MINECRAFT MANIA: Did 1.8 Ruin Minecraft?

A few months ago when they did that 'Wolves" update I tried out the new feature by adopting a wolf as my pet, but, as I suspected, I immediately hated it. I like to do things alone in Minecraft and I hated the dog constantly following me and getting underfoot, barking for no reason and all. Kinda why I wouldn't get a pet in RL, too needy, sloppy and noisy.

Thankfully, though, you could avoid the whole mess by simply ignoring the wolves altogether. If you never feed them that bone, they don't become your dog. Easy enough solution to a new feature that otherwise would have turned me off big time.

Now with the recent 1.8 update, there are a slew of new features which can also be a hassle. Unfortunately, with these, they don't seem to be optional.

Take the Enderman mobs. They look awesome and creepy. But in fact they're just a nuisance. They die way too easily and I haven't yet experienced for a minute the fear that a gang of creepers will instill in you.

Or, I should say, used to. Ya, it seems that since 1.8 the other mobs are nerfed significantly. Nightime only mobs seem to be in short supply, comparatively, and they don't seem to be swarming to me as they did before. Is it my imagination?

Another thing is the new abandoned mines and villages. These are great in thought but in practice they seem to be providing too many advantages, dumbing down the whole experience.

Bringing back Creative Mode may seem like another great thing but after months of building grand structures the "hard" way (my mining and crafting everything) it seems too sandboxy, and gets boring fast. Maybe it's just me.

Not a fan of the new style of eating, and the difference in the health bar system either. Kinda reminds me of Fallout 3. It kinda irritates me in that game too, the way your health recovers gradually after you eat...give me an instant gratification stimpak any day.

A few other changes have me scratching my head as well, so indeed, the jury is still out on this update. It really has changed so much it feels like an expansion pack to me.

And let's not forget, this game is still in BETA for cryin' out loud.

We'll see how it all works out. Notch and his gang will no doubt be tweaking a few more things here and there.

I just know I have virtually abandoned playing it altogether now.

Maybe it was just its time anyway.