Minecraft used to be simple but it's not anymore. It's no secret that Minecraft has added a lot of features since it was released. They've revamped entire Dimensions, created new bosses, and even added fully automatic weapons. So why is it that despite all of these new features, Minecraft still feels boring? Minecraft has so many new items to collect and so many new Mods to explore. These new mods are very interesting but why it is that all these feel stale? In this article, we are going to share some of the reasons why Minecraft feels boring?
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| Is Minecraft Dying |
Minecraft was really fun when it was launched.
We all remembered the feeling of booting up the game for the first time, opening our first world, and having no idea what we are supposed to do but maybe that's what made Minecraft fun. Maybe having to find out how to play the game and discover new features for the first time is why we liked it in the first place. This might be one factor we think but there's actually something deeper. The real reason why Minecraft isn't fun anymore is all because of its under-progressive gameplay. Every game has something called progression- a course of action that a player must complete to move forward. In GTA you rob people to increase your wealth, in Pokemon, you battle trainers to get Badges and in AC you kill to move way your way ahead but in Minecraft's case, the progression is very little. The game mostly consists of mining ores and crafting tools which over time really became boring.
Minecraft additions are not that major
The game is just way too simple now. Minecraft's main progression currently needs you to upgrade each armor set, kill the Ender Dragon, and fight to get Elytra. Although this system is simple there hasn't been anything big added to it in a long time. The last major change to progression was in 2011 with the addition of the Ender Dragon which was 12 years ago. During this period, people have been born, and raised and are probably heartbroken by some low-standard partner. We've got the Wither but you don't really have to fight for it. The newly introduced things like Guardians and the Warden are cool but there's no real reason to seek them out. Most features added to the game nowadays are just meant to stall the player rather than having a meaningful purpose.
Minecraft is very easy now with little or no difficult updates
Minecraft is getting easier like a lot more easier. In 2011 when it was launched, Minecraft passed 1 million sales and it started to get its first dedicated fans. Notch was in dire need to add something to the game so the first thing he thought of was beds. Beds were craftable with wool and would allow you to skip the night (the most dangerous stretch of the game). Players can literally just avoid all the danger of the game and just skip straight to the daytime.
After a few years a lot of things happened in 2016 but among them was the 1.9 combat update which was the most controversial update in Minecraft history. The update changed the PVP system and also added the elytra which allowed you to fly in survival. This made traveling around extremely easy, removed the need to walk, and made exploration effortless. Although it was hard to get an Elytra but it was a good addition. In 2019 they updated villagers which literally sell you diamonds which made the game easier to progress. Now you do not have to mine for anything anymore because the villagers sell that too. The common trend with these updates is that Mojang adds something that makes the game easier without adding anything to balance it out. This explains why Minecraft feels much shorter than it used to. As there are so many new features to make the game easier players find ways to beat it faster. To our surprise, there's one update that broke the trend. It made the game harder, made progression longer, and is also known as one of the greatest updates of all time in the history of Minecraft. The Minecraft Buzzy Bees.
Nether update:
Nether update was released in 2020 and it changed the game in two huge ways. First of all, it added Netherite- a completely new material that was better than Diamond. One has to mine in the extremely rare ore-type ancient debris and combine it with your existing diamond armor to obtain the Netherite. Not only it adds an entirely new step to progression but it also prevents you from skipping since you have to upgrade your old armor rather than replace it. There's one more thing Nether update did that's even more important and that is making fortresses much harder to find. Before the nether update, you could just walk around without really having to fight anything and eventually find a fortress since they were pretty common. But after the nether update you had to traverse through four different dangerous biomes while constantly fighting hordes of piglets and on top of that Nether fortresses are three times rare. With fortresses down much harder to find, completing the game was not only more difficult but also more time-consuming which in turn lengthens the progression of the game and makes it much more enjoyable to play. Nether update as a whole was a huge turn in the right direction for Minecraft. It made the game harder, lengthen the main progression and overall improve the game in many different ways.
Caves and Cliffs Update:
The next update Mojang released was Caves and Cliffs which went right back to making Minecraft easy. This update did a lot, especially for the ambiance of mountains and caves but when it comes to progression it had some seriously negative effects. When Mojang was revamping caves they made a ton of changes to how ores generate. One is that diamond veins are now generated much more often. In addition to this Mojang-made caves especially those found deep underground much larger which in turn exposes even more diamonds than the smaller caves found before 1.18. This makes diamonds a lot less rare than they used to be allowing players to speed through progression even faster than they were before. Luckily Mojang noticed this issue and created an all-new ore type to mitigate it in the form of copper. It has so many possibilities, it could be used to make new tools, or unique armor with special abilities. It could fix the diamond problem, add to progression, and make the game even more interesting than it was before.
The Wild update
The Wild update was even worse as it didn't add anything to directly affect the player's journey. It is very important to note that not every feature has to have major effects on the game. Adding things simply for the sake of Ambience can do a lot to improve immersion but if Mojang continues to shorten the length of progression and rarely add anything to it. Over time people are just going to get bored which is the reason why many are saying Minecraft isn't fun anymore.
What makes Minecraft worth playing?
Minecraft is different for every person that plays it which may make the game more interesting. At the end of the day, it's really up to us the community to make the game fun yes we can have cool new armor sets or enchantments or a lightning rod. At its core Minecraft is what you make it, to be what you want it to be and that's what makes it special the only question is what will you choose. The game is still loved by millions and we hope that the devs come up with something interesting. If I had the solution, I would become a game dev too. But until the devs create new things, Keep Playing.
