@Coda
How old is your son?
It seems like Minecraft is the popular wishlist item for Christmas this year.

@Salone
Those mine cart rides sound pretty cool! :o
Exploring the world without having to walk sounds like my type of thing. XD

He's 8 now, been playing Minecraft for around a year and a half.

Minecraft is all the rage with kids.


I used to maintain a minecraft server, but I kind of lost interest in it, so I gave someone else the world data, and let them maintain it instead.

I've got a private server or four running on one of my computers, and Jason just discovered that a chunk error wiped out part of a nice theater I built. :( I'm going to have to see if I can recover it from backup or if I'm going to have to rebuild it from scratch.

Minecraft
 

Actually, we prefer reviving old threads instead of starting new ones, so the new conversation gains the benefit of everything that had been talked about before. So I merged it for you, free of charge, no strings attached!

What's up with using such a small font after commenting on the avatars being so small? XD

I haven't played Minecraft in a while, but I've been thinking about picking it back up. My son just got the New 3DS version for Christmas.

Honestly, my favorite thing to do in Minecraft is Hardcore Mode.

Okay! No worries Coda. ^^

And hey!!! I don't know, I've always used the small font haha. What's hardcore mode like? I haven't played on that yet.

I was kidding with you, it's really not a big deal. (The rules say you can't use formatting that makes it hard to read, but your text is still black on white with an easy-to-read font so the size on its own isn't a problem.)

It's just like normal survival mode, but if you die your save file is deleted. It gives you a reason to play more defensively because you can't just quickly recover if you get in over your head.

I am still doing my best to try and solo beat the Ender Dragon in Hardcore mode. I keep dying in the nether, farming Blaze Rods.

I was super proud of myself when I managed to pull that off. The fight has gotten harder since then. I kinda want to try again.

But as far as Minecraft bosses go... I... uh... I overdid it a little when I went after the Wither in Hardcore mode. >.> I was scared of it. So I prepared.

I made a bunch of potions and four iron golems, then I made an obsidian prison to spawn the Wither inside. I planted the last Wither skull, ducked and covered, and then there were a bunch of explosions and a couple seconds of chaos and then the fight was over before I even got to do anything more than drink a potion to heal from the initial blast.

After the Wither died, my golems all collapsed from withering damage. I only survived because I used a potion of regeneration to keep up with the ongoing damage.

So... the hardest fight in the game, should have been a big epic difficult fight, reduced to a couple seconds of lag and a mad scramble to not die afterward.

I feel like that's just a prerequisite though. You have no one else to help mitigate the agro and you can only do so much while getting shot at and ran into by the Wither.

Did you go and conquer a Sea Monument as well?

They didn't exist at the time. I went in with a friend in one of the snapshots when they were new -- in a non-hardcore world -- and we died quite a few times in the process. (The Depth Strider enchantment wasn't a thing yet, so it was a major slog.)

Tip: Stick fenceposts on the wall or ceiling to make air bubbles. Doors are also good ways to make air bubbles. Remember to bring lots of glowstone.

Why not just use night vision potions instead of Glowstone?

To keep enemies from respawning once you've cleared a room out.

Ohhhhhh yeah that'd be helpful haha.