I've got a few things to say about this update, but moreso about the community.
This is not end game.
Being snippy at each other over what is and isn't good about the update a day into it is pretty ridiculous. Especially when many of the comments are laced with insults and biased opinions. Being a WoW player, I've come to realize that everyone finds the game something different. It means something different. Some treat it like a job, others treat it like a game, some treat it as both and can separate it when needed. There are many ways to 'view' a game, so people who say Minecraft is hard, ridiculous, annoying or otherwise, it is a personal perspective.
But if there is one absolute thing to take note, is that this is a PC game. This isn't the old days where you go and buy your cartridge and play the game, then write up an opinion about how crap or great it was and whether you lost your money. This is a game that grows and changes with time. Which means it is never end game. Things change, and we have absolutely no clue what Mojang has in store. For all you people whining about it being too hard or annoying, perhaps Mojang is implementing one piece at a time into the larger new difficulty system that will balance out the rest of the game. For all the people whining it is too easy or simple, perhaps Mojang hasn't implemented the pieces that would make the game difficult for you.
The point is, you're judging a project before it's even done. And it's never done as far as we can tell. No doubt there will be many modders who go about making a simpler version of the game in the next few days. No doubt there will be many who increase the difficulty even more. We have options. Minecraft doesn't have to be played by any other person's rules than your own, and the choices and mods you put into it. While we don't have something customization on the level of say, the Sims or Sim City, we nonetheless have options thanks to both Mojang and the community.
Now, that's not to say the game is not without its problems. There are plenty of things that can be improved which is why it is absolutely paramount that this game continues to build itself and grow. I have plenty of faith in Mojang. I have more faith in Jeb and Dinnerbone than I had in Notch, who in my opinion really screwed it up with the Enderdragon and the End Credits. Jeb and Dinnerbone are working, as well as the rest of the team. But if you want those changes to be felt, to be heard, and to be understood, then you guys gotta stop snapping at each other. Address Mojang, get in contact with them on the forums, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit. Say "Hey, I checked out the most recent update, and here's something I found difficult/annoying." But don't just stop there. SUGGEST better ways to them. Not in the demeaning, berating sense. In the critique sense. Tell them, "While I understand why you added this feature, I feel it may have been better to wait to implement ____ this instead, because mechanically speaking, it is difficult for this half of the audience to play."
Give them a reason to listen to you. Someone screaming and shouting at them isn't going to be heard outside of just making noise. Be professional, be straight forward, explain your piece and then give them a damn suggestion that doesn't sound like a parent berating their child for embarrassing them in public.
I had friends yelling about this update this past night we've been on it, about how the zombies are too difficult and they can't keep the village alive. Lo and behold in their panic they missed the stacks of iron and pumpkins they had horded into their village. They had more than enough to build an Iron Golem. Panic will make you lose your thinking. Minecraft helps you deal with that by forcing you to make choices. More annoying zombies? Time to snatch up that wood and dig into the ground, making a little bunker to build up your inventory before you tackle the duty of protecting a village and exploring. Sometimes, in a survival setting in the real world, you spend far more time hunkered down planning out your attack then you do on the front lines.
Personally speaking, I welcome this update with open arms. I do so because I've been around since Minecraft first released and was available for single digit prices. It was painful for me to know I spent money on a game that only allowed me to do so much. After I grabbed the 'highest level items' and gear, that was it. I was done. I played for survival, because I have other creative outlets to burn creative fuel on, but I've spent many hours on creative mode. I know both sides of both the casual and the hardcore players. I also know that regardless of what player I was, I really got bored of both settings after a while. Minecraft couldn't hold my attention. Now it provides me with a level I can play for hours. I'll still get bored once I get the high end stuff, and I'll wait again, but each new update guarantees I will spend more and more time with the game.
But I digress. Long story short: Get your words together and provide suggestion and critique to Mojang if you want to see things change. Keep up to date with the wiki, Youtube videos, and blogs of the creators so you know what is going on inside their heads before those words come out. Put the pieces together. While you might see nothing but hack and slashing zombie hordes, others will see great potential with upgrading the other game mechanics to balance out those hordes. But regardless of what you like, and what you don't like, Minecraft will change.
