Fundamentally Minecraft Beta b1.7.3 was the best version of the game. From a game design perspective, b1.7.3 beta had the strongest identity and sense of direction. The problem with r1.21 is that the game has so much bloat, so many random and disconnected features (How does Archaeology, brewing, the deep dark, and the pale garden even relate to each other?). As such, playing the game is overwhleming in a way, because what are you supposed to do? b1.7.3 was the best because at that point in time, what you're meant to do was still very clear: Build, explore, and have fun. Make your own goals. b1.7.3 was Minecraft at its strongest, it had real identity and a sense of direction, one focused on extrinsic motivation, with a real world to navigate and traverse, with real dangers getting in the way. Yes, it was simple, and Yes, nostalgia plays a big part in why people prefer it, but there is a genuine sense of fundamentality to b1.7.3 that cannot be ignored. When hunger was added the game started to lose focus. Suddenly you needed a stack of meat in your hotbar all the time that you need to periodically eat or you can't run anymore. It's just annoying. Also the biomes got utterly messed up in b1.8 as well, it was the "jump the shark moment" for Minecraft, not r1.9 like people believe. The reason people get BORED of new minecraft and have the "2 week minecraft phase" is because the game has tried to replicate the semblence of a conqeust style game loop and progression, but unlike other conquest games, like Terraria, with a clear structure, progression and finale, Minecraft's foundations are built in extrinsic motivation, but conquest is inherently focused on intrinsic motivation. These two styles, in this way, don't complement each other. In fact, they contradict each other, causing people to play minecraft, trying to follow the obscure gameplay loop and progression it sets out, while also being dragged into the building part of things and the extrinsic side, ultimately getting overwhelemed or bored because the intrinsic side is fuelling that sense of find and reward, but that isn't delivered on the extrinsic side, which is why so many bases never get finished, or are just boxes with a few chests. There is genuine merit to the argument that old minecraft was better. It's easy to say "1.21 has more features therefore it's better", but that's an uphill argument, if those features are bad, or not even bad, but take away from the game's core design principals, it WILL make the game worse. b1.7.3 was the best version of miencraft because it was ultimately the version with the most complementary features for the game design philosophy at the time. Since then the philosophy has changed, but the game remains the same, creating this dissonance. It's important to note that there are lots of new features added since b1.7.3 that _do_ still contribute to this perfect game design loop we saw in b1.7.3, like stone bricks, glass panes, chiselled bookshelves, many redstone components etc. but they are often masked by failed attempts to create an intrinsically invested conquest game out of an extrinsically motivated sandbox game. Villagers and their villages, the end dimension, the hunger system, the trial chambers, the deep dark, ocean monuments, in fact - nearly ALL generated structures if not all of them, and Archaology are just a few examples of things that ultimately don't fit into minecraft and contradict the game's initial focus of extrinsic motivation. While the old versions of minecraft used to have some level of intrinsic motivation, like mining, which had a clear progression of wood, stone, iron, diamond, it was simple, and played into a functional gameplay loop that complemented the extrinsicly motivated style of gameplay. You may be digging out a large area, or building lots of things, but eventually you will need to mine again to restock your tools. It was a simple loop that was rewarding and motivated the extrinsic elements of the game. Extrinsic motivations are the goals you set for yourself, building things with no purpose only because they mean something to you - Like building a fairground, bakery, cemetary, pixel art, secret bases etc. all functionally useless, but are imaginative and sentimental. Overall, minecraft b1.7.3 was the best version from a purely gameplay design perspective because the simplicity of its systems complemented the overarching extrinsic motivation the game facilitated. The reason many people reminisce on those versions is partly because of nostalgia, partly because the game was genuinely better back then, but also because that version of the game demanded a lot more imgination from us to enjoy, and sadly, imagination in adulthood is looked down upon by society, so ultimately the reason why the sentiment that "old minecraft was better" is so common is due to a combination of nostalgia, bad game direction (especially with all the changes in staff), and society's oppression of imagination in adulthood.
