Sorry for lots of text and no pictures or concept art but please bare with me here. Also I hope this hasn't been suggested before and I'm sorry if it has.
Intro
Ever since hunger was added and passive mobs stopped despawning/respawning, people have been gathering pigs, cows, sheep and chickens behind fences and breeding them for an easy to access food source. Well that's great and all, but when it comes down to it, it's boring. Why is it boring? Because that's all there is to it. You gather them, breed them, and then slaughter them for their precious meat and other goodies. Where is the excitement? Almost everything in the world of Minecraft seems to care less about these animals (aside from wolves attacking sheep and ocelots attacking chickens) and that doesn't make much sense. How can there not be a single mob that hunts (again, aside from wolves and ocelots blah blah blah..). So here is my idea:
The Enemy
Similar to how zombies can spawn to attack villagers, there should be a new mob that has a chance to spawn nearby groups of passive mobs. This mob could also spawn out in the wild, but should probably have a lower spawn chance (maybe around that of Endermen), so that they aren't spawning constantly and killing off all the passive mobs. This would give you more incentive to stay up at night and make sure your farm animals will be safe (well, at least until you slaughter them for food). What the mob would be I haven't really figured out, but I thought it could either be based off the mythical Chupacabra (in which case it would attack and kill mobs) or something less creepy like a fox-like mob (which would snatch the animal and attempt to run away with it rather than kill it).
This by itself would encourage more people to not only stay up to guard their farm, but to learn more about trap setting. Basic redstone traps have their limits though, so how about golems? The iron golem is a good candidate, but it would end up chasing after zombies eventually and would abandon the farm. Perhaps snow golems? Nah, didn't think so. What about some new golems?
The Solution
New golems? Pretty sure that idea has been brought up a lot already, but here it goes again with my take on it and how they would work.
Basically the golems would remain stationary, would look like stone totem polls, and be around the same height as iron golems. There would be three types of golems, all of which would attack hostile mobs, mobs (or players) that have done damage to the golem's creator, or any mob (or player) that the golem's creator damages. The inspiration for these golems comes mainly from tower defense games and the three most basic tower types you can find in basically any tower defense game. Not only would these mobs be good for defending your farm, but they would also be great defenses in general. The basic idea for the mobs are: Stone Golem - Made from Stone Bricks and uses a ranged attack. Crumbling Stone Golem - Made from Cracked Stone Brick. Has a close range AOE (area of effect) type attack. Ancient Stone Golem - Made from Mossy Stone Brick. Uses vines to temporarily slow down the enemy. Does no damage.
This way everyone would be able to create the basic Stone Golem fairly easily, but would have to work a little harder if they wanted to really up their defenses by creating the Crumbling and Ancient Stone Golem.
So that's all I got for now. Tell me what you think of this idea in the comments, and don't be afraid to tell me it sucks.
I'm always up for some sort of auto-defense option, though I usually envision it being powered by redstone, but golems could work too. With all the awesome construction options Minecraft allows us, my instinct has always been to turtle up in a heavily-fortified and armed fortress, but alas, Minecraft doesn't really give us options in the way of mounted base defense weaponry.
As for your suggestion with the animal pack spawning to try to kill your flock/herd, I see no reason to add an entirely new mob just for that. It would work just as well to have it be a pack of wolves or ocelots depending on the biome you're in/near.
That's not helpful at all.
Anyway this idea doesn't particularly encourage players to stay up at night. If you sleep through the night, no mobs will spawn that haven't already. Thus what you are left with is an idea that promotes camping around your farm constantly. This keeps you from doing other things, like mining for golem materials.
On the other hand, if you made existing mobs attack cattle, this may encourage players to protect their cattle earlier on with fences and the like.
That's not helpful at all.
Anyway this idea doesn't particularly encourage players to stay up at night. If you sleep through the night, no mobs will spawn that haven't already. Thus what you are left with is an idea that promotes camping around your farm constantly. This keeps you from doing other things, like mining for golem materials.
