been working on a project in creative for awhile now, and have been waiting for the release of 1.18 to start a new survival world- and this time, I've resolved to make it last. I'm tired of the cycle of frustration, and I think it's at least in part because I've never really had just one world to come back to. (Or perhaps because I set my own expectations too high?) Whatever the case, I want this one to be the last.
I honestly can't say where the game is going... but contrary to the doomsayers, I don't think Minecraft will ever 'die,' not in the traditional sense. Once again, because Minecraft... isn't really a 'game' in the traditional sense. Its popularity may fluctuate, maybe it will vanish entirely, a day might even come when it recieves its last update... but that doesn't mean the game is over. Most games do have an End. (Minecraft has a literal 'end,' but it's not actually the end of the game, ironically), but Minecraft doesn't. It exists as a medium for players to utilize; it isn't 'over' after the credits roll. As long as there are players who want to explore its depths, Minecraft will remain. Consider that while some franchises have endured for ages with new installments... Minecraft, a single game, has been around since 2004, and has been constantly updated since then. And in fact, Mojang has consistently made choices that, (IMHO), have been in the best interests of the game, rather than immediate profits. (How easy would it have been to release caves and cliffs prematurely? Or make 'new' versions of the game that force people to buy it over and over again? Admittedly, they're one of the bestselling games in the world, but still.)
In the short term, I can see the End being updated, new things added that enhance or improve upon the old. Minecraft continues to evolve, without losing the voxely core that makes it... 'Minecraft.' Endlessly malleable, infinitely vast. Maybe something better will come along, or maybe the game will end abruptly... or maybe we'll all still be playing some version of Minecraft well into 2082. Who can say?
...This is a really cool prompt, by the way. Just figured I ought to say it.
I have no idea how to do spoilers and don't see why.
Minecraft used to be a survival challenge game for me and more like a personal tycoon/resource manager/explorer later on.
Now it's mostly just exploring.
In the future it could be anything and I don't really care, the original feeling of 'I'm lost in a hostile world' is more or less gone, in big part because there are more food options, exposed cave ores, and liveable structures.
Well now, some time has passed since i created this thread. I have gathered a lot of insight of your individual perspectives about minecrafts origin, your beginnings & your expectations for the future minecraft.
To my own surprise i do share much of Agtrigormortis feelings about the game. However i took another route, i guess.
I'll probably stay in the 1.12.2 modded department instead of backing away from minecraft, where i can create my very own interpretations of minecraft using modpacks.
Anyway, i am grateful for all of your responses. You proved to me that our expierences & expectations are worlds apart.
That does explain to me, why mojang IS so hesitent to introduce new structures, creatures ect.
They have to appeal to many ppl. However imo they should add a lot of animals and abandoned structures to fill this "empty" world. No need for lore. We have villages, zombie villages & a ton of wildlife without lore. Even tough most of the current wildlife is mammels & fish.
Anyway, i gathered enough intell from my thread.
If a moderator decides to close it, im fine with it.
Otherwise please share your expierience with all those other players commenting this thread. You might profit from other ppls opinions.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My projects:
-are abandoned for now. I might pick 'em up in the future.
For now i'm working on a private modpack that suit's my own playstyle.
I am gonna stay in modded 1.12.2 untill my potato dies. No mercy! :Q
I'll probably stay in the 1.12.2 modded department instead of backing away from minecraft, where i can create my very own interpretations of minecraft using modpacks.
I'm the same way, except the version is 1.6.4 and I make my own mods instead of using other's mods/modpacks, which is the ultimate way to customize the game, though it requires a lot more knowledge than simply how to install and configure mods - even now I occasionally get asked if I'll update to a newer version, especially after "caves and cliffs" was announced - but I've been modding the underground (and world generation in general) for nearly as long as I've been playing - nearly a decade, plenty of time to customize it to my liking (and IMO, mine is way more varied and interesting to explore than 1.18, not that I've ever run it, but they only added a few types of caves and from what everybody always says it must be mostly giant open caves, not the 1.6.4-style of densely interconnected tunnels/mineshafts/ravines that I mainly prefer to explore; likewise, from my own experience in making the ground deeper I prefer a more horizontally-oriented underground. Then Mojang got the wrong idea that more/bigger caves must mean you can collect ores faster so they must be reduced - not at all based on my experience, again, unless they intend for you to play on Peaceful with Night Vision or something).
