The Spawn Chunks 200: Chat Reports And Classic Hamburgers

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FROM: Jason M.
SUBJECT: Chat Reporting Parent’s Perspective

Hello J&J,

I’m writing to share a parent’s perspective on the new chat moderation feature. As a parent of multiple children ranging from 11-15, who all play Minecraft and are active on social media, I can truly say I am perfectly fine with this change.

Many social media apps have similar features and I believe an alternate way for anyone, especially children, to report negative activity is a good thing. Not everyone has a parent, guardian, or trusted person to help them process or deal with online activity like bullying. It’s too easy for those not affected to say, “Just turn off chat or ignore it.” This provides a non-emotional review to hopefully better what I have experienced  to be an overall great gaming community.

I’d also like to offer – If I may – some parental advice that has worked for our family. 1) Be active in your kid’s online life. Allow them to share those experiences without judgment or “freaking out.” This allows them to verbally express and process what happens. I think we as parents tend to treat our children as such and forget they are growing into young adults, age appropriate of course. 2) Help your kids grow their self confidence! I find my confident kiddos are less susceptible to online or in person attacks or bullying, while the lesser confident ones are more upset and require more attention in this area. The less our kids care what strangers say online, the happier they are, and they can just enjoy themselves regardless of online influences.

We love the podcast and it’s great to have content the family can experience together!

Jason was advised by his kids to NOT die in the sign off, because he’s not cool enough!

FROM: Hotdogplant
SUBJECT: Rust

Hello Jonny and Joel, 

I’ve listened to your show since about episode 150 and I enjoy it a lot. You’re both funny, insightful, and nuanced in your discussions each week. You bring new details about Minecraft to my attention and make me appreciate and think about it more. 

In fact, the other day I was pondering the oxidation mechanic and whether any other blocks could use it, or a similar “aging” process that would give us new building options without the need for the Mojang team to dream up new ways for the blocks to generate, and for the player to obtain them. It didn’t take long to realize that there’s another material, already found in Minecraft, that also oxidizes in real life: iron! 

What if Minecraft iron could rust? I’ve often felt that the iron block texture was a little bit ill-suited for building with: between quartz, calcite, diorite, and white wool and concrete, there are better options for white blocks. Having a few rusty variants could breathe new life into the building potential of the iron block. The introduction of rust could have other implications as well: imagine if iron golems needed regular maintenance to keep them from grinding to a halt, like the copper golems would have. Maybe villages could gain a “beekeeper” profession to keep their golems nice and shiny! What do you think? What else could rust do for this wonderful game?

Hotdogplant was slain by an iron golem because he misclicked while trying to scrape the rust off it.

FROM: Bluecactus112
SUBJECT: Balancing Diamonds

Hey Pix and Joel! 

I was just mining for diamonds, and I realized that I literally had no use for them anymore. I watch a lot of Hermitcraft, where diamonds are used for currency, but the only thing you actually need diamonds for is a jukebox because you can get everything else from trading. 

What do you think would be a good way to give mining for diamonds an actual purpose?

One idea I had is making some sort of decoration block, or light source block like diamond bricks, or diamond lanterns. Diamonds could also be used in more end-game crafting in new items… Though I don’t know what those items  would be.

Bluecactus112 drowned in their useless pile of diamonds.

FROM: Istrea
SUBJECT: Story & Armor

Hey Jonny and Joel,

After listening to Episode 199 of The Spawn Chunks I was thinking about how I subconsciously think about how my armor portrays my characters story. For instance, on my current SMP with some of my friends we are building different Empires, and I prefer using a gold helmet, not only because of the technical benefits (Piglins, and saving diamonds) but because I like the aesthetic of it and it gives me sort of a “king/noble” vibe. 

In response to your hotbar conversation, I noticed that I always either carry a shield or nothing in my off hand, even though there are countless times where not worrying about switching to a specific hotbar slot to save myself would have been super useful. I also never carry a totem in my offhand.

Thanks for the amazing podcast and keep up the great work!

Istrea tried to swim in lava and failed because he had a shield instead of a totem of undying.

Celebrating 200 Episodes