Strictly for humanoid and humanoid type mobs feedback and suggestions. Bugs, duplicate ideas, lists of things, and support issues will be deleted.

← Villagers, NPC, Humanoids
1238
Follow

Let's talk about Villager Trading! - Librarian, Wondering Trader

The latest snapshot/preview includes experimental changes to the wandering trader and librarian trades, which we're introducing to rebalance the villager trade system. Here's a look at what's changed: 

Librarian

Before these changes, players could get any village enchantment from any librarian. A novice librarian could sell the best enchantment in the game! For some players, this felt too random and made trading feel overpowered when compared to using the enchanting table or searching for enchanted books in structures.

With the new rules, librarians from different biomes sell different enchantments, and each village biome has one enchantment that is only sold by master librarians.

Players will have to work towards getting the best trades instead of relying on random chance. We hope this makes librarian trading more interesting and skilful, while also revealing some clues about their history of each village type through the enchantments that are sold there.
 
Wandering Trader

Some players felt that the Wandering Trader had unfair prices and didn't sell many useful items. We have lowered their prices, added more trades and increased the amounts available. The Wandering Trader will also now buy useful items from players, so it's possible to help them on their journey by giving them supplies even if you don't feel like buying anything.

As this is an experiment, we would really appreciate your feedback as work continues and to help us decide on the future direction for villager trades!

Avatar
Registered User shared this idea

2554 Comments

Post is closed for comments.

Date Votes
Sorted by oldest
  • 31
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I'm happy with how Villagers as they work now. Please do not change the way they trade.

    Thanks.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    All in all I really like the changes as someone who on our family realm is the one to deal with villagers I would love this change. Not having to spend hours upon hours of flipping a switch and pushing lecturns back and forth again and again just to roll trades I love the idea of them having smaller pools of books and guaranteed master level book to me having to roll them that much is far more grindy than having to just go to another biome also you get to gather all the different villagers or even better setting up trading posts “in far away lands”. I love the tie in to the 1.20 update tying the books to each biome makes sense. We are all about the going and exploring in our family. I understand the concerns over the Anvil and given how that mechanic maxing out and how much xp it eventually cost would definitely need to be changed as well. I could also see how it would effect super flat worlds so maybe have normal super flat and a multi-biome super flat worlds would fix that issue. I’ve read a few comments about how they think it would be make it more difficult for new players and I couldn’t disagree more knowing exactly what villagers you can go to for the book you want seems much more user friendly to me than say having 30 books that and you have to hope you get it after breaking and placing their profession block 1000 times to me that seems like it would be overwhelming to new or younger players. Over all I like the changes and I feel like they are positive. :)

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Overall, I think the wandering trader update is amazing; It finally gives them a purpose other than a way to get leads. With this in mind, the villager trading nerf seems like its going a bit too far. I think the idea of locking the best books behind a certain trading level is pretty fair, as it provides some balance to get books like mending and efficiency. My problem with this update is the fact that the villagers need to come from a certain biome to get specific enchantments. While it seems like an interesting idea, it feels overkill when combined with the fact that the player already needs to jump through hoops to get to the final book. Without the biome specific trades, the books would still be tedious to get, without being too discouraging for the casual player. Removing books from the trade tables could also be detrimental to making a toolset because it, yet again, would make the process more discouraging than balancing. Although I have a playstyle that involves farms that would essentially change nothing for me, I do know people who would be devastated from having to get through this process without any automation involved.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I have to admit I haven't tried this out, but I'm not a fan. I play only on single player survival worlds on my Kindle and I purposely try to keep my worlds small. Trading with other players for books isn't an option for me. Traveling all over creation just increases the size of my world to no point. Building and breeding and trading with multiple villages/villagers will make the game much more tedious and grindy. Making top tier enchantments unavailable for purchase from villagers will also add to the grind.
    All in all this seems like it will make the game just a lot less fun. (And adds to my impression that the developers don't actually like the players.)

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    This change has three big issues that need to be addressed.

    1. Villagers are used because there are no better alternatives. The enchanting table is random and the anvil has the 'too expensive' limit.

    2. The max level librarians don't give max level enchanted books, and combining them is off the fable because of the aforesaid anvil limit.

    3. Villigars are very difficult to move, and this change would keep the trading process grindy, just in a different way.

    I agree librarians could use a nerf, but until these issues are fixed this update will just cause more frustration than balance.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I think the villager changes would be best as an option to check off, not as a main feature. The wandering trader would be good as a main feature.

