• If you update your suggestion, update the first post.
• Insulting people who don't like your idea can land you in a locked thread.
• Please make a thread that you'll actually come back to and not ditch after the first post.
• Let's keep the discussion about improving the guide, rather than just complimenting/back patting it.
• Negative criticism is NOT "hating" - please, PLEASE understand the difference.
• NEW: Everyone. Stop picking version numbers for your suggestions. It's utterly pointless.
This guide is solely about making suggestions. However, if you want to read about being the critic of a suggestion instead, go to this delicious thread. Made by yoshi9048. It's a good thread. Seriously.
Possibly Asked Questions
"Why is this guide so long?"
Short Answer: It just is.
Long Answer: Because there's an insane amount of things to go over in posting an idea. In fact, a better question would be "This guide is as long as it needs to be, how did you accurately pull that off?" This guide isn't gonna be a quick read so you can read a few paragraphs then say "I read the guide!" No, a sassy informative guide is what's needed. You do not need to read the guide in one sitting.
"What if I'm super smart and don't need the guide?"
I can't exactly take over your will and make you want to read all this. If you're confident you won't screw up in your suggestions, then cool, but if you do, you'll know why this guide exists. You might even pick something up even if you're already good.
"Why is this guide soo mean? <=("
The very last thing I want is some super formal guide. It's long enough as it is, so I try to keep it interesting. I don't want this guide turning into some high school textbook. Yeah, the guide has some abrasiveness, but if a guide offends you, then perhaps you're not ready for the rest of the internet.
Also, do not go around going "Don't read that guide, it's mean!" That will make you look like the biggest baby. There is a reason this guide exists, and whether you want to believe it or not, what the guide talks about is true.
"Can I contribute to this guide?"
Absolutely. Anything good you contribute will be added to the guide as soon as I see it, and I will kiss you every time that happens. All you need to do is post is in this thread. If you help the guide enough, your name goes in the credits.
"What's with the high requirements of the Hall of Fame?"
On the previous guide, there were some debates that a good suggestion shouldn't require some things for it to be "hall of fame worthy". For example, if someone suggests a flawless desert mob and it's loved by many, an image would make it the suggestion better, but the suggestion is still good without it.
That's the catch. The hall of fame is about two things: a suggestion being good andeffort. If I added thread just because they were good, the hall of fame would have a thousand suggestions listed. It's the extreme amount of effort that shortens the list to the best of the best.
"How do I stay up to date with changes on this guide?"
Simply go to the top right of the page, hover your mouse over "Tools" and click "Subscribe". That way, you will get a notification whenever someone posts in the thread. Sometimes you will see a post from me stating what I updated, and those posts are almost always done in the form of a bullet point list.
Forum Terminology In the chat regarding this guide, a few people have suggested that there should be a mini-section about this:
Most forum goers already understand these terms, but you never know how new someone can be.
OP = Can mean "original poster" (guy who started the thread) or "overpowered" (in that something is too powerful). The use of the term depends on the context.
UP = "Underpowered", meaning that something in the suggestion is too weak, not useful or can just be replaced by something better easily.
Vague = Something isn't explained enough to be properly judged, and therefore should be elaborated more. Wishlist = Two or more ideas in a thread that don't relate to each other. Threads like that get locked. "Less X, more Y" = A boring game mechanic for an idea. It's just trading one thing for another. "Uhh here's a new weapon, it does +5% but swings 5% slower compared to the normal sword!" Boring boring boring. Redundant = It been done before, many many many times.
Bumping = Posting in a thread for the sake up pulling it back to page 1 so more people can see it. Necro = Bumping a super old thread that probably should have stayed dead. Generally the post that bumps these threads are pointless posts. Rezzing = Or "resurrecting" a thread. It's the same as necro'ing but the post that bumped it is much more detailed with its criticism. Sometimes this is done by the very creator of the thread. Vanilla = Vanilla means Minecraft without any mods or third party editors whatsoever. In short, it's just how the game was made and nothing more. Support = The idea is liked. If it isn't, a "no" will appear before the "support". Pre-Enchantment = Armor, weapons or tools that have a "built-in" enchantment for free.
Whether you're good at improv with creating good ideas on the spot or if you need some time to think up something clever, a good idea for Minecraft enters our minds at some point. Ever just have a moment where the suggestion gods have touched you? And every vibrating cell of your skin is itching to get on the forums and start blindly typing away? Oh you could probably see it on your minds right now, "I'm gonna get so many supports, I should put this on reddit, maybe I should make a banner!"
However, before this happens, we need to take a deep breath, take a step back and analyze out suggestions more carefully. You down? You dig?
I'm gonna use a strange analogy, but bear with me, I'm really trying. There are tons of singers that think they're good and even go on 'American Idol' or 'The Voice' because "they're just so sure they'll be the next big thing" yet some of them sound unspeakably terrible even though they thought they were good all this time but weren't. A suggestion for Minecraft can fall in that exact scenario. This guide won't make you a suggestion god, but it will provide you with all the do's and don'ts so you can make a suggestion embarrassment-free. Pretty wicked right?
Now, this guide is gonna be a long one. So grab yourself a Vanilla Coke and some Spaghettios, and have yourself a good read. Deal? This guide is gonna get tough sometimes, maybe even a bit abrasive. So chances are, you might read some things you don't want to.
// Guide 2.0?
// Because another guide existed before this one.
If you recall, there was a stickied suggestion guide that had the exact same purpose as this one that was created in 2012, and it took many years to finalize. Back then, the users 0_Zippy, AirOutGland and oohoohswish had a massive part in writing it. However, I'm bringing in a spankin' new guide. Oh yeah, you're curious, I can see it on your face. Your face was all "but why though?" Don't try to lie, I saw it.
I'll tell you "why?" Though the original guide got all the messages across. It wasn't as user friendly as it should have been, and was very redundant. And it also focused to heavily on what NOT to do. This guide should take less time to develop, as most of the material is already there, but just needs to be reworded. I am still crediting the new and old helpers of both guides.
Another problem the original guide had was that - because of the redundancy - hit the character limit allowed for a post, meaning I had to extend the guide to multiple posts, making reading the guide extremely laborious. We don't want that more of that than what there already is.
// Brilliant (example) suggestions by excellent posters.
These elite suggestions are not only good and extremely popular, but were made with extreme amounts of effort not always seen, even in other good suggestions.
Stay focused. Work hard, and your suggestion might be up here one day. You may nominate more elite suggestions by just posting in the forum. Regular good suggestions with moderate effort won't cut it here. This list is for ideas of unspeakable quality.
// Because we don't want to copy people. Intentionally or otherwise.
A lot of people that have made redundant threads but actually did search beforehand. That mistake is most likely filtering the search wrong. Observe the image below:
The things highlighted in green are the basic needs. I think the bottom one is the most essential, because people have searched for topic names but didn't filter that to only the Suggestions forum, thus people end up getting results from every forum at once that share similar words in thread titles.
That aforementioned case causes threads from the Suggestion forum to be spread out too far, making people think that a specific suggestion thread isn't redundant. It's a pretty easy mistake to make.
The Redundancy Rule
One of the rules of the Suggestions forum is that if you made a thread that's too similar to another one that was created within the 30 days, the newer thread will be locked for redundancy. So that's... why you should search. You can check a thread's post date by searching normally, or you can use the "Posted After" feature you see in the image up there.
So for example, if you wanted to avoid redundancy on "new dyes" topic and today's date was July 1st, you want the "Posted After" to be set to June 1st.
Mind you, even if your thread isn't technically redundant, you should still search and learn from the mistakes of previous threads.
//Two of them: Bad and really bad. I'm joking. But no, some are bad though.
Improved Features
Let's analyze these words carefully. "Improved" means better. It doesn't mean "different" and it doesn't mean "only what I want". If you want to suggest that something be improved in the game, then make it better and balanced. Don't suggest that something be changed just because you want it to be that way and call it "better".
New Features
Suggestions that suggest that something wasn't there before are usually more complex and have the most mistakes associated with them. For this forum, two of the most common fallacies locked in the human brain are "it's new, so therefore it's good" and "this is automatically good because it adds variety!!"
Me suggesting a camel mob that drops jelly beans would be new, but it's also stupid, and therefore shouldn't touch the game. Me suggesting that there'd be 5 new types of brown dye in the game would "add variety" but would be pointlessly redundant.
Is the new idea actually good? Or is it just there to be there?
// Unless you got a thing for getting your own threads locked.
Wishlists - Threads that have multiple, related ideas. Suggestions can have many ideas as long as they properly relate to each other. For example, "Hi forums let's add pizza, colored gravel, 5 new types of pigmen and maybe some throwable milk????" is a sloppy wishlist.
Redundant Suggestion - Pretty much what was explained in the "How to Search" part of the guide. Making a thread about "taming cats a second time" when the suggestion already exists (and was created within the nearest 30 days) will get that thread locked so hard that all your siblings will feel it.
Joke Threads - Do I even to elaborate here?
Non-Suggestions - I guess the very name of the forum wasn't enough, eh?
Suggestions not for vanilla Minecraft - The unmodded game is the only thing we can make suggestions for in this forum. So making a thread where you "suggest what you'd like to see in my server!" or "I suggezt a mod where you can also tame cows with diamonds!" are both invalid.
Suggestion what's already in the game - What's the point? That's like protesting in front of your nearest city hall for the sky to stop being blue sometimes at night. Which I've done.
Megathread - "Post your suggestions in my thread!" Oh cool, a thread that copies what an entire forum is for? That's absolutely genius one of the worst kind of threads a breathing being can make.
Suggestions with no content - So if your thread is nothing more than "maybe it's time for a new block?" Guess what? There is NO discussion value in that, and therefore, such a thread doesn't need to exist.
// Otherwise, why would this guide be here? Nah'mean?
Now, before we dive into this topic. You have to ask yourself a very simple question. Why are we posting the suggestion? The answer: because it's something we believe would benefit Minecraft. Let's ask ourselves some more questions.
- Why should the idea be in the game, what does it add?
- No matter what situation we face in the game, will the idea still be balanced?
- Is our idea something that ALL type of players can make use of?
Now, with that in mind, we have to realize that Minecraft was not made just for you, it was made for everyone. Your idea should encompass all players, and not just you, nor a specific type of player. Have an objective reasoning for your ideas. Do not open up an idea with "It's honestly time for more food" or "Hello?! Where's our gold coins?!"
You don't know what it's "time for" unless Mojang just hired you. Do not post like you control the next update to the game.
So posting an idea of "les add pizza to the game becuz i like pizza" is just dumb and selfish. If Mojang added what everyone wanted, we'd have gamebreaking guns, fighter jets, a ton of boring ores and the ability for our blocky limbs to be broken if we took enough damage. That's not the kind of Minecraft people want to play.
This forum isn't for angry rants.
Open up a Twitter account or maybe put that on the Discussion forum, not here. This place is for serious suggestions, not for you to vent out that one game mechanic you don't like and how "moojanng is soooo duuummbb uuughh!!!" because you don't like change. We don't care and don't want to read that trash, please take that somewhere else.
Suggestion Presentation & Details
As said in the previous subsection. We can't exactly read your mind and know exactly what you're suggesting unless you tell us every single possible thing we need to know.
We don't want to read an uninspiring 1-sentence pseudo-idea about "a new villager that can use a sword though!" We don't want to read an incomplete suggestion that wasn't finished because "guys I g2g school now ill finish dis idea later peace y'all".
No. Either give us a fully completed and well-explained idea or don't make a thread at all. If your suggestion has no content, then it has no discussion value. How will I know your mob is balanced if you don't tell us the damage is does? How will I know your new biome is pointless or not if you don't tell us what's in it?
If you've ever seen the movie Tommy Boy or taken any business classes, you might have heard that if you convince someone to buy your product, the consumer doesn't just buy the product. They're buying you. That's how a suggestion is. It represents you. So what does that mean? It means when you post your suggestion, give every single possible detail you can and format your post neatly so it's not annoying to read. Here's some examples:
NotMuchBrains: we don't have to many biomes..... why not add more??????????
GuyWhoThinks: I suggest we add an oasis mini biome in deserts. They would have palm trees and small pools of water. The palm trees would give us a new log type as well as new wooden planks and leaves. The palm trees sometimes have coconuts which can be eaten for 2 health.
See, this guy's cool because he used an ancient Greek method known as "thinking". He fleshed out his idea and explained it well. Is an Oasis biome the best idea in the world? Maybe not, but at least we know what the suggestion is about instead of reading "guys we just need more biomes uggghhh".
Overall, be clear, be concise and explain your idea well. Spell correctly. If you have a long suggestion that needs different headers and such, that's fine, however, don't go overboard by using oversized text LIKE THIS LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME!!! Also, do not use bright fonts that can't be read and don't use eye-gouging fonts.
Don't be allergic to proper capitalization. Don't be allergic to punctuation. Don't give us a wall of text because your Enter key has the flu. That's what makes people hit the back button before they finish reading whatever you typed. Oh, and you don't need to sign your posts - we don't need to see your username twice and your post is not the bottom of a check. Oh, and please don't spam emotes like a 12-year-old AOL'er.
Oh and do not make threads just for Mojang. Mojang won't be the ones critiquing your idea, we will. So try to talk over our heads and make your words travel all the way to Mojang's secret headquarters will just make you look bad. Yes, by default, we'd all want our ideas to make it in the game, but again, us users are the ones who will be posting about it.
Thread Titles
Here's a rule about clickbait and vague thread titles: don't make clickbait and vague thread titles.
You know what's not gonna impress anyone? Naming your thread with "new mob", "new biome", "way 2 make creepers better" or even "awesome new block!"
No. Please leave a small synopsis in the thread title. If your new mob is about a strange scorpion zombie hybrid, then the title of "Scorpion Zombies in Deserts" is fine, rather than "new desert mob." Do not cry out "PLEASE READ" in your thread title, as we already know that you want your thread read simply due to the fact that you made the thread exist. So yeah. Herp.
Did I mention don't use dumb clickbait titles yet? And don't title your thread the first half of a sentence, where the second half of that sentence is in your first post upon entering the thread. That will only annoy people and bring insults to your suggestion. And don't add text doilies to your thread. That crap is so desperate and cringeworthy. So when your thread title looks like this...
**~~--~~ ({( New Potions! )}) ~~--~~**
You screwed up. Royally.
Originality and Creativity
Let's face a dark, bitter truth. Some people out there are so creative that we wish we can steal their brains. However, others are so painfully uncreative that even if they wrote a simple children's book, it would win a "Worst Seller" award.
Mind you, ideas don't need to be gleaming with pure originality to be good, but it helps substantially. You know what ideas people are tired of? Stay tuned.
Don't make ideas that are so horribly based on prefixes. "so uhhhh we need a nether wolf that be tamed with nether bones and it can be uhhh killed and drop nether fur and uhhh nether nether nether neTHER NETHER!!!!" Copying something from another dimension usually fail.
Don't copycat existing things in the game (even though Mojang did some of that already, but still). Copying chickens by suggesting ducks but dropping the same thing is a going-nowhere idea. Suggesting a bull that drops the same leather as cows is zzzzzzzz idea. At least add something new to those mobs.
Suggestion Stance
One of the most common pointless things people do in their suggestions is praise their own ideas and mention how much they like it. Oh gee, really? If you didn't like your own idea, you wouldn't post it, so there's no sense in going "I think this would be cool to add."
Here is a truth that must be accepted. Your own opinion on your own idea is the least powerful and least relevant. The second you post your idea to the public, you dumped it into "critic waters". So if the critics that correctly point out the flaws in your idea, will your own opinions on your own idea change anything? Nnnnnnnnnnnnnope.
It's fine to explain how you believe your idea would be a good thing for Minecraft (which it should be, otherwise why would we want it?) But you need to be neutral over your suggestion and not treat it like some godsend hotfix that will "make the game soar to new heights", because all it takes is one critic to prove that wrong.
A lot of suggesters trick themselves into think they're "game developers" that know exactly what a game needs, when they actually aren't those kind of people. Avoid being that.
Don't have slippery slope fallacies.
Basically, don't end the reasoning of your suggestion with "...the game will just collapse without this!" Chances are, the game was just doing juuust fine without your suggestion, so you don't need to try to pump that lie into our heads.
"We need a fast moving bird mob in the game. We need this because the game currently has no birds, meaning the game will get boring faster without them because the challenge of taking down avian mobs won't be there, which will ultimately lead to the end of Minecraft as we know it!" Woooah! Who knew the power of one flying mob had such power!!
I promise you you will become a cool kid just by simply not posting like that. Proof: recent studies that I can't seem to find right now. So please just assume it's true.
"I don't even like my own suggestion."
Then... don't... post it? This also comes in the form of users using the self-pity garbage. "Yeah I know this suggestion is crap but whatever I might as well post it." Yes, what a smart idea, let's set ourselves up for failure. Reverse psychology doesn't work on this forum.
None of us are gonna go "oh well you said your idea was bad so we forgive you :)" No. If you hate your own suggestion that much but made the awkward choice of publicizing it anyway, then you just made it that much easier for us to go "no support!"
"Please support!"
I'll support if I like the idea, not because you asked. Your emotions on a forum won't alter anything. Putting on big ad puppy dog eyes will not change my line of thinking and make me support your "tameable skeletons" idea. I'll stick to supporting ideas just because they're good. Thanks.
Keep the memes out.
We won't take you seriously if you type like you just finished a 5-mile hike out of Mount 4chan. We don't want to read garbage like "Hey everyone, my idea will add mucho swag to Minecraft! It adds more uses to gold (or should I say BUDDER AAHHHAHAHAA) so yeah please support because one does simply... not support a good suggestion. Peace out, brofist!"
Understand that even if you find a meme funny, you never know if the rest of us heard a thousand times and just want it to die. These forums are not memegenerator.
"I'm new here!"
And? You had plenty of opportunity to read the sticky threads before assuming that you knew everything but made a goofy mistake anyway. Telling us you're new doesn't change anything. It won't make us act nicer toward you, because it doesn't undo what you did when it could have been avoided.
Posting Polls
Please, please make your polls sensible if you're gonna have them. Do not make the polls one-sided, and do the give the poll extremist "left/right" answers without any grey area. A "maybe" option never hurt anyone.
If your stupid idea about TNT that only kills wolves only has the options of "yes" and "sort of yes". Then I'm not voting in your poll at all. Another thing, do not mess with polls if you don't like the answers. Don't switch the answers around, because if I come back to a thread and see that the option of "I love this idea flawless idea!" when I know for sure I voted "no." while 5 posts in a row of "no support", guess what I'm calling out?
Also, have your polls show something of relevance. Asking how many people like/hate the idea and showing that off isn't bad, but it presents nothing of value to the suggestion. What does that info mean to us?
'Idea Cramming'
"What is idea cramming? I'm very curious and I need you to explain that to me in deep detail!" Well okay, if that's what you want.
Idea cramming usually happens when people post a suggestion that doesn't have enough content or explanation for anyone to like the idea or not, so when the OP finds this out, they start mindlessly adding more content at a coked-up rabbit pace just for the sake of the idea being called "complete". It's the equivalent of stuffing a turkey with random objects because you ran out of stuffing.
I'll give an example:
OP: guys hey how are you so yeah my idea is lizards in deserts, so deserts aren't so boring!
Reply #1: Okay? So what do the lizards do?
Reply #2: Do the lizards attack you? How much health do they have? You didn't tell us anything about the mob. OP: uuuhh ok ok panic panic the lizards do 12 hearts of damage! and they uh.. they attack spiders and maybe wolves idk and they drop lizard eyes which substitute ender eyes because... reasons!!! idea is complete now!!!
Yeah, the OP was a hot mess. Had he explained his idea in full and took the time to develop the idea before posting, that wouldn't have happened. Don't cram stuff in a suggestion to call it full. You're better than that. Develop it first. Use like notepad or something. Write it out first or something. You get me?
"If you don't like the idea don't comment!"
What I'm talking about here is when people, at the beginning of their suggestions, say things like "only these kind of posts are allowed in my thread!"
Let me clue you in on something, unless you're a mod, you have no say in how people post. If someone goes "no negative posts allowed!!!", then guess what. Nothing changes. People are still gonna post how they want.
Also, there's already this guide and the other one about critics. You don't need to copy those entire guides in your threads and horribly stretch out your first post.
Suggestion Popularity
Ahhhh, so your suggestion is getting a lot of supports? Well cool, but just because an idea is loved, doesn't always make the idea good overall. What I mean is, people just see the outer coating of the idea and support without thinking about the the deeper details and long-term possibilities of said idea.
A suggestion about "more animals you guys!" might sound good on paper, but what if the idea has too many animals and they annoyingly crowd the world? What if all the animals are just copycats of others? Some supporters are blinded by "I want more" lines of thinking.
Don't get drunk off the popularity, even a popular idea might need some adjusting.
Bumping Your Suggestion
In other words, you keep posting in the thread you made, which is expected. However, if the idea is terrible and hated, and your thread is slowly drifting off the front page, don't bump it back to page 1. Unless your idea was changed for the better, don't revive a bad egg. Just don't.
You bumping your bad, unadvised idea will only magnet more negativity to it. If I make a thread about one-hit kill bandits that steal everything you have, and I'm shrouded with "no support!", then the idea should just die.
Failing Suggestions / Forced Middle Grounds
Sometimes people get overexcited and bubbly when they come with an idea. They might even get those ballooned hearts in your eyes. After they post a suggestion that doesn't get liked, they might try to find a forced middle ground that doesn't fit the game.
For example, a lot of people suggest overpowered mobs that would only exist in hard mode. If the mob can kill me by looking at me, then great. I can't enjoy hard mode with that thing. Solution: that mob not existing.
Another thing some people suggest are weapons that have pre-enchantments, but they try to "balance" that out by with "guys it's ok because it can't accept any more enchantments on an enchanting table!" Great, your "Nether Sword" now has a scrambled sense of balance that probably doesn't go with the game too well.
If an idea is overall bad, then it's best to let it drop. There's more about this in the 'Taking Criticism' section below.
"Mojang planned it once!"
Yes, Mojang mentioned a lot of things that were - at some point - planned to be in the game. These are things that didn't make it in the game for good reasons, not because "they're trolling us". So you don't need to make that 800th thread about how "we neeeeed the red dragon! auuuggghhh!!!" or "hello, where's our normal pigmen?!!" as if Mojang swore this stuff on our parents' graves.
Even an idea being mentioned by a developer can be bad or just not the best idea in the long run. It's tiring to see garbage situations like this.
someuser_993: I suggest a dream world dimension! Community: nah, wouldn't fit. no support forever pretty much. Mojang: We're thinking about adding a dream world. Community: coool cool coooooool here's some ideas how to make that more awesome!
no.
"New! New! New!! Auugh!!"
Suggesting a new mob with new mechanics, new drops that lead to the creation of a new potion is fine. What isn't fine is when an idea has to come with so many new things that it becomes horrendously overspoiling and kooky that it waters down the integrity of the idea so much the idea itself might turn completely into water as well.
A new biome that has new types of trees with the leaves containing a new drop able to be crafted into something that's a gateway to a new dimension containing a new boss that can give you 4 new potion effects - doesn't need to exist because of one lizard mob. That is the fastest way to drain an idea well, or cram too much inside of it. Much like a pizza with 50 toppings teetering on it.
Sometimes suggestions are made by multiple people. However, they can only be posted by one person. Human technology has not advanced to the stage where multiple people share a single post. Well I mean maybe with a mod or something.
If you and others come up with a post, be sure to credit to the people that helped you. It would sure blow if that user that made 7 well-textured models went unmentioned. You feel me? What I've been talking about this whole time is users banding together and coming up with the suggestion beforehand. However, your co-writer might appear later after the thread has been made.
When your thread is made, someone might suggest something so good that you just have to add it to your idea. Again, give the person credit. Perhaps you want to make a suggestion inspired by another. If you want to, ask the original thread maker first if it's alright, if it is, credit the person in your upcoming thread.
