Whatever your opinion on the new trading economy in Minecraft, it has brought one often-requested feature to the game. It is finally possible, through trades, to get chain armour legitimately. That makes the chain set something unique. It is an item that is only available through trading.You can play the game for as long as you like, but unless you find a village, you won't be getting any chainmail.
How much of an incentive is that to trade, though? It's not always easy to find a village in the first place. Then you have to luck out and have the armour pieces actually being offered. Once you've managed that though, there's still the emeralds to earn. Then, after all that work, you'll finally have armour that...well, it's kind of crap. Much like Gold, the best thing about chain is just to show off that you have it. Unless you meet all the conditions early, and can't find any cows, the odds of you getting much use out of a set of chain armour aren't very high at all.
So, in the end, it seems that chain armour is just a solitary diversion. It's an interesting thing to note, but not of practical value. However, it raises an interesting question. What if there were other items that could only be obtained from villagers? Rather than a way to turn a sugarcane farm into sets of diamond equipment, what if the main draw of villages was to get items you can't find anywhere else? Would people be more, or less likely to use villages if they had more unique items? One of the best things about trading, is that you don't have to explain where the NPCs got their supplies from. Among other things, this makes it perfect for adding some of the unused items to the game. For example:
Quiver- Many people remember the quiver. It's something Notch added, then later scrapped because it had no use. So, why would you want it? Well, the quiver could function as "bulk" ammo. If present, its durability will be used up in place of arrows. It would have more uses than a full stack of arrows, letting you fire more shots from less inventory space.
Crying Obsidian - I'm sure a lot of people are sick of hearing requests for this block to be added. Why not make it a rare find from the blacksmith. After all, he has a lot of lava. The beauty is, this one doesn't really need to do anything. It could just be a damage value of regular Obsidian, doing all the same things but looking fancy.
Mob Eggs - This one might seem a bit controversial, but to explain, I do not mean things like Creepers and Zombies. Villagers would sell spawn eggs for Sheep, Pigs, Chickens, and Cows. How does this help? Well, it's a very convenient way to start a farm. Also, this would allow a chunk to be repopulated if its native mobs have somehow suffered extinction.
Music Disks - There are currently two songs that cannot be obtained through normal means. Specifically, "Where Are We Now" and the infamous "Disk 11". So, pretty straightforward...why not buy them?
Now, these are only examples of things that the resources already exist for. Really, villagers could trade just about anything, if you accept the idea of them being able to make items the player can't. How about a "Magic Book" that opens the trade menu anywhere, any time, but has limited uses? What about a hammer that has lots of knockback on mobs and quickly smashes many blocks, but leaves no drops? Maybe villages could be the place to go for an improved fishing rod, or mob bait that distracts all the nasties out there...at least until they eat it. Really, I think that the possibilities are just about endless.
I've seen a lot of backpack suggestions, but for me it always comes down to a question of where you would even put the extra slots. Not going to say that it would be a bad idea, though I think that the addition of the Ender Chest has suggested a better way to do it. First off, maybe less a backpack and more a Bindle. It would have a limited storage, like a dispenser, but like an Ender Chest not require a permanent location to access it from, meaning you could go into the Bindle-inventory by right clicking with it on your hotbar.
As for bamboo, I've seen the suggestion for it before, and it's a good one. Honestly, though, I prefer the implementation presented in the main bamboo thread for that. Having a plant you can grow, but is not found growing anywhere would seem a little odd.
How much of an incentive is that to trade, though? It's not always easy to find a village in the first place. Then you have to luck out and have the armour pieces actually being offered. Once you've managed that though, there's still the emeralds to earn. Then, after all that work, you'll finally have armour that...well, it's kind of crap. Much like Gold, the best thing about chain is just to show off that you have it. Unless you meet all the conditions early, and can't find any cows, the odds of you getting much use out of a set of chain armour aren't very high at all.
So, in the end, it seems that chain armour is just a solitary diversion. It's an interesting thing to note, but not of practical value. However, it raises an interesting question. What if there were other items that could only be obtained from villagers? Rather than a way to turn a sugarcane farm into sets of diamond equipment, what if the main draw of villages was to get items you can't find anywhere else? Would people be more, or less likely to use villages if they had more unique items? One of the best things about trading, is that you don't have to explain where the NPCs got their supplies from. Among other things, this makes it perfect for adding some of the unused items to the game. For example:
Quiver - Many people remember the quiver. It's something Notch added, then later scrapped because it had no use. So, why would you want it? Well, the quiver could function as "bulk" ammo. If present, its durability will be used up in place of arrows. It would have more uses than a full stack of arrows, letting you fire more shots from less inventory space.
Crying Obsidian - I'm sure a lot of people are sick of hearing requests for this block to be added. Why not make it a rare find from the blacksmith. After all, he has a lot of lava. The beauty is, this one doesn't really need to do anything. It could just be a damage value of regular Obsidian, doing all the same things but looking fancy.
Mob Eggs - This one might seem a bit controversial, but to explain, I do not mean things like Creepers and Zombies. Villagers would sell spawn eggs for Sheep, Pigs, Chickens, and Cows. How does this help? Well, it's a very convenient way to start a farm. Also, this would allow a chunk to be repopulated if its native mobs have somehow suffered extinction.
Music Disks - There are currently two songs that cannot be obtained through normal means. Specifically, "Where Are We Now" and the infamous "Disk 11". So, pretty straightforward...why not buy them?
Now, these are only examples of things that the resources already exist for. Really, villagers could trade just about anything, if you accept the idea of them being able to make items the player can't. How about a "Magic Book" that opens the trade menu anywhere, any time, but has limited uses? What about a hammer that has lots of knockback on mobs and quickly smashes many blocks, but leaves no drops? Maybe villages could be the place to go for an improved fishing rod, or mob bait that distracts all the nasties out there...at least until they eat it. Really, I think that the possibilities are just about endless.
I've seen a lot of backpack suggestions, but for me it always comes down to a question of where you would even put the extra slots. Not going to say that it would be a bad idea, though I think that the addition of the Ender Chest has suggested a better way to do it. First off, maybe less a backpack and more a Bindle. It would have a limited storage, like a dispenser, but like an Ender Chest not require a permanent location to access it from, meaning you could go into the Bindle-inventory by right clicking with it on your hotbar.
As for bamboo, I've seen the suggestion for it before, and it's a good one. Honestly, though, I prefer the implementation presented in the main bamboo thread for that. Having a plant you can grow, but is not found growing anywhere would seem a little odd.
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Retired StaffGee, you mean like... melons?
And on the note of the suggestion, I very much agree. There should be USEFUL items you can only get from trade.
Ah, touché. Heh. (They really need to do something about that.)
Anyway, thanks for your support!