Also, while I do build bases you could say my playstyle is nomadic as well since I spend all my time caving for fun and only use bases as places to store resources and restock on food and food, and as a result they are extremely simple, just a single main room, plus a potato farm and a 2x2 tree or two outside it, with a large storage area being the primary part of my main bases (I only cave after the "end game" but most of the time before is spent on making my "caving gear"; I also restrict any real exploration of the world until then, except to locate a stronghold). Otherwise, I play on Normal difficulty, if with various enhancements to mobs and their equipment and other attributes (including "Hard"-only effects on any difficulty and replacing the "regional difficulty" system, which makes no sense for my playstyle).
1.4.5 getting used to the game. Didn't like 1.7 for a while so I stuck to 1.6.4, then eventually got over that and went through 1.7 to 1.12 just trying out mods for the fun of it, not the big mods but the new ones that came out, somewhat but not the same as when flash games would appear on certain sites. Around 1.10 I got into video making. I wanted to drop off the game around 1.12.2, I got into Rift, Datapacks and Fabric around 1.13 and started just making videos but these days making wikis/forum threads now.
I feel the same about 1.17/1.18 as I do 1.7 but otherwise the game seems to be alright even though I haven't dipped into it that heavily as I did as I have other games I want to play and other things to do. But still I don't have much to say about the future of the game and I am doing wikis/forums for the present and will likely the future until I have a need to stop doing that.
I can play snapshots, I can mod it however I want, I can play old or new versions, I can use commands to scale the game with keepInventory and mobGriefing if I want to. Most of this I do in Java Edition. Bedrock was sort of my Behaviourpack/for a time achievement version of the game. Legacy Console is my experience the old version of the game and trophies.
These days I just make wikis and forums showcasing mods for Fabric related projects or other ones I find cool like APortingCore. But otherwise I jump into a few threads like this and see what the community is up to.
It's a do whatever I want game in singleplayer (99% of the time) but obviously respect the rules and play on a server if I feel like it.
What is Minecraft to you?
Note!:
Please use spoilers for these sub-topics, as it would benefit all of us.
-What was Minecraft when you first started?
-What is it to you right now?
-What could it be, if you would jump into the newest version as a complete newbe?
I came to this discussion idea bc i consume to much yt content about minecraft ;-)
The last video i saw was a well done critique, from someone who absolutly loves minecraft but has very different opinions then me.
But he explained his frame very well, which was damn straight interesting! That's why i'm gonna tell you my past,
my current play-behaivour and my opinion on what i would think about minecraft as a complete newbe.
I do hope, that you tell us your past, your present and your opinion as a "potential newbe" as well.
So let's have some fun with this!
My past
Here is how it went down for me:
Soo... i got minecraft recommanded by my best friend. I started playing at version 1.13.2,
when swimming, tridents and waterlocked stuff was new. But i didn't know anything about minecraft then. I completly ignored the hypetrain. And my firend didn't tell me anything.
(And i'm glad he didn't!)
So my first impression was an ugly (yet beautiful) world. I didn't have high hopes for minecraft but i don't give a [CENSORED] about graphics. Born in the 90s I'm a pixelgame supporter for life! I explored the demo world (Seed = North Carolina) (wasn't sure if i should buy something like Minecraft) untill the night came.
Yeah!! I experienced my first death! I don't even remember what killed me the first time.
Guess i drowned before sunset bc swimming is kinda hard for newbes. No joke, i drowned like 30 times, untill i tried to "inspect river mechanics to NOT [CENSORED] DIE!" ...ahem..
So anyways, i learned, that creepers destroy my builded stuff, spider climb up to me, skeletons shoot me from the far and babyzombies are pure NIGHTMARE!!!
That's my retro-perspektive from my first night, without any help.
After My friend told me about crafting table and beds, i became an addict...
I Purchased minecraft, we started multiplayer. I learned about dimensions.
(Like What the Fork!!) In addition to what i had suffered to, there was a dimension called NETHER!?
So anyway..
I fished a whole day to get a saddle, just to get annoyed by forests.
We raided the nether, we located the Strongold, we beat the enderdragon!
After that we tried to raid end cities, but my firend died and ragecuitet for the last time. That was our last "multiplayer".
After that i watched a lot yt about redstone and tried some servers. In the end i joined a german citibuild/economy server (I'm a german, my very name is a german joke about heavy, rustical oak-furniture).
