The Minecraft mob vote boycott petition is missing the point

The endless, usually one-sided conflict between recreation builders and gamers: a story as previous as time. They could make our favourite video games, replace them frequently, and talk constantly, however – for some – it’s nonetheless not sufficient. We wish extra. It’s not a lot to ask, proper? Effectively, that actually appears to be the mindset behind the Minecraft mob vote petition that’s blowing up on the socials forward of Minecraft Reside this Sunday.

Let’s begin with some temporary context on this Minecraft mob vote petition and boycott. Every year on the Minecraft Live developer broadcast – a celebration of Minecraft’s previous, current, and future – three Minecraft mobs (or generally biomes) go head-to-head for neighborhood votes to turn out to be the following to reach within the vanilla recreation. There’s often some controversy, like that point Minecraft YouTuber Dream arguably swayed the vote by encouraging his legions of followers to vote for the glow squid – which received. This time, what is meant to be a enjoyable, community-driven occasion is being overshadowed by a requirement for the mob vote to be scrapped altogether and for Mojang so as to add all three mobs. The factor is, this kinda misses the purpose.

For me, the Minecraft mob vote isn’t in regards to the mobs. It’s in regards to the vote and the Minecraft neighborhood itself. It appears to me that Mojang, by introducing this characteristic after the in-person Minecon conference needed to be shelved, was making an attempt to maintain the neighborhood concerned. Moreso, the truth is, as this occasion is not restricted to the choose few who can attend in particular person. That is made extra apparent within the new voting system, which takes place inside a Bedrock version server. Certain, once more, not everybody has Bedrock version, however these gamers can nonetheless vote on-line. Those that do can log right into a multiplayer on-line server to vote and play minigames alongside others. The intention is obvious. So why do now we have to show one thing so harmless and, frankly, inconsequential into an argument?

It’s not like we don’t already get sufficient new content material in Minecraft 12 months after 12 months. If something, it’s probably the most constantly up to date video games ever, with a brand new, game-changing replace going down yearly. A few of these are smaller than others, which can also be superb. The Caves and Cliffs replace, nevertheless, was so huge that it was cut up into two and actually made the whole world larger. The 2019 Buzzy Bee replace, in the meantime, focussed on – you guessed it – bees. Mojang has already modified the best way it proclaims these updates on account of one other backlash surrounding the untimely reveal of fireflies. Earlier this 12 months, we obtained a brand new biome, two new wooden varieties, interactive bookshelves, new blocks, ores, and even new characters. This stuff take time.

One of many main complaints is that we by no means see the dropping mobs, and I agree it’s a disgrace we misplaced out on the Minecraft Rascal from final 12 months’s mob vote – he was a cutie. However we did get the Sniffer, camels, archaeology, armor trims, and different long-sought-after options. When is sufficient sufficient? If we scrap the mob vote, we received’t get extra – we simply received’t get the choice, the involvement, the dialogue. We received’t get to see into the minds of Minecraft builders annually and assist determine the way forward for the sport all of us love.

I do know what you’re going to say: “video games press taking the aspect of the devs, there’s a shock,” however it’s actually not about sides. It’s a few recreation that I personally have performed and cherished for a few years, and a neighborhood that has all the time been one of many greatest, brightest, and most various of all of them. It’s about what was an in-person occasion, Minecon, pushed on-line by a world pandemic, and builders making an attempt to retain some type of neighborhood involvement. And it’s in regards to the individuals bringing us video games, doing their jobs, who can by no means appear to do proper for doing fallacious.

Cynics on the market will say I’m residing in a fantasy, however, hey, let’s stay and let stay, and be pleased about what Mojang is making an attempt to do. By all means, take your frustrations out on the problems that deserve it, and should you don’t like what Mojang is doing, there are many different games like Minecraft on the market. As luck would have it, we’ve even compiled lists of our favourite devoted crafting games or building games so that you can peruse. For these sticking round, we’ve obtained all of the Minecraft seeds and Minecraft mods you could possibly ever want.