Not sure if this violates the "don't post more than one suggestion per thread" thing, but they all fall under the same category, so I'll give it a whirl anyhow, for the purposes of uniting what I think is a pretty common idea under one thread.
I think it would be a great idea to be able to attract / repel certain mobs, as this would make the process of farming sheep and pigs a lot easier, as well as maybe making it possible to keep undesirable mobs out of one's base. There are a couple different ideas I've heard and come up with on my own, so here they are:
For attracting: Pigs, Sheep, livestock mobs in general: I think this would be a good chance to make Gold an actual useful material, in that you could craft six gold bars into a Cowbell which, when rung (in the form of "attacking" the air) makes your position more attractive to nearby livestock mobs.
Edit: added suggestion for blueprint for Cowbell: [gold]
[gold] [gold]
[gold] [gold] [gold] Hostile Mobs: credit goes to MarkofBear for this one, and it's a pretty simple and nice one, I think. Either make meat a placeable half-block or something, or simply toss it on the ground, and zombies, skellies, creepers, and other hostile mobs that may be implemented will be summoned to the meat. It should probably disappear after a while, but it's useful for setting up traps, as well as throwing chasing mobs off your trail if you're trying to get away.
For repelling: Livestock mobs: Maybe there should be a certain weed that grows in the wild that animals just don't like? If you could place that weed on your walls (a la torches), it would make your base unattractive to wandering (and spawning, hopefully) livestock. This is useful for people tired of their bases being so inundated with pigs that they can't walk around. Hostile Mobs: I think Light should actually be -repellent- to hostile mobs, as in, they actually do not want to go near it at all. In the daylight this could lead to mobs that don't die in sunlight (creepers, spiders) simply being disoriented and easier to engage.
Credit to Quatroking, also, for suggesting that both hostile and livestock mobs possess a healthy fear of Fire from Flint and Steel, which I think is suitably realistic and useful if you want mobs to just leave you alone but don't have torches or weeds.
So that's my hulk of a suggestion ball. Thoughts? (if I left out any brainstormers from #minecraft please let me know and I'll add your credit. Pretty sure I got most everyone though >_>)
Hopefully Notch will fix the HOLY **** SEA OF PIGS. Light as a repellent is a good idea for Spiders and Undead but sounds like they would rather avoid light than attack (just seems like something minecraft mobs would do). Rather than a cowbell there could be another type of plat that has the opposite effect of the smelly-weed? It's a use for gold but a bell attracting mobs seems, I dunno, weird. Meat attraction is a bad ass idea, assuming mobs don't target you as well as they do now.
There really needs to be some way to deal with the creeper spam that comes even when mobs are spawning in the proper amount. I don't think every mob should avoid the light, because that would be too simple a way of dealing with creepers which I see as more of a 'day time in the shadows' enemy in the first place. I think they'd come from bogs(Shady + shallow water) or woods, one or the other. Perhaps the depressed looking Creepers would avoid cheery hopping livestock, so there's actually a point to having some around, just not everywhere. That would also make people more inclined to pen the animals in as they provide some safety.
I like the idea of having some kind of wall hanging tiles to ward off livestock, or at least prevent them from spawning nearby.
Well, I guess I favor a cowbell over some persuasion of "pignip" in that you can use it without it running out. (Although maybe pignip wouldn't run out either?)
I guess a solid positive for pignip is that it sort of leads to natural farms existing on their own in the wild, which would be neat.
What if the added silver, a blueish grey metal that you could refine that did several different things.
1. you could make weapons that did more damage to "evil" mods like the skeletons zombies and (vampires?)
2. you could craft a silver cross [iron]
[iron] [iron] [iron] [iron]
the cross would repel evil mobs
That, um... seems like an interesting idea, but I do have the following criticisms.
Crosses are pretty much vampire-specific. That and the religious connotations that I feel like Notch just wouldn't want to delve into make it seem like it wouldn't be a very viable weapon or mob repellent.
That and it sort of assumes mobs like zombies, skeletons, and maybe even creepers are evil. I'm not sure I think so!
But, as for the idea of a certain weapon holding repellent properties towards hostile mobs... ... well, that sounds good at first, but... the whole reason you have a weapon is to engage mobs. If they're repelled by your weapon it seems like it'd make your job slaying them kind of too easy, doesn't it?