// "It's Minecraft! it's just a game! My idea of bubble gum trees don't need to make sense!"
The amount of users on this forum that play the blame game to defend their goofy suggestions is staggering. "Guys, we have green walking dynamite and jukeboxes, so why not add stupid fighter jets and dumb villager military bases? It's just a game!!"
Most of the time, blame-gaming like that fails. It's like in elementary school when a kid goes "But Mrs. Featherbee, I saw Johnny throwing rocks at girls, so I thought I could do it too!" when that kid knew better from the start.
Another approach bad suggesters make is "let's make the game a little more realistic, so I suggest we can break our legs and can't walk ever when we take too much fall damage!" Noooooooooooo. Realism is not a positive attribute, it's a neutral one. If we fall down a ravine and shatter both legs, we're not gonna go "I enjoy this! This is realistic! Smiley smile grin grinn grinnn!!!!!"
Gameplay > Realism
Gameplay > Realism
Gameplay > Realism
Gameplay > Realism
Are Creepers random? Yes. Are they realistic? No, but they still have a well developed cause-and-effect system that make them a unique mob without being insanely over the top or plain stupid. Is redstone realistic? Not in the slightest, but it's useful and manages to find a place in the game without being stupid.
An idea does not need to be realistic, but it needs to have some sense and logic behind it. So suggesting a new ore/metal for the game that can be used to craft new redstone items might be a good idea if done right, however, suggesting a new ore/metal to plant in a circle to summon a "EnderNether Wolf" is 9 kinds of goofy.
// "That way, my idea is magically not bad anymore because ppl have a CHOICE!"
This is one of the most common, laziest things people ever do to an idea. Every person that doesn't understand good game design makes this mistake when they fart out a thread on this forum.
See, options should be left to game settings, such as video quality, render distance, difficulty. It shouldn't be left to things like one type of mob or one type of mob behavior. Small things like that don't warrant an option. Understand that if your idea is perfectly balanced, why does it need to be optional to begin with? If it's good enough, it doesn't need to be "turned off".
A lot of not-so-deep-thinkers have the one-dimensional mindset of "it gives people a choice! so both sides win!!" This usually means "I'm aware my idea is complete cancer, so just in case, people can turn it off so there, you guys don't need to hate my idea as much!" Did it ever occur to you, that if your idea is terrible, making it an option is stupid because most players will just leave it off? Might as well just not have the idea at all.
If your idea is about a killer butterfly that goes through blocks and insta-kills me, why would my working brain ever want that option turned on? Another problem options can provide is complicated game updating, because now Mojang has to carefully make sure any update doesn't help one option setting, but damage the other. This is most common when people cry about 1.9 combat.
You don't want an option causing people to have to play two different games. Please everyone, stop leaning the 'optional' excuse.
If the core idea is bad, then it's bad. Not all ideas can be repaired or reworked and we need to just understand when to let an idea drop. This isn't the movies where one half-baked speech can change the mind of an entire crowd and gain us an applause.
"But it's optional. But it's rare. But it's hard to get."
Options and gamerules are left to game settings, and not stupid things like "blocks of bacon" or "clown villagers, herp!" If your idea is perfectly balanced, it doesn't have to be optional anyway. If your idea is terrible, than most people will have the option off.
Something being "suuuuper rare" or "hard to get" are nothing but balance aides. They can make the idea more balanced or better, but not always outright "good". My idea of "Super De Duper Double Diamond Ore" is still gonna be goofy and absolutely retarded regardless of it it's hard to get/rare/whatever.
"The game needs this!"
Yeeeeeeah no. If the fabric of the game can exist just fine without your suggestion, it's not "needed". Your personal wants are not Minecraft's needs.
We don't need wool stairs. We don't need "Nether Endermen". Do not rewrite your own brain to think the game's foundation is ready to collapse and your idea is the magical girder to fix it all.
"I'm the center of the world!"
Otherwise known as "people who just don't see the light". These are the suggesters that can be told a thousand times over that their idea of an Insta-Kill enchantment is overpowered, but they reply with crap like "yeah i know it's overpowered that's the point!!! it's SUPPOSED to be that way!!"
These are people who never ever step out of their own 'want bubbles' and mentally block out all arguments thrown at them.
A suggestion is not about getting the last word, it's about an idea being good. Another thing, don't talk about your idea like "Mojang forgot to add it." That is just egotistic. Don't be egotistical, this guide already takes that role.
"[Insert_game_here] has this, so Minecraft should have it!"
One of the most baseless statements a living entity could ever blurt out. I once saw a suggestion where hot water heals you because a Legend of Zelda game had saunas that could heal you. Okay.
Minecraft is not all these other games, and there is no objective reason for Minecraft to just copy something like that. No, we don't need to replace emeralds with gold coins just because 8,000 generic RPG games do it.
"This adds a challenge!"
Do you know what a challenge is? No? Then don't say this, and do not craft your own definition of the word.
Do not mix up annoyances with challenges. Stupid ideas like "hurricanes you can't avoid no matter what aahhhahah!" is not a challenge that can be overcome, it's just some dumb trollish thing that comes by and ruins everything.
Also, do not take something in the game that's already balanced and suggest that it be more difficult just because... again, you think that's a challenge. That's not how that works. Understand that please.
Polling the Players
"Every player of Minecraft is a copy of me, therefore our thoughts are the same!" You know the posts I'm talking about. Those people that begin their suggestions with "this is something we all want" or "we all need this!"
No. Stop it. You don't know how over a million players think and we all don't share the same playstyle. Not all of us have homes made of diamond blocks by the time we get to The End, and just because you have chests full of sand doesn't mean "they n33d another use bcuz they're clogging ur chests!!!!!!"
Also, just because your little brother, a couple kids on a server or even a famous person said an idea was good. It still doesn't prove an idea good. /logic
"Put back what was in beta/alpha!"
Yeah totally man, you know that stuff that Mojang deliberately removed for a reason? Let's negate that reason and bring it back because just for some nostalgia! Good reasons!
Yes, we all have special feelings over that older version of Minecraft when we started playing, but you cramming it down our throats and crying how "new minecraft suxxxxxxxx!" is not gonna change a single damn thing. If it makes you feel better, use the new launcher and play an older version.
"Why not? It wouldn't hurt anything."
First, tell us the "why" of your suggestion before you start throw any "why not" dodgeballs at the kids. If Mojang went by that logic, there would be a thousand more mediocre things in the game that "don't hurt anything". No, you want your idea to be good, not some 50/50 meh thing.
Remember that 50/50 ideas get 50/50 reception, and that's not very interesting. Instead, be cooler, and go for a good idea for good reception.
"But it's funny!"
Funny for who? Teens? 8-year-olds? You?
Even if your idea is hilarious, it doesn't need to exist for that very reason, and it will also stop being funny eventually. Like the exact same joke being told over and over.
Backpedaling
"Uhh, this thread was just a joke and you all fell for it ahhhaha" - So you defended your idea for 5 posts and then suddenly decided to tell us that? Joke threads also get locked here, so you're shooting yourself the same foot multiple times. It's funny how liked threads never have the OP using this untrue excuse.
Sometimes this is in the form of "i was trolling u guys all along!" If you were a successful troll, you wouldn't openly admit to being one. Nice failed escape attempt though.
"Augh you guys are just haters/trolls!" - You're just saying this to make yourself feel better. No, we just don't like your idea. Apparently it's easier to just undermine everyone else's posts than to defend yours. Because effort.
"Someone else posted that, not me." - You only seem to see this excuse used for stupid posts and never good ones. It's also interesting how the "person who posted that wasn't you" typed exactly you. What were the chances right?
"No wait, THIS is what I was suggesting." - Also known as "changing the story" or "hitting the reset button". You suggested Creeper Scorpions which everyone absolutely hated, then you tried to defend it and all of your defenses were bashed away, and now you're going "no you guys have gotten it wrong this whole time, I was suggesting normal scorpions, I only mentioned the creeper thing as a joke lolol."
That's a hard excuse to believe after you opened with "creepers need
more variants" and every single type "scorpion" appears in your thread,
it has "creeper" right before it. Woooow, good joke man.
"This suggestion was just an experiment." - "Yeah, it's a good thing my hated idea was just a prototype, don't worry, the REAL suggestion is coming soon!" No, what you already posted was the real suggestion. I promise you that if your suggestion was actually liked, you'd go along with it and not mention the "experiment" crap.
For those of you who actually will or have post/posted experiment suggestions that you know will fail. Don't. Because why post something if you know the outcome? If your suggestion is bad, you'll look way better by owning up to it and not using some on-the-fly excuse you had crammed in your pocket.
"I made this for the sake of discussion!"
Gee, you think? This forum is already umbrella'd by the Discussion label. Every suggestion thread is already created for the sake of discussion, so don't use this dumb excuse to farm ideas from others and have other people develop your suggestion for you.
"Yes, I know my idea is bad and redundant but I want to stir up a discussion to develop it more!" Smart thinking! There's your first mistake, if you know your idea is bad, then you know you will get bad reception. Do not set yourself up for failure.
"This needs to be harder/easier!"
Another classic example of "this is how I play the game therefore the world does too." Except no. We get it, you mastered the art of finding diamonds within minutes, but that doesn't the rest of us have, so suggesting that "diamonds be 4 times as rare!" might be good for you, but painfully terrible to everyone else.
Same for when people ask for things to be easier. We don't need to make Creepers say "Watch out I'm coming!" just because you got killed by one when all you have to do is keep your eyes open for them.
"If you don't like it, don't use it!"
Awesome, awesome logic! /notreally
Okay then, I don't need to use these colored grenades if I don't want to. However that doesn't seem to stop other people from chucking them down the chimney of my house. I guess me not wanting to use something didn't help the fact that the idea was terrible, eh?
Having the choice of using something doesn't alter the quality of the idea like that. If it's bad, it's bad.
Advertising in someone else's thread.
If I worked hard on a suggestion for a new biome that took me days to develop, the last thing I want is you popping in and going "huuuurp check out my dinosaur thred!!" No with a side no. You have your own thread for that, don't fart that out in someone else's.
"A lot of people suggested it, so Mojang should give it to us!"
This excuse comes from people that think they understand game development, but actually don't. The human race seems to mistake "popularity" and "good" as meaning the same thing. Me making a thousand alternate accounts and suggesting that "hurr nukes!!!" be added to the game does not make my idea good.
"I don't care about this suggestion."
But you do though, since you made a conscious decision to make a thread and then type another 3 paragraphs about the idea. Like most of the other stupid excuses in this spoiler, the excuse is usually used only when the suggestion is unpopular. If you didn't care about the idea, the thread you just made wouldn't exist.
"Fine, this'll just be for hard/hardcore then!"
Nooooooooo. -____-
If I don't want the stupid idea of villagers throwing shoes at my wolves, I don't want it at all. Don't slap it in one difficulty as if that will miraculously save the idea. That doesn't stop a bad idea from being durrtactular. All this does is ruin it for people who want to play a specific difficulty.
"You have your opinion, I have mine."
So someone doesn't agree with your suggestion, and now you're reiterating the point that you and that poster don't agree? You might as well just say "I made a thread and you posted in it." because that's equally as pointless.
"Agreeing to disagree" doesn't do anything. This is what most posters say to get out of defending themselves. If someone is pointing out why your suggestion is horribly unbalanced, don't just write that off. Instead, understand the differing opinion and use it to better your suggestion, or at the very least, defend yourself properly without going "well that's your opinion, moving on." because that's just lazy and unintuitive.
"This'll stop people from complaining."
The only way to stop someone from complaining is bolt their mouths shut or keep a keyboard away from them. Adding a terrible idea to the game to "shut people up" is one of the most self-embarrassing ideas a human can spit up. So we re-add something that was removed to silence half the community? Let's also set up a foundation that gives kids free money for those who complain about not having an Xbox.
Ideas with this... "logic" should land people jail time.
"The _____ Update!"
Don't call your thread "The Bird Update" when all you've suggested is a turkey that drops gunpowder. Updates like that are left to a collection of many good ideas within a theme, not 2 dinky mobs and one senseless ore. Dear all posters, stop doing this.
Using Adventure Mode as a Crutch
Before everyone gets hyper and wants to attack me, yes, I know there are some awesome suggestions for Adventure Mode out there. Though some users take it too far. An Adventure Mode suggestion should be "universal" in that it can be useful in many situations without it being unfitting and over-the-top.
"Let's add a command called '/stayinalive' which makes hostile mobs wear 70's clothes and stuff and like... and like... creepers look like Maurice Gibb! This would be great for people making 70's related adventure maps!!"
Yes, because there are so many people making adventure maps like that. 12/10.
"You guys just need to upgrade your PC's!"
Oh, so that's how that works? So all of us should shell out our money on new parts just so we can deal with your unfitting idea of "reelistic physicsss!" and "super d00per shaderzzz!" It's almost as if... it would be better if that stuff didn't touch the game at all!
We don't need to upgrade our PC's, you just need to upgrade your reasoning for suggestions. And your brain maybe.
Alternate Accounts
You duplicating yourself to support your own idea is the saddest thing you can do here. If your idea is good enough, why would you ever need to do this? Seeing an extra user or two forcibly supporting the idea won't mentally rewire the opinions of other people with working brains. Seeing the following is beyond pathetic:
BirdOwner: Why not add Herobrine Creepers? Let's call them Creeperbrines hahahaha!! FalconDude: flawless idea, should be in 1.9!!!!! =D someone_else92: no. SmaRtUser: cancerous idea. OstrichFan: extreme support! would benefit game! idea is love and life!
Sad sockpuppet accounts get banned here instantly, so you will embarrass yourself eternally as well as having the ban. Self-defeat at its finest.
CamelCase
Do Be The Guy Who Capitalizes Every Word. Stop Acting Like Jaden Smith And Type Like A Normal Person. That's Painful To Read And It Will Probably Make Your Suggestion Look Really Stupid. So... Don't Do It? If You Type Like This, Please Apply Pain To Your Fingers As Punishment. Thanks In Advance.
// Because the human race always mixes up the two.
Ever read a suggestion where someone goes "we need lapis armor and tools! we need it! need need need! I know this stuff better than Mojang! AAuugh~!"
No. People need to understand the reasoning behind their suggestion. Objective is something that is widely shared and unbiased, and sometimes focuses on actual 'needs' or pure benefits, while something being subjective is a small opinion and focused on a 'want'.
If someone makes a suggestion about a mob that spawns solely in birch forests, has useful and sensible drops and is very balanced. Also, if the OP puts in mind that the mob would benefit the game, the biome it's in, and overall the experience in Minecraft, that can be an objective suggestion. If presented properly.
A subjective suggestion is "les add copper tools and armor and stuff because copper is pretty cool!" Okay, so we should hop on board the idea because you think copper is cool? Yeah? No. We don't "need" pigs dropping bacon because "i like so bacon so idk lol" or some boring ore just for the sake of saying "there's another ore!" Have your ideas truly give us something, and don't suggest it because you 'think it's cool'.
// Artificial Difficulty and "Chance" Ideas
// "What if skeleton arrows sometimes insta-killed for no reason? That would add a good challenge!!!"
Having to use what you learned in a game to defeat a last boss is true challenging difficulty. However, if the last boss uses an unavoidable move that punches away 80hp from your maximum of 100 and you have to spam bullets at it and cross your fingers and hope for a win, then that's dumb artificial difficulty.
There's too many humans in the world that come to this forum, suggest some trollish, unfun thing with no fun factor and smother that garbage in a "you guys dis be a challenjge!!" dressing. Only for the OP of these threads to go into an anger frenzy and blame the non-supporters.
Butchering existing game mechanics with unnecessary trash such as "drinking a positive potion has a 10% of poisoning you because reasons" or "there's a 1/50 chance a skeleton's arrow instakills you". Where's the """challenge""" in that? If it's an unseen binary coin flip, my skills can't surpass it. It's just something I have to hope never happens. Good challenge man.
I question how the OP's of these bad threads come to make these ideas. "Yes, I love how this regeneration potion I spent hours getting the ghast tear for poisons me for 2 minutes! I love that! My gameplay experience is enhanced! LOGIIIIIC!!!" Your brains, use 'em.
// "What if we added HOMING arrows? Yeah, that'd be sooo cooool!!"
Balance in an idea can be a grand illusion. An idea might be perfectly balanced in your head but in actuality, be the most under or overpowered thing ever because we didn't see our ideas in the proper light.
Depending on what the suggestion, it can be extremely difficult to find the perfect pinnacle of balance. Some ideas are so complex and encompass so many things that it can be hard scanning for that sweet spot.
Balance requires us to really want to listen to critics, as they can help greatly with that (just remember, it not their job to do so). Because balance can be hard to find, an idea might take a ton of refining before being completed for good.
"You guys! Less X, but more Y!" (Scale Tipping)
Ahh yes, the most boring approach to a suggestion that can ever be performed. So that new spear idea of yours does -10% damage but can be used +10% faster compared to the sword? So that means it's perfectly balanced compared to the sword? So... why don't we just stick with a sword then?
Having more of something but less of something in a suggestion isn't exactly a bad thing. You would want that new strong weapon idea to be not so easy to acquire (more strength, but less abundance to make the new weapon), but that isn't scale tipping, as that's just regular balance.
Please try to be original with your ideas and don't 'more that but less this' something. All that is senseless hair splitting that doesn't wow anyone. Don't scale tip.
I'm about to present an image by the user 0_Zippy that covers a good chunk of balance:
// If You Want a Thread Locked, Moved or Deleted (top)
//Putting those threads of out of their misery. Or just moved.
If you want any of these three things to happen to your thread. All you have to do report your own post by... clicking "Report" at the bottom of your post, then choose this on the following screen (click to make bigger):
Note that you can also help out a new or inexperienced user get their thread moved to the right location before the original poster realizes the mistake, which can reduce confusion and complications in a thread a lot sooner. However, DO NOT tell the user that "they've been reported" as 1.) that's against the rules and 2.) they may take it the wrong way which can lead to revenge scheming.
And no, do simply edit your posts with "MOD, PLZ DELETE THREAD" while doing nothing else. You will embarrass yourself to death and accomplish nothing.
// "We already have jukeboxes, so fighter jets would be fine!"
Something fitting or not fitting in Minecraft is one of the most prominent arguments on the Suggestions forum, and in some way, the most controversial. It's a double-edged sword, because both sides can have very strong points. For these reasons, that concept gets its very own section.
It's no secret that Minecraft is not made of realism, and even though there are medieval-like things in the game, such as potions, swords, bows, arrows and armor. However, we have not-so-medieval things, like jukeboxes. So... how do we know for sure if something fits or not? What is our reference point? Which side is correct?
If a game has a distinct theme to it, then it's very easy to know what fits in it and what doesn't. If a game is based around a city where gangs gunfight non-stop, it would be wise for the developers in that game to not add magic spells, because something like that would be extremely goofy, ruin the theme of the game and even distance players away. What if Portal 2 had NFL Announcers that have fork guns? That would be pretty awkward, right?
So what if a game doesn't have any theme to it, does that make it immune to "unfitting" things? The answer: Not really, at least not always. Even without realism or any concrete theme, suggestions for Minecraft can still be very stupid. It can be argued that Minecraft has created its own theme. If someone said to you "Think of a Minecraft theme!" You'd be thinking about punching trees, Creepers, blocks and diamond ore. The game has been out for so long and has been so popular that it has that kind of foundation.
We need to read between the lines and understand what a game is about. Then and only then will we understand what ideas would actually fit in. People often cling to what's already in the game to defend their bad suggestions. For example, going "Well the game has random green things with no arms so I don't see the problem with ." And those arguments usually fail.
Yes, there are some weird things in Minecraft, but strange things like Ghasts and Creepers are still given proper cause-and-effect development. Sure, the Creepers explode on players for reasons unknown, but it doesn't start dancing while summoning frogs with its face. Even in games with no theme, you can still suggest things for it that are so senseless and over the top that they'd subtract any sensible experience for the player.
If you were playing Minecraft, and saw a red caromo emerge from the ocean and started talking to you in Mel Gibson's voice while spawning chickens, how would you feel?
A.) Possibly depressed and perturbed that something so senselessly "out there" touched the game.
B.) Eh, doesn't matter! Nothing doesn't fit or unfit in this game! I'm cool with that car thing.
//Because we want revenge after seeing "No Support!"
As the top of the thread states. If we can't handle negativity, we should just keep our mouse cursors away from that "new thread" button.
Some suggesters are hypersensitive and freak out just because people disagree with them, and because they thought their suggestions was "sooo goooood!!" that they convince themselves that the critics are "wrong".
If your suggestion is proven to be bad and it can't be fixed. Then just drop it. Otherwise you're just going to bring more negative attention to a bad idea and only hurt yourself in the end.
Negative Criticism is NOT trolling...
This has to be one of the most common mistakes to ever exist on the internet. My god. Some people can't mentally except that disliking a suggestion isn't the same as "being a hater". Know what trolling is, and lock it into your head before you mix that up with negative reception.
This whole forum didn't band together and decide to troll you and hate every idea you make. Let me tell you, if you pull the troll-calling card after every "no support" had lengthy explained reasoning, you will look painfully stupid.
The Role of the Critic
This is what the FTC guide tells you already, but I feel I should mention here as well as both critics and suggesters should know.
It is NOT the critic's job to fix or better your idea!
Your suggestion belongs to you. Nobody else. It is not anyone else's job to clean your dirty room which is your suggestion. A critic's job is to read your hopefully well-explained idea, points out the goods and bads in a very readable manner and be on his way, or maybe he might stick around.
A critic does not need to suggest improvements to your idea. A critic does that because they truly might think your idea would be bettered if some changes were made. If a critic doesn't do this, oh well. Again, s/he doesn't have to. Some critics don't see positives in an idea, it happens.
However, if someone spams in your thread and is being deafeningly nonconstructive, don't feed into them. Just report them and let them drown in a sea of warning ratings and bans. "Idea kinda blows, maybe delete thread and lock your account?" deserves to be reported.
"I'm gonna report you! >=["
Reporting someone does not summon a magical thread cleaning fairy that makes the posts you don't like go away. As mentioned earlier in the thread, you can report your own posts to move, lock or delete them. You can also report other posts only if they break rules by spamming or trolling in nonconstructive ways. Do not report someone just because they disagree with your suggestion.
You are not allowed to tell a person they're being reported. That is against the forum rules, and only leads to nasty revenge scheming.
Responding to Critics
If a critic shreds our idea with perfect reasoning, responding "you suck" puts them in the victory chair, not you. Unless you're a mod, you have no control over who posts in your thread. So telling them to "GET OUT!" will just make you look like a baby.
If we lash out at honest critics without defending ourselves, we lose. If someone explains why your "mega mega ultra double tnt" is overpowered, and you respond with just "it's not overpowered", then the critic is the one who's taking your championship belt.
We can't just post our suggestion, we need to learn to defend it to. And with that, sometimes revising. And note that defending doesn't mean just fighting for the last word. If we lash out and directly insult people simply telling us why that suggestion about shovels made from creeper heads isn't very smart, it makes the suggester look bad, not the critic. If two kids are arguing but one of them is trying to act like a chicken while making the weird sounds, which of the two kids looks the dumbest? Don't lash out and be the chicken kid.
Selective Arguing & Post Skipping
Yes, we know. We can see when you're only responding to people who support you with "thx for the support d000000000000000d!!" while ignoring those long, detailed posts that are criticism. Basically, you're only responding to what you want to read.
No. Don't be the guy with Selective Reading Syndrome (SRS). The critics making the long posts explaining why they don't like your idea are usually doing you a favor by taking time out of their day to help you better your idea, so return the favor with some of your time and hear them out completely.
You don't need to respond to every single post in a thread, but the last thing you want to do is skip over good points and important questions. Just because you don't agree with posts, doesn't make them "bad posts" you should ignore.