That citybuild server was the perfect environment to learn the indeapth-minecraft mechanics ect to me! Of corse a server like that has custom plugins and commands, but the overall griefing protection and the common will to (get stuff, sell stuff, get rich AND...) buy an own citiy (aka own map with custom rules defined by you as the mayor of that citiy) drived me to the extreme! In the end i came up with an Polar_Bear Spawnerfarm, that was just below the spot, where i stood fishing. (Salmon was the best spawner trade for admins shops After i Cashed in a lot, some Adminsho items got "tweaked").
Since both had to be "active" used, i figuered that if i watch some anime and rightclick everytime i here the exp-ching! As well as keeping an eye to my Minecraft i was safe.
That of corse became boring after some time. I noticed an odd behavior of mine, when i was trying to relax. The MCMMO plugin of that server had of corse other "jobs" as well. So i changed my eraly game miner job to hunter. Instead of beeing rewarded for mining ores, i got rewarded for killing food...
And that's where my nomad behavior took shape.
My Present
Yep! Nowdays i describe myself as a nomad! I don't think about myself as a homeless hunter who tries to trade or settle down once in a while. Insted i try different servers, modpacks, my own modpack creations. But my ingame behavior seems pritty constant now.
I punch tree, i craft tool, i kill food.
I go cavemineing & exploreing. (Instead of stripmining & using beds)
I tend to use hardcore mode.
Phantomes? I absolutly hate and disable insonia, when ever i have a chanc
I tend to activate reduced debug info + using mods that show coordinates ect while holding the specific item for that function. (Compass for coordinates beeing the main item, there are other settings as well)
I love challanges!
And fore some reason i am somewhat stuck on 1.12.2
It might be bc my pc is a poisonous potato...
But then again:
-The amount of mods!
That is somehow what coused me to most actively play on 1.12.2
I can customize Minecraft in almost anyway i want to, without knowing programming at all.
After all this time i got a feeling for .Json scipt "grammar" if i may call it that way.
Also i got used to understand what is considered "vanilla Plus" & what is heavily modded.
Especially thanks to the discussions i had trhough this forum.
My frame as a newbe
As a newbe, i wouldn't actually think of minecraft different then i did in the past.
We are after all talking about a highly custumizable sandboxgame made of pixels.
When i look back at the warcraft 3 GUI editor (which i was exessivly using untill i was recommanded to minecraft) I exchanged my creativity-deep for a fresh new expirience from someone who played god, to someone who would eventually became a Sub-Mayor of a City and after that: a Minecraft-Nomad.
Well, after Blizzard launched their first trailer of WC3 reforged, i felt betrayed...
However, i do have to give just a little critique, as a "potential newbe":
If I where to join Minecraft now, as a complete newbe...
Crafting, mining, ect. The overworld is awesome!
The Nether is aweseome!
The end
... The end... feels like "Oh c'mon im tired of this [CENSORED]" , this is the END for me.
Huh, maybe i should call this dimesion that way...
Conclusion:
This little unconstructive critique may come around as a rant, but ceep in mind:
I have seen the "old" neterh from 1.13 and was hiped up till 1.16.
The Nether did imprive very well! The end on the other hand does seem like it seriously needs the next BIG update.
Soo... what about you?
Edit:
Since i have mentioned a criticer abouve, i'd like to add his cretique video to this topic, so that you can somehwat comprehend, what inspired me to write all this stuff.
Therefore special thanks to "Like Stories of Old"
Even tough i see Minecraft in a very different way. Your Video howerver has an easy way to understand your frame.
Imo it realy is important cretique to minecraft. Even tough i don't share your opinion.
Does that make sence? No!!
Of corse not! Nothing makes sence, so tell us your strory, allright?
My projects:
-are abandoned for now. I might pick 'em up in the future.
For now i'm working on a private modpack that suit's my own playstyle.
I am gonna stay in modded 1.12.2 untill my potato dies. No mercy! :Q
How I've started
My earliest encounter with Minecraft, believe it or not, actually came about in 2010, when I was just wandering about on a completely different forum, the Incredibots forum. There, I came across a sort of post that told how "Creepers", at least at the time, had a 0.5 mile blast radius, and somehow, they "oinked". When I asked what the heck they were talking about, they said, Minecraft. At the time, this was completely new to me, and didn't express much interest in it - until a whole three years later. Well, technically, way less than three years later, since I came across something different prior to what I'll explain later.
