Is the whole mining aspect of Minecraft pointless? - Games

After spending a couple of hours in game making my first huge mine, with nothing in mind except finding as much rare ore as I could to put to good use on my next creation, I've found that this whole spectrum of the game is pretty shallow and directionless. Sure, there's a real thrill that comes out of digging dozens of blocks below sea level and making and endless series of corridors that you've all mined out yourself in hopes of finding the off diamond block, but you can't actually do anything with what you find. Building wise, the most valuable resources (aside from wood and stone) would be redstone, iron, and lapis. Even iron you don't need very much of unless you're making a large minecart system. The two most elusive blocks, gold and diamond, are completely useless aside from making more sophisticated weapons and tools, which in turn are only useful to continue the mining process and find more. Before getting into the game myself, I always saw people on forums discussing to great lengths how much ore they've found and all sorts of strategies and even algorithms for maximizing your diamond finds. Now I'm just left confused as to why so much attention is paid to this aspect of the game, cause it's really totally unconnected to building structures, which is what the game is really all about. Does anyone else feel this way? I think a lot needs to be added to this aspect of the game for Minecraft to come closer to reaching it's full potential.

Sure it is connected. Diamond tools = faster resources = faster building

1. It's a sandbox. It's not just about building structures. Notch has stated that his favorite aspect is to explore. 2. Part of the cleverness is the perpetual gameplay. Find diamonds to help you find diamonds and get more rock along the way. 3. Download an infinite resource mod if you don't want to gather resources. 4. I kind of agree that resources could be a little less random. I think Notch noted this as well. I've got an idea that different resources should have higher concentrations in different biomes. Also, it's still in painfully slow development. And Notch said he wants Minecraft done by the end of this year. I don't know how that'll happen, but if it means we're going to get more frequent updates so he can make that deadline, then that's fine by me.

Well, to be fair, apart from being pretty and a good electrical conductor gold is a fairly useless metal in real life too. And diamonds are either used on tools or to show off how rich you are. So minecraft kind of has it down. You don't [i]need[/i] diamond or gold, but that doesn't mean you can't brag about it when you find a lot.

I agree. Not entirely, but heres how I see it: At first its bloody great. Then once you hit iron, not so great. Get about 20 iron and you're set untill you find diamond, which shouldnt be too long away. Solution? More ores/things to find underground, with a more fleshed out tool tier (So its not Wood=Shit-Stone=Shit-Iron=God tier-Diamond=Godder tier)

In multiplayer, the rarity makes them useful for trading, plus the weapons/armour/tools aspect. I haven't played single-player since I first started SMP, so I always find a use for them. Also if you install minecart mania (which I think should be adopted into the standard game), gold becomes very useful.

[QUOTE=st0rmforce;28714091]In multiplayer, the rarity makes them useful for trading, plus the weapons/armour/tools aspect. I haven't played single-player since I first started SMP, so I always find a use for them. Also if you install minecart mania (which I think should be adopted into the standard game), gold becomes very useful.[/QUOTE] The problem with it in Multiplayer is the fact that with an odd 10 or so people, Diamonds become easy for one guy to find, and diamond tools lose all rarity.

The Nether.

[QUOTE=WillerinV1.02;28714184]The problem with it in Multiplayer is the fact that with an odd 10 or so people, Diamonds become easy for one guy to find, and diamond tools lose all rarity.[/QUOTE] Don't you mean diamond will lose it's rarity not diamond tools? Anyway on that note, I play on a huge server (Profan's SMP Server) and diamonds are relative to other materials, pretty much if you offered 3 diamonds for a stack of wool there are few on any server who would denie it, even if they had alot of diamond already. But really the game is demand driven so it really depends, I recently needed arrows and was willing to pay 2 diamonds per stack and obviously many people were up for that deal even though they had quite a few diamonds themselves. In regard to the OP I feel as if somewhere along the lines you've confused the point of the game, it is first and foremost a sandbox, with the goal of making buildings and structures, the materials are there merely to allow you to build those items, the innovation of the game is the fact that obviously you have to work to get what you want and this creates a strong reward-based system, but I understand where you're coming from some of the ores are harder to obtain i.e gold yet have no useage (aside from clocks) as are diamonds they're just an ore to upgrade with, although the point of diamonds is to allow you to obtain other ores you require more efficiently, the idea with rarer materials is nothing more than a boast factor. Build a house out of merely wood planks and you'll see in no time it looks dull and stale and won't really stand out from other buildings, vary it with smoothstone, brick and logs and suddenely you stand out from the rest with your awesome building. To really and truely enjoy that you'd have to be playing on multiplayer which so far it seems like you haven't.

My teacher says this all the time. "what even is the point of that [B]game[/B]" Clearly it's a game. The point is to have fun.