Baggage Carrying
There's always a user or many users on a forum we don't like. Calling them out and putting them on a spot like you're ready to fight them is just the recipe for a flame-derailing flame war. Stuff like "Don't post here if you're Theriasis!" is just you punching yourself in the mouth.
Just because someone didn't support your last suggestion doesn't give you much right to shout insults about them in every thread you post in.
"Guys calm down, it's just a suggestion!"
Yeah, that's funny, a lot of people who say this are overconfident posters who talk about their own ideas as if they're the Second Coming, yet as soon as they see that people are not supporting, it turns into "omgggggg you guys chill out this is just text on a forum! nothing more!"
First off, thanks we already figured out your idea - is in fact - text on a forum and just an idea. Whew, thanks for clearing that up! Second, saying that stuff doesn't change anything. Sure, it's just an idea, but it's still bad if it's bad. You also don't need to tell us to "calm downnne!!" when we were calm to begin with. "No support" doesn't always translate to "AUUUGH WORST IDEA!!" like a lot of people think it does.
"You guys are nitpicking!"
"You guys keep focusing on this one part of the suggestion! There's more to it than that!"
Well yeah, if your common mob does 9 hearts of damage. Chances are, people are gonna not support because of that and keep mentioning it. People usually say this because they're just frustrated that the critics are successfully pointing out a flaw. I will admit that when a bunch of critics come in and repeat the same thing, that gets pretty old, but still. If a sore-thumb flaw is found in the suggestion, fix it or get rid of it, because keeping it around won't get you those sweet supports you've been craving.
"This forum is terrible! I'm leaving forever!"
Yup, that's some good logic right there. When a lot of people disagree with you, it's somehow the forum's fault for not blindly liking your idea? Telling us how "terrible we are!" won't do anything to us, and the same goes for you leaving the forums. It's taking a lot of extra energy to not post the names of users that have done that.
If you truly want to leave the forums, then leave. You telling us won't change anything, and you won't guilt us with "you guys made a user stop posting, I hope you're happy!" when the fault is on your end.
"Your post was rude so I skipped it!"
So you read the first 10 words of someone's post to actually figure out it was rude, then just gave up reading it because "it was meen". Not every post is gonna be covered with nice sprinkles for you, and it's best to get in the habit of reading what's there, instead of playing "post favorites".
People shouldn't insult you for your suggestion, but some people are gonna be direct and point out something stupid if something stupid is there. That's the point of this forum. You made a thread for people to post in, but you don't get to choose what they type. When you end a post with "What do you think? Criticism is welcome!", you will get just that.
"You're not Mojang, so you can't make that call!"
Here you are saying how much your suggestion would fit the game and how it would revolutionize the world as we know it, but then you turn the other cheek on someone who doesn't support by saying "You're not the one developing the game, so that's not up you!!!" then you go back to talking about your idea that "needs to be in the next update" as if you know the game's development better than Mojang.
We don't need to part of Mojang to know if something is stupid. It's easy to know that the game is not getting a McDonald's franchise in the next update along with a "Big Mac Creeper". Or new mobs that resemble every character from The Wire. Use your itty bitty brains and read between the lines.
// Made by Cerroz. The stuff in this guide in encouraged, but NOT required.
This purpose of the rest of the guide is to not make a bad suggestion, often telling you how to go from "bad" to "good". The overachiever's guide tells you how to go from "good" to "much, much better". This is only one of two sub-guides not written by Theriasis (the other being 0_Zippy for making the balance guide), meaning this guide will be much more positive.
Ever play a video game that involves getting more than 100% completion? Or being able to earn better than a gold medal, which is usually a platinum one? This guide will try to help you get that. If you only care to make just decent, okay suggestions with "eh" amounts of work, this guide is not for you. Who is it for? The people who want their ideas to shine so hard that we can't look directly at it too fast, the kind that most likely make the suggestions hall of fame and get showered with "I support!" for many pages.
Note: Following the guide to a 'T' may also involve you having to learn program-using skills you haven't nailed down quite yet.
Apart from the suggestion being good, proper readability and formatting is one of the most desired things for the reader of a suggestion. If the format of a suggestion is too sloppy, it brings the integrity of the suggestion down. Format a suggestion like you want that A+ grade.
You can't really have a post without text, so you might as well arrange that text as beautifully as humanly possible. This includes good spelling, proper grammar and proper punctuation placement. If you have a long suggestion that has many stats, attributes and features, then it may be best to split that up into some nice sections with pretty headers.
The rest of the suggestions guide mentions how you need proper formatting, but this sub-guide will give much more ideas and insight to that. Make sure your suggestion is split up into nice sized paragraphs - not too long, not too short. Also, even though this part isn't as necessary, but if you can, make sure your paragraphs encompass points properly, rather than having single points splashed around multiple paragraphs, but that really depends on how you present it so that part isn't painfully important. That's a mixed bag.
If a paragraph is too short, it might not even be a paragraph at all and you probably can attach more to it. If it's too long, you could slowly bore reader's until the next paragraph hits. Paragraphs that are too long can overwhelm and "tire" the reader, as if you're telling a super long joke that should have reached a punchline 2 minutes ago, you don't want that. In other words, long paragraphs can come off as rambling. Even this very paragraph is probably boring you now. Sorry guys, do you forgive me?
Lastly, let's talk about headers. Headers are the most awesome way to split up and organize a suggestion. Make those headers nice and big, and if you want, a nice fitting easy-to-read color. For bonus points, maybe make an image of header text like I've been doing. Maybe slap another smaller image to match what the header reads for more bonus points, just don't overdo it and clutter it.
Note: To refine your post better, you may need to do some post editing in [BB] mode.
I'll give a brief here's-good-and-here's-bad example.
Spoiler (click to show)
I personally think the best suggestions absolutely need some good images. There is no collection of words I can think of to express the fact that good suggestions should have this. Yes, it does give something pretty to look at and gives us more than just text, text and more text. But it also helps us readers dive into the mind of the suggester and makes us see what they want us to see. We see the suggester's vision. Ever have a good idea but couldn't express it good enough because others just need to see it?
If you want to show the readers how creative you are, you probably need to obtain some moderate to extreme image editing skills. In some lucky cases, you can find an image without needing to do so, but you making stuff yourself showcases how serious and skilled you are at giving ideas. Another thing people should know, is that even though an image brings home a point, it still might take some editing to make it look better. An example is images that have backgrounds... Let me just show you...
Are both images good? Sure. But chances are, you find the right one better as the background is transparent. The right one just comes off as being blockier while the right looks more defined and sleeker. Sometimes we need to apply that creative elbow grease to make an image shine a little more.
There's a special case for mob suggestions. If you want to make a model of the mob, you have two choices: the first one requires extremely critical and advanced 3D modeling with programs such as Maya or 3DS Max and very, very careful texturing work. Or... the second choice, which requires almost no 3D modeling skill at all and involves a program made specifically for Minecraft in mind called Tabula! See? Uncle Cerroz helps you out.
In the case of sprites, it's pretty easy. Just make a pixelish 16x16 image, and resize it. In most image editing programs, there are options such as "Bicubic" and "Bilinear" resizing, but "Pixel Resize" or "Nearest Neighbor" ensures the image will be nice, sharp/pixelly with no blur. Just make sure to resize it in dimensions divisible by 16.
Sadly, this guide covers just suggestions and won't provide a tutorial on how to use these programs. Some quick Google or Youtube searches will get you on the right track. Don't worry, Techne doesn't take long to understand. It's a pretty simplistic program. Another note, make sure your images are relevant. If your mob is based on a Chinese insect, you only need to post a picture of the insect, not a picture of China.
If you want an idea to make the suggestions hall of fame, good images are absolutely required!!
Image Formats (Added 9/28/15)
Anyone who has been using the internet for a week probably know of all image formats. The most sought after and prominent format is PNG, because it a.) has a very small filesize and b.) can support any type of transparency (being 'index' and 'alpha'). JPEG is also fine, assuming the image is not too compressed and transparency is not needed.
A GIF file can work if you make an animated image, but take note that those kind of files have very exclusive amounts of colors and there's no working around that. GIF images are 8-bit only and can only support this amount of colors: 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, 127 and 255. A GIF can make an image very grainy and loss-of-colors, so optimize it wisely. GIF files can only support 'index' transparency, so you can't have an opaque slowly blend into transparency (which is 'alpha' transparency). It's only 100% transparency and 100% opaque. No in-betweens.
"But Cerroz, is it possible to have both alpha transparency and animation?" Yes there is. There is a very unique image format known an APNG, but making these kind of files can be very tedious and tricky, and may require many tries before you get them just right. Also, APNG files are not supported by all browsers, so some users only see the first frame, and not a full animation. Sadly, you can't have everything.
There are too many good programs out there to name them all. The most obvious one is Adobe Photoshop. For GIF's, I use Jasc Animation Shop, which is not one of the better programs, but it's one of the easiest to use. Note that Photoshop can make GIF's too, but it might take a smidge longer for you. For APNG files, APNG Assembler is a solid choice.
When you're being an overachiever and stretching your arms out because you're trying to feel the cold medal of that platinum medal just out of reach, you can't just have a good idea, you gotta have the pizzazz to present it beautifully as well.
Talk about eating your cake and presenting it too right? And... maybe still eating it. It's cool you gave us the awesome idea, but can you explain it so cleverly and smoothly that you can hook us more and more, making the idea triply more irresistible?
If you happen to be a clever writer, or just a clever speaker, chances are you're gonna nail this part of the suggestion. There's a difference between "Here's an idea you'll all like." and "Alright, I'm gonna need everyone to sit down. If I'm gonna be serving this good idea cake to all of you, you can't crowd around me. Look at the cake though! It's got a picture of a unicycle lizard on it!" If you truly believe you're funny, you can use that humor as well.
Language Barrier
I think it's safe to say that you already know this forum is English based. If English is not your primary language and you are struggling with it, my advice is this: hang in there. It's understandable you won't master a language just so you can make a good suggestion, but I advise giving a rough draft of your suggestion to an English-speaking person.
In some cases, you can make a good suggestion even if your English isn't fully developed, as sometimes we can still understand what the suggester wants. Still, it's good to give that rough draft to an English speaker.
As the very top of Theriasis' guide states, if we can't handle negativity, we shouldn't make a thread at all. Though you soon-to-be-overachievers know this already. Don't be afraid of negative reception. Grab it! Use it! That feedback is your ultimate ticked to make a gold suggestion into a diamond.
I can promise you that the most famous suggestions did not start out as refined as they are now, and if they did, they probably have a lot to improve anyway. I personally get a bit worried if I get no negative responses sprinkled in here and there, because I don't get to see what to fix in my idea.
If you get too much factual negative responses and the core of your suggestion has been proven to be a bad idea, it may be best to move on to a different idea. As not all ideas can be repaired.
If someone makes a very long post stating negatives on your idea and you want to prove them wrong, then respond to all of the points. If you just "respond to what you want" and skip over many negative points, that can showcase laziness and that you're trying to avoid negativity. That is not the kind of attention you want. If you can't refute a factual point, then openly admit that the critic is correct, and if possible, try to fix what said critic brought up.
This is the most unique section of this sub-guide, as this is this without a doubt the most rare thing ever seen in a suggestion. Some suggesters have uploaded videos helping explain an idea, but maybe once or twice has one gone through the effort of making one, uploading it and presenting it.
Provided your idea is actually good, making a good video will put your chances of a hall of fame place at roughly 95%. As expected, providing such a thing will require some serious effort. The video editing software I use is Sony Vegas, but if you have basic knowledge of video editing, almost any software will do. Even something basic like Windows Movie Maker can work.
I made a short video for my Ancient Zombie suggestion, and it wasn't anything spectacular, but it was still awesome to see in a suggestion. Here it is:
If you can manage to animate your mob and put that in a video or .gif image, then you are in. Like. Flint.
tl:dr - Use your brain and don't embarrass yourself.
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The Unofficial Suggestion Guide - Everything you need to know to not make goofy mistakes in a suggestion! Honestly though, you should really go there.
Glad to see the wicked 2.0 guide taking flight. I was thinking about mentioning modding and maybe video editing for my Overachiever's Guide. Will that break the character limit?
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Yeah, that guy in the avatar is me. I'm *that* strange. It happens. Sometimes people act like that. Just go with it. I can offer help with suggestions even before you post them - NOT make your suggestions - but help you with them.
I see quite a few grammar mistakes thar bug me, one of which ironically being very confusing to foreigners in a sentence talking about them. I gotta get some sleep now, but I'll make sure to point a few out later to make this much easier to read. Quite a few times I got hung up reading this.
I see quite a few grammar mistakes thar bug me, one of which ironically being very confusing to foreigners in a sentence talking about them. I gotta get some sleep now, but I'll make sure to point a few out later to make this much easier to read. Quite a few times I got hung up reading this.
You probably should have waited until you had time to list the mistakes instead of going "I see some errors oh but I'll point them out later so you know the mistakes are somewhere but you have to wait until I come back." That way, the mistakes that you're so 'hung up' on get fixed sooner. You see?
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Yeah, that guy in the avatar is me. I'm *that* strange. It happens. Sometimes people act like that. Just go with it. I can offer help with suggestions even before you post them - NOT make your suggestions - but help you with them.
I noticed that on the "extreme hardcore" one you did a slippery slope thing.
The explanation isn't so much a slippery slope though. Slippery slopes generally showcase an unpredictable and catastrophic devolution of human nature due to a stimulus or neural adaptation to the stimulus (most of the time with non sequiturs (If we add this then people will eventually ram lightbulbs into their eye sockets!))
However, extreme hardcore as a suggestion is, by it's own definition, a slippery slope. It is literally taking it to 11 right from the get-go. It is a cry to create a new gamerule when self-imposed artificial difficulty is not enough. When the challenge is overcome, it is expected that another more hardcore format would be desired; so much so that I'd personally be confused if it _didn't_ chain in causality.
If anything, the section is an attempt to correct a slippery slope behavior, not berate it with a serving of hypocrisy.
So, Is a phenomenon an expected result of a previous phenomenon?
But from that view of a slippery slope, wouldn't any difficulty levels at all be considered a slippery slope? Especially the current hardcore gameplay mode. But I suppose that perhaps a single one and then no more is a definite end to that slope. (Personally I agree that it's a ridiculous suggestion though). It's just that it's sort of like when you get into the topic of worthwhile risks, and technically walking up stairs is a risk. I grew it's an inferior suggestion, but adding an extra hardcore mode is more of simply strange and unappealing, rather than a slippery slope
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Even though my Join date is in 2014, I tried the demo on 8/30/2012, and bought the game two days later on 9/1/2012. So hipster
You probably should have waited until you had time to list the mistakes instead of going "I see some errors oh but I'll point them out later so you know the mistakes are somewhere but you have to wait until I come back." That way, the mistakes that you're so 'hung up' on get fixed sooner. You see?
You're kinda right, I was reluctant to post it initially for this reason, but I stand by it. Perhaps maybe it would prompt you to look it over yourselves if you ever happen to be bored between now and me finding time to re-read this and help correct some confusing grammar mistakes and imperfect fluency. I'll find one in the overachievers guide for you now as a consolation prize, but I still do not have the hour to re-read this whole thing.
"It's understandable you won't master a language just so you can make a good suggestion, but I advise giving your suggestion a rough draft to an English-speaking person."
So you give your suggestion a rough draft. Good so far. "I advise giving your suggestion a rough draft to an English-speaking person". Was? I don't know how to describe it with words, but another look over this sentence probably reveals the hang-up. A way to fix this would be to say "I advise giving a rough draft of your suggestion to an English-speaking person".
I'll be sure to look over this and find more examples of things that can be fixed if I have time. Between school and science Olympiad, I really don't have too much time to do stuff. I was hoping that that message would prompt you to look over it if you can find time yourself. Also, sorry if this comes off as rude, I tend to write in a formal to-the-point tone that has come off as sass to others in the past. None of it, if any exists, is intentional.
You're kinda right, I was reluctant to post it initially for this reason, but I stand by it. Perhaps maybe it would prompt you to look it over yourselves if you ever happen to be bored between now and me finding time to re-read this and help correct some confusing grammar mistakes and imperfect fluency. I'll find one in the overachievers guide for you now as a consolation prize, but I still do not have the hour to re-read this whole thing.
It doesn't work that way. If there's something we messed up in the guide, but you're the one who finds it, then what's faster? Us rereading the huge guide trying to find what you're talking about, or you simply telling us "the mistakes and here, here and there." right off the bat?
So you give your suggestion a rough draft. Good so far. "I advise giving your suggestion a rough draft to an English-speaking person". Was? I don't know how to describe it with words, but another look over this sentence probably reveals the hang-up. A way to fix this would be to say "I advise giving a rough draft of your suggestion to an English-speaking person".
Can't argue there, you're right. Though I think it's strange that a few grammar mistakes bother you so much.
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Yeah, that guy in the avatar is me. I'm *that* strange. It happens. Sometimes people act like that. Just go with it. I can offer help with suggestions even before you post them - NOT make your suggestions - but help you with them.
It doesn't work that way. If there's something we messed up in the guide, but you're the one who finds it, then what's faster? Us rereading the huge guide trying to find what you're talking about, or you simply telling us "the mistakes and here, here and there." right off the bat?
Can't argue there, you're right. Though I think it's strange that a few grammar mistakes bother you so much.
I just noticed them, but had no way to write them down and didn't bother make a mental note. I would also have to re-read the whole thing, and as it is I am struggling to find the time to do so, and I understand completely if this is also the case with you, and I understand if you don't want to re-read your own work.
As for why they bother me so much, I personally find it significantly harder to read with them, and I know it can especially be the case with foreigners. Even using a slightly different form of the same word they were taught can throw them off (I should know this from learning german. A native speaker confused me by saying "schwier", as opposed to "schwierig". They both mean hard, but even that was enough to throw me off).
As for why they bother me so much, I personally find it significantly harder to read with them, and I know it can especially be the case with foreigners. Even using a slightly different form of the same word they were taught can throw them off (I should know this from learning german. A native speaker confused me by saying "schwier", as opposed to "schwierig". They both mean hard, but even that was enough to throw me off).
I had that exact same problem like, four days ago! But yeah, I understand why you were so hung up on that one, it's a very bad section to have a mistake like that in. I'm also pressed for time when it comes to using the forums on PC, but I've got plenty of time on mobile. Ok sort of ashamed of myself for not catching that mistake the last time I went through it (before it was posted). I take a large amount of pride in my grammar pickiness. I'll go through the whole guide this second, and again tomorrow morning. I can't promise I'll find everything, but I'll try
(oh by the way cerroz (/Theriasis), on the Overachiever's Guide, where you showed the two pictures of an ancient zombie from your suggestion, in the following paragraph "right" should be switched with "left". (Not part of what I edited so I maintain my stuck-up pride))
But from that view of a slippery slope, wouldn't any difficulty levels at all be considered a slippery slope?
It truly depends on the granularity of the slope there. If you have naturally increasing granularity with modes aimed at casual, normal, veteran, and expert players; then there's nothing slippery about it. These are now gradients of difficulty to apply to more comfortably fit the player. This isn't actually a debate about "experts are better than casuals" either. Some people just operate on a different level of thought and not all of us need to be pro at everything.
Especially the current hardcore gameplay mode. But I suppose that perhaps a single one and then no more is a definite end to that slope. (Personally I agree that it's a ridiculous suggestion though). It's just that it's sort of like when you get into the topic of worthwhile risks, and technically walking up stairs is a risk. I grew it's an inferior suggestion, but adding an extra hardcore mode is more of simply strange and unappealing, rather than a slippery slope
It's slippery slope in it's non sequitur. Non Sequitur literally means "does not follow", it's where an increase in difficulty does not follow with the nature of the game. Here's an example: glass cannon hardcore. In many cases, you have apocalypse timers or other systems that would have to be included exclusively for a small group of players which is an immediate nope; especially considering how "you have to beat enderdragon in under 1 minecraft week or he causes a megavolcano that spews out supercharged creepers ten times a second!" doesn't actually fit with the flow and design of the game.
This is a placeholder post for the following section, to save room on the first post. This is linked from the first page.
Generally Disliked Suggestions Though sometimes, some of these suggestions can be made good. Keyword: Some.
Herobrine
He isn't in the game. He never was in the game. He never will be in the game. No matter how you approach it or how clever your implementation is, he will never be a good add. This isn't 2011, this is an old derpypasta that everyone is hating more and more. Do the right thing. Let it go forever. Never allow it into your mind again.
Natural Disasters
I don't want my mountain lair torn in half by a tornado I had no chance of stopping. I don't want an earthquake causing a new butthole to be created in my world and right under my house. I don't want ugly tidal waves drowning my world and making all my crops pop out of the ground.
"Oh oh but like it um um it could be an option!" Oh oh but like people will almost always have this option off because it's so trolly and unfun.
Sandwiches
This one was always awkward to me, because I always see this as scale tipping. You can either eat smaller units of food over and over for a smaller amount of hunger fillage, or you can take a bit more time to make Big Macs and Cold Cut Trios that fill a bit more hunger. It's all so evened out, that sandwiches practically come out to be the same as non-sandwich foods in terms of balance.
It's a "Less X but more Y" scenario. Boring boring boring.
Food Giving Potions Effects
These usually make sense, but are still generally overpowered anyway. Sometimes I call these "Mini Potions", and you just know players will abuse this until (or even during) they have the resources to make actual potions.
It doesn't matter if sugar gives you Swiftness for only 10 seconds per little dust of sugar, it's not gonna stop Player the Hedgehog from chugging it down constantly for the near-continuous zippy boost.
In short, it still hurts the integrity of normal potions.
Unfitting Modern/Futuristic Weapons
Don't talk about guns. Don't talk about "tricked out" crossbows. This sarcastic and dark guide shouldn't even have to exist for you to know not to suggest this stuff. If the game has swords, bows and potions, then chances are, 1.9 isn't gonna end up being "The Gun Update".
If you're about to suggest shotguns, you need to punch yourself in the mouth until you tear up a bit and feel a lot of emotion distress.
Vehicles
Yeah that's right, even though we have horses and Minecarts, the developers would be stupid enough to add cars and fighter jets. I always make dark scowling looks at threads like that. I'm so good at giving those looks that threads quiver in fear and feel some regret in existing.
If you think vehicles are a good add to Minecraft. Don't ever become a game developer, because your mindset is awful.
Senseless Player Add-Ons
"We neeeeeeeeed watches! They are cool! Add them because cool! I'm smart! Support me! I'm smart!"
There's this ancient Chinese secret known as... changing your skin. Woah! I know right?! There's no need to waste energy in adding stuff like that. We don't "need" scarfs, and we don't "need" detachable glasses. The game will operate just fine without them.
Emerald Tools and Armor
Stop opening with "well we can make armor out of da the other stuff so y not emerald??????????" I'll tell you "y not emerald", because it's quite clear Emerald is a currency-only gem and if emerald tools and crap were a good idea, we'd have them the same time Emeralds were introduced. Please, understand that.
Imagine farming an easy trade and then wobbling on home to create that overpowered green armor set.
Stop acting like this suggestion is the result of broken game design and punch the truth (my first paragraph) into your head.
Dynamic Lighting
Or as I like to call it: LagLight. This is why your suggestion of carry-around torches and lanterns usually get tackled and cuffed. Constant light updates will kill performance. Imagine an entire server with 100 players walking around with that stuff.
And no, don't try to defend yourself with "Well Mojang could just make it not lag!" because that's absolutely retarded. That's like saying, "We can just make it so we'll rob the bank and kill everyone but not catch attention!" Reality, come back to it.
Fighting Villagers
Hello? Iron Golem anyone? Did people forget about that? If fighting villagers was ever a good idea, we'd get that first, rather than having effort put into an entirely new mob.