Fast forward to the faithful days before the Christmas of 2012, and I created a Minecraft (specifically a Mojang) account from my mother's email to try it out. But alas, I couldn't even log in at all! I just cut my losses and left, and if only I actually got to play this version first! Because, when I got my first Kindle Fire on the Christmas of 2012, I found Minecraft on its App Store, and I bought it. It was specifically Pocket Edition, and let me tell y'all the tale of how it all got started.
Upon opening up the game, my nostalgia for old pixel games, such as The Amazon Trail and Roller Coaster Tycoon, was suddenly piqued - it looked just like those old games! Excited, I've decided to start up the game and start my first-ever Minecraft world. Not interested in calling it by a simple name like "Matthew's World", I've decided to go with something unique. My childish imagination believed there were different-sized worlds, and so for beginners, I've decided to go with the name "Tinyland", a name that has stuck with me since. I've built a lot on this world. From a wood and brick house, to an iron factory. From the Iron Torch, to Mount Dashmore. Every aspect of the original Tinyland was constructed with intricate detail of the highest caliber possible. Although (I believe) this world is lost forever today, many more Tinylands came after it. Even the larger sizes for the Java Edition, Smallworld, Mediumplanet, and beyond, are there to come in the future. Onward, Tinyland (and such)!
Later, I formed my first survival world. As expected from a beginner, I ended up dying on the very first night! Over and over, I was knocked out by what the game's trailer considered "the dangers of the night", and it all happened over the course of the night. That was, until morning, when the zombies and skeletons, more specifically the undead, burned in the daylight. I didn't know that spiders and creepers didn't face the same fate as these other two, so I still remained at the mercy of their ghoulish deeds. In fact, when on the quest for diamonds in my Tinyland survival world, a creeper happened to come behind me and blow me to bits! A return for my items ended in vain, as they had already despawned. Then, I made the mistake of deleting my world. I thought at the time that a large portion of my resources had been lost forever, and didn't even think about the fact that I could just hunt for more and not even give up. This created a sort of bad habit. Now, I know better, but I will always remember the times I've made that mistake. I've made sure from now on, that history would never repeat itself!
First came my first online experience on a server. Then, my first mod. Many more things came after that. And eventually, I came to the time period I know of today. How far I've come! How far I've come.
How I see it now
Little did I know that I was first stumbling into the world of indie games at first sight. Today, I can see that Minecraft might've been long gone today had it not been for the Microsoft buyout. The Mojang Gang at the time was struggling with success; their 1.8 Bountiful Update got mixed reviews! Now, the game is a much larger success than ever before, and what do we have to thank for it? Our old friend, Microsoft!!
Today, I can still see why the AAA department tends to come out better than the indie department; professionals run the AAA show here! On the flipside, however, I can see why indies have their place in gaming as a whole. That being said, I still see potential for Minecraft here. This is why I'm working on a mod similar to that of Better Than Wolves and TerraFirmaCraft, in the since that it overhauls the core game.
Overall, Minecraft still has a place in my heart! Sure, we've had our differences and struggles, but overall, I think Minecraft still deserves its fame and then some!
What if I were a newbie in the current version of Minecraft?
Chances are, I wouldn't even recognize that version from the classic versions. I still would've seen it as exciting. As for getting used to it? Well, the same old same old would've happened when it all came down to beginners. Except things would be a lot more "vibrant" and "colorful" as I spoke. I still would've enjoyed it, nonetheless, and I most certainly would've enjoyed the older versions that came before all this!
Order of the Stone - A mod idea of what Minecraft could've been had it been developed by a team with more expertise; by professional developers and producers.
Minecraft when I first started
I first started on the Minecraft Lite version. It was very simple, you started a survival or creative world and played. Only downside if is you closed the game the world would not save and I used to keep my tablet on for the night just so I could keep building. The world was very limited but I had so much fun on it. I remember building a school out of dirt, a McDonald's with a rollercoaster and whatnot. It looked so different from what it looked now and browsing through my foggy memory I can say that it looked simplistic, didn't have many features and the textures looked bland but yet it was perfect.