The whole mining aspect of Minecraft is to get diamonds and cobblestones. If you want to have a ton of fun, jump in a cave.

I wish there were more incentives for exploring downwards. The mining part of Minecraft definitely needs to be deeper and more rewarding. It felt a lot more interesting in survivaltest, where the only point was to get mushrooms and it was a lot easier to find mushrooms underground. Sudden cave floods also added a lot of tension and panic. The already-flooded caves were fun to spelunk in for the same reasons.

Basically mining makes it MINEcraft. Also Sauce on OP's avatar please.

[QUOTE=Dacheet;28718142]Also Sauce on OP's avatar please.[/QUOTE] McKenzie Lee. The thing I enjoy about mining is just how huge it is. Sure, it's boring at times, but it's awesome when you stumble upon a huge cavern.

I got full diamond gear in about 1.5-2 hours. I don't see why everyone says it's so hard.

I enjoy working for my materials, having a giant lapis penis isn't as rewarding if you didn't mine all that Lapis for it. Lets you show off in SMP as well.

Someone who plays WoW asked me what the point of Minecraft is. "What's the point? All you do is mine for materials, just so you can make more tools to mine more." So I said "What's the point of WoW? All you do is raid to get more equipment so you can raid more." He understood by that point. (don't get me wrong, I play WoW sometimes and do enjoy it) It's all for feeling of accomplishment really. Feels great when you work your way through some caves and find some diamond and make your way home.

Go build something you will never finish out of cobblestone, now mining has a purpose.

By that logic, in the end isnt life ultimately pointless? I mean you you work to find opportunities to give you more tools and accomplish greater feats such as getting into a good college just so you can find more work, but is the experience ultimately rewarding? Yes, just like mining!

[IMG]http://filesmelt.com/dl/Fuck-Creepers-Get-Diamonds.jpg[/IMG] Thats the point you twat

The point is to make your own goals you twat. :v:

[QUOTE=Da_Maniac_;28746045]The point is to make your own goals you twat.[/QUOTE] just because its on the internet doesnt mean you have to be hostile

[QUOTE=WillerinV1.02;28746084]just because its on the internet doesnt mean you have to be hostile[/QUOTE] I was being sarcastic.

I find mining to be just as fun and rewarding as travelling topside. One day, I'll pack my essentials, get my boat and just set off into the unexplored lands, see magnificent things, and return with a pile of resources, some of which valuable, some of which not. But for me, mining is just as exciting. I descent down, with the appropriate tools at the ready, and start mining. Then, i hear water! Must be a cave! When it turns out to be the occasional system of caves and tunnels and lava-lakes, i can spend hours just exploring, and making sure to set up torches. To me, the resources are just side-benefits from digging :v:

I use the [url=http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1032&t=199635]IndustrialCraft[/url] mod which adds in more types of ore - and a lot of things to do with that ore - which has helped reinvigorate the enjoyment of mining.

A good answer would be in the No Punctuation review of it Building a giant golden dick is great but its a whole load more rewarding if you've just spent 7 hours mining to get enough gold for it

[QUOTE=Janus Vesta;28713885]Well, to be fair, apart from being pretty and a good electrical conductor gold is a fairly useless metal in real life too. And diamonds are either used on tools or to show off how rich you are. So minecraft kind of has it down. You don't [i]need[/i] diamond or gold, but that doesn't mean you can't brag about it when you find a lot.[/QUOTE] gold is pretty useful in chemistry fyi

For me clay is one of the materials i never find. Diamond is rare and useful, but i do not really need.

[QUOTE=Talamini;28748904]For me clay is one of the materials i never find. Diamond is rare and useful, but i do not really need.[/QUOTE] Clay is easy to get. I even dug out 7 stacks from a deposit near my spawn.

I get the whole time is rewarding aspect to mining, but it is so dull. All you do is click click click, with no effort or interesting feedback. It's so uneventful and gameplayless. Maybe if there was some machinery or something, of any or many types, that you actually have to engage with, then it wouldn't just be grinding in order to play. And although not unwelcome, adding more ore types and tool types wouldn't make it more interesting. [QUOTE=NINTENDUDECT;28721457]Someone who plays WoW asked me what the point of Minecraft is. "What's the point? All you do is mine for materials, just so you can make more tools to mine more." So I said "What's the point of WoW? All you do is raid to get more equipment so you can raid more." He understood by that point. (don't get me wrong, I play WoW sometimes and do enjoy it) It's all for feeling of accomplishment really. Feels great when you work your way through some caves and find some diamond and make your way home.[/QUOTE] I don't think that comparison is fair. Raiding is a lot more than staring at walls, clicking them. I get your point but I don't think it applies to minecraft as much as we'd like it to.