I also can never picture our big-nosed pacifists to not look stupid holding a weapon. Did I mention we have the Iron Golem already?
Choosing Our Enchantments
Do some of you think that enchantment choices being unseen was a cosmic accident? Do you think Mojang originally put clear English for those choices, but due to some programming error, it was all turned into the Commander Keen code? The answer is this: we're not meant to see our enchantment choices. Hence why we... actually can't?
We can already sort of do this anyway, we can see the first enchantment since 1.8 and have enchanted books as well. So there's that.
Thirst Bars
Omg yes yes yes! Finally, the suggestion of the gods' gods! I crave another bar to have to keep glancing at and manage which impedes me further in playing the game! My favorite part is having to walk around with unstackable water bottles!
Who cares if some people are still angered by the hunger bar, let's throw in another one because... Because!
Storylines
I hate making this comparison, but try adding a story to Garry's Mod. Yeah, that wouldn't work so well. Suggesting that Minecraft has some sort of small lore here and there is one thing, but a story or "campaign" just won't fit in. For the longest time, we've had a storyless customizable Minecraft that worked so well, why ruin that now? Let Minecraft players make up their own adventure, no need to tack on a generic story this late in the game.
All the stories people suggest that Minecraft have are all generic, convoluted crap. At least the one's I've seen.
Getting Capes for Petty Reasons
No? Donate to optifine, buy a minecon ticket or become part of Mojang. Otherwise, you're not getting a cape. There's no reason to ruin the integrity of just because "you want one". It's like giving a first place trophy to every competitor other than the person who actually won first place. It just doesn't work that way.
Time to be super mean now, again. Stop suggesting getting capes for free or through achievements. Stop making those threads just because "you want a cape really really bad =(" because you're not going to achieve anything.
Unless you host your own server with a cape mod, you're never getting one. Your tears and exponential want for them will remain forever. Come to peace with the fact that a cape will never be yours. Accept this eternal fact, and try to move on with your life.
Dragon Riding
Who needs speed potions and horses when you got overpowered dragon riding? No, I'm sure jumping on a dragon and sitting on of the sharp bits on his back and flying over every single thing is perfectly balanced right? I'm joking, it isn't.
So before get all giddy and overexcited and talk about hatching a dragon and riding one. Search button. Search button until you face falls off.
Extreme Hardcore
Hardcore Mode is still too easy for you, and you want another difficulty? There's nothing wrong with that. What IS wrong is suggesting a difficulty that's so hard and unfun that you should probably be arrested for having such a masochistic way of thinking. 10-15 years. No parole. Another mistake people make in a difficulty suggestion is that they mention things that would seriously break some very necessary game mechanics.
Okay, so you get your "extreme hardcore" wish. What if that's also not enough for you, will you ask for Super Hardcore, then Ultra Hardcore, then Super Double Mega No-Erasees Hardcore? Normal Hardcore Mode is quite enough, as one careless lava death will remove that mansion you spent 2 and a half months perfecting.
Please, nobody wants insta-kill Creepers. Nobody wants tools that break randomly despite what the durability was. Nobody wants Skeletons shooting go-thru-walls arrows. That is not how you suggest a good harder difficulty.
New Golems
Also known as "New Boring Duplicate Mobs!". There's already a hulking golem made of pure iron that rips new buttholes in hostile mobs, and can even be controlled a bit if a lead is used. Any other golem after that is just a scale-tipped "less this but more this", which is absolutely uninteresting and is just another waste of programming effort. You're better off just suggesting a whole new mob outright, and not so much a golem.
Cities
Generally suggested by people who play an RPG game and want Minecraft to become The Ender Scrolls. Finding one village can spoil us forever with crops and trades, so imagine what a city would do? Coupled with the fact that Minecraft is a 'manipulate the world any way you want game'.
Sleeping Without Changing Your Spawn Point
When you want something perfectly balanced, the cons and the pros must be (close to being) equal. If you make an item/feature/whatever with more pros than cons because that's how you want something to work, then it's... not balanced. I know that was a captain obvious moment there, but I still felt good typing that out.
Beds can alter our spawn wherever the hell we want. Amazing right? AND they can skip nights completely, thus helping us dodge hostile mobs and have the sunlight flash on them. COOL OMG. But you get just one spawnpoint in a nearly infinite world. Just one.
This is why you should not suggest sleeping bags or whatever that skip nights but don't change your spawn. As that would be a get-out-of-night free card wherever you go, which is not balanced. You dig?
Prefix/Mashup Mobs
Just because your suggestion has a mob spawning in the Nether, does not mean it needs a Nether prefix. I always cringe a little when people do that.
"Introducing the Nether Fish!", "Nether Hound!", "Nether Cat!", "Lava Horse!", "Netherrack Slug!" - please stop. It's not that hard to come up with a more original name.
Another issue is boring mixed-up mobs. You have no idea how tired we are of Ender Creepers. Ugh. If this was 2010, your ideas might be interesting, but we've gotten so many mashup mobs up the farthole that it's older than the oldest type of old. So yeah. Your mob ideas, please do not be uncreative with them.
Extreme-Hindrance Negative Potions
You can already poison your foes, insta-damage them, slow them down and outright weaken their damage output. So we don't need potions that freeze players for 8 minutes, disintegrate their armor instantly, get rid of all potion effects on an enemy entirely nor muddle up their controls. That is trollish overkill, and if Mojang/Microsoft added that, I would kill every member of both companies with my seductive Siren powers.
More food that exists just for the sake of existing.
If one were to play Minecraft, one would note that these foods already exist. Adding more sprites to shove down our virtual throats isn't going to revolutionize anything, and backing your food ideas up with "uhhh so uhhh this is uhhh the food I like in real life so uhhh add it?" is a pretty dumb move.
If you're gonna suggest new food, at least try to make it both stand out a bit from the others and fit the game to some extent.
We're tired of suggestions where people get all giddy and excited about adding chocolate milk and caramel apples.
XP Banking
We've all been there, we've played on our worlds so long we banked up 60 levels of experience, only to lose it because we were digging down for some extra dirt and a ravine happened to be under us. It blows, it really does.
So would storing XP, because since XP levels go up logarithmically, players will just take the super easy road and keep storing more and more by the little amounts when XP level gain is fast.
Temperature
Oh boy oh boy OH BOY! Yes! I've been waiting for Mojangcrasoft to add another game mechanic I have to keep managing, therefore distracting me from enjoying the rest of the game! I also love the fact that I can't live in certain biomes because of that! Auuughhh smart smart smart!!
Shaders
*Laggers. I know people with $4000 PC's that run every other game perfectly but lag like fart on Minecraft from the chunk and light updates WITH
Optifine AND after the 1.8 update with the multithreaded stuff. So yeah, let's totally throw in shaders that reflect everything so accurately that everyone PC's cry for mercy. These are what mods are for.
No, making the shaders optional does not save the idea, as it still requires someone to give the horrifying time and testing to implement.
"Endgame" Items
lolno, that's dumb. Minecraft is a game that never ends. Even after defeating the Enderdragon and getting a screen that talks about... you playing the game, the game still goes on. Before you say "well by the time you reach the Enderdragon/Wither, you already have all the resources you'll ever need!"
Understand that that can still differ between players.Your Bedrock Pickaxe is still overpowered no matter what the scenario is, and even if you have all the resources you ever need at that point, doesn't that mean the Endgame item is still too much in the end? Because you have a buttload of resources and a godly item? That is suuuuuper deep, think about it.
Senseless, Subjective Gamemodes
Survival, Creative and Adventure already encompass what we need. They cover all aspects of gameplay, so there doesn't need to be another unfitting gamemode that's a slight alteration of what's already there.
"Capture the Flag" or "Kill Da King" would just be alterations of Survival or Adventure, and have no business being placed against the 3 gamemodes we have now. This is what server plugins are for, not for Mojangcrasoft to make for you.
Climbing Up Walls/Grappling Hooks
I don't care how cool these would be, turning the game into Minesion Impossible would still have me shaking my head. We can put blocks under ourselves and can climb up waterfalls. Tricked out mountain gear isn't a must have.
Long Crafting Lines
"Yo yo you guys, it's BeatsMcGee in da house for another mad suggestion yall! I suggest we add an hourglass in the game! They would look sooooo cool yo! Feel me? To make one, you must craft 'white sand' with a block of sand and white dye. Then you must craft 'loose sand' with the white sand block and i dunno lol normal sand. Then you can use the loose sand to finally craft the hourglass! Augh! Support me!"
BeatsMcGee isn't the brightest. You know what would be more convenient and... overall better? Just being able to craft the hourglass straight away, and not crafting the other senseless crap first.
Villager Builders
Look how long it took for them to make villagers react and walk around normally, and even then, they are still faulty in that aspect. So imagine the backbreaking programming that's required for them actually making buildings.
No, mentioning how Endermen pick up and put down blocks changes nothing, as Endermen don't exactly build castles. Given the near infinite amount of possibilities with seeds and generation, refining any mob that builds a building would be even harder. This also invites lazy players to mooch other mobs to build stuff for them, rather than players doing that themselves.
Alternate Currency Types
"We sh-sh-sh-sh-should add rubies, th-th-they could be another form of c-c-currency. S-S-Support?"
So basically, let's add Object B that's exactly the same as Object A. Why will another mechanic-copy sprite amaze us? That is boring, unfun hair-splitting.
So no, if you post an idea like that, I will not "s-s-support".
Prefix/Pocket Dimensions
Seriously, please do not take one biome from the Overworld or use one mob as the base of a dimension (because Endermen kinda have that one already). Study the Nether and The End, and understand that both are two extremely original dimensions compared to the Overworld. So that idea of a "Creeper dimension" where the whole ground is made from cobblestone and the only mobs are Creepers and "Creeper Queens" won't go anywhere.
Since dimensions are such a huge aspect of the game, they usually require more detail than any other kind of suggestion. So please do not explain a dimension with one vague paragraph.
Decaying Blocks
A not-so-horrible version of this suggestion is when people suggest that blocks simply change the way they look. That would be interesting, but would make player-placed blocks look unfavorable after a while for some. The really stupid version of this suggestion is when player-placed blocks vanish after a certain amount of time. I can never fathom why ANY player would want to replace blocks all the time for their houses. Jesus, just... n-no.
Yes, when the roof of my mansion starts disappearing, I'm gonna put a dumb, cringeworthy smile on my face and go "I like that! That's realistic and challenging! Grinny grin grin grin!!!!!"
Minecraft 2
When people make this suggestion, it usually goes like this.
"I suggest we have a Minecraft 2, so it can have sharks and bears and cities and knights and all that stuff!"
Though when translated from English to Reality... "Hey Mojang, make a completely different game with the stuff I want! Support?"
For the game that can just be updated an infinite amount of times, there's no need to waste years and years on some sequel that has no valid reason to exist. Just... no.
Toilets
The sheer confusion I feel when people suggest this is unspeakable, because I can't fathom why anyone would want a going-to-the-bathroom mechanic. The best reason I've seen for this is "it adds realism". Okay?
Yeah man, let's emulate our disgusting bodily functions (you know, the ones that can ruin your day at any moment) on a game where people of almost all ages play. Sitting on a toilet and having to stay for some time doesn't exactly add excitement. If you suggest this, you need to feel embarrassment.
Food Going Bad
*Jumps and clicks heels together* Oh yes! More micromanaging! When I make a trip to the Nether or go underground, I will absolutely enjoy thinking about my food to the point where I get so paranoid that time goes slower. No, it doesn't matter if you can craft a fridge or some ghetto makeshift cooler, the core idea of food rotting will still be stupid and full of headaches.
Things That Detect Ores
What part of your brain processes game balance? Because I see that some people lack that component in their heads. Yes, what a genius idea. Now you don't have to go to diamonds, they come to you! Come on guys, you know better. I can already see strip miners getting quintuply richer.
Dimensions Bleeding Into Each Other
"Sometimes Netherrack spawns in the Overworld when a Nether Portal is made. Oh by the way sometimes Ghasts come too and completely ruin the Overworld with blast-after-blast because players want that?! Right?! AUUUUGH I'M A GENIUS! Be jealous of me!"
If you want something from a dimension, then go to the dimension itself. That's... what... they're for? Herpy herp?
Obtaining in Bedrock in Survival
Yes, let's be able to collect a block that seperates the useful world from a pointless void that offers nothing to players. Yes, let's collect bedrock and trap players and possibly ourselves for all eternity, I'm totally sure Mojang would add that in a heartbeat.
"We need another ore, because reasons."
"Let's add sapphire ore to act as an alternative to emeralds!" So basically, Mojang is making the effort to put in an entirely new ore just to copycat something we have? Nope, that's not a waste of time at all. "Sup crackas, we need copper ore so we can make cat helmets!!!!!" An entirely new ore for ONE use that could easily be replaced by another metal in the game, sign me u- I'm joking, don't sign me up. Ideas like that are absolutely stupid.
Microtransaction DLC's
One of the dumbest things any poster could ever type out. We already have a bunch of DLC's known as "free updates". Why the hell would you want to pay for that stuff? "Check it, you could buy a spiderman skin for only $5, instead of... updating your skin... for free... Yeah... Support?"
To anyone who suggests this, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?! I always assume those threads are just troll threads.
In-between tools/weapons/armor
Suggestions like this usually start out like this. "Guys, we NEED to bridge the gap and add something between this and this! Let's add bronze, it's between wood and iron! The fate of minecraft depends on this! No time to waste!"
Auuuughh... Stop. Let me clear something up for you. If there's a large gap between tiers, it's not a bad thing. It's not hurting anyone. It's only "bad" because you somehow convinced yourself that it is. "Bridging the gap" is not written in stone.
Oh wait, there's more! Those gaps I just mentioned? They can already be altered, with potions and enchantments. Please, in-between stuff does not accomplish anything heavy. All it does is give us the ability to say "we have [insert new metal here] now!" and be correct. So at least suggest an ore with unique uses instead "here's another round of slight stat-tweaked sprites!!!!"
Biome Nerfs
I guess I can't live in deserts anymore since you suggested that hunger depletes 5x faster within them. Or that you always need to be around fire in taigas. Why would you want this? So you want to butcher biomes for the entire Minecraft community because "it's m0re real!!"? Okay.
Giving Animals/Villagers Genders
"I hate the fact that animals and villagers are genderless, I want the breeding system to be more tedious and slow just for the lone pointless sake of realism. I want to be completely screwed if I only have one gender of animals around. Yes, players want this!"
"Let's do the same thing with villagers, in fact, let's be able to marry them! I had my eye one of those big-nosed unibrowed hotties for quite some time, and I wanna tie that knot!"
"Apocalypse" Gamemodes
Yes, I know that boring gamemodes is already in this list, but recently I've seen so many of these specific suggestions that I just had to add this.
Basically just Survival mode, but way, way more limited. Minecraft is not Left 4 Dead that needs some crappy rework of Survival mode that increases in difficulty so much that you're guaranteed to lose eventually.
"Oh but it's to see what high score you can get!!" Who cares? That doesn't warrant the time to program another gamemode. "Dis is for ppl who want a challenje!" Yeah, these ideas start out a challenge, then get so hard that the player can do nothing to stop it.
I get that people want more than Hardcore, so do I, but I think Hardcore is just fine at the highest difficulty. Why? Because no matter how good you are, one careless death deletes 6 months of building that dream world. When you throw in these super overpowered mobs or just limit the player to fighting "waves" of mobs, you're just giving the player a repetitive fraction of Survival mode. No.
Mobs Breaking Blocks
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
If there's a new type of zombie that can break down my walls, what's the point of even having a shelter? We don't need more mobs that do what the Creeper does. This also risks my world having ugly and unwanted holes drilled into it because a new hulk hogan mob punched his way into a cave I was in. Mojang, it's okay, I know you're smart enough to never add this.
Pointless Player Actions
"We need the ability to wave at each other for multiplayer!" No we don't, that's what using the chat is for. What use would this be in singleplayer? Waving at brick walls while a zombie is about to hardcore wedgie you from behind and maybe the front as well?
"We need the ability to blow kisses to each other!" Oooooh we do? Well, I can't imagine that virtually air-kissing someone is gonna get you married anytime soon, and even if it did, it's still a waste of time to program such a corny thing.
"Oh but it would be really funny to players doing this?!" Yeah, maybe for a few hours, and then it would get old. At least have these new player actions be useful in a objective sense, and not a "it would look pretty funny tbh" sense.
Creepypasta Stuff
Threads like this are usually begun with "Minecraft needs to be scarier!" No it doesn't. Minecraft is not a horror game.
The game does have some things that can be considered creepy, but that isn't some end-all be-all reasoning to add in crappy jumpscares and malformed things that get in your face. There's nothing wrong with having an idea have small features that can have somewhat of a creep factor, but take note this is a game meant for all ages.
Mixing Potions
Yes, more hair-splitting ideas. I love those.
People need to stop suggesting ways to worm around potions being unstackable. They are stackable for a reason, because they are immensely powerful, and it would be a balance holocaust if we could prance around with 12 Strength potions in just one inventory slot.
Drinking an extended Strength potion, then drinking an extended Swiftness one turns you into a steroidy coked-up tank. So yeah, let's ruin the balance of that by having that poured into one bottle. No, making mixed potions weaker to balance it out doesn't make the idea much better, because you're falling into "Less X, more Y" trap.
This would also be horribad on PvP if these can be made into splash potions. Please be better at understanding balance. Thanks in advance.
Too Many Options Within Ideas
This falls into the common fallacy of "more is better! because because!" If you don't make this mistake, you're a superior human and get to brag about it.
This is one of the saddest mistakes someone can make, because some people start out with very creative suggestions, but then water it down with way too many options and alternatives - usually making the idea overpowered - substitute for half of everything in the game.
You want to add a tame-able bird in jungles? That's cool, you know what will take it overboard though? "How y'all whiteys hanging? This new bird can fish, help mine ores, shed feathers, activate nether portals, spit up ender pearls, do calculus, create rifts in time, wedgie creepers, yell at spiders, crush iron into diamonds (birds do that look it up) and speed up furnaces by chirping at them so do you supp- oh wait I forgot one! they also recite any rick moranis quote ever!"
Apart from being overpowered, it would be laborious to remember all of that. This might be hard to believe, but I wouldn't support that bird idea up there.
Ripping Off Other Names and Brands
Ooooohhh I see. Here I was thinking Minecraft was a survival/build game. Come to find out, it was supposed to have really idiotic product placements that has absolutely no reason to be there.
Do you honestly think in your brain of brains that Mojang will add a sandwich called the "Shaq Pack"? Or the ability to shove fruit in bottles and call them "Fanta"? No, please, I demand an answer for that, because that is a very out-there line of thinking.
Let me guess, you were eating a good sandwich and just thought, "Why does the game not have this?! Why do games not match my very thoughts?"
Ideas With Forced Middle Grounds
I wanted to add this entry for the longest time. I will never come to understand why I didn't before.
Alright, so you're suggesting a new sword called "Thuh Grimme Repaerr!"? Well, that idea alone is terrible, but for the sake of example, let's move forward. So this new sword does extra damage to Nether mobs? Well, what if the sword gets enchantments, then it will be even more powerful and therefore... too powerful.
"Oh, fine! This sword just can't receive enchantments! There, is balanced now!" You know what you did here? You made your weapon have a scrambled, inconsistent combination of mechanics that doesn't follow the game too well just for the sake of forced balance. So now new players will be confused as all hell why Thuh Grimme Repaerr won't work in an enchanting table.
I'll give another example. "I want cars in the game. You heard me, I want vehicles in a blocky game where we swing swords and use cheap cobblestone furnaces, because my concept of game development is abysmal." Yes, it sure is.
So when someone says "Dude, cars are not for Minecraft and are overpowered because they stomp out other forms of travel." Here's the kind of response that fails before takeoff. "Alriiiight fine, the cars will be very simple and need coal to operate. There, now you have to support." I do support, but only if the cars were replaced with something better and completely unrelated to cars.
Ideas With Long, Contrived Names
Just when you thought prefix names such as "Nether Fish" and "End Salads" were bad, there are users that give things 7-worded names.
If a Nether mob has a name of "The Ultimate King of The Lava World", I am unsupporting that crap so fast, and would probably just stop reading the rest of the suggestion. I don't want a sword in the game called "The Mega Mega Ultra Mega Triple Junior Senior Sophomore Sword of Hurts!" That makes people cringe and is something a joke thread would have.
Keep the names short sweet and to the point, rather than using an entire sentence.
Stupid Methods Of Taming A Mob
I personally think the lone idea of adding another tameable mob is pointless, because the utility mobs we have now already cover all bases. But... for the sake of example, let's pretend the game needed more.
Some ideas of tame-mobs are so powerful, that suggesters use the good mindset of "powerful mob = hard to control at first" which is sensible. But some people suggest so over-the-top methods of taming a mob that half of your gameplay would be based on that and not... playing the game.
I don't want to get raw steak, cook the steak, craft it with gold to create "shimmering steak", then have to plant new crops to make steak sauce, then craft "A1 steak", then leave said steak hovering over new a emerald end portal for 2 minecraft days while I think about cheetos. And then feed it to my new mob just so it can ram hostile mobs for 1 damage.
Really, ALL that for a goat? Did you fail suggestions school but bribe the professors for an A?
Making The Hunger Bar Optional
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhh...
No.
I'll be honest, the hunger bar can get on my nerves too, but I don't go throw a tantrum and try to will it to be removed from the game.
Yes, you do have to micromanage it, but guess what? It paved the way the for many things? It gave us more reason to breed animals, to farm, food to be stackable and to have the ability to sprint and regenerate health. I can't even imagine the amount of hate I'm gonna get for this, but hunger improved the flow of gameplay.
There are way, way too many features and activities that focus on the mechanic of hunger, so making it optional is off the table now.
Things That Grab Players/Halt Their Movement
Remember those awesome enemies in games that could latch onto you, stop your movement or just grab you and throw you around helplessly? You would instinctively mash buttons on your controller or keyboard to free yourself, but it didn't make a difference. You had to sit there and just watch yourself get thrashed around - crossing your fingers and hoping that this "grab timer" would run out before your health did.
Yeah, so let's add that annoying garbage to Minecraft! Good thinking! What puzzles me is why the a suggester would even want this. "I want an enemy to grab me and dangle me over a cliff! That's fun for me! I'd grin at that! I think other players will too!" No, your brain is wrong and you need a new one.
It doesn't matter if the player grabbing this is super rare or easy to avoid, the concept overall is annoying and shouldn't be in the game at all.
Overdone Magic Stuff
"I just got done playing Generic RPG Game #23. Not as good as #19 but still pretty wicked imo!!!"
I love the Elder Scrolls games as much as the next girl, but that doesn't mean I want to steal a bag of "magic related ideas" from the government and just dump it all into Minecraft. These suggestions seem to have the classic "it was in another game so it'll be good for this game too! my thoughts are awesome!"
We have potions and enchantments as our magic. We don't need to add micromanagey mana systems and a thousand other weird "magic rules" that we have to remember for all these wands and books and scrolls and crap. It's not the end of the world to suggest something involving magic, but we don't need some overdone, convoluted magic overhaul because 8,000 other games have it.
Disabling Mobs
"A creeper killed me once! Let's be able to turn them off!"
Or perhaps understand that a mob is part of the game and create a tactic for killing them? What if those mean creepers were removed, and then another mob became an annoyance for you, does that mean we have to remove that mob too?
What if that mob you want gone drops very crucial things? A mob is not gonna be cut from the game because you don't like it.
Upgrades from the Crafting Bench
I don't care what anyone says to defend or rationalize this, there doesn't need to be 4x4 crafting grids. That is just way too much, and no one wants to remember another (and larger) combination of crafting recipes to support that. I don't even care what your opinion is, the idea is bad.
"Let's tame everything!!!"
