I do appreciate the addition of blackstone which can be found in the nether
now I can make my roads in my worlds look like they are made of tarmac or asphalt, instead of cobblestone which to be honest doesn't look all that great as it is the same shade of colour as regular stone, just with a different texture.
I do wish that we had a more brownish version of cobblestone to make it look like the roads are dirty and covered in debris, dust and soil, which they generally are.
And about this guys video (wattles) yeah a blackstone base in the nether would be really cool.
But there are so many more designs this material could be used for, even checkerboard slab flooring thanks to also quartz.
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But I mean... why would there be major changes? Why would any game drastically change in any update? In theory there could be a Minecraft 2 with significantly different gameplay. But in 99.99% of games you'd be extremely lucky to even get a bug fix after 11 years, let alone the kind of updates Minecraft is still getting, especially if you only pay for it once.
Edit: That's not to say it wouldn't be fun to get a new game mode. But no sane person would ask for a new game mode for Left 4 Dead 2 or Resident Evil 5 or Modern Warfare 2.
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I was mining obsidian once with running water over it to make sure my newly-mined obsidian didn't fall into the lava beneath. I kind of assumed if I mined the block directly beneath me, the water would turn any lava below that to obsidian before I could fall in. Nope. I dropped into the lava, then the block above me was turned into obsidian an instant later, sealing me in.
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This is good to know. Endermen seem to love my house and put grass and sand all over it. I'm kind of sick of it looking messed up every time I go inside. To make it worse, my flying machine elevator got broken and I can only assume it was because of a rogue grass or sand block that stopped the machine from stopping where it should. It took about an hour to build and there's no way I can work out how to fix it without starting from scratch, and I just can't be bothered. I think I'm just going to stop them picking up anything in my world.
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So far the only thing I've really done with blackstone is use the polished version to make a kind of leather sofa (edit: that's not to say I don't think it has a lot of uses - I just haven't needed it yet) :
For a checked black and white floor I prefer polished basalt, which goes nicely with quartz pillars. Personally I think blackstone looks a bit too rough to alternate with quartz. In the past I've used black concrete but it's a bit intense.
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As far as I know you can grow trees in any biome and it will have a chance to spawn a bee nest, but the tree needs to grow within 2 blocks of a flower.
https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Beehive#Saplings
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Bee nests are most common in plains biomes. I see them all the time. Otherwise you can keep growing oak or birch trees next to flowers for a 5% chance it will grow with a bee nest on it.
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Not quite sure I understand most of the criticisms here. Maybe it's because I haven't played the game often enough, but I don't know. I love the "cosmetic" changes because they bring so much more life to the world and add more options for building, which does seem to be primarily what the game is about.
That said, the reason I haven't played the game that much (I keep dipping in and out) is I get deep into it, then get bored because I stop finding reasons to do things. I've never been to the the End because in order to keep playing the game I have to keep having something to build up to. I've only properly explored the Nether recently and I've never been to an ocean monument for the same reason. Once I've done all those things I don't think just acquiring more blocks to build with is enough to keep me hooked.
So on the one hand, I don't want the game to be changed too much. The devs have to be very careful not to change what people have loved about this game for 11 years. But on the other hand, I feel like it does need something more, so I can get behind the idea of a new game mode. What I have always wanted is something that makes building better and stronger bases more necessary. Something like raids but with mobs that will actively try to break through or climb your walls. Maybe this means bigger raids that target your base and aren't easily thwarted by a 2 block high wall. Maybe the raiders have TNT or pickaxes. Or maybe zombies, skeletons, creepers and spiders can go into "raid mode" and actively try to get into your base. Creepers can already destroy your walls, and spiders can already climb them, so they just need to be "motivated" to do so. Maybe you have a fixed block or villager you need to protect against raids that keep get tougher. You can build all sorts of traps and defences in Minecraft, but they're mostly for show when you can just build dirt walls with enough room inside for chests, furnaces, an anvil, etc. It could be a lot of fun to have to keep building traps, moats, chokepoints and stronger and stronger walls (if you could find stronger building materials than stone a bit later in the game).