On the other hand, if you made existing mobs attack cattle, this may encourage players to protect their cattle earlier on with fences and the like.
I'd rather have a mob that with its presence, sends your animals into a frenzy (Like when you hit them) until its gone.
Maybe have the animals harm you if they're in a frenzy (Very low, like 1/2 a heart) so that it makes you even more inclined to get rid of it.
Intro
Ever since hunger was added and passive mobs stopped despawning/respawning, people have been gathering pigs, cows, sheep and chickens behind fences and breeding them for an easy to access food source. Well that's great and all, but when it comes down to it, it's boring. Why is it boring? Because that's all there is to it. You gather them, breed them, and then slaughter them for their precious meat and other goodies. Where is the excitement? Almost everything in the world of Minecraft seems to care less about these animals (aside from wolves attacking sheep and ocelots attacking chickens) and that doesn't make much sense. How can there not be a single mob that hunts (again, aside from wolves and ocelots blah blah blah..). So here is my idea:
The Enemy
Similar to how zombies can spawn to attack villagers, there should be a new mob that has a chance to spawn nearby groups of passive mobs. This mob could also spawn out in the wild, but should probably have a lower spawn chance (maybe around that of Endermen), so that they aren't spawning constantly and killing off all the passive mobs. This would give you more incentive to stay up at night and make sure your farm animals will be safe (well, at least until you slaughter them for food). What the mob would be I haven't really figured out, but I thought it could either be based off the mythical Chupacabra (in which case it would attack and kill mobs) or something less creepy like a fox-like mob (which would snatch the animal and attempt to run away with it rather than kill it).
This by itself would encourage more people to not only stay up to guard their farm, but to learn more about trap setting. Basic redstone traps have their limits though, so how about golems? The iron golem is a good candidate, but it would end up chasing after zombies eventually and would abandon the farm. Perhaps snow golems? Nah, didn't think so. What about some new golems?
The Solution
New golems? Pretty sure that idea has been brought up a lot already, but here it goes again with my take on it and how they would work.
Basically the golems would remain stationary, would look like stone totem polls, and be around the same height as iron golems. There would be three types of golems, all of which would attack hostile mobs, mobs (or players) that have done damage to the golem's creator, or any mob (or player) that the golem's creator damages. The inspiration for these golems comes mainly from tower defense games and the three most basic tower types you can find in basically any tower defense game. Not only would these mobs be good for defending your farm, but they would also be great defenses in general. The basic idea for the mobs are:
Stone Golem - Made from Stone Bricks and uses a ranged attack.
Crumbling Stone Golem - Made from Cracked Stone Brick. Has a close range AOE (area of effect) type attack.
Ancient Stone Golem - Made from Mossy Stone Brick. Uses vines to temporarily slow down the enemy. Does no damage.
This way everyone would be able to create the basic Stone Golem fairly easily, but would have to work a little harder if they wanted to really up their defenses by creating the Crumbling and Ancient Stone Golem.
So that's all I got for now. Tell me what you think of this idea in the comments, and don't be afraid to tell me it sucks.
As for your suggestion with the animal pack spawning to try to kill your flock/herd, I see no reason to add an entirely new mob just for that. It would work just as well to have it be a pack of wolves or ocelots depending on the biome you're in/near.
That's not helpful at all.
Anyway this idea doesn't particularly encourage players to stay up at night. If you sleep through the night, no mobs will spawn that haven't already. Thus what you are left with is an idea that promotes camping around your farm constantly. This keeps you from doing other things, like mining for golem materials.
On the other hand, if you made existing mobs attack cattle, this may encourage players to protect their cattle earlier on with fences and the like.
As for the idea of a mob or mobs attacking passive ones, that might be interesting if done right.
It's an option in the poll, so...
I am ninja'd far too often.
Maybe have the animals harm you if they're in a frenzy (Very low, like 1/2 a heart) so that it makes you even more inclined to get rid of it.
Oh. Yeah. Sorry.