The dumbest thing I've seen in regards to taming is being able to tame hostile mobs. Well gee, if you can magically change their disposition by giving them a feather then they're not so hostile eh? You're just spoiling the challenge of the game if you can "tame" the challenge and make it disappear.
Another thing people do is suggest 8 new animals mobs and present that ALL of them can be tamed. Why? The wolf does his job and is balanced as is, and the Iron Golem will shred anyone near you but is more expensive. We don't need these boring copies of tamed mobs that all do the same thing. Be original please thanks in advance.
"Let's have an option for 1.9 combat!"
NOOOOOOOO!!!
I will dropkick you in the throat if I see that terrible idea again. 1.9 is a permanent update, not an "option". The combat changes were there for a reason, whether you like them or not. There is no sense in turning off the entire point of an update because you don't like change. You are more than welcome to play an older version.
This is the result of people's brains thinking, "everyone wins if we make it an option!" when all it does is split up the playerbase. If something is reasonable and balanced, there is no sense whatsoever in making it an option. Otherwise that leaves people to manage two types of gameplay instead of one because of what a hair-splitting option brings.
There's a hundred things I don't like in games, but I understand why they're there. You can't just have everything "toggleable". That is a lazy way of thinking and is bad game design.
Crafting Spawn Eggs
It is unfathomable how anyone could not see the balance issues with this.
Kinda ruins the point or survival if I can be Victor Frankenstein can create a mob? I guess we don't need breeding anymore, or night time to spawn the hostiles. Guys, Mojang not having spawn eggs is in survival is not a mistake.
Paint
Guess we don't need colored wool or clay anymore since we can just paint anything in the world.
This idea isn't as bad as most of the others, but this is overspoiling and too much of a good thing. The bloated amount of colors people suggest gives too much to keep track of.
Quests
It works for other games, it doesn't work for Minecraft. The quests in this game are for you to make up for yourself, not for villagers to give you. It's also awkward to have quests in a game where you can easily manipulate the world, making quests too easy or just pointless altogether.
If you suggest this, be prepared for me to say "no support" in your thread. That will happen. I'll make sure of it.
"We need more inventory slots!"
And this begs the classic question. Who needs them? All of us or you?
Starting a thread out with "I keep running out of space and I needily deedily need more!" doesn't prove anything. This is why types of storage exist, to make more space for yourself. I wouldn't be very balanced to be able to carry 1/4 of the entire Minecraft world in our inventory.
I'm sure not every suggestion like this will be the worst thing ever, but the amount of "backpacksss" suggestions I see here are enough for this entry to exist. So what if you get 5 extra slots? What if that's not enough? Do we need 10 more? Then another 20?
Extra slots can pave the way to horrid unbalancedness. Because you can carry 5 extra strength potions or another 6 stacks of diamonds. There's enough storage methods in the game to move the contents of an entire drug empire. Please take that into consideration before begging for more passive slots.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Unofficial Suggestion Guide - Everything you need to know to not make goofy mistakes in a suggestion! Honestly though, you should really go there.
Good thing that the new thread is a bit less aggressive, and easier to read. I also see that you must have used my really old and bad suggestion as an example(Mobs dropping custom loot which has the "Nether Sword").
But either way, more examples for some of the sections would be nice though.
How about re-adding the part where posters jump in someone else's suggestion and go "yeah this idea is pretty cool but hey check out MINE!"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Yeah, that guy in the avatar is me. I'm *that* strange. It happens. Sometimes people act like that. Just go with it. I can offer help with suggestions even before you post them - NOT make your suggestions - but help you with them.
How about re-adding the part where posters jump in someone else's suggestion and go "yeah this idea is pretty cool but hey check out MINE!"
Hmm, I agree on principle. Gotta word this so that championing a similar but much better article is excluded here.
Essentially, linking to an unrelated suggestion should be a nono, but linking to an objectively superior suggestion should be endorsed. I may be in the wrong here, but I'd personally want to see that.
Hmm, I agree on principle. Gotta word this so that championing a similar but much better article is excluded here.
Essentially, linking to an unrelated suggestion should be a nono, but linking to an objectively superior suggestion should be endorsed. I may be in the wrong here, but I'd personally want to see that.
If a superior thread is endorsed, couldn't it lead to the original thread appearing conquered by linking to a thread that is much more dominant? To me, it sounds like whoever would do that would lead their thread to its own demise.
Though for a section covering about linking other threads or websites, that's not a bad idea. Perhaps it can also cover what the old guide covered such as "Linking to another website that explains what the suggestion is" and could possibly state more.
If a superior thread is endorsed, couldn't it lead to the original thread appearing conquered by linking to a thread that is much more dominant? To me, it sounds like whoever would do that would lead their thread to its own demise.
Though for a section covering about linking other threads or websites, that's not a bad idea. Perhaps it can also cover what the old guide covered such as "Linking to another website that explains what the suggestion is" and could possibly state more.
You got that in reverse. I mean, linking from an inferior suggestion to a superior one. It's very much a critic's job type of deal. There is no point doing a reverse link from good to crap. The idea is to take the positive support from one suggestion and move it to a better example of the same suggestion. This is what I was talking about with championing.
Of course, rereading your point, there is no person in their right mind that would link their own crappy suggestion to a subjectively better one. That's suicidal. However, these people would likewise go into a better thread to get support of their own inferior one.
Thread hijacking isn't fun, but sometimes has to be done to remove redundancy.
I have to agree. I'm no great artist, so whenever I still made suggestions here, I would always credit others who contributed directly to the thread.
It gets a bit murky when you're dealing with paraphrased content. (AKA, I suggest you add a section about X with ABC features and you rewrite my post in your own words. Who does the attribution go to? You for rewriting? Or the person that originally gave you the direct inspiration?) In these cases, I still try to credit them or state that they directly inspired (or reworded from post X).
So perhaps add in the "murky unclear" thing I mentioned with a little case of "better safe than sorry".
Last Updated: April 16, 2016
• Do NOT post suggestions here!
• If you update your suggestion, update the first post.
• Insulting people who don't like your idea can land you in a locked thread.
• Please make a thread that you'll actually come back to and not ditch after the first post.
• Let's keep the discussion about improving the guide, rather than just complimenting/back patting it.
• Negative criticism is NOT "hating" - please, PLEASE understand the difference.
• NEW: Everyone. Stop picking version numbers for your suggestions. It's utterly pointless.
This guide is solely about making suggestions. However, if you want to read about being the critic of a suggestion instead, go to this delicious thread. Made by yoshi9048. It's a good thread. Seriously.
Possibly Asked Questions
"Why is this guide so long?"
Short Answer: It just is.
Long Answer: Because there's an insane amount of things to go over in posting an idea. In fact, a better question would be "This guide is as long as it needs to be, how did you accurately pull that off?" This guide isn't gonna be a quick read so you can read a few paragraphs then say "I read the guide!" No, a sassy informative guide is what's needed. You do not need to read the guide in one sitting.
"What if I'm super smart and don't need the guide?"
I can't exactly take over your will and make you want to read all this. If you're confident you won't screw up in your suggestions, then cool, but if you do, you'll know why this guide exists. You might even pick something up even if you're already good.
"Why is this guide soo mean? <=("
The very last thing I want is some super formal guide. It's long enough as it is, so I try to keep it interesting. I don't want this guide turning into some high school textbook. Yeah, the guide has some abrasiveness, but if a guide offends you, then perhaps you're not ready for the rest of the internet.
Also, do not go around going "Don't read that guide, it's mean!" That will make you look like the biggest baby. There is a reason this guide exists, and whether you want to believe it or not, what the guide talks about is true.
"Can I contribute to this guide?"
Absolutely. Anything good you contribute will be added to the guide as soon as I see it, and I will kiss you every time that happens. All you need to do is post is in this thread. If you help the guide enough, your name goes in the credits.
"What's with the high requirements of the Hall of Fame?"
On the previous guide, there were some debates that a good suggestion shouldn't require some things for it to be "hall of fame worthy". For example, if someone suggests a flawless desert mob and it's loved by many, an image would make it the suggestion better, but the suggestion is still good without it.
That's the catch. The hall of fame is about two things: a suggestion being good and effort. If I added thread just because they were good, the hall of fame would have a thousand suggestions listed. It's the extreme amount of effort that shortens the list to the best of the best.
"How do I stay up to date with changes on this guide?"
Simply go to the top right of the page, hover your mouse over "Tools" and click "Subscribe". That way, you will get a notification whenever someone posts in the thread. Sometimes you will see a post from me stating what I updated, and those posts are almost always done in the form of a bullet point list.
Forum Terminology
In the chat regarding this guide, a few people have suggested that there should be a mini-section about this:
Most forum goers already understand these terms, but you never know how new someone can be.
OP = Can mean "original poster" (guy who started the thread) or "overpowered" (in that something is too powerful). The use of the term depends on the context.
UP = "Underpowered", meaning that something in the suggestion is too weak, not useful or can just be replaced by something better easily.
Vague = Something isn't explained enough to be properly judged, and therefore should be elaborated more.
Wishlist = Two or more ideas in a thread that don't relate to each other. Threads like that get locked.
"Less X, more Y" = A boring game mechanic for an idea. It's just trading one thing for another. "Uhh here's a new weapon, it does +5% but swings 5% slower compared to the normal sword!" Boring boring boring.
Redundant = It been done before, many many many times.
Bumping = Posting in a thread for the sake up pulling it back to page 1 so more people can see it.
Necro = Bumping a super old thread that probably should have stayed dead. Generally the post that bumps these threads are pointless posts.
Rezzing = Or "resurrecting" a thread. It's the same as necro'ing but the post that bumped it is much more detailed with its criticism. Sometimes this is done by the very creator of the thread.
Vanilla = Vanilla means Minecraft without any mods or third party editors whatsoever. In short, it's just how the game was made and nothing more.
Support = The idea is liked. If it isn't, a "no" will appear before the "support".
Pre-Enchantment = Armor, weapons or tools that have a "built-in" enchantment for free.
Table of Contents
// Introduction
// Let's shake hands first.
Whether you're good at improv with creating good ideas on the spot or if you need some time to think up something clever, a good idea for Minecraft enters our minds at some point. Ever just have a moment where the suggestion gods have touched you? And every vibrating cell of your skin is itching to get on the forums and start blindly typing away? Oh you could probably see it on your minds right now, "I'm gonna get so many supports, I should put this on reddit, maybe I should make a banner!"
However, before this happens, we need to take a deep breath, take a step back and analyze out suggestions more carefully. You down? You dig?
I'm gonna use a strange analogy, but bear with me, I'm really trying. There are tons of singers that think they're good and even go on 'American Idol' or 'The Voice' because "they're just so sure they'll be the next big thing" yet some of them sound unspeakably terrible even though they thought they were good all this time but weren't. A suggestion for Minecraft can fall in that exact scenario. This guide won't make you a suggestion god, but it will provide you with all the do's and don'ts so you can make a suggestion embarrassment-free. Pretty wicked right?
Now, this guide is gonna be a long one. So grab yourself a Vanilla Coke and some Spaghettios, and have yourself a good read. Deal? This guide is gonna get tough sometimes, maybe even a bit abrasive. So chances are, you might read some things you don't want to.
// Guide 2.0?
// Because another guide existed before this one.
If you recall, there was a stickied suggestion guide that had the exact same purpose as this one that was created in 2012, and it took many years to finalize. Back then, the users 0_Zippy, AirOutGland and oohoohswish had a massive part in writing it. However, I'm bringing in a spankin' new guide. Oh yeah, you're curious, I can see it on your face. Your face was all "but why though?" Don't try to lie, I saw it.
I'll tell you "why?" Though the original guide got all the messages across. It wasn't as user friendly as it should have been, and was very redundant. And it also focused to heavily on what NOT to do. This guide should take less time to develop, as most of the material is already there, but just needs to be reworded. I am still crediting the new and old helpers of both guides.
Another problem the original guide had was that - because of the redundancy - hit the character limit allowed for a post, meaning I had to extend the guide to multiple posts, making reading the guide extremely laborious. We don't want
thatmore of that than what there already is.Here is a link to the first guide.
// Credits
// Because for some strange reason, you care about that.
• Theriasis (me btw)
• 0_Zippy
• Core5
• ClookRum
• rbH / redBookHat
• Turcoize
• Cerroz
• Orka_Tank
• ZTick
• mock
• 00_00_1
• airoutgland
• CremeFill
• Badprenup
Other Contributors
• Itsoo1
• swaglord676
• Rex1900Roblox
• teesee
• Endergirl00
• yoshi9048
• FrozenS2M
• SamurottX
• nightworld115
• GateFox
• DarkStar634
• Xystem4
• Gamelord
// Suggestions Hall of Fame
// Brilliant (example) suggestions by excellent posters.
Cubic Chunks by Calacbolg (#1 suggestion of all time!)
Detailed Nether Villagers by 0_Zippy
Deeper Caves by kittykattykat
Colored Light by Galactic_Muffin (initially known as "Colored Glass")
Ancient Zombie by Cerroz (even has a custom video w/ custom sounds)
What about muskets? by Rhea_M (successfully broke the "unfitting/unbalanced" barrier about guns in MC)
Boats Evolved by ThesaurusRex84
Desert Temple Guardian by DINGO_WINTERWOLF
Mythological Sea Creatures & New Boats by JasonG5
New Nether... Survive This by sabata2
9 Biome Suggestions by LupusX
Pigeons by Snowviraptor
Crossrails and Changes to Currently Existing Rails by megabyte12345
Give Us a Use to Other Villager Professions by wailwail
Ant Dungeon! Found in Mesa Biomes! by joshosh34
Custom Blocks, Items, Entities, Menus by AThingWithAThing
Scarlet Forest Biome by KSKISPER
Stay focused. Work hard, and your suggestion might be up here one day. You may nominate more elite suggestions by just posting in the forum. Regular good suggestions with moderate effort won't cut it here. This list is for ideas of unspeakable quality.
Guidelines of a thread getting in this list:
**Click here for the guidelines**
// How to Properly Search (top)
// Because we don't want to copy people. Intentionally or otherwise.
A lot of people that have made redundant threads but actually did search beforehand. That mistake is most likely filtering the search wrong. Observe the image below:
The things highlighted in green are the basic needs. I think the bottom one is the most essential, because people have searched for topic names but didn't filter that to only the Suggestions forum, thus people end up getting results from every forum at once that share similar words in thread titles.
That aforementioned case causes threads from the Suggestion forum to be spread out too far, making people think that a specific suggestion thread isn't redundant. It's a pretty easy mistake to make.
The Redundancy Rule
One of the rules of the Suggestions forum is that if you made a thread that's too similar to another one that was created within the 30 days, the newer thread will be locked for redundancy. So that's... why you should search. You can check a thread's post date by searching normally, or you can use the "Posted After" feature you see in the image up there.
So for example, if you wanted to avoid redundancy on "new dyes" topic and today's date was July 1st, you want the "Posted After" to be set to June 1st.
Mind you, even if your thread isn't technically redundant, you should still search and learn from the mistakes of previous threads.
// Types of Suggestions (top)
// Two of them: Bad and really bad. I'm joking. But no, some are bad though.
Improved Features
Let's analyze these words carefully. "Improved" means better. It doesn't mean "different" and it doesn't mean "only what I want". If you want to suggest that something be improved in the game, then make it better and balanced. Don't suggest that something be changed just because you want it to be that way and call it "better".
New Features
Suggestions that suggest that something wasn't there before are usually more complex and have the most mistakes associated with them. For this forum, two of the most common fallacies locked in the human brain are "it's new, so therefore it's good" and "this is automatically good because it adds variety!!"
Me suggesting a camel mob that drops jelly beans would be new, but it's also stupid, and therefore shouldn't touch the game. Me suggesting that there'd be 5 new types of brown dye in the game would "add variety" but would be pointlessly redundant.
Is the new idea actually good? Or is it just there to be there?
// Threads That Aren't Allowed (top)
// Unless you got a thing for getting your own threads locked.
Wishlists - Threads that have multiple, related ideas. Suggestions can have many ideas as long as they properly relate to each other. For example, "Hi forums let's add pizza, colored gravel, 5 new types of pigmen and maybe some throwable milk????" is a sloppy wishlist.
Redundant Suggestion - Pretty much what was explained in the "How to Search" part of the guide. Making a thread about "taming cats a second time" when the suggestion already exists (and was created within the nearest 30 days) will get that thread locked so hard that all your siblings will feel it.
Joke Threads - Do I even to elaborate here?
Non-Suggestions - I guess the very name of the forum wasn't enough, eh?
Suggestions not for vanilla Minecraft - The unmodded game is the only thing we can make suggestions for in this forum. So making a thread where you "suggest what you'd like to see in my server!" or "I suggezt a mod where you can also tame cows with diamonds!" are both invalid.
Suggestion what's already in the game - What's the point? That's like protesting in front of your nearest city hall for the sky to stop being blue sometimes at night. Which I've done.
Megathread - "Post your suggestions in my thread!" Oh cool, a thread that copies what an entire forum is for? That's
absolutely geniusone of the worst kind of threads a breathing being can make.Suggestions with no content - So if your thread is nothing more than "maybe it's time for a new block?" Guess what? There is NO discussion value in that, and therefore, such a thread doesn't need to exist.
// Posting the Suggestion (top)
// Otherwise, why would this guide be here? Nah'mean?
Now, before we dive into this topic. You have to ask yourself a very simple question. Why are we posting the suggestion? The answer: because it's something we believe would benefit Minecraft. Let's ask ourselves some more questions.
- Why should the idea be in the game, what does it add?
- No matter what situation we face in the game, will the idea still be balanced?
- Is our idea something that ALL type of players can make use of?
Now, with that in mind, we have to realize that Minecraft was not made just for you, it was made for everyone. Your idea should encompass all players, and not just you, nor a specific type of player. Have an objective reasoning for your ideas. Do not open up an idea with "It's honestly time for more food" or "Hello?! Where's our gold coins?!"
You don't know what it's "time for" unless Mojang just hired you. Do not post like you control the next update to the game.
So posting an idea of "les add pizza to the game becuz i like pizza" is just dumb and selfish. If Mojang added what everyone wanted, we'd have gamebreaking guns, fighter jets, a ton of boring ores and the ability for our blocky limbs to be broken if we took enough damage. That's not the kind of Minecraft people want to play.
This forum isn't for angry rants.
Open up a Twitter account or maybe put that on the Discussion forum, not here. This place is for serious suggestions, not for you to vent out that one game mechanic you don't like and how "moojanng is soooo duuummbb uuughh!!!" because you don't like change. We don't care and don't want to read that trash, please take that somewhere else.
Suggestion Presentation & Details
As said in the previous subsection. We can't exactly read your mind and know exactly what you're suggesting unless you tell us every single possible thing we need to know.
We don't want to read an uninspiring 1-sentence pseudo-idea about "a new villager that can use a sword though!" We don't want to read an incomplete suggestion that wasn't finished because "guys I g2g school now ill finish dis idea later peace y'all".
No. Either give us a fully completed and well-explained idea or don't make a thread at all. If your suggestion has no content, then it has no discussion value. How will I know your mob is balanced if you don't tell us the damage is does? How will I know your new biome is pointless or not if you don't tell us what's in it?
If you've ever seen the movie Tommy Boy or taken any business classes, you might have heard that if you convince someone to buy your product, the consumer doesn't just buy the product. They're buying you. That's how a suggestion is. It represents you. So what does that mean? It means when you post your suggestion, give every single possible detail you can and format your post neatly so it's not annoying to read. Here's some examples:
NotMuchBrains: we don't have to many biomes..... why not add more??????????
GuyWhoThinks: I suggest we add an oasis mini biome in deserts. They would have palm trees and small pools of water. The palm trees would give us a new log type as well as new wooden planks and leaves. The palm trees sometimes have coconuts which can be eaten for 2 health.
See, this guy's cool because he used an ancient Greek method known as "thinking". He fleshed out his idea and explained it well. Is an Oasis biome the best idea in the world? Maybe not, but at least we know what the suggestion is about instead of reading "guys we just need more biomes uggghhh".
Overall, be clear, be concise and explain your idea well. Spell correctly. If you have a long suggestion that needs different headers and such, that's fine, however, don't go overboard by using oversized text LIKE THIS LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME!!! Also, do not use bright fonts that can't be read and don't use eye-gouging fonts.
Don't be allergic to proper capitalization. Don't be allergic to punctuation. Don't give us a wall of text because your Enter key has the flu. That's what makes people hit the back button before they finish reading whatever you typed. Oh, and you don't need to sign your posts - we don't need to see your username twice and your post is not the bottom of a check. Oh, and please don't spam emotes like a 12-year-old AOL'er.
Oh and do not make threads just for Mojang. Mojang won't be the ones critiquing your idea, we will. So try to talk over our heads and make your words travel all the way to Mojang's secret headquarters will just make you look bad. Yes, by default, we'd all want our ideas to make it in the game, but again, us users are the ones who will be posting about it.
Thread Titles
Here's a rule about clickbait and vague thread titles: don't make clickbait and vague thread titles.
You know what's not gonna impress anyone? Naming your thread with "new mob", "new biome", "way 2 make creepers better" or even "awesome new block!"
No. Please leave a small synopsis in the thread title. If your new mob is about a strange scorpion zombie hybrid, then the title of "Scorpion Zombies in Deserts" is fine, rather than "new desert mob." Do not cry out "PLEASE READ" in your thread title, as we already know that you want your thread read simply due to the fact that you made the thread exist. So yeah. Herp.
Did I mention don't use dumb clickbait titles yet? And don't title your thread the first half of a sentence, where the second half of that sentence is in your first post upon entering the thread. That will only annoy people and bring insults to your suggestion. And don't add text doilies to your thread. That crap is so desperate and cringeworthy. So when your thread title looks like this...
**~~--~~ ({( New Potions! )}) ~~--~~**
You screwed up. Royally.
Originality and Creativity
Let's face a dark, bitter truth. Some people out there are so creative that we wish we can steal their brains. However, others are so painfully uncreative that even if they wrote a simple children's book, it would win a "Worst Seller" award.
Mind you, ideas don't need to be gleaming with pure originality to be good, but it helps substantially. You know what ideas people are tired of? Stay tuned.
Don't make ideas that are so horribly based on prefixes. "so uhhhh we need a nether wolf that be tamed with nether bones and it can be uhhh killed and drop nether fur and uhhh nether nether nether neTHER NETHER!!!!" Copying something from another dimension usually fail.
Don't copycat existing things in the game (even though Mojang did some of that already, but still). Copying chickens by suggesting ducks but dropping the same thing is a going-nowhere idea. Suggesting a bull that drops the same leather as cows is zzzzzzzz idea. At least add something new to those mobs.
Suggestion Stance
One of the most common pointless things people do in their suggestions is praise their own ideas and mention how much they like it. Oh gee, really? If you didn't like your own idea, you wouldn't post it, so there's no sense in going "I think this would be cool to add."
Here is a truth that must be accepted. Your own opinion on your own idea is the least powerful and least relevant. The second you post your idea to the public, you dumped it into "critic waters". So if the critics that correctly point out the flaws in your idea, will your own opinions on your own idea change anything? Nnnnnnnnnnnnnope.
It's fine to explain how you believe your idea would be a good thing for Minecraft (which it should be, otherwise why would we want it?) But you need to be neutral over your suggestion and not treat it like some godsend hotfix that will "make the game soar to new heights", because all it takes is one critic to prove that wrong.
A lot of suggesters trick themselves into think they're "game developers" that know exactly what a game needs, when they actually aren't those kind of people. Avoid being that.
Don't have slippery slope fallacies.
Basically, don't end the reasoning of your suggestion with "...the game will just collapse without this!" Chances are, the game was just doing juuust fine without your suggestion, so you don't need to try to pump that lie into our heads.
"We need a fast moving bird mob in the game. We need this because the game currently has no birds, meaning the game will get boring faster without them because the challenge of taking down avian mobs won't be there, which will ultimately lead to the end of Minecraft as we know it!" Woooah! Who knew the power of one flying mob had such power!!