My brother and I got an Xbox 360 and we played the demo a whole lot. It was this small area that had the minecraft logo floating in the air and a castle. Few months later we brought Minecraft and played it. I remember my first world like it was yesterday. I started in survival and got scared so I turned it to creative and explored the snowy biome. A few worlds later and I find the most amazing thing, a superflat world. Oh the things I did in my superflat worlds. My brother and I built an entire city with a huge mall, sewer system, a plane, a ghast locked in a cage, cable tv wars, oh what nice memories. Some years later our Xbox decided to delete the hard drive's memory so we lost all the worlds we made and everything we did. We were pretty sad but at the same time not because we had the PC version. My brother got an account of his own and I played the hell out of multiplayer (I joined in version 1.6.4 btw). After school I would hop on his account and play on draw and guess in Mineplex, plotme or creative in Minetime and Edawg787. I loved roleplaying for some reason, it made me feel like I was acting in a movie. Then, I got my own account and played for hours and hours, building in creative and playing minigames. I had this phase where I wanted to be a staff member so bad but I was around 11 at the time so nobody would take me seriously and I did get staff in a few servers but most of them are shut down or I got demoted.
I never really liked singleplayer, especially survival and I really don't know why. Maybe is because I felt alone and playing online was the only way to strike up a conversation and make new friends.
Minecraft now:
Right now I can't play Minecraft without getting bored of it, maybe I overplayed too much or my taste changed. I tried playing with my only 3 friends but it doesn't seem to help either. I can make a new survival world, punch a tree, make a temporary house and suddenly I get bored. I go play on a creative world but it feels like I built everything already. I place a few blocks with a huge image in my mind but then I don't have the energy to keep going anymore. I've stepped away from Minecraft for quite a while playing games like Roblox, Team Fortress 2, GTA V, and NBA 2k. I don't know why I feel like this when I open up Minecraft, it just happens.
Perspective as a newbie:
If I was a newbie I would be very very confused at first. So many things have been added to Minecraft and let's pretend I heard so many good things about this game so I am eager to learn about everything this game has to offer. Trying to gather materials, expanding my house, mining and finding ores, new enemies and discovering cave sounds, building a farm for my animals, gathering enough resources to explore the nether and the end. Opening up the minecraft wiki to discover recipes (even though now you don't have to look them up online). I'd probaby go online and play in some popular servers and meet new people. That's all I got to say.
It hardly matters anymore, because unless the reduced air exposure problem is reversed with mining I see no motivation to continue playing, when a friend gets back on Discord after work I'll discuss it with him and ask him if he wishes to play a different game with me for a change, otherwise he is free to do whatever he wants, but just know that if I'm not in the mood to play Minecraft, then if he wants to play it he'd need to join another friends realm or something.
Minecraft did mean something to me at first, but having the game become more of an unrewarding slog over time, it just doesn't hit the dopamine center for me anymore. There are better games out there, retro games like from Sega Genesis, Streets of Rage 2 for starters. It may be an apples to oranges comparison but at least there's actual skill involved in that game and it doesn't drag on for an absurd amount of time for its style of gameplay. Borderlands 2 a first person shooter RPG game, does have a lengthy gameplay when you include the DLC's, but there is real pay off at the end of it because you can buff your character to the point where you can slaughter raid bosses without too much issue, Master Gee is tough without cheats or bug exploits, but beatable if you know the routine.
I've accepted that Mojang is a lost cause. I could suggest another company that could do better, but what would be the point? it's not like my word is just going to hand over the Intellectual property from Microsoft to somebody else. Mojang/Microsoft has become the new Sega imo, they start off with great games but then destroy them through their own hubris years later.
Responses in bold. Your entire reply and argument makes sense, even though there are some points that I disagree with. One more time, a more professional team of developers and producers could've developed Minecraft, and that's why I've decided to take the lead in building a mod to fulfill just that purpose; you can find it in my signature. Thanks!
Order of the Stone - A mod idea of what Minecraft could've been had it been developed by a team with more expertise; by professional developers and producers.
Mojang can't even make up their own minds about what items they want to add in the game anymore, they add features, then a short time later on they remove them, it's so random it's almost as if a child made the decisions. For example, Drowned Zombies used to drop gold ingots, but during the 1.17 update, that got removed just so they could drop copper, a much less useful resource, even though the crafting recipe for the Notch apple was removed so they can't legitimately use that as an excuse for the nerf any longer.
My friend lizking10152011 who also has an account on here also wasn't happy about the Netherite Hoe being removed from the Piglin bartering system in 1.16, and you know what Jeb's reason for it was? because apparently PVP players complained about it being OP as people were using the Netherite Hoe as a weapon. The correct way to address this issue would then be to simply nerf the attack damage of Hoes, that would've made sense since Hoes are not supposed to be weapons, but instead, Jeb makes a completely absurd choice to remove it from the Piglin trade system altogether, punishing players who didn't abuse this feature as an all purpose weapon.
