Minecraft's atmosphere is changing

Upon release Minecraft had a very distinct tone & atmosphere. As mojang has added more structures to the game this tone has been lost.

00:00 start
00:54 what changed?
01:41 where it went wrong
05:53 a shift in tone

Music used:
Half life - military precision
Spider-man ATSV - Spot Holes 1
tf2 - Archimedes
Minecraft - Mellohi
tf2 - Rocket Jump Waltz

I tried to change my workflow with audio, but it didn't turn out quite how I wanted it to. constructive criticism is welcome.

[subdeaconk]

I’d forgotten about the zombie raids. I’m reminded of when it was so exciting to find a village, then so disturbing coming back later to missing doors and empty houses.

[bubbles]

They added villages before villagers, and I still remember the very first time I found one. It was kind of eerie walking through the empty houses as they looked maintained enough to be habitable (unlike a ruin), except there were no inhabitants.

[yumekyn]

in my opinion villages are now so common that you can now rely on looking for one the first day to get settled without ever worrying about doing all those progresses by yourself, i remember playing in past versions (around 1.10) and villages were so rare that it took me hours of explanation to find one, i even started doubting they could generate, but when i then found it god if i was happy, i even called my friend just to show her and she was amazed as well, i miss it

[kekchanbiggestfan]

The loneliness of Minecraft was what made the rumor of Herobrine so creepy. Just the thought of something existing and observing you was a bone chilling thought when there’s an infinite expanse of barren world for him to somehow find you in.

[drakedragapult]

I agree. Reducing the number of “common” structures like villages, shipwrecks, ruined portals, etc. would probably make them feel more special to find. This would also make the different “societies” appear to occupy less of the world, making the player feel more significant. I don’t think we will ever be able to bring back the liminal feel of the old game, but we could get closer.

[ethanmoon]

You used to have structure options, where you could choose which ones actually show up. I would like a "structure Frequency" option where you could make things rare.

[turmuthoer]

As someone who hadn't played Minecraft in years and recently came back, this was the first thing that struck me. When I last played, Minecraft felt like a real lone wolf, true survival experience. You were pretty much on your own and it really felt like you were building a beacon of civilisation in a vast, untamed wilderness. Now, when there's a village over every other hill, you almost feel like one of those survivalist weirdos when you still insist on building your own base and living by yourself in the woods.

[the_pinkerton]

I think that abandoned villages and ancient cities really help the whole "creepy loneliness" vibe by making the Minecraft world feel like it has fallen from greatness and that really adds mystery to it

[cronicas_imemoriais]

I actually think this comes from the way people play the game too. Before, we were kids and didn't know anything about the game, now everyone starts playing the game by googling the basics and how to do X, how to do Y. This kind of knowledge was very hard to come by, that is why it felt so empty and mysterious

[awsm.]

It's really eye-opening to go back to something like beta 1.7.3 and see just how much is different not just mechanically, but tonally. Earlier versions of Minecraft almost remind me of Shadow of the Colossus in how baren and empty it feels, and how there's underlying melancholy to it. Nowadays, the game just feels much busier and cheerful, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is a change that I don't care for.

[EndlessPiplup]

In my opinion, the ending poem after defeating the Ender Dragon is so much more powerful and meaningful when Minecraft maintains an atmosphere of solitude. The entire game surrounds you with an almost overwhelming isolation, before telling you to "wake up" from the dreams of video games. To wake up, and give up this dream in which you are constantly alone. To live your life. It is so underrated, and one of the best messages from any video game. Period.

[severalbees]

I’m definitely not the first one to say this, but I wish that instead of adding so many new things, they would add more to their existing things. Redesign or expand the current structures, add a bit more “wow” factor, and really make them a new and exciting experience again, instead of forgetting them and moving on to whatever is new and shiny in the world

[Lunar_Atronach]

I realized this change recently when I tried to do an empty taiga playthrough. I wanted to find an empty plains like area to start building a home to try and fight against the powder snow and environmental hazards along with the occasional mob, instead I couldn't go 50 blocks without finding a mountain or a village or a portal or something, it removed the feeling of isolation and made it way harder to get invested. I kinda compare it to totk in a way. One of my favorite things about botw was the empty space in between areas, the quiet calm but in totk everything is everywhere and it ironically makes the game feel smaller as it feels you can never truly be alone.

[Thisusernamewasavaible]

I am mixed on this. The loneliness made it feel calmer, but there were times where the loneliness kinda ruined the fun, having structures being more rare but still easy to find, like every 100-2500 blocks from each other would keep it lonely, but not too lonely to a point where you just want to find something out there that has life to it

[sagajohansson]

Personally i enjoy the slow change of tone, specifically *because* i can go back to the older tone. It feels like a tale of a once barren land slowly growing back into a living, breathing place. Like some kinda post-apocalypse story. One thing I'd find interesting is an easier shift between updates played in a world (particularly forward). Imagine being able to complete a milestone (maybe that you set yourself) and visibly see how it's helped the world around you. More villages, more people. Young fractions, unaware of the horrors that can be - and so they fight. Yk? There's definitely a soft spot for it in my heart, at least, haha

[mazda]

I miss when the game used to feel like *you* were the first person to *ever* explore that world. Now you just feel like a visitor in your own worlds.

[SuperQGS_]

I definitely think Mojang should turn down the spawning rates for a lot of Minecraft's structures, but I'd propose an additional design philosophy as well: Abandoned structures. A lot of my favorite structures don't have mobs that spawn inside of them other than the typical creepers and stuff that spawn everywhere by chance. The temples, desert wells, and more recently shipwrecks.

Shipwrecks I like a lot because they feel abandoned, other than maybe the drowned there's no obvious faction that explains their existence. They're mysterious and, to beat a dead horse, feel a bit liminal. It's clear SOMEONE used to sail these vast minecraft oceans, but now they are nowhere to be found. People used to be there, but aren't now, and that feels more isolating than even the wilderness.

Especially on land I like them. Where did they go after it beached? Did they become the zombies and skeletons I now fight? Did they build the temples, did they manage to survive? am I one of them? It keeps the mystery going and fuels the imagination.

However, when the structure is explained with a faction? It's explained. It's full of life. There's not much to speculate about and it sure doesn't make you feel alone. I'd be interested in seeing the addition of more unexplained, derelict, and abandoned structures that don't necessarily belong to any one faction.

[nrknice]

They actually play the "nostalgic" music way more than they did in minecraft 1.6.1 and earlier versions. I like it when it used to be quiet sometimes. It used to be a weird moment when the music would start but now its all the time.

[HOUROFPOWR]

The issue for me lies largely in changes to the lighting and sound fx. If you play alpha minecraft it's absolutely menacing, night is pitch black, and making a base really feels like carving out a home amidst a deeply lonely landscape. I miss that feeling. But I don't hate the changes they've been making for the game, I think 1.0 was already a step in this direction. Plus, the caves update is still the best thing to ever happen to minecraft.

[punterlotek]

What annoys me the most is how easy it is to find villages now. It discourages trying to survive on your own. Normally you would have to hide during the first night and hope you would find some sheep fast so you can sleep through the nights. Now you can just find a village, pillage it and the whole first "part" of a world is completely gone. You get all the basic items, beds and more.