I promise you you will become a cool kid just by simply not posting like that. Proof: recent studies that I can't seem to find right now. So please just assume it's true.
"I don't even like my own suggestion."
Then... don't... post it? This also comes in the form of users using the self-pity garbage. "Yeah I know this suggestion is crap but whatever I might as well post it." Yes, what a smart idea, let's set ourselves up for failure. Reverse psychology doesn't work on this forum.
None of us are gonna go "oh well you said your idea was bad so we forgive you :)" No. If you hate your own suggestion that much but made the awkward choice of publicizing it anyway, then you just made it that much easier for us to go "no support!"
"Please support!"
I'll support if I like the idea, not because you asked. Your emotions on a forum won't alter anything. Putting on big ad puppy dog eyes will not change my line of thinking and make me support your "tameable skeletons" idea. I'll stick to supporting ideas just because they're good. Thanks.
Keep the memes out.
We won't take you seriously if you type like you just finished a 5-mile hike out of Mount 4chan. We don't want to read garbage like "Hey everyone, my idea will add mucho swag to Minecraft! It adds more uses to gold (or should I say BUDDER AAHHHAHAHAA) so yeah please support because one does simply... not support a good suggestion. Peace out, brofist!"
Understand that even if you find a meme funny, you never know if the rest of us heard a thousand times and just want it to die. These forums are not memegenerator.
"I'm new here!"
And? You had plenty of opportunity to read the sticky threads before assuming that you knew everything but made a goofy mistake anyway. Telling us you're new doesn't change anything. It won't make us act nicer toward you, because it doesn't undo what you did when it could have been avoided.
Posting Polls
Please, please make your polls sensible if you're gonna have them. Do not make the polls one-sided, and do the give the poll extremist "left/right" answers without any grey area. A "maybe" option never hurt anyone.
If your stupid idea about TNT that only kills wolves only has the options of "yes" and "sort of yes". Then I'm not voting in your poll at all. Another thing, do not mess with polls if you don't like the answers. Don't switch the answers around, because if I come back to a thread and see that the option of "I love this idea flawless idea!" when I know for sure I voted "no." while 5 posts in a row of "no support", guess what I'm calling out?
Also, have your polls show something of relevance. Asking how many people like/hate the idea and showing that off isn't bad, but it presents nothing of value to the suggestion. What does that info mean to us?
'Idea Cramming'
"What is idea cramming? I'm very curious and I need you to explain that to me in deep detail!" Well okay, if that's what you want.
Idea cramming usually happens when people post a suggestion that doesn't have enough content or explanation for anyone to like the idea or not, so when the OP finds this out, they start mindlessly adding more content at a coked-up rabbit pace just for the sake of the idea being called "complete". It's the equivalent of stuffing a turkey with random objects because you ran out of stuffing.
I'll give an example:
OP: guys hey how are you so yeah my idea is lizards in deserts, so deserts aren't so boring!
Reply #1: Okay? So what do the lizards do?
Reply #2: Do the lizards attack you? How much health do they have? You didn't tell us anything about the mob.
OP: uuuhh ok ok panic panic the lizards do 12 hearts of damage! and they uh.. they attack spiders and maybe wolves idk and they drop lizard eyes which substitute ender eyes because... reasons!!! idea is complete now!!!
Yeah, the OP was a hot mess. Had he explained his idea in full and took the time to develop the idea before posting, that wouldn't have happened. Don't cram stuff in a suggestion to call it full. You're better than that. Develop it first. Use like notepad or something. Write it out first or something. You get me?
"If you don't like the idea don't comment!"
What I'm talking about here is when people, at the beginning of their suggestions, say things like "only these kind of posts are allowed in my thread!"
Let me clue you in on something, unless you're a mod, you have no say in how people post. If someone goes "no negative posts allowed!!!", then guess what. Nothing changes. People are still gonna post how they want.
Also, there's already this guide and the other one about critics. You don't need to copy those entire guides in your threads and horribly stretch out your first post.
Suggestion Popularity
Ahhhh, so your suggestion is getting a lot of supports? Well cool, but just because an idea is loved, doesn't always make the idea good overall. What I mean is, people just see the outer coating of the idea and support without thinking about the the deeper details and long-term possibilities of said idea.
A suggestion about "more animals you guys!" might sound good on paper, but what if the idea has too many animals and they annoyingly crowd the world? What if all the animals are just copycats of others? Some supporters are blinded by "I want more" lines of thinking.
Don't get drunk off the popularity, even a popular idea might need some adjusting.
Bumping Your Suggestion
In other words, you keep posting in the thread you made, which is expected. However, if the idea is terrible and hated, and your thread is slowly drifting off the front page, don't bump it back to page 1. Unless your idea was changed for the better, don't revive a bad egg. Just don't.
You bumping your bad, unadvised idea will only magnet more negativity to it. If I make a thread about one-hit kill bandits that steal everything you have, and I'm shrouded with "no support!", then the idea should just die.
Failing Suggestions / Forced Middle Grounds
Sometimes people get overexcited and bubbly when they come with an idea. They might even get those ballooned hearts in your eyes. After they post a suggestion that doesn't get liked, they might try to find a forced middle ground that doesn't fit the game.
For example, a lot of people suggest overpowered mobs that would only exist in hard mode. If the mob can kill me by looking at me, then great. I can't enjoy hard mode with that thing. Solution: that mob not existing.
Another thing some people suggest are weapons that have pre-enchantments, but they try to "balance" that out by with "guys it's ok because it can't accept any more enchantments on an enchanting table!" Great, your "Nether Sword" now has a scrambled sense of balance that probably doesn't go with the game too well.
If an idea is overall bad, then it's best to let it drop. There's more about this in the 'Taking Criticism' section below.
"Mojang planned it once!"
Yes, Mojang mentioned a lot of things that were - at some point - planned to be in the game. These are things that didn't make it in the game for good reasons, not because "they're trolling us". So you don't need to make that 800th thread about how "we neeeeed the red dragon! auuuggghhh!!!" or "hello, where's our normal pigmen?!!" as if Mojang swore this stuff on our parents' graves.
Even an idea being mentioned by a developer can be bad or just not the best idea in the long run. It's tiring to see garbage situations like this.
someuser_993: I suggest a dream world dimension!
Community: nah, wouldn't fit. no support forever pretty much.
Mojang: We're thinking about adding a dream world.
Community: coool cool coooooool here's some ideas how to make that more awesome!
no.
"New! New! New!! Auugh!!"
Suggesting a new mob with new mechanics, new drops that lead to the creation of a new potion is fine. What isn't fine is when an idea has to come with so many new things that it becomes horrendously overspoiling and kooky that it waters down the integrity of the idea so much the idea itself might turn completely into water as well.
A new biome that has new types of trees with the leaves containing a new drop able to be crafted into something that's a gateway to a new dimension containing a new boss that can give you 4 new potion effects - doesn't need to exist because of one lizard mob. That is the fastest way to drain an idea well, or cram too much inside of it. Much like a pizza with 50 toppings teetering on it.
// Suggestion Collaboration (top)
// Promotin' synergy.
Sometimes suggestions are made by multiple people. However, they can only be posted by one person. Human technology has not advanced to the stage where multiple people share a single post. Well I mean maybe with a mod or something.
If you and others come up with a post, be sure to credit to the people that helped you. It would sure blow if that user that made 7 well-textured models went unmentioned. You feel me? What I've been talking about this whole time is users banding together and coming up with the suggestion beforehand. However, your co-writer might appear later after the thread has been made.
When your thread is made, someone might suggest something so good that you just have to add it to your idea. Again, give the person credit. Perhaps you want to make a suggestion inspired by another. If you want to, ask the original thread maker first if it's alright, if it is, credit the person in your upcoming thread.
// Logic and Realism (top)
// "It's Minecraft! it's just a game! My idea of bubble gum trees don't need to make sense!"
The amount of users on this forum that play the blame game to defend their goofy suggestions is staggering. "Guys, we have green walking dynamite and jukeboxes, so why not add stupid fighter jets and dumb villager military bases? It's just a game!!"
Most of the time, blame-gaming like that fails. It's like in elementary school when a kid goes "But Mrs. Featherbee, I saw Johnny throwing rocks at girls, so I thought I could do it too!" when that kid knew better from the start.
Another approach bad suggesters make is "let's make the game a little more realistic, so I suggest we can break our legs and can't walk ever when we take too much fall damage!" Noooooooooooo. Realism is not a positive attribute, it's a neutral one. If we fall down a ravine and shatter both legs, we're not gonna go "I enjoy this! This is realistic! Smiley smile grin grinn grinnn!!!!!"
Gameplay > Realism
Gameplay > Realism
Gameplay > Realism
Gameplay > Realism
Are Creepers random? Yes. Are they realistic? No, but they still have a well developed cause-and-effect system that make them a unique mob without being insanely over the top or plain stupid. Is redstone realistic? Not in the slightest, but it's useful and manages to find a place in the game without being stupid.
An idea does not need to be realistic, but it needs to have some sense and logic behind it. So suggesting a new ore/metal for the game that can be used to craft new redstone items might be a good idea if done right, however, suggesting a new ore/metal to plant in a circle to summon a "EnderNether Wolf" is 9 kinds of goofy.
// "It'll be optional then!" (top)
// "That way, my idea is magically not bad anymore because ppl have a CHOICE!"
This is one of the most common, laziest things people ever do to an idea. Every person that doesn't understand good game design makes this mistake when they fart out a thread on this forum.
See, options should be left to game settings, such as video quality, render distance, difficulty. It shouldn't be left to things like one type of mob or one type of mob behavior. Small things like that don't warrant an option. Understand that if your idea is perfectly balanced, why does it need to be optional to begin with? If it's good enough, it doesn't need to be "turned off".
A lot of not-so-deep-thinkers have the one-dimensional mindset of "it gives people a choice! so both sides win!!" This usually means "I'm aware my idea is complete cancer, so just in case, people can turn it off so there, you guys don't need to hate my idea as much!" Did it ever occur to you, that if your idea is terrible, making it an option is stupid because most players will just leave it off? Might as well just not have the idea at all.
If your idea is about a killer butterfly that goes through blocks and insta-kills me, why would my working brain ever want that option turned on? Another problem options can provide is complicated game updating, because now Mojang has to carefully make sure any update doesn't help one option setting, but damage the other. This is most common when people cry about 1.9 combat.
You don't want an option causing people to have to play two different games. Please everyone, stop leaning the 'optional' excuse.
// Suggestion Excuses and Bad Presentations (top)
// ...because they prove nothing.
If the core idea is bad, then it's bad. Not all ideas can be repaired or reworked and we need to just understand when to let an idea drop. This isn't the movies where one half-baked speech can change the mind of an entire crowd and gain us an applause.
"But it's optional. But it's rare. But it's hard to get."
Options and gamerules are left to game settings, and not stupid things like "blocks of bacon" or "clown villagers, herp!" If your idea is perfectly balanced, it doesn't have to be optional anyway. If your idea is terrible, than most people will have the option off.
Something being "suuuuper rare" or "hard to get" are nothing but balance aides. They can make the idea more balanced or better, but not always outright "good". My idea of "Super De Duper Double Diamond Ore" is still gonna be goofy and absolutely retarded regardless of it it's hard to get/rare/whatever.
"The game needs this!"
Yeeeeeeah no. If the fabric of the game can exist just fine without your suggestion, it's not "needed". Your personal wants are not Minecraft's needs.
We don't need wool stairs. We don't need "Nether Endermen". Do not rewrite your own brain to think the game's foundation is ready to collapse and your idea is the magical girder to fix it all.
"I'm the center of the world!"
Otherwise known as "people who just don't see the light". These are the suggesters that can be told a thousand times over that their idea of an Insta-Kill enchantment is overpowered, but they reply with crap like "yeah i know it's overpowered that's the point!!! it's SUPPOSED to be that way!!"
These are people who never ever step out of their own 'want bubbles' and mentally block out all arguments thrown at them.
A suggestion is not about getting the last word, it's about an idea being good. Another thing, don't talk about your idea like "Mojang forgot to add it." That is just egotistic. Don't be egotistical, this guide already takes that role.
"[Insert_game_here] has this, so Minecraft should have it!"
One of the most baseless statements a living entity could ever blurt out. I once saw a suggestion where hot water heals you because a Legend of Zelda game had saunas that could heal you. Okay.
Minecraft is not all these other games, and there is no objective reason for Minecraft to just copy something like that. No, we don't need to replace emeralds with gold coins just because 8,000 generic RPG games do it.
"This adds a challenge!"
Do you know what a challenge is? No? Then don't say this, and do not craft your own definition of the word.
Do not mix up annoyances with challenges. Stupid ideas like "hurricanes you can't avoid no matter what aahhhahah!" is not a challenge that can be overcome, it's just some dumb trollish thing that comes by and ruins everything.
Also, do not take something in the game that's already balanced and suggest that it be more difficult just because... again, you think that's a challenge. That's not how that works. Understand that please.
Polling the Players
"Every player of Minecraft is a copy of me, therefore our thoughts are the same!" You know the posts I'm talking about. Those people that begin their suggestions with "this is something we all want" or "we all need this!"
No. Stop it. You don't know how over a million players think and we all don't share the same playstyle. Not all of us have homes made of diamond blocks by the time we get to The End, and just because you have chests full of sand doesn't mean "they n33d another use bcuz they're clogging ur chests!!!!!!"
Also, just because your little brother, a couple kids on a server or even a famous person said an idea was good. It still doesn't prove an idea good. /logic
"Put back what was in beta/alpha!"
Yeah totally man, you know that stuff that Mojang deliberately removed for a reason? Let's negate that reason and bring it back because just for some nostalgia! Good reasons!
Yes, we all have special feelings over that older version of Minecraft when we started playing, but you cramming it down our throats and crying how "new minecraft suxxxxxxxx!" is not gonna change a single damn thing. If it makes you feel better, use the new launcher and play an older version.
"Why not? It wouldn't hurt anything."
First, tell us the "why" of your suggestion before you start throw any "why not" dodgeballs at the kids. If Mojang went by that logic, there would be a thousand more mediocre things in the game that "don't hurt anything". No, you want your idea to be good, not some 50/50 meh thing.
Remember that 50/50 ideas get 50/50 reception, and that's not very interesting. Instead, be cooler, and go for a good idea for good reception.
"But it's funny!"
Funny for who? Teens? 8-year-olds? You?
Even if your idea is hilarious, it doesn't need to exist for that very reason, and it will also stop being funny eventually. Like the exact same joke being told over and over.
Backpedaling
"Uhh, this thread was just a joke and you all fell for it ahhhaha" - So you defended your idea for 5 posts and then suddenly decided to tell us that? Joke threads also get locked here, so you're shooting yourself the same foot multiple times. It's funny how liked threads never have the OP using this untrue excuse.
Sometimes this is in the form of "i was trolling u guys all along!" If you were a successful troll, you wouldn't openly admit to being one. Nice failed escape attempt though.
"Augh you guys are just haters/trolls!" - You're just saying this to make yourself feel better. No, we just don't like your idea. Apparently it's easier to just undermine everyone else's posts than to defend yours. Because effort.
"Someone else posted that, not me." - You only seem to see this excuse used for stupid posts and never good ones. It's also interesting how the "person who posted that wasn't you" typed exactly you. What were the chances right?
"No wait, THIS is what I was suggesting." - Also known as "changing the story" or "hitting the reset button". You suggested Creeper Scorpions which everyone absolutely hated, then you tried to defend it and all of your defenses were bashed away, and now you're going "no you guys have gotten it wrong this whole time, I was suggesting normal scorpions, I only mentioned the creeper thing as a joke lolol."
That's a hard excuse to believe after you opened with "creepers need
more variants" and every single type "scorpion" appears in your thread,
it has "creeper" right before it. Woooow, good joke man.
"This suggestion was just an experiment." - "Yeah, it's a good thing my hated idea was just a prototype, don't worry, the REAL suggestion is coming soon!" No, what you already posted was the real suggestion. I promise you that if your suggestion was actually liked, you'd go along with it and not mention the "experiment" crap.
For those of you who actually will or have post/posted experiment suggestions that you know will fail. Don't. Because why post something if you know the outcome? If your suggestion is bad, you'll look way better by owning up to it and not using some on-the-fly excuse you had crammed in your pocket.
"I made this for the sake of discussion!"
Gee, you think? This forum is already umbrella'd by the Discussion label. Every suggestion thread is already created for the sake of discussion, so don't use this dumb excuse to farm ideas from others and have other people develop your suggestion for you.
"Yes, I know my idea is bad and redundant but I want to stir up a discussion to develop it more!"
Smart thinking!There's your first mistake, if you know your idea is bad, then you know you will get bad reception. Do not set yourself up for failure."This needs to be harder/easier!"
Another classic example of "this is how I play the game therefore the world does too." Except no. We get it, you mastered the art of finding diamonds within minutes, but that doesn't the rest of us have, so suggesting that "diamonds be 4 times as rare!" might be good for you, but painfully terrible to everyone else.
Same for when people ask for things to be easier. We don't need to make Creepers say "Watch out I'm coming!" just because you got killed by one when all you have to do is keep your eyes open for them.
"If you don't like it, don't use it!"
Awesome, awesome logic! /notreally
Okay then, I don't need to use these colored grenades if I don't want to. However that doesn't seem to stop other people from chucking them down the chimney of my house. I guess me not wanting to use something didn't help the fact that the idea was terrible, eh?
Having the choice of using something doesn't alter the quality of the idea like that. If it's bad, it's bad.
Advertising in someone else's thread.
If I worked hard on a suggestion for a new biome that took me days to develop, the last thing I want is you popping in and going "huuuurp check out my dinosaur thred!!" No with a side no. You have your own thread for that, don't fart that out in someone else's.
"A lot of people suggested it, so Mojang should give it to us!"
This excuse comes from people that think they understand game development, but actually don't. The human race seems to mistake "popularity" and "good" as meaning the same thing. Me making a thousand alternate accounts and suggesting that "hurr nukes!!!" be added to the game does not make my idea good.
"I don't care about this suggestion."
But you do though, since you made a conscious decision to make a thread and then type another 3 paragraphs about the idea. Like most of the other stupid excuses in this spoiler, the excuse is usually used only when the suggestion is unpopular. If you didn't care about the idea, the thread you just made wouldn't exist.
"Fine, this'll just be for hard/hardcore then!"
Nooooooooo. -____-
If I don't want the stupid idea of villagers throwing shoes at my wolves, I don't want it at all. Don't slap it in one difficulty as if that will miraculously save the idea. That doesn't stop a bad idea from being durrtactular. All this does is ruin it for people who want to play a specific difficulty.
"You have your opinion, I have mine."
So someone doesn't agree with your suggestion, and now you're reiterating the point that you and that poster don't agree? You might as well just say "I made a thread and you posted in it." because that's equally as pointless.
"Agreeing to disagree" doesn't do anything. This is what most posters say to get out of defending themselves. If someone is pointing out why your suggestion is horribly unbalanced, don't just write that off. Instead, understand the differing opinion and use it to better your suggestion, or at the very least, defend yourself properly without going "well that's your opinion, moving on." because that's just lazy and unintuitive.
"This'll stop people from complaining."
The only way to stop someone from complaining is bolt their mouths shut or keep a keyboard away from them. Adding a terrible idea to the game to "shut people up" is one of the most self-embarrassing ideas a human can spit up. So we re-add something that was removed to silence half the community? Let's also set up a foundation that gives kids free money for those who complain about not having an Xbox.
Ideas with this... "logic" should land people jail time.
"The _____ Update!"
Don't call your thread "The Bird Update" when all you've suggested is a turkey that drops gunpowder. Updates like that are left to a collection of many good ideas within a theme, not 2 dinky mobs and one senseless ore. Dear all posters, stop doing this.
Using Adventure Mode as a Crutch
Before everyone gets hyper and wants to attack me, yes, I know there are some awesome suggestions for Adventure Mode out there. Though some users take it too far. An Adventure Mode suggestion should be "universal" in that it can be useful in many situations without it being unfitting and over-the-top.
"Let's add a command called '/stayinalive' which makes hostile mobs wear 70's clothes and stuff and like... and like... creepers look like Maurice Gibb! This would be great for people making 70's related adventure maps!!"
Yes, because there are so many people making adventure maps like that. 12/10.
"You guys just need to upgrade your PC's!"
Oh, so that's how that works? So all of us should shell out our money on new parts just so we can deal with your unfitting idea of "reelistic physicsss!" and "super d00per shaderzzz!" It's almost as if... it would be better if that stuff didn't touch the game at all!
We don't need to upgrade our PC's, you just need to upgrade your reasoning for suggestions. And your brain maybe.
Alternate Accounts
You duplicating yourself to support your own idea is the saddest thing you can do here. If your idea is good enough, why would you ever need to do this? Seeing an extra user or two forcibly supporting the idea won't mentally rewire the opinions of other people with working brains. Seeing the following is beyond pathetic:
BirdOwner: Why not add Herobrine Creepers? Let's call them Creeperbrines hahahaha!!
FalconDude: flawless idea, should be in 1.9!!!!! =D
someone_else92: no.
SmaRtUser: cancerous idea.
OstrichFan: extreme support! would benefit game! idea is love and life!
Sad sockpuppet accounts get banned here instantly, so you will embarrass yourself eternally as well as having the ban. Self-defeat at its finest.
CamelCase
Do Be The Guy Who Capitalizes Every Word. Stop Acting Like Jaden Smith And Type Like A Normal Person. That's Painful To Read And It Will Probably Make Your Suggestion Look Really Stupid. So... Don't Do It? If You Type Like This, Please Apply Pain To Your Fingers As Punishment. Thanks In Advance.
// Objective and Subjective (top)
// Because the human race always mixes up the two.
Ever read a suggestion where someone goes "we need lapis armor and tools! we need it! need need need! I know this stuff better than Mojang! AAuugh~!"
No. People need to understand the reasoning behind their suggestion. Objective is something that is widely shared and unbiased, and sometimes focuses on actual 'needs' or pure benefits, while something being subjective is a small opinion and focused on a 'want'.
If someone makes a suggestion about a mob that spawns solely in birch forests, has useful and sensible drops and is very balanced. Also, if the OP puts in mind that the mob would benefit the game, the biome it's in, and overall the experience in Minecraft, that can be an objective suggestion. If presented properly.
A subjective suggestion is "les add copper tools and armor and stuff because copper is pretty cool!" Okay, so we should hop on board the idea because you think copper is cool? Yeah? No. We don't "need" pigs dropping bacon because "i like so bacon so idk lol" or some boring ore just for the sake of saying "there's another ore!" Have your ideas truly give us something, and don't suggest it because you 'think it's cool'.
// Artificial Difficulty and "Chance" Ideas
// "What if skeleton arrows sometimes insta-killed for no reason? That would add a good challenge!!!"
(top)
Having to use what you learned in a game to defeat a last boss is true challenging difficulty. However, if the last boss uses an unavoidable move that punches away 80hp from your maximum of 100 and you have to spam bullets at it and cross your fingers and hope for a win, then that's dumb artificial difficulty.
There's too many humans in the world that come to this forum, suggest some trollish, unfun thing with no fun factor and smother that garbage in a "you guys dis be a challenjge!!" dressing. Only for the OP of these threads to go into an anger frenzy and blame the non-supporters.
Butchering existing game mechanics with unnecessary trash such as "drinking a positive potion has a 10% of poisoning you because reasons" or "there's a 1/50 chance a skeleton's arrow instakills you". Where's the """challenge""" in that? If it's an unseen binary coin flip, my skills can't surpass it. It's just something I have to hope never happens. Good challenge man.
I question how the OP's of these bad threads come to make these ideas. "Yes, I love how this regeneration potion I spent hours getting the ghast tear for poisons me for 2 minutes! I love that! My gameplay experience is enhanced! LOGIIIIIC!!!" Your brains, use 'em.
