The Spawn Chunks 087: Rewiring The Nether Update

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FROM: Poggin
RE: Philosophically Taking Minecraft Too Seriously

Hey Pix and Joel!

Hope you both are having a fantastic day; my condolences to Joel if you’re still having computer issues. I always enjoy listening to the show, and hearing your thoughts on all things Minecraft. Best Minecraft podcast as far as I’m concerned!

I’ve been listening to this show for a while now, and I have a somewhat more philosophical question for you guys. While I always look forward to hearing what you all have to say about new content and features, it always gets me thinking. I get this sense that Minecraft’s audience has changed quite a bit since when I started playing back in the beta days. I’m not necessarily talking about the age range, as Minecraft has always been appealing to young and old, but more of what we expect the developers to do with the game, and how that affects what we think of a new features.

A lot of the scrutiny I see about new snapshots is all about how it changes the meta of the game, and if a feature is as flushed out as it should be. While I think constructive criticism is vital to making a good game, I wonder if we push our luck too far with what we think a feature should do or look like without having an understanding for what it actually takes to implement the features into the game. I probably sound like an old man, but I remember when things like redstone and slimeballs were utterly useless, nights were much darker and harder without torches, and food was a pain to carry around in large quantities. And yet we all played anyways. Why? I believe not because it was a good game, but because it inspired us. It challenged us to be creative, share it with our friends, and to have an adventure. It gave a childlike wonder that pushed us to do something epic, and then tell our friends about this simple block game we found. I think that’s something we’ve lost touch with. The ability to take the game for what it is; a silly block game that brings us joy with its simplicity.

To summarize, I feel like many players take Minecraft too seriously. I love this game and want it to be the very best it can be, but also don’t want to sacrifice that childlike wonder in the name of making it objectively “better”. Minecraft is what you make of it.

Do you think we overemphasize the quality of new features, or have similar thoughts? Would also love to hear about your first experiences/stories with the game. Sorry for the long-winded letter, but I really wanted to share and hear your thoughts.

Have a great day, and thanks for all the hard work you put into this great quality content!

Sincerely,

Poggin

The Nether Update So Far