9
This is not end game.
Being snippy at each other over what is and isn't good about the update a day into it is pretty ridiculous. Especially when many of the comments are laced with insults and biased opinions. Being a WoW player, I've come to realize that everyone finds the game something different. It means something different. Some treat it like a job, others treat it like a game, some treat it as both and can separate it when needed. There are many ways to 'view' a game, so people who say Minecraft is hard, ridiculous, annoying or otherwise, it is a personal perspective.
But if there is one absolute thing to take note, is that this is a PC game. This isn't the old days where you go and buy your cartridge and play the game, then write up an opinion about how crap or great it was and whether you lost your money. This is a game that grows and changes with time. Which means it is never end game. Things change, and we have absolutely no clue what Mojang has in store. For all you people whining about it being too hard or annoying, perhaps Mojang is implementing one piece at a time into the larger new difficulty system that will balance out the rest of the game. For all the people whining it is too easy or simple, perhaps Mojang hasn't implemented the pieces that would make the game difficult for you.
The point is, you're judging a project before it's even done. And it's never done as far as we can tell. No doubt there will be many modders who go about making a simpler version of the game in the next few days. No doubt there will be many who increase the difficulty even more. We have options. Minecraft doesn't have to be played by any other person's rules than your own, and the choices and mods you put into it. While we don't have something customization on the level of say, the Sims or Sim City, we nonetheless have options thanks to both Mojang and the community.
Now, that's not to say the game is not without its problems. There are plenty of things that can be improved which is why it is absolutely paramount that this game continues to build itself and grow. I have plenty of faith in Mojang. I have more faith in Jeb and Dinnerbone than I had in Notch, who in my opinion really screwed it up with the Enderdragon and the End Credits. Jeb and Dinnerbone are working, as well as the rest of the team. But if you want those changes to be felt, to be heard, and to be understood, then you guys gotta stop snapping at each other. Address Mojang, get in contact with them on the forums, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit. Say "Hey, I checked out the most recent update, and here's something I found difficult/annoying." But don't just stop there. SUGGEST better ways to them. Not in the demeaning, berating sense. In the critique sense. Tell them, "While I understand why you added this feature, I feel it may have been better to wait to implement ____ this instead, because mechanically speaking, it is difficult for this half of the audience to play."
Give them a reason to listen to you. Someone screaming and shouting at them isn't going to be heard outside of just making noise. Be professional, be straight forward, explain your piece and then give them a damn suggestion that doesn't sound like a parent berating their child for embarrassing them in public.
I had friends yelling about this update this past night we've been on it, about how the zombies are too difficult and they can't keep the village alive. Lo and behold in their panic they missed the stacks of iron and pumpkins they had horded into their village. They had more than enough to build an Iron Golem. Panic will make you lose your thinking. Minecraft helps you deal with that by forcing you to make choices. More annoying zombies? Time to snatch up that wood and dig into the ground, making a little bunker to build up your inventory before you tackle the duty of protecting a village and exploring. Sometimes, in a survival setting in the real world, you spend far more time hunkered down planning out your attack then you do on the front lines.
Personally speaking, I welcome this update with open arms. I do so because I've been around since Minecraft first released and was available for single digit prices. It was painful for me to know I spent money on a game that only allowed me to do so much. After I grabbed the 'highest level items' and gear, that was it. I was done. I played for survival, because I have other creative outlets to burn creative fuel on, but I've spent many hours on creative mode. I know both sides of both the casual and the hardcore players. I also know that regardless of what player I was, I really got bored of both settings after a while. Minecraft couldn't hold my attention. Now it provides me with a level I can play for hours. I'll still get bored once I get the high end stuff, and I'll wait again, but each new update guarantees I will spend more and more time with the game.
But I digress. Long story short: Get your words together and provide suggestion and critique to Mojang if you want to see things change. Keep up to date with the wiki, Youtube videos, and blogs of the creators so you know what is going on inside their heads before those words come out. Put the pieces together. While you might see nothing but hack and slashing zombie hordes, others will see great potential with upgrading the other game mechanics to balance out those hordes. But regardless of what you like, and what you don't like, Minecraft will change.
This is not end game.