I've seen a couple of posts where people talk about Bats needing a purpose. I think they are fine how they are, but in thinking about it a little more I think there is an opportunity to add a little something to the game on harder levels by making an addition to bats.
Change bats so that they can be scouts for hostile mobs.
Let's say you're exploring a cave and there are some mobs in another chamber 20 or 30 blocks away from you. Generally speaking they will just sit there, but they won't come after you because you're too far away for their coding to notice that you're around. Now add a bat to the mix, a bat flies by you and parks himself on a ledge, with bats as scouts for other mobs, those mobs that are 20 or 30 blocks away will now know where you are as long as that bat is alive, and will pathfind their way to you.
By adding this, bats will still remain relatively harmless to the player, but they add a very dangerous function that will have you actively looking for and eradicating.
The irony of course is that bats are blind so them acting as scouts or spotters for mobs is a little silly.
Change bats so that they can be scouts for hostile mobs.
Let's say you're exploring a cave and there are some mobs in another chamber 20 or 30 blocks away from you. Generally speaking they will just sit there, but they won't come after you because you're too far away for their coding to notice that you're around. Now add a bat to the mix, a bat flies by you and parks himself on a ledge, with bats as scouts for other mobs, those mobs that are 20 or 30 blocks away will now know where you are as long as that bat is alive, and will pathfind their way to you.
By adding this, bats will still remain relatively harmless to the player, but they add a very dangerous function that will have you actively looking for and eradicating.
The irony of course is that bats are blind so them acting as scouts or spotters for mobs is a little silly.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0OtPNZX22RvZVeq4-dHa8GYKOc5lojKX
Bats are not blind, they have relatively good eyesight.
Also, their echolocation works just fine for the purpose anyway.
Good God, no support.
Enderpearls need more uses! Go to http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1584591-ender-dust/ to fix that!