  • 22
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Reaaaaally have to scout your map seed on chunkbase to make villager trading halls viable. Makes the random seed adventure less fun

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I understand that some people think villager trading is currently OP. IMO this doesn't change that. Once you move a villager to a swamp, and level them up all the way, you have unlimited Mending books and never have to do it again. How is that any better than breaking a Lectern a bunch of times to get unlimited Mending books?

    Making the trades biome-locked is bad for several reasons:

    • Single-biome worlds
    • Worlds with small world borders and missing the necessary biome
    • Discoverability for new players is even worse. Who breeds villagers in a swamp without knowing this mechanic exists?
    • Every villager with the Mending trade will all look the same. This eliminates player choice. Say they wanted to get a villager from a specific biome with a specific trade in their trading hall.

    Encouraging exploration is one thing, but people don't all play the same way. This doesn't make exploring fun, it just adds to the grind.

    A compromise between these systems would be better. Make it so you can only get certain books at different level trades, and drop the biome-lock. This is also more in line with how the other professions work already. Eg:

    Novice: Level 1-2 for any books that have a Max of 4-5
    Apprentice: Level 1-3 for any books that have a Max of 4-5 + Level 1-2 for any books that have a Max Level of 3
    Journeyman: Level 2-3 for any books that have a Max of 3-5, Aqua Affinity, Channeling, Cursed books, Multishot
    Expert: Max Level minus 1 for all books
    Master: Mending, Silk Touch + Max Level any book

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I like the idea of saving some books for higher trades, but removing books from the librarian trading pool is not a good idea. The whole point of villager trading is to remove the randomness of enchantment tables and also to allow you to make more powerful tools easier, so removing some books even if those enchantments are for tools that don't have many enchantments. it needlessly complicated, especially for hard to get tools like the trident, also the biome lock feels like a little too much, you already have to get a villager to max level to get those books, which can take some time if you don't have the farms to produce the materials to easily get the emeralds and stuff you would need to level up a librarian, I get this change was made with post-ender dragon/late game in mind, but it requires a bit too much technical knowledge, especially in the places where a player has to make/ grow a village and may screw over the casual player, also if the higher trades aren't guaranteed to be highest level and there is still some randomness to that, it also is way to much of a challenge for the players who want to get a librarians with every enchant, the point is to make it more challenging not almost impossible.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I think this is absolutely fantastic. Villager trading is incredibly over-powered and in addition to toning that down a bit, this will give players incentive to explore the world and live outside the small bubble of a base.

    Perhaps to alleviate some of the complaints about how tedious villagers are to move maybe add a parity allowing boats to be moved with leads on Java as it is in Bedrock. This makes villager transport much more convenient.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    In my opinion, villagers should be nerfed more since they're very OP. Diamond items should be removed from armorers and smiths entirely. If this is too much of a nerf, then make all diamond item trades have curse of vanishing. 

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Swamp/Jungle villagers take effort to obtain, and should reward the player with better enchantments. Unbreaking II should be Unbreaking III for the Jungle, and the Swamp villager shouldn't have curses. Perhaps exchanging Aqua Affinity (Snow) and the Curse of Vanishing books between the two can fulfil this and still maintain the presented theming idea.

    The theming of biomes and the enchantments sold are a really good idea, but should be refined a bit more. I also think limiting enchantments to only one specific biome creates a bit of a hassle on the player. Perhaps having a list of general enchantments to be accessible in all biomes, or having some enchantments (Like Smite and Bane Of Arthropods) overlap in biomes, could be a better way to rework the system. This would be useful for players that play in large biome worlds.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    the wandering merchant idea is good, but the villager idea sucks, first of all it's very difficult and inconvenient, getting books in a super flat world would be impossible, maybe there are more good reasons not to add. I do not advise you to vote for adding new mechanics of librarians

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Personally, I do think it's on the right tracks, but is poorly executed. I feel the Master Trades is a good idea, and even the separate biomes is neat. What I think the issue is:

    1. The master enchantments are not max level enchantments. If they simply made them all max, I feel it'd be a lot more reasonable for the investment you need to max out a villager.

    2. The rotation of books feels a bit too restrictive. Having only 3 possible books per biome, and 2 of them being curses, it just makes them not feel worthwhile ever.

     

    So, I have a few possible solutions. The first is have all books and all master books available on any villager, but have certain ones weighted more for certain village types. 

    The other one, is make plains biome the jack of all trades, masters of none. As in, have them