And sort of a jerk thing to do, slaying poor creepers as they're trying to flee your offensive blade.
Skeletons and zombies come off as evil conniving scoundrels. But despite creepers being one of the worst enemies I've encountered, at least statistically, they always seem like they're just doing their job. Maybe it's the frown.
As for the silver thing, that all came from the Roman Catholics, the idea that you could use pure silver, blessed in a cathedral to slay evil entities. Needless to say, that was merged into Werewolf lore. Cross is a bad idea cuz someone will get offended, either a non-christian, or a really hardcore one.
But, yeah, if anything you'd want in a weapon to influence mob behavior, it would be for them to stop what they're doing and come towards you without actively attacking.
But really, what I'd want is a sword that makes anything approach me burst into flames.
I think it would be a great idea to be able to attract / repel certain mobs, as this would make the process of farming sheep and pigs a lot easier, as well as maybe making it possible to keep undesirable mobs out of one's base. There are a couple different ideas I've heard and come up with on my own, so here they are:
For attracting:
Pigs, Sheep, livestock mobs in general: I think this would be a good chance to make Gold an actual useful material, in that you could craft six gold bars into a Cowbell which, when rung (in the form of "attacking" the air) makes your position more attractive to nearby livestock mobs.
Edit: added suggestion for blueprint for Cowbell:
[gold]
[gold] [gold] [gold]
Hostile Mobs: credit goes to MarkofBear for this one, and it's a pretty simple and nice one, I think. Either make meat a placeable half-block or something, or simply toss it on the ground, and zombies, skellies, creepers, and other hostile mobs that may be implemented will be summoned to the meat. It should probably disappear after a while, but it's useful for setting up traps, as well as throwing chasing mobs off your trail if you're trying to get away.
For repelling:
Livestock mobs: Maybe there should be a certain weed that grows in the wild that animals just don't like? If you could place that weed on your walls (a la torches), it would make your base unattractive to wandering (and spawning, hopefully) livestock. This is useful for people tired of their bases being so inundated with pigs that they can't walk around.
Hostile Mobs: I think Light should actually be -repellent- to hostile mobs, as in, they actually do not want to go near it at all. In the daylight this could lead to mobs that don't die in sunlight (creepers, spiders) simply being disoriented and easier to engage.
Credit to Quatroking, also, for suggesting that both hostile and livestock mobs possess a healthy fear of Fire from Flint and Steel, which I think is suitably realistic and useful if you want mobs to just leave you alone but don't have torches or weeds.
So that's my hulk of a suggestion ball. Thoughts? (if I left out any brainstormers from #minecraft please let me know and I'll add your credit. Pretty sure I got most everyone though >_>)
I like the idea of having some kind of wall hanging tiles to ward off livestock, or at least prevent them from spawning nearby.
I guess a solid positive for pignip is that it sort of leads to natural farms existing on their own in the wild, which would be neat.
And can you tell I like saying pignip?
1. you could make weapons that did more damage to "evil" mods like the skeletons zombies and (vampires?)
2. you could craft a silver cross
[iron] [iron] [iron]
the cross would repel evil mobs
Crosses are pretty much vampire-specific. That and the religious connotations that I feel like Notch just wouldn't want to delve into make it seem like it wouldn't be a very viable weapon or mob repellent.
That and it sort of assumes mobs like zombies, skeletons, and maybe even creepers are evil. I'm not sure I think so!
But, as for the idea of a certain weapon holding repellent properties towards hostile mobs... ... well, that sounds good at first, but... the whole reason you have a weapon is to engage mobs. If they're repelled by your weapon it seems like it'd make your job slaying them kind of too easy, doesn't it?
And sort of a jerk thing to do, slaying poor creepers as they're trying to flee your offensive blade.
As for the silver thing, that all came from the Roman Catholics, the idea that you could use pure silver, blessed in a cathedral to slay evil entities. Needless to say, that was merged into Werewolf lore. Cross is a bad idea cuz someone will get offended, either a non-christian, or a really hardcore one.
But, yeah, if anything you'd want in a weapon to influence mob behavior, it would be for them to stop what they're doing and come towards you without actively attacking.
But really, what I'd want is a sword that makes anything approach me burst into flames.
Defend your words flexibly.
Change your words fittingly.
Let prejudice, popular opinion, and preconception be free from your judgments.
Enemies you don't like. Throw meat all around their house.
Observe.