Also in the Caves and Cliffs update, at least from the evidence we have so far from 1.17 and 1.18 snapshot, the ore distribution system has been completely ruined, now strip mining is much more time consuming than it was before, it doesn't really add a challenge to the game, it's artificial difficulty, causing people to waste time for the sake of wasting time. With decisions like this I'm not so sure Mojang will ever learn from their mistakes, perhaps I'm wrong, perhaps things will turn out for the better post 1.19 Wild update, but right now I'm not seeing it, if a company is this obsessed with nerfing things that they're willing to make their game so tedious and repetitive, they have bigger problems. Tedious and boring games don't exactly have a history of being liked or well received.
I do compare Mojang to Sega, because what they're doing right now isn't much better than
Sega's choice to add Big the Cat's fishing missions in Sonic Adventure, different mechanics, different games,
but still boring. Introducing changes to a game does you no good if it doesn't entertain people or offer any replayability
or make players feel rewarded for the time they put in. I've seen far better suggestions on how to improve Minecraft,
even ways to add a challenge, like adding in newer hostile and neutral mobs to the game, animals even, although we are getting newer animals in 1.19, I liked the Aquatic update because of the Drowned Zombies that were added which did make oceans more dangerous, but in exchange you can get interesting loot from them, why can't we have more updates that were as exciting as this? End update was good, End cities adding Elytra and Shulker boxes was a game changer, and made Ender chests much more useful, and gave people more reasons to explore End after defeating Ender Dragon, despite the risks, it was rewarding. 1.17/1.18 nerfing ore generation just makes exploring the Overworld and even the new caves a waste of time, as you're not rewarded for exploring any longer, who cares what the caves look like when there's hardly anything in them worth taking?
an open world experience with the potential for great build-up
bootleg fishcenterlive
I sense that talking about Mojang's development choices is kind of beside the point here... but I feel I ought to respond anyways. I don't see Minecraft so much of a game as a world unto itself; and trying to treat it like the usual, linear type of gameplay obviously makes it seem pointless and boring. The whole whole idea is to create a universe; a system that players can utilize however they want. (Hence also why modding is such a big part of Minecraft.)
When Mojang implements new content, it's not going to be from the 'let's add some straightforward new challenge to the game,' so much as 'let's try and add something interesting to the world, and see how players explore/interact with it.' I'm not saying they're perfect, but by and large I've really approved of the direction Minecraft has been going. Toeing the line between the classic vanilla experience and interesting new ideas can't be easy, and Mojang has increasingly been taking more community feedback into account. Obviously, Minecraft is filled with weird and arguably buggy gameplay mechanics... but on some level this is a kind of emergent gameplay. (I don't think iron farms, for example, were ever intended to be a part of the game- but they became one, as players came up with new designs and ideas for them.)
That, and when you have so many people working together on a single project, over so many years, it's obviously going to be a bit of a muddled final product, instead of some streamlined work of creative mastery. ...But I kind of like that. Without its countless bizarre little quirks, I feel like something crucial would be lost. (Can't get vauger than that.)
...All rambling aside, I'll try my best to stick to the prompt...
Past
I got into Minecraft around version 1.11, and was initially about as skeptical as you'd expect a young person to be confronted with such a game, (without much access to, say, convenient internet forums or whatnot.) For awhile I mostly played around in creative mode, trying to decipher a game that was so utterly different from anything else I'd played before. (I still remember watching the game's trailer for the first time. 'A game with no rules?' How was that even possible?) I didn't think this could possibly be the case, and when it did turn out to be the case, I wasn't entirely sure what to do.
I eventually got into servers almost completely by accident, and that drastically changed my view of the game. I got hooked on this one obscure Australian server, (that, for the life of me, I cannot remember the IP of), complete with creative building, some simple minigames, a survival and shopping district... and I was astonished, simply by the things people could build, the sheer size and detail and color of it all. (I still had no idea what I was doing, or how servers worked at the time, but it was still a spectacular experience.) And indeed, a lot of my experience with the game has been like that, seeing new levels of exploration that I had never considered.
Present
I suppose my 'Present' in Minecraft really began when I tried out Survival for the first time. After some frustrating early experiences, I was determined to play the game 'as it was intended,' and oh boy, was I in for a rude awakening.
In short, I was not exactly great at survival. I've gotten better, admittedly, but even having played the game for years by the time I finally played the default game mode, I still had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I died, a lot, and very nearly would have just given up... but I kept coming back to it, over and over and over again.