// Suggestion Balance (top)
// "What if we added HOMING arrows? Yeah, that'd be sooo cooool!!"
Balance in an idea can be a grand illusion. An idea might be perfectly balanced in your head but in actuality, be the most under or overpowered thing ever because we didn't see our ideas in the proper light.
Depending on what the suggestion, it can be extremely difficult to find the perfect pinnacle of balance. Some ideas are so complex and encompass so many things that it can be hard scanning for that sweet spot.
Balance requires us to really want to listen to critics, as they can help greatly with that (just remember, it not their job to do so). Because balance can be hard to find, an idea might take a ton of refining before being completed for good.
"You guys! Less X, but more Y!" (Scale Tipping)
Ahh yes, the most boring approach to a suggestion that can ever be performed. So that new spear idea of yours does -10% damage but can be used +10% faster compared to the sword? So that means it's perfectly balanced compared to the sword? So... why don't we just stick with a sword then?
Having more of something but less of something in a suggestion isn't exactly a bad thing. You would want that new strong weapon idea to be not so easy to acquire (more strength, but less abundance to make the new weapon), but that isn't scale tipping, as that's just regular balance.
Please try to be original with your ideas and don't 'more that but less this' something. All that is senseless hair splitting that doesn't wow anyone. Don't scale tip.
I'm about to present an image by the user 0_Zippy that covers a good chunk of balance:
// If You Want a Thread Locked, Moved or Deleted (top)
// Putting those threads of out of their misery. Or just moved.
If you want any of these three things to happen to your thread. All you have to do report your own post by... clicking "Report" at the bottom of your post, then choose this on the following screen (click to make bigger):
Note that you can also help out a new or inexperienced user get their thread moved to the right location before the original poster realizes the mistake, which can reduce confusion and complications in a thread a lot sooner. However, DO NOT tell the user that "they've been reported" as 1.) that's against the rules and 2.) they may take it the wrong way which can lead to revenge scheming.
And no, do simply edit your posts with "MOD, PLZ DELETE THREAD" while doing nothing else. You will embarrass yourself to death and accomplish nothing.
// What "fits" in Minecraft (top)
// "We already have jukeboxes, so fighter jets would be fine!"
Something fitting or not fitting in Minecraft is one of the most prominent arguments on the Suggestions forum, and in some way, the most controversial. It's a double-edged sword, because both sides can have very strong points. For these reasons, that concept gets its very own section.
It's no secret that Minecraft is not made of realism, and even though there are medieval-like things in the game, such as potions, swords, bows, arrows and armor. However, we have not-so-medieval things, like jukeboxes. So... how do we know for sure if something fits or not? What is our reference point? Which side is correct?
If a game has a distinct theme to it, then it's very easy to know what fits in it and what doesn't. If a game is based around a city where gangs gunfight non-stop, it would be wise for the developers in that game to not add magic spells, because something like that would be extremely goofy, ruin the theme of the game and even distance players away. What if Portal 2 had NFL Announcers that have fork guns? That would be pretty awkward, right?
So what if a game doesn't have any theme to it, does that make it immune to "unfitting" things? The answer: Not really, at least not always. Even without realism or any concrete theme, suggestions for Minecraft can still be very stupid. It can be argued that Minecraft has created its own theme. If someone said to you "Think of a Minecraft theme!" You'd be thinking about punching trees, Creepers, blocks and diamond ore. The game has been out for so long and has been so popular that it has that kind of foundation.
We need to read between the lines and understand what a game is about. Then and only then will we understand what ideas would actually fit in. People often cling to what's already in the game to defend their bad suggestions. For example, going "Well the game has random green things with no arms so I don't see the problem with ." And those arguments usually fail.
Yes, there are some weird things in Minecraft, but strange things like Ghasts and Creepers are still given proper cause-and-effect development. Sure, the Creepers explode on players for reasons unknown, but it doesn't start dancing while summoning frogs with its face. Even in games with no theme, you can still suggest things for it that are so senseless and over the top that they'd subtract any sensible experience for the player.
If you were playing Minecraft, and saw a red caromo emerge from the ocean and started talking to you in Mel Gibson's voice while spawning chickens, how would you feel?
A.) Possibly depressed and perturbed that something so senselessly "out there" touched the game.
B.) Eh, doesn't matter! Nothing doesn't fit or unfit in this game! I'm cool with that car thing.
// Taking Criticism (top)
// Because we want revenge after seeing "No Support!"
As the top of the thread states. If we can't handle negativity, we should just keep our mouse cursors away from that "new thread" button.
Some suggesters are hypersensitive and freak out just because people disagree with them, and because they thought their suggestions was "sooo goooood!!" that they convince themselves that the critics are "wrong".
If your suggestion is proven to be bad and it can't be fixed. Then just drop it. Otherwise you're just going to bring more negative attention to a bad idea and only hurt yourself in the end.
Negative Criticism is NOT trolling...
This has to be one of the most common mistakes to ever exist on the internet. My god. Some people can't mentally except that disliking a suggestion isn't the same as "being a hater". Know what trolling is, and lock it into your head before you mix that up with negative reception.
This whole forum didn't band together and decide to troll you and hate every idea you make. Let me tell you, if you pull the troll-calling card after every "no support" had lengthy explained reasoning, you will look painfully stupid.
The Role of the Critic
This is what the FTC guide tells you already, but I feel I should mention here as well as both critics and suggesters should know.
It is NOT the critic's job to fix or better your idea!
Your suggestion belongs to you. Nobody else. It is not anyone else's job to clean your dirty room which is your suggestion. A critic's job is to read your hopefully well-explained idea, points out the goods and bads in a very readable manner and be on his way, or maybe he might stick around.
A critic does not need to suggest improvements to your idea. A critic does that because they truly might think your idea would be bettered if some changes were made. If a critic doesn't do this, oh well. Again, s/he doesn't have to. Some critics don't see positives in an idea, it happens.
However, if someone spams in your thread and is being deafeningly nonconstructive, don't feed into them. Just report them and let them drown in a sea of warning ratings and bans. "Idea kinda blows, maybe delete thread and lock your account?" deserves to be reported.
"I'm gonna report you! >=["
Reporting someone does not summon a magical thread cleaning fairy that makes the posts you don't like go away. As mentioned earlier in the thread, you can report your own posts to move, lock or delete them. You can also report other posts only if they break rules by spamming or trolling in nonconstructive ways. Do not report someone just because they disagree with your suggestion.
You are not allowed to tell a person they're being reported. That is against the forum rules, and only leads to nasty revenge scheming.
Responding to Critics
If a critic shreds our idea with perfect reasoning, responding "you suck" puts them in the victory chair, not you. Unless you're a mod, you have no control over who posts in your thread. So telling them to "GET OUT!" will just make you look like a baby.
If we lash out at honest critics without defending ourselves, we lose. If someone explains why your "mega mega ultra double tnt" is overpowered, and you respond with just "it's not overpowered", then the critic is the one who's taking your championship belt.
We can't just post our suggestion, we need to learn to defend it to. And with that, sometimes revising. And note that defending doesn't mean just fighting for the last word. If we lash out and directly insult people simply telling us why that suggestion about shovels made from creeper heads isn't very smart, it makes the suggester look bad, not the critic. If two kids are arguing but one of them is trying to act like a chicken while making the weird sounds, which of the two kids looks the dumbest? Don't lash out and be the chicken kid.
Selective Arguing & Post Skipping
Yes, we know. We can see when you're only responding to people who support you with "thx for the support d000000000000000d!!" while ignoring those long, detailed posts that are criticism. Basically, you're only responding to what you want to read.
No. Don't be the guy with Selective Reading Syndrome (SRS). The critics making the long posts explaining why they don't like your idea are usually doing you a favor by taking time out of their day to help you better your idea, so return the favor with some of your time and hear them out completely.
You don't need to respond to every single post in a thread, but the last thing you want to do is skip over good points and important questions. Just because you don't agree with posts, doesn't make them "bad posts" you should ignore.
Baggage Carrying
There's always a user or many users on a forum we don't like. Calling them out and putting them on a spot like you're ready to fight them is just the recipe for a flame-derailing flame war. Stuff like "Don't post here if you're Theriasis!" is just you punching yourself in the mouth.
Just because someone didn't support your last suggestion doesn't give you much right to shout insults about them in every thread you post in.
"Guys calm down, it's just a suggestion!"
Yeah, that's funny, a lot of people who say this are overconfident posters who talk about their own ideas as if they're the Second Coming, yet as soon as they see that people are not supporting, it turns into "omgggggg you guys chill out this is just text on a forum! nothing more!"
First off, thanks we already figured out your idea - is in fact - text on a forum and just an idea. Whew, thanks for clearing that up! Second, saying that stuff doesn't change anything. Sure, it's just an idea, but it's still bad if it's bad. You also don't need to tell us to "calm downnne!!" when we were calm to begin with. "No support" doesn't always translate to "AUUUGH WORST IDEA!!" like a lot of people think it does.
"You guys are nitpicking!"
"You guys keep focusing on this one part of the suggestion! There's more to it than that!"
Well yeah, if your common mob does 9 hearts of damage. Chances are, people are gonna not support because of that and keep mentioning it. People usually say this because they're just frustrated that the critics are successfully pointing out a flaw. I will admit that when a bunch of critics come in and repeat the same thing, that gets pretty old, but still. If a sore-thumb flaw is found in the suggestion, fix it or get rid of it, because keeping it around won't get you those sweet supports you've been craving.
"This forum is terrible! I'm leaving forever!"
Yup, that's some good logic right there. When a lot of people disagree with you, it's somehow the forum's fault for not blindly liking your idea? Telling us how "terrible we are!" won't do anything to us, and the same goes for you leaving the forums. It's taking a lot of extra energy to not post the names of users that have done that.
If you truly want to leave the forums, then leave. You telling us won't change anything, and you won't guilt us with "you guys made a user stop posting, I hope you're happy!" when the fault is on your end.
"Your post was rude so I skipped it!"
So you read the first 10 words of someone's post to actually figure out it was rude, then just gave up reading it because "it was meen". Not every post is gonna be covered with nice sprinkles for you, and it's best to get in the habit of reading what's there, instead of playing "post favorites".
People shouldn't insult you for your suggestion, but some people are gonna be direct and point out something stupid if something stupid is there. That's the point of this forum. You made a thread for people to post in, but you don't get to choose what they type. When you end a post with "What do you think? Criticism is welcome!", you will get just that.
"You're not Mojang, so you can't make that call!"
Here you are saying how much your suggestion would fit the game and how it would revolutionize the world as we know it, but then you turn the other cheek on someone who doesn't support by saying "You're not the one developing the game, so that's not up you!!!" then you go back to talking about your idea that "needs to be in the next update" as if you know the game's development better than Mojang.
We don't need to part of Mojang to know if something is stupid. It's easy to know that the game is not getting a McDonald's franchise in the next update along with a "Big Mac Creeper". Or new mobs that resemble every character from The Wire. Use your itty bitty brains and read between the lines.
// Generally Disliked Suggestions (top)
// Some of these ideas can be done well. Keyword: Some
That section has been reserved on another post. Click here to go there.
// The Overachiever's Guide (top)
// Made by Cerroz. The stuff in this guide in encouraged, but NOT required.
This purpose of the rest of the guide is to not make a bad suggestion, often telling you how to go from "bad" to "good". The overachiever's guide tells you how to go from "good" to "much, much better". This is only one of two sub-guides not written by Theriasis (the other being 0_Zippy for making the balance guide), meaning this guide will be much more positive.
Ever play a video game that involves getting more than 100% completion? Or being able to earn better than a gold medal, which is usually a platinum one? This guide will try to help you get that. If you only care to make just decent, okay suggestions with "eh" amounts of work, this guide is not for you. Who is it for? The people who want their ideas to shine so hard that we can't look directly at it too fast, the kind that most likely make the suggestions hall of fame and get showered with "I support!" for many pages.
Note: Following the guide to a 'T' may also involve you having to learn program-using skills you haven't nailed down quite yet.
Apart from the suggestion being good, proper readability and formatting is one of the most desired things for the reader of a suggestion. If the format of a suggestion is too sloppy, it brings the integrity of the suggestion down. Format a suggestion like you want that A+ grade.
You can't really have a post without text, so you might as well arrange that text as beautifully as humanly possible. This includes good spelling, proper grammar and proper punctuation placement. If you have a long suggestion that has many stats, attributes and features, then it may be best to split that up into some nice sections with pretty headers.
The rest of the suggestions guide mentions how you need proper formatting, but this sub-guide will give much more ideas and insight to that. Make sure your suggestion is split up into nice sized paragraphs - not too long, not too short. Also, even though this part isn't as necessary, but if you can, make sure your paragraphs encompass points properly, rather than having single points splashed around multiple paragraphs, but that really depends on how you present it so that part isn't painfully important. That's a mixed bag.
If a paragraph is too short, it might not even be a paragraph at all and you probably can attach more to it. If it's too long, you could slowly bore reader's until the next paragraph hits. Paragraphs that are too long can overwhelm and "tire" the reader, as if you're telling a super long joke that should have reached a punchline 2 minutes ago, you don't want that. In other words, long paragraphs can come off as rambling. Even this very paragraph is probably boring you now. Sorry guys, do you forgive me?
Lastly, let's talk about headers. Headers are the most awesome way to split up and organize a suggestion. Make those headers nice and big, and if you want, a nice fitting easy-to-read color. For bonus points, maybe make an image of header text like I've been doing. Maybe slap another smaller image to match what the header reads for more bonus points, just don't overdo it and clutter it.
Note: To refine your post better, you may need to do some post editing in [BB] mode.
I'll give a brief here's-good-and-here's-bad example.
Spoiler (click to show)
I personally think the best suggestions absolutely need some good images. There is no collection of words I can think of to express the fact that good suggestions should have this. Yes, it does give something pretty to look at and gives us more than just text, text and more text. But it also helps us readers dive into the mind of the suggester and makes us see what they want us to see. We see the suggester's vision. Ever have a good idea but couldn't express it good enough because others just need to see it?
If you want to show the readers how creative you are, you probably need to obtain some moderate to extreme image editing skills. In some lucky cases, you can find an image without needing to do so, but you making stuff yourself showcases how serious and skilled you are at giving ideas. Another thing people should know, is that even though an image brings home a point, it still might take some editing to make it look better. An example is images that have backgrounds... Let me just show you...
Are both images good? Sure. But chances are, you find the right one better as the background is transparent. The right one just comes off as being blockier while the right looks more defined and sleeker. Sometimes we need to apply that creative elbow grease to make an image shine a little more.
There's a special case for mob suggestions. If you want to make a model of the mob, you have two choices: the first one requires extremely critical and advanced 3D modeling with programs such as Maya or 3DS Max and very, very careful texturing work. Or... the second choice, which requires almost no 3D modeling skill at all and involves a program made specifically for Minecraft in mind called Tabula! See? Uncle Cerroz helps you out.
In the case of sprites, it's pretty easy. Just make a pixelish 16x16 image, and resize it. In most image editing programs, there are options such as "Bicubic" and "Bilinear" resizing, but "Pixel Resize" or "Nearest Neighbor" ensures the image will be nice, sharp/pixelly with no blur. Just make sure to resize it in dimensions divisible by 16.
Sadly, this guide covers just suggestions and won't provide a tutorial on how to use these programs. Some quick Google or Youtube searches will get you on the right track. Don't worry, Techne doesn't take long to understand. It's a pretty simplistic program. Another note, make sure your images are relevant. If your mob is based on a Chinese insect, you only need to post a picture of the insect, not a picture of China.
If you want an idea to make the suggestions hall of fame, good images are absolutely required!!
Image Formats (Added 9/28/15)
Anyone who has been using the internet for a week probably know of all image formats. The most sought after and prominent format is PNG, because it a.) has a very small filesize and b.) can support any type of transparency (being 'index' and 'alpha'). JPEG is also fine, assuming the image is not too compressed and transparency is not needed.
A GIF file can work if you make an animated image, but take note that those kind of files have very exclusive amounts of colors and there's no working around that. GIF images are 8-bit only and can only support this amount of colors: 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, 127 and 255. A GIF can make an image very grainy and loss-of-colors, so optimize it wisely. GIF files can only support 'index' transparency, so you can't have an opaque slowly blend into transparency (which is 'alpha' transparency). It's only 100% transparency and 100% opaque. No in-betweens.
"But Cerroz, is it possible to have both alpha transparency and animation?" Yes there is. There is a very unique image format known an APNG, but making these kind of files can be very tedious and tricky, and may require many tries before you get them just right. Also, APNG files are not supported by all browsers, so some users only see the first frame, and not a full animation. Sadly, you can't have everything.
There are too many good programs out there to name them all. The most obvious one is Adobe Photoshop. For GIF's, I use Jasc Animation Shop, which is not one of the better programs, but it's one of the easiest to use. Note that Photoshop can make GIF's too, but it might take a smidge longer for you. For APNG files, APNG Assembler is a solid choice.
When you're being an overachiever and stretching your arms out because you're trying to feel the cold medal of that platinum medal just out of reach, you can't just have a good idea, you gotta have the pizzazz to present it beautifully as well.
Talk about eating your cake and presenting it too right? And... maybe still eating it. It's cool you gave us the awesome idea, but can you explain it so cleverly and smoothly that you can hook us more and more, making the idea triply more irresistible?
If you happen to be a clever writer, or just a clever speaker, chances are you're gonna nail this part of the suggestion. There's a difference between "Here's an idea you'll all like." and "Alright, I'm gonna need everyone to sit down. If I'm gonna be serving this good idea cake to all of you, you can't crowd around me. Look at the cake though! It's got a picture of a unicycle lizard on it!" If you truly believe you're funny, you can use that humor as well.
Language Barrier
I think it's safe to say that you already know this forum is English based. If English is not your primary language and you are struggling with it, my advice is this: hang in there. It's understandable you won't master a language just so you can make a good suggestion, but I advise giving a rough draft of your suggestion to an English-speaking person.
In some cases, you can make a good suggestion even if your English isn't fully developed, as sometimes we can still understand what the suggester wants. Still, it's good to give that rough draft to an English speaker.
As the very top of Theriasis' guide states, if we can't handle negativity, we shouldn't make a thread at all. Though you soon-to-be-overachievers know this already. Don't be afraid of negative reception. Grab it! Use it! That feedback is your ultimate ticked to make a gold suggestion into a diamond.
I can promise you that the most famous suggestions did not start out as refined as they are now, and if they did, they probably have a lot to improve anyway. I personally get a bit worried if I get no negative responses sprinkled in here and there, because I don't get to see what to fix in my idea.
If you get too much factual negative responses and the core of your suggestion has been proven to be a bad idea, it may be best to move on to a different idea. As not all ideas can be repaired.
If someone makes a very long post stating negatives on your idea and you want to prove them wrong, then respond to all of the points. If you just "respond to what you want" and skip over many negative points, that can showcase laziness and that you're trying to avoid negativity. That is not the kind of attention you want. If you can't refute a factual point, then openly admit that the critic is correct, and if possible, try to fix what said critic brought up.
This is the most unique section of this sub-guide, as this is this without a doubt the most rare thing ever seen in a suggestion. Some suggesters have uploaded videos helping explain an idea, but maybe once or twice has one gone through the effort of making one, uploading it and presenting it.
Provided your idea is actually good, making a good video will put your chances of a hall of fame place at roughly 95%. As expected, providing such a thing will require some serious effort. The video editing software I use is Sony Vegas, but if you have basic knowledge of video editing, almost any software will do. Even something basic like Windows Movie Maker can work.
I made a short video for my Ancient Zombie suggestion, and it wasn't anything spectacular, but it was still awesome to see in a suggestion. Here it is:
If you can manage to animate your mob and put that in a video or .gif image, then you are in. Like. Flint.
tl:dr - Use your brain and don't embarrass yourself.
The Unofficial Suggestion Guide - Everything you need to know to not make goofy mistakes in a suggestion! Honestly though, you should really go there.
Glad to see the wicked 2.0 guide taking flight. I was thinking about mentioning modding and maybe video editing for my Overachiever's Guide. Will that break the character limit?
Yeah, that guy in the avatar is me. I'm *that* strange. It happens. Sometimes people act like that. Just go with it. I can offer help with suggestions even before you post them - NOT make your suggestions - but help you with them.
Unofficial Suggestions Guide (2.0) - by Theriasis
Unofficial Critics Guide - by yoshi9048
I see quite a few grammar mistakes thar bug me, one of which ironically being very confusing to foreigners in a sentence talking about them. I gotta get some sleep now, but I'll make sure to point a few out later to make this much easier to read. Quite a few times I got hung up reading this.
You probably should have waited until you had time to list the mistakes instead of going "I see some errors oh but I'll point them out later so you know the mistakes are somewhere but you have to wait until I come back." That way, the mistakes that you're so 'hung up' on get fixed sooner. You see?
Yeah, that guy in the avatar is me. I'm *that* strange. It happens. Sometimes people act like that. Just go with it. I can offer help with suggestions even before you post them - NOT make your suggestions - but help you with them.
Unofficial Suggestions Guide (2.0) - by Theriasis
Unofficial Critics Guide - by yoshi9048
The explanation isn't so much a slippery slope though. Slippery slopes generally showcase an unpredictable and catastrophic devolution of human nature due to a stimulus or neural adaptation to the stimulus (most of the time with non sequiturs (If we add this then people will eventually ram lightbulbs into their eye sockets!))
However, extreme hardcore as a suggestion is, by it's own definition, a slippery slope. It is literally taking it to 11 right from the get-go. It is a cry to create a new gamerule when self-imposed artificial difficulty is not enough. When the challenge is overcome, it is expected that another more hardcore format would be desired; so much so that I'd personally be confused if it _didn't_ chain in causality.
If anything, the section is an attempt to correct a slippery slope behavior, not berate it with a serving of hypocrisy.
So, Is a phenomenon an expected result of a previous phenomenon?
IF YES - it's not a slippery slope
IF NO - it is a slippery slope
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But from that view of a slippery slope, wouldn't any difficulty levels at all be considered a slippery slope? Especially the current hardcore gameplay mode. But I suppose that perhaps a single one and then no more is a definite end to that slope. (Personally I agree that it's a ridiculous suggestion though). It's just that it's sort of like when you get into the topic of worthwhile risks, and technically walking up stairs is a risk. I grew it's an inferior suggestion, but adding an extra hardcore mode is more of simply strange and unappealing, rather than a slippery slope
Even though my Join date is in 2014, I tried the demo on 8/30/2012, and bought the game two days later on 9/1/2012. So hipster
Stuff I support:
Click here to get Rick-Rolled. No seriously
You're kinda right, I was reluctant to post it initially for this reason, but I stand by it. Perhaps maybe it would prompt you to look it over yourselves if you ever happen to be bored between now and me finding time to re-read this and help correct some confusing grammar mistakes and imperfect fluency. I'll find one in the overachievers guide for you now as a consolation prize, but I still do not have the hour to re-read this whole thing.
"It's understandable you won't master a language just so you can make a good suggestion, but I advise giving your suggestion a rough draft to an English-speaking person."
So you give your suggestion a rough draft. Good so far. "I advise giving your suggestion a rough draft to an English-speaking person". Was? I don't know how to describe it with words, but another look over this sentence probably reveals the hang-up. A way to fix this would be to say "I advise giving a rough draft of your suggestion to an English-speaking person".
I'll be sure to look over this and find more examples of things that can be fixed if I have time. Between school and science Olympiad, I really don't have too much time to do stuff. I was hoping that that message would prompt you to look over it if you can find time yourself. Also, sorry if this comes off as rude, I tend to write in a formal to-the-point tone that has come off as sass to others in the past. None of it, if any exists, is intentional.
