Notes

Minecraft shouldn't ever Feel Clingy, Mojang Says

Mojang is paying close attention to what other survival games are doing well.



Just before the latest Minecraft 1.19 (opens in a new tab) update was launched I inquired of Mojang what the future of Minecraft looks like. Game director Agnes Larsson and developer Nir "Ulraf" Vaknin weren't willing to discuss specific features for the next major update. No surprise, they'll probably save that for the next Minecraft Live showcase. Instead, we discussed how they're still learning from other competitors in the crafting industry and how they want to "keep the magic of Minecraft" for another 10 years and beyond.



When Minecraft's beta launched in 2010 it put survival and crafting on the map. Other crafting games include a thousand later-many also made from voxels-Minecraft remains the gold standard in sandbox creativity. Mojang could easily become complacent after having been in the top spot for so many years, I imagine. It would then be easy to become insular and source ideas only from its own players and developers.



Both Larsson and Vaknin have said that they don't think of Minecraft any better than the other players. (I would, though. It doesn't risk sounding boastful coming from me). They do say they know what makes Minecraft unique and will maintain the uniqueness of Minecraft.



Larsson said it was intrinsic motivation. Larsson called it intrinsic motivation.



Vaknin acknowledged that asking players to be self-motivated is the area where Minecraft excels: "A lot of games are veering away from this because a lot of players would like to be more controlled, and that's fine."



Over the years, I've played many survival-based crafting games. I was recently drawn to Valheim's viking crafting, which I really enjoyed for several months. I also enjoyed session-based survival in Icarus and V Rising's vampire crafting for several days. Even Valheim, which I was enthralled by for more than 100 hours and helped to lobby for as our game of the year (opens in a new tab) in 2021, hasn't kept me returning the way Minecraft has.



Vaknin said that he's been keeping up with the competition. He was also interested in how hunger and food in Valheim work. It made me consider food as a an element of my equipment, whereas I felt allowed to ignore food systems or treat all foods as essentially equal in other crafting games, including Minecraft. "I am always thinking about it and pondering if we can take lessons from that," he says.



Vaknin said that V Rising has a very unique goal and boss tracking system. Minecraft He also talked about the need to track bosses on the map to find them. It was like the way you find the End stronghold of Minecraft with the eyes ender.



Vaknin hopes Minecraft will not chase its players even though it can learn from Minecraft.



"Minecraft isn't clingy," was how he described in our conversation later. He likened it to the friendship of a friend who will be there for you, no matter the moment you decide to go elsewhere and return months later.



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Vaknin spoke about a common occurrence within the Minecraft community that is playing for a long time and then returning to it on a regular basis when the mood strikes. This is exactly how I've dealt with it for years myself and I'm happy to see it's a habit that Mojang feels confident to cultivate.



"So many games that you play can draw you in a little too hard and you're then unable to wait for to let it end. I love that Minecraft doesn't do this. It's important to me to preserve that."



Larsson said, "One thing we recently added to our guiding principle is that you play Minecraft because you want to do, not because you feel pressured to," Larsson added.



As I look ahead to Minecraft version 1.20, I am happy to know that those in charge are confident enough to keep up-to-date with all the latest survival and crafting trends without having to follow them.


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