The Endermen

I just read Notch's recent blog post about the new upcoming mob in the Minecraft Adventure Update, and I must say I'm very impressed by what he says about the "Endermen." It makes me feel so relieved, and here's why:

Recently I've felt increasingly disappointed by what Mojang releases in its updates for Minecraft. Most of the things that are added are largely bereft of real use, mostly aesthetic or serving a purpose I already get from something else.

Take wolves for example. They don't do much, just attack mobs and die. Seriously, they don't know to avoid lava. The same is true of the Nether; there is no reason for me to go there besides soulstone.

I've only realised this because of the mods I've been playing with. The Aether Mod shows what the Nether could've been; a whole new dimension with dozens of functional rewards for risking being there. Others like Flan's vehicle mods show the sheer potential of the game. The addition of planes opened whole new structures to be built, like runways and bases in the sky! Unlike most of what Mojang adds (stuff like sandstone and charcoal), Better Than Wolves adds so much functionality and hours of gameplay to explore what can be done. At the minute I'm building a 4-floor elevator and an automated inventory.

But I don't want to say Mojang is bad, I think they are fantastic. Along with Bethesda, Valve and Bioware they're my favourite game developers. I just started to fear that they had reached their pinnacle of content provision a while back.

But that blog post redeemed them for me. The new psychological mechanics revolving around the Enderman mob reminds me why I love this game in the first place.

And that's for the innovative game design! A monster that will only attack after you've stopped paying direct attention to it is pretty creepy, especially in the darkness of Minecraftian night when there's probably an exploding pig mutant behind you.

Which is just one dimension of the game. There are months worth of creative mechanics to exploit, like redstone and pistons. I've been building calculators and automated farms linked by subways simply because I can! This is Minecraft's greatest strength, the ability for the player to create and fulfill their own achievements.

But at the same time it represents its greatest weakness, there is no overarching goal to fighting monsters and exploring. But the adventure update is adding dungeons with weapons/materials as rewards, so this major gripe for people will be more than fixed.

The new stuff coming too I've read about helps, like the NPC villages and hunger mechanics. Notch has so much saved up and I feel bad for ever doubting Mojang's ability.

Thank you, Mojang. I can't wait for Adventure Update.