It doesn't work that way. If there's something we messed up in the guide, but you're the one who finds it, then what's faster? Us rereading the huge guide trying to find what you're talking about, or you simply telling us "the mistakes and here, here and there." right off the bat?
Can't argue there, you're right. Though I think it's strange that a few grammar mistakes bother you so much.
Yeah, that guy in the avatar is me. I'm *that* strange. It happens. Sometimes people act like that. Just go with it. I can offer help with suggestions even before you post them - NOT make your suggestions - but help you with them.
Unofficial Suggestions Guide (2.0) - by Theriasis
Unofficial Critics Guide - by yoshi9048
I just noticed them, but had no way to write them down and didn't bother make a mental note. I would also have to re-read the whole thing, and as it is I am struggling to find the time to do so, and I understand completely if this is also the case with you, and I understand if you don't want to re-read your own work.
As for why they bother me so much, I personally find it significantly harder to read with them, and I know it can especially be the case with foreigners. Even using a slightly different form of the same word they were taught can throw them off (I should know this from learning german. A native speaker confused me by saying "schwier", as opposed to "schwierig". They both mean hard, but even that was enough to throw me off).
I had that exact same problem like, four days ago! But yeah, I understand why you were so hung up on that one, it's a very bad section to have a mistake like that in. I'm also pressed for time when it comes to using the forums on PC, but I've got plenty of time on mobile. Ok sort of ashamed of myself for not catching that mistake the last time I went through it (before it was posted). I take a large amount of pride in my grammar pickiness. I'll go through the whole guide this second, and again tomorrow morning. I can't promise I'll find everything, but I'll try
(oh by the way cerroz (/Theriasis), on the Overachiever's Guide, where you showed the two pictures of an ancient zombie from your suggestion, in the following paragraph "right" should be switched with "left". (Not part of what I edited so I maintain my stuck-up pride))
Even though my Join date is in 2014, I tried the demo on 8/30/2012, and bought the game two days later on 9/1/2012. So hipster
Stuff I support:
Click here to get Rick-Rolled. No seriously
It truly depends on the granularity of the slope there. If you have naturally increasing granularity with modes aimed at casual, normal, veteran, and expert players; then there's nothing slippery about it. These are now gradients of difficulty to apply to more comfortably fit the player. This isn't actually a debate about "experts are better than casuals" either. Some people just operate on a different level of thought and not all of us need to be pro at everything.
It's slippery slope in it's non sequitur. Non Sequitur literally means "does not follow", it's where an increase in difficulty does not follow with the nature of the game. Here's an example: glass cannon hardcore. In many cases, you have apocalypse timers or other systems that would have to be included exclusively for a small group of players which is an immediate nope; especially considering how "you have to beat enderdragon in under 1 minecraft week or he causes a megavolcano that spews out supercharged creepers ten times a second!" doesn't actually fit with the flow and design of the game.
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This is a placeholder post for the following section, to save room on the first post. This is linked from the first page.
Generally Disliked Suggestions
Though sometimes, some of these suggestions can be made good. Keyword: Some.
Natural Disasters
"Oh oh but like it um um it could be an option!" Oh oh but like people will almost always have this option off because it's so trolly and unfun.
Sandwiches
It's a "Less X but more Y" scenario. Boring boring boring.
Food Giving Potions Effects
It doesn't matter if sugar gives you Swiftness for only 10 seconds per little dust of sugar, it's not gonna stop Player the Hedgehog from chugging it down constantly for the near-continuous zippy boost.
In short, it still hurts the integrity of normal potions.
Unfitting Modern/Futuristic Weapons
If you're about to suggest shotguns, you need to punch yourself in the mouth until you tear up a bit and feel a lot of emotion distress.
Vehicles
If you think vehicles are a good add to Minecraft. Don't ever become a game developer, because your mindset is awful.
Senseless Player Add-Ons
There's this ancient Chinese secret known as... changing your skin. Woah! I know right?! There's no need to waste energy in adding stuff like that. We don't "need" scarfs, and we don't "need" detachable glasses. The game will operate just fine without them.
Emerald Tools and Armor
Imagine farming an easy trade and then wobbling on home to create that overpowered green armor set.
Stop acting like this suggestion is the result of broken game design and punch the truth (my first paragraph) into your head.
Dynamic Lighting
And no, don't try to defend yourself with "Well Mojang could just make it not lag!" because that's absolutely retarded. That's like saying, "We can just make it so we'll rob the bank and kill everyone but not catch attention!" Reality, come back to it.
Fighting Villagers
I also can never picture our big-nosed pacifists to not look stupid holding a weapon. Did I mention we have the Iron Golem already?
Choosing Our Enchantments
We can already sort of do this anyway, we can see the first enchantment since 1.8 and have enchanted books as well. So there's that.
Thirst Bars
Who cares if some people are still angered by the hunger bar, let's throw in another one because... Because!
Storylines
All the stories people suggest that Minecraft have are all generic, convoluted crap. At least the one's I've seen.
Getting Capes for Petty Reasons
Time to be super mean now, again. Stop suggesting getting capes for free or through achievements. Stop making those threads just because "you want a cape really really bad =(" because you're not going to achieve anything.
Unless you host your own server with a cape mod, you're never getting one. Your tears and exponential want for them will remain forever. Come to peace with the fact that a cape will never be yours. Accept this eternal fact, and try to move on with your life.
Dragon Riding
So before get all giddy and overexcited and talk about hatching a dragon and riding one. Search button. Search button until you face falls off.
Extreme Hardcore
Okay, so you get your "extreme hardcore" wish. What if that's also not enough for you, will you ask for Super Hardcore, then Ultra Hardcore, then Super Double Mega No-Erasees Hardcore? Normal Hardcore Mode is quite enough, as one careless lava death will remove that mansion you spent 2 and a half months perfecting.
Please, nobody wants insta-kill Creepers. Nobody wants tools that break randomly despite what the durability was. Nobody wants Skeletons shooting go-thru-walls arrows. That is not how you suggest a good harder difficulty.
New Golems
Cities
Sleeping Without Changing Your Spawn Point
Beds can alter our spawn wherever the hell we want. Amazing right? AND they can skip nights completely, thus helping us dodge hostile mobs and have the sunlight flash on them. COOL OMG. But you get just one spawnpoint in a nearly infinite world. Just one.
This is why you should not suggest sleeping bags or whatever that skip nights but don't change your spawn. As that would be a get-out-of-night free card wherever you go, which is not balanced. You dig?
Prefix/Mashup Mobs
"Introducing the Nether Fish!", "Nether Hound!", "Nether Cat!", "Lava Horse!", "Netherrack Slug!" - please stop. It's not that hard to come up with a more original name.
Another issue is boring mixed-up mobs. You have no idea how tired we are of Ender Creepers. Ugh. If this was 2010, your ideas might be interesting, but we've gotten so many mashup mobs up the farthole that it's older than the oldest type of old. So yeah. Your mob ideas, please do not be uncreative with them.
Extreme-Hindrance Negative Potions
More food that exists just for the sake of existing.
If you're gonna suggest new food, at least try to make it both stand out a bit from the others and fit the game to some extent.
We're tired of suggestions where people get all giddy and excited about adding chocolate milk and caramel apples.
XP Banking
So would storing XP, because since XP levels go up logarithmically, players will just take the super easy road and keep storing more and more by the little amounts when XP level gain is fast.
Temperature
Shaders
Optifine AND after the 1.8 update with the multithreaded stuff. So yeah, let's totally throw in shaders that reflect everything so accurately that everyone PC's cry for mercy. These are what mods are for.
No, making the shaders optional does not save the idea, as it still requires someone to give the horrifying time and testing to implement.
"Endgame" Items
Understand that that can still differ between players.Your Bedrock Pickaxe is still overpowered no matter what the scenario is, and even if you have all the resources you ever need at that point, doesn't that mean the Endgame item is still too much in the end? Because you have a buttload of resources and a godly item? That is suuuuuper deep, think about it.
Senseless, Subjective Gamemodes
"Capture the Flag" or "Kill Da King" would just be alterations of Survival or Adventure, and have no business being placed against the 3 gamemodes we have now. This is what server plugins are for, not for Mojangcrasoft to make for you.
Climbing Up Walls/Grappling Hooks
Long Crafting Lines
BeatsMcGee isn't the brightest. You know what would be more convenient and... overall better? Just being able to craft the hourglass straight away, and not crafting the other senseless crap first.
Villager Builders
No, mentioning how Endermen pick up and put down blocks changes nothing, as Endermen don't exactly build castles. Given the near infinite amount of possibilities with seeds and generation, refining any mob that builds a building would be even harder. This also invites lazy players to mooch other mobs to build stuff for them, rather than players doing that themselves.
Alternate Currency Types
So basically, let's add Object B that's exactly the same as Object A. Why will another mechanic-copy sprite amaze us? That is boring, unfun hair-splitting.
So no, if you post an idea like that, I will not "s-s-support".
Prefix/Pocket Dimensions
Since dimensions are such a huge aspect of the game, they usually require more detail than any other kind of suggestion. So please do not explain a dimension with one vague paragraph.
Decaying Blocks
Yes, when the roof of my mansion starts disappearing, I'm gonna put a dumb, cringeworthy smile on my face and go "I like that! That's realistic and challenging! Grinny grin grin grin!!!!!"
Minecraft 2
"I suggest we have a Minecraft 2, so it can have sharks and bears and cities and knights and all that stuff!"
Though when translated from English to Reality...
"Hey Mojang, make a completely different game with the stuff I want! Support?"
For the game that can just be updated an infinite amount of times, there's no need to waste years and years on some sequel that has no valid reason to exist. Just... no.
Toilets
Yeah man, let's emulate our disgusting bodily functions (you know, the ones that can ruin your day at any moment) on a game where people of almost all ages play. Sitting on a toilet and having to stay for some time doesn't exactly add excitement. If you suggest this, you need to feel embarrassment.
Food Going Bad
Things That Detect Ores
Dimensions Bleeding Into Each Other
If you want something from a dimension, then go to the dimension itself. That's... what... they're for? Herpy herp?
Obtaining in Bedrock in Survival
"We need another ore, because reasons."
Microtransaction DLC's
To anyone who suggests this, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?! I always assume those threads are just troll threads.
In-between tools/weapons/armor
Auuuughh... Stop. Let me clear something up for you. If there's a large gap between tiers, it's not a bad thing. It's not hurting anyone. It's only "bad" because you somehow convinced yourself that it is. "Bridging the gap" is not written in stone.
Oh wait, there's more! Those gaps I just mentioned? They can already be altered, with potions and enchantments. Please, in-between stuff does not accomplish anything heavy. All it does is give us the ability to say "we have [insert new metal here] now!" and be correct. So at least suggest an ore with unique uses instead "here's another round of slight stat-tweaked sprites!!!!"
Biome Nerfs
Giving Animals/Villagers Genders
"Let's do the same thing with villagers, in fact, let's be able to marry them! I had my eye one of those big-nosed unibrowed hotties for quite some time, and I wanna tie that knot!"
"Apocalypse" Gamemodes
Basically just Survival mode, but way, way more limited. Minecraft is not Left 4 Dead that needs some crappy rework of Survival mode that increases in difficulty so much that you're guaranteed to lose eventually.
"Oh but it's to see what high score you can get!!" Who cares? That doesn't warrant the time to program another gamemode. "Dis is for ppl who want a challenje!" Yeah, these ideas start out a challenge, then get so hard that the player can do nothing to stop it.
I get that people want more than Hardcore, so do I, but I think Hardcore is just fine at the highest difficulty. Why? Because no matter how good you are, one careless death deletes 6 months of building that dream world. When you throw in these super overpowered mobs or just limit the player to fighting "waves" of mobs, you're just giving the player a repetitive fraction of Survival mode. No.
Mobs Breaking Blocks
If there's a new type of zombie that can break down my walls, what's the point of even having a shelter? We don't need more mobs that do what the Creeper does. This also risks my world having ugly and unwanted holes drilled into it because a new hulk hogan mob punched his way into a cave I was in. Mojang, it's okay, I know you're smart enough to never add this.
Pointless Player Actions
"We need the ability to blow kisses to each other!" Oooooh we do? Well, I can't imagine that virtually air-kissing someone is gonna get you married anytime soon, and even if it did, it's still a waste of time to program such a corny thing.
"Oh but it would be really funny to players doing this?!" Yeah, maybe for a few hours, and then it would get old. At least have these new player actions be useful in a objective sense, and not a "it would look pretty funny tbh" sense.
Creepypasta Stuff
The game does have some things that can be considered creepy, but that isn't some end-all be-all reasoning to add in crappy jumpscares and malformed things that get in your face. There's nothing wrong with having an idea have small features that can have somewhat of a creep factor, but take note this is a game meant for all ages.
Mixing Potions
I love those.People need to stop suggesting ways to worm around potions being unstackable. They are stackable for a reason, because they are immensely powerful, and it would be a balance holocaust if we could prance around with 12 Strength potions in just one inventory slot.
Drinking an extended Strength potion, then drinking an extended Swiftness one turns you into a steroidy coked-up tank. So yeah, let's ruin the balance of that by having that poured into one bottle. No, making mixed potions weaker to balance it out doesn't make the idea much better, because you're falling into "Less X, more Y" trap.
This would also be horribad on PvP if these can be made into splash potions. Please be better at understanding balance. Thanks in advance.
Too Many Options Within Ideas
This is one of the saddest mistakes someone can make, because some people start out with very creative suggestions, but then water it down with way too many options and alternatives - usually making the idea overpowered - substitute for half of everything in the game.
You want to add a tame-able bird in jungles? That's cool, you know what will take it overboard though? "How y'all whiteys hanging? This new bird can fish, help mine ores, shed feathers, activate nether portals, spit up ender pearls, do calculus, create rifts in time, wedgie creepers, yell at spiders, crush iron into diamonds (birds do that look it up) and speed up furnaces by chirping at them so do you supp- oh wait I forgot one! they also recite any rick moranis quote ever!"
Apart from being overpowered, it would be laborious to remember all of that. This might be hard to believe, but I wouldn't support that bird idea up there.
Ripping Off Other Names and Brands
Do you honestly think in your brain of brains that Mojang will add a sandwich called the "Shaq Pack"? Or the ability to shove fruit in bottles and call them "Fanta"? No, please, I demand an answer for that, because that is a very out-there line of thinking.
Let me guess, you were eating a good sandwich and just thought, "Why does the game not have this?! Why do games not match my very thoughts?"
Ideas With Forced Middle Grounds
Alright, so you're suggesting a new sword called "Thuh Grimme Repaerr!"? Well, that idea alone is terrible, but for the sake of example, let's move forward. So this new sword does extra damage to Nether mobs? Well, what if the sword gets enchantments, then it will be even more powerful and therefore... too powerful.
"Oh, fine! This sword just can't receive enchantments! There, is balanced now!" You know what you did here? You made your weapon have a scrambled, inconsistent combination of mechanics that doesn't follow the game too well just for the sake of forced balance. So now new players will be confused as all hell why Thuh Grimme Repaerr won't work in an enchanting table.
I'll give another example. "I want cars in the game. You heard me, I want vehicles in a blocky game where we swing swords and use cheap cobblestone furnaces, because my concept of game development is abysmal." Yes, it sure is.
So when someone says "Dude, cars are not for Minecraft and are overpowered because they stomp out other forms of travel." Here's the kind of response that fails before takeoff. "Alriiiight fine, the cars will be very simple and need coal to operate. There, now you have to support." I do support, but only if the cars were replaced with something better and completely unrelated to cars.
Ideas With Long, Contrived Names
If a Nether mob has a name of "The Ultimate King of The Lava World", I am unsupporting that crap so fast, and would probably just stop reading the rest of the suggestion. I don't want a sword in the game called "The Mega Mega Ultra Mega Triple Junior Senior Sophomore Sword of Hurts!" That makes people cringe and is something a joke thread would have.
Keep the names short sweet and to the point, rather than using an entire sentence.
Stupid Methods Of Taming A Mob
Some ideas of tame-mobs are so powerful, that suggesters use the good mindset of "powerful mob = hard to control at first" which is sensible. But some people suggest so over-the-top methods of taming a mob that half of your gameplay would be based on that and not... playing the game.
I don't want to get raw steak, cook the steak, craft it with gold to create "shimmering steak", then have to plant new crops to make steak sauce, then craft "A1 steak", then leave said steak hovering over new a emerald end portal for 2 minecraft days while I think about cheetos. And then feed it to my new mob just so it can ram hostile mobs for 1 damage.
Really, ALL that for a goat? Did you fail suggestions school but bribe the professors for an A?
Making The Hunger Bar Optional
No.
I'll be honest, the hunger bar can get on my nerves too, but I don't go throw a tantrum and try to will it to be removed from the game.
Yes, you do have to micromanage it, but guess what? It paved the way the for many things? It gave us more reason to breed animals, to farm, food to be stackable and to have the ability to sprint and regenerate health. I can't even imagine the amount of hate I'm gonna get for this, but hunger improved the flow of gameplay.
There are way, way too many features and activities that focus on the mechanic of hunger, so making it optional is off the table now.
Things That Grab Players/Halt Their Movement
Yeah, so let's add that annoying garbage to Minecraft! Good thinking! What puzzles me is why the a suggester would even want this. "I want an enemy to grab me and dangle me over a cliff! That's fun for me! I'd grin at that! I think other players will too!" No, your brain is wrong and you need a new one.
It doesn't matter if the player grabbing this is super rare or easy to avoid, the concept overall is annoying and shouldn't be in the game at all.
Overdone Magic Stuff
I love the Elder Scrolls games as much as the next girl, but that doesn't mean I want to steal a bag of "magic related ideas" from the government and just dump it all into Minecraft. These suggestions seem to have the classic "it was in another game so it'll be good for this game too! my thoughts are awesome!"
We have potions and enchantments as our magic. We don't need to add micromanagey mana systems and a thousand other weird "magic rules" that we have to remember for all these wands and books and scrolls and crap. It's not the end of the world to suggest something involving magic, but we don't need some overdone, convoluted magic overhaul because 8,000 other games have it.
Disabling Mobs
Or perhaps understand that a mob is part of the game and create a tactic for killing them? What if those mean creepers were removed, and then another mob became an annoyance for you, does that mean we have to remove that mob too?
What if that mob you want gone drops very crucial things? A mob is not gonna be cut from the game because you don't like it.
Upgrades from the Crafting Bench
"Let's tame everything!!!"
Another thing people do is suggest 8 new animals mobs and present that ALL of them can be tamed. Why? The wolf does his job and is balanced as is, and the Iron Golem will shred anyone near you but is more expensive. We don't need these boring copies of tamed mobs that all do the same thing. Be original please thanks in advance.
"Let's have an option for 1.9 combat!"
I will dropkick you in the throat if I see that terrible idea again. 1.9 is a permanent update, not an "option". The combat changes were there for a reason, whether you like them or not. There is no sense in turning off the entire point of an update because you don't like change. You are more than welcome to play an older version.
This is the result of people's brains thinking, "everyone wins if we make it an option!" when all it does is split up the playerbase. If something is reasonable and balanced, there is no sense whatsoever in making it an option. Otherwise that leaves people to manage two types of gameplay instead of one because of what a hair-splitting option brings.
There's a hundred things I don't like in games, but I understand why they're there. You can't just have everything "toggleable". That is a lazy way of thinking and is bad game design.
Crafting Spawn Eggs
Kinda ruins the point or survival if I can be Victor Frankenstein can create a mob? I guess we don't need breeding anymore, or night time to spawn the hostiles. Guys, Mojang not having spawn eggs is in survival is not a mistake.
Paint
This idea isn't as bad as most of the others, but this is overspoiling and too much of a good thing. The bloated amount of colors people suggest gives too much to keep track of.
Quests
If you suggest this, be prepared for me to say "no support" in your thread. That will happen. I'll make sure of it.
"We need more inventory slots!"
Starting a thread out with "I keep running out of space and I needily deedily need more!" doesn't prove anything. This is why types of storage exist, to make more space for yourself. I wouldn't be very balanced to be able to carry 1/4 of the entire Minecraft world in our inventory.
I'm sure not every suggestion like this will be the worst thing ever, but the amount of "backpacksss" suggestions I see here are enough for this entry to exist. So what if you get 5 extra slots? What if that's not enough? Do we need 10 more? Then another 20?
Extra slots can pave the way to horrid unbalancedness. Because you can carry 5 extra strength potions or another 6 stacks of diamonds. There's enough storage methods in the game to move the contents of an entire drug empire. Please take that into consideration before begging for more passive slots.
The Unofficial Suggestion Guide - Everything you need to know to not make goofy mistakes in a suggestion! Honestly though, you should really go there.
Good thing that the new thread is a bit less aggressive, and easier to read. I also see that you must have used my really old and bad suggestion as an example(Mobs dropping custom loot which has the "Nether Sword").
But either way, more examples for some of the sections would be nice though.
Check out my PvP map Here!
Check out my website Here!Website is down until further notice.How about re-adding the part where posters jump in someone else's suggestion and go "yeah this idea is pretty cool but hey check out MINE!"
Yeah, that guy in the avatar is me. I'm *that* strange. It happens. Sometimes people act like that. Just go with it. I can offer help with suggestions even before you post them - NOT make your suggestions - but help you with them.
Unofficial Suggestions Guide (2.0) - by Theriasis
Unofficial Critics Guide - by yoshi9048
Yeah, I think that section should come back too. Isn't it against the rules to advertise your suggestion on other people's suggestions?
Check out my PvP map Here!
Check out my website Here!Website is down until further notice.Hmm, I agree on principle. Gotta word this so that championing a similar but much better article is excluded here.
Essentially, linking to an unrelated suggestion should be a nono, but linking to an objectively superior suggestion should be endorsed. I may be in the wrong here, but I'd personally want to see that.
OFFICIAL POSTING/REPLYING GUIDELINES
UNOFFICIAL POSTING GUIDE (PRT)
UNOFFICIAL REPLYING GUIDE (FTC)
If a superior thread is endorsed, couldn't it lead to the original thread appearing conquered by linking to a thread that is much more dominant? To me, it sounds like whoever would do that would lead their thread to its own demise.
Though for a section covering about linking other threads or websites, that's not a bad idea. Perhaps it can also cover what the old guide covered such as "Linking to another website that explains what the suggestion is" and could possibly state more.
You got that in reverse. I mean, linking from an inferior suggestion to a superior one. It's very much a critic's job type of deal. There is no point doing a reverse link from good to crap. The idea is to take the positive support from one suggestion and move it to a better example of the same suggestion. This is what I was talking about with championing.
Of course, rereading your point, there is no person in their right mind that would link their own crappy suggestion to a subjectively better one. That's suicidal. However, these people would likewise go into a better thread to get support of their own inferior one.
Thread hijacking isn't fun, but sometimes has to be done to remove redundancy.
OFFICIAL POSTING/REPLYING GUIDELINES
UNOFFICIAL POSTING GUIDE (PRT)
UNOFFICIAL REPLYING GUIDE (FTC)
Added a new section: "Suggestion Collaboration"
The Unofficial Suggestion Guide - Everything you need to know to not make goofy mistakes in a suggestion! Honestly though, you should really go there.
I have to agree. I'm no great artist, so whenever I still made suggestions here, I would always credit others who contributed directly to the thread.
It gets a bit murky when you're dealing with paraphrased content. (AKA, I suggest you add a section about X with ABC features and you rewrite my post in your own words. Who does the attribution go to? You for rewriting? Or the person that originally gave you the direct inspiration?) In these cases, I still try to credit them or state that they directly inspired (or reworded from post X).
So perhaps add in the "murky unclear" thing I mentioned with a little case of "better safe than sorry".
OFFICIAL POSTING/REPLYING GUIDELINES
UNOFFICIAL POSTING GUIDE (PRT)
UNOFFICIAL REPLYING GUIDE (FTC)