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Fundamentally Minecraft Beta b1.7.3 was the best version of the game. From a game design perspective, b1.7.3 beta had the strongest identity and sense of direction.
The problem with r1.21 is that the game has so much bloat, so many random and disconnected features (How does Archaeology, brewing, the deep dark, and the pale garden even relate to each other?). As such, playing the game is overwhleming in a way, because what are you supposed to do? b1.7.3 was the best because at that point in time, what you're meant to do was still very clear: Build, explore, and have fun. Make your own goals. b1.7.3 was Minecraft at its strongest, it had real identity and a sense of direction, one focused on extrinsic motivation, with a real world to navigate and traverse, with real dangers getting in the way.
Yes, it was simple, and Yes, nostalgia plays a big part in why people prefer it, but there is a genuine sense of fundamentality to b1.7.3 that cannot be ignored.
When hunger was added the game started to lose focus. Suddenly you needed a stack of meat in your hotbar all the time that you need to periodically eat or you can't run anymore. It's just annoying. Also the biomes got utterly messed up in b1.8 as well, it was the "jump the shark moment" for Minecraft, not r1.9 like people believe. The reason people get BORED of new minecraft and have the "2 week minecraft phase" is because the game has tried to replicate the semblence of a conqeust style game loop and progression, but unlike other conquest games, like Terraria, with a clear structure, progression and finale, Minecraft's foundations are built in extrinsic motivation, but conquest is inherently focused on intrinsic motivation. These two styles, in this way, don't complement each other. In fact, they contradict each other, causing people to play minecraft, trying to follow the obscure gameplay loop and progression it sets out, while also being dragged into the building part of things and the extrinsic side, ultimately getting overwhelemed or bored because the intrinsic side is fuelling that sense of find and reward, but that isn't delivered on the extrinsic side, which is why so many bases never get finished, or are just boxes with a few chests.
There is genuine merit to the argument that old minecraft was better. It's easy to say "1.21 has more features therefore it's better", but that's an uphill argument, if those features are bad, or not even bad, but take away from the game's core design principals, it WILL make the game worse. b1.7.3 was the best version of miencraft because it was ultimately the version with the most complementary features for the game design philosophy at the time. Since then the philosophy has changed, but the game remains the same, creating this dissonance. It's important to note that there are lots of new features added since b1.7.3 that _do_ still contribute to this perfect game design loop we saw in b1.7.3, like stone bricks, glass panes, chiselled bookshelves, many redstone components etc. but they are often masked by failed attempts to create an intrinsically invested conquest game out of an extrinsically motivated sandbox game. Villagers and their villages, the end dimension, the hunger system, the trial chambers, the deep dark, ocean monuments, in fact - nearly ALL generated structures if not all of them, and Archaology are just a few examples of things that ultimately don't fit into minecraft and contradict the game's initial focus of extrinsic motivation.
While the old versions of minecraft used to have some level of intrinsic motivation, like mining, which had a clear progression of wood, stone, iron, diamond, it was simple, and played into a functional gameplay loop that complemented the extrinsicly motivated style of gameplay. You may be digging out a large area, or building lots of things, but eventually you will need to mine again to restock your tools. It was a simple loop that was rewarding and motivated the extrinsic elements of the game. Extrinsic motivations are the goals you set for yourself, building things with no purpose only because they mean something to you - Like building a fairground, bakery, cemetary, pixel art, secret bases etc. all functionally useless, but are imaginative and sentimental.
Overall, minecraft b1.7.3 was the best version from a purely gameplay design perspective because the simplicity of its systems complemented the overarching extrinsic motivation the game facilitated. The reason many people reminisce on those versions is partly because of nostalgia, partly because the game was genuinely better back then, but also because that version of the game demanded a lot more imgination from us to enjoy, and sadly, imagination in adulthood is looked down upon by society, so ultimately the reason why the sentiment that "old minecraft was better" is so common is due to a combination of nostalgia, bad game direction (especially with all the changes in staff), and society's oppression of imagination in adulthood.
thats a lot of words but nice!