My first few Survival Worlds were all lost to the hands of time. Some new game came up that I wanted to try, and I forgot about them. Or I got frustrated, and abandoned them. Or I just wanted to start over. Whatever the case, I've gone through at least eight at this point, and it's never really clicked.
I did at one point get into modding, and initially downloaded literally anything that looked interesting... but ultimately, (to my own surprise), found myself coming back to the classics. Now, aside from the beloved 'Stay True' resource pack, and Complementary shaders, ...I guess I don't really feel as inclined to download mods. Which is strange considering my initial enthusiasm, and the enormous number of fantastic mods and modders out there... but I guess I'm not entirely sure.
Future
At this point I've been working on a project in creative for awhile now, and have been waiting for the release of 1.18 to start a new survival world- and this time, I've resolved to make it last. I'm tired of the cycle of frustration, and I think it's at least in part because I've never really had just one world to come back to. (Or perhaps because I set my own expectations too high?) Whatever the case, I want this one to be the last.
I honestly can't say where the game is going... but contrary to the doomsayers, I don't think Minecraft will ever 'die,' not in the traditional sense. Once again, because Minecraft... isn't really a 'game' in the traditional sense. Its popularity may fluctuate, maybe it will vanish entirely, a day might even come when it recieves its last update... but that doesn't mean the game is over. Most games do have an End. (Minecraft has a literal 'end,' but it's not actually the end of the game, ironically), but Minecraft doesn't. It exists as a medium for players to utilize; it isn't 'over' after the credits roll. As long as there are players who want to explore its depths, Minecraft will remain. Consider that while some franchises have endured for ages with new installments... Minecraft, a single game, has been around since 2004, and has been constantly updated since then. And in fact, Mojang has consistently made choices that, (IMHO), have been in the best interests of the game, rather than immediate profits. (How easy would it have been to release caves and cliffs prematurely? Or make 'new' versions of the game that force people to buy it over and over again? Admittedly, they're one of the bestselling games in the world, but still.)
In the short term, I can see the End being updated, new things added that enhance or improve upon the old. Minecraft continues to evolve, without losing the voxely core that makes it... 'Minecraft.' Endlessly malleable, infinitely vast. Maybe something better will come along, or maybe the game will end abruptly... or maybe we'll all still be playing some version of Minecraft well into 2082. Who can say?
...This is a really cool prompt, by the way. Just figured I ought to say it.
Cooking with Mindthemoods ~ Biomes ~ Archeology
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~ My Portfolio ~ Skindex ~ Test ~ Discs ~
Iron farms wouldn't have been needed in the first place if Mojang made mining an actual rewarding experience, which was the point of my complaint about Caves and Cliffs with their ore nerfs, which even iron ore duplicating with Fortune enchantment isn't enough to make up for. I realize harping on about this isn't going to change anything, it's not like Mojang are going to listen to us or me, or even care about what I write on these forums which aren't even affiliated with them.
I've decided I can only remedy this issue by going back to Minecraft Java, and locking it to 1.16. Minecraft Java edition is my least favourite version of the game because of how poorly optimized it is, however I can make the lag spikes issue virtually non existent by using a 16 chunk render distance, as well as making sure Google Chrome isn't running in the background, keeping the load down.
I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but it looks like I have no other choice. This is the only vanilla way to fix this problem, without the condescending "cheater" label being associated with me and people who play on my worlds. Mojang does also have the power to remove older versions of the game in their launcher, but it is extremely unlikely they'd ever do that considering the community that still supports Java in all its forms. I have less reason to worry about this than what they might do to bedrock edition at some point in the future. I need some vanilla survival way of getting a lot of resources, if I don't, then I have no valid reason to play this game, for the type of builds that I do.
Minecraft is a video game in which players create and break apart various kinds of blocks in three-dimensional worlds. The game's two main modes are Survival and Creative. In Survival, players must find their own building supplies and food. They also interact with blocklike mobs, or moving creatures.
I have no idea how to do spoilers and don't see why.
Minecraft used to be a survival challenge game for me and more like a personal tycoon/resource manager/explorer later on.
Now it's mostly just exploring.
In the future it could be anything and I don't really care, the original feeling of 'I'm lost in a hostile world' is more or less gone, in big part because there are more food options, exposed cave ores, and liveable structures.
Well now, some time has passed since i created this thread. I have gathered a lot of insight of your individual perspectives about minecrafts origin, your beginnings & your expectations for the future minecraft.
To my own surprise i do share much of Agtrigormortis feelings about the game. However i took another route, i guess.
I'll probably stay in the 1.12.2 modded department instead of backing away from minecraft, where i can create my very own interpretations of minecraft using modpacks.
Anyway, i am grateful for all of your responses. You proved to me that our expierences & expectations are worlds apart.
That does explain to me, why mojang IS so hesitent to introduce new structures, creatures ect.
They have to appeal to many ppl. However imo they should add a lot of animals and abandoned structures to fill this "empty" world. No need for lore. We have villages, zombie villages & a ton of wildlife without lore. Even tough most of the current wildlife is mammels & fish.
Anyway, i gathered enough intell from my thread.
If a moderator decides to close it, im fine with it.
Otherwise please share your expierience with all those other players commenting this thread. You might profit from other ppls opinions.
My projects:
-are abandoned for now. I might pick 'em up in the future.
For now i'm working on a private modpack that suit's my own playstyle.
I am gonna stay in modded 1.12.2 untill my potato dies. No mercy! :Q
I'm the same way, except the version is 1.6.4 and I make my own mods instead of using other's mods/modpacks, which is the ultimate way to customize the game, though it requires a lot more knowledge than simply how to install and configure mods - even now I occasionally get asked if I'll update to a newer version, especially after "caves and cliffs" was announced - but I've been modding the underground (and world generation in general) for nearly as long as I've been playing - nearly a decade, plenty of time to customize it to my liking (and IMO, mine is way more varied and interesting to explore than 1.18, not that I've ever run it, but they only added a few types of caves and from what everybody always says it must be mostly giant open caves, not the 1.6.4-style of densely interconnected tunnels/mineshafts/ravines that I mainly prefer to explore; likewise, from my own experience in making the ground deeper I prefer a more horizontally-oriented underground. Then Mojang got the wrong idea that more/bigger caves must mean you can collect ores faster so they must be reduced - not at all based on my experience, again, unless they intend for you to play on Peaceful with Night Vision or something).
Also, while I do build bases you could say my playstyle is nomadic as well since I spend all my time caving for fun and only use bases as places to store resources and restock on food and food, and as a result they are extremely simple, just a single main room, plus a potato farm and a 2x2 tree or two outside it, with a large storage area being the primary part of my main bases (I only cave after the "end game" but most of the time before is spent on making my "caving gear"; I also restrict any real exploration of the world until then, except to locate a stronghold). Otherwise, I play on Normal difficulty, if with various enhancements to mobs and their equipment and other attributes (including "Hard"-only effects on any difficulty and replacing the "regional difficulty" system, which makes no sense for my playstyle).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
A sandbox.
1.4.5 getting used to the game. Didn't like 1.7 for a while so I stuck to 1.6.4, then eventually got over that and went through 1.7 to 1.12 just trying out mods for the fun of it, not the big mods but the new ones that came out, somewhat but not the same as when flash games would appear on certain sites. Around 1.10 I got into video making. I wanted to drop off the game around 1.12.2, I got into Rift, Datapacks and Fabric around 1.13 and started just making videos but these days making wikis/forum threads now.
I feel the same about 1.17/1.18 as I do 1.7 but otherwise the game seems to be alright even though I haven't dipped into it that heavily as I did as I have other games I want to play and other things to do. But still I don't have much to say about the future of the game and I am doing wikis/forums for the present and will likely the future until I have a need to stop doing that.
I can play snapshots, I can mod it however I want, I can play old or new versions, I can use commands to scale the game with keepInventory and mobGriefing if I want to. Most of this I do in Java Edition. Bedrock was sort of my Behaviourpack/for a time achievement version of the game. Legacy Console is my experience the old version of the game and trophies.
These days I just make wikis and forums showcasing mods for Fabric related projects or other ones I find cool like APortingCore. But otherwise I jump into a few threads like this and see what the community is up to.
It's a do whatever I want game in singleplayer (99% of the time) but obviously respect the rules and play on a server if I feel like it.
Niche Community Content Finder, Youtuber, Modpack/Map Maker, Duck
Forum Thread Maintainer for APortingCore, Liteloader Download HUB, Asphodel Meadows, Fabric Project, Legacy Fabric/Cursed Fabric, Power API, Rift/Fabric/Forge 1.13 to 1.17.
Wikis I Maintain: https://modwiki.miraheze.org/wiki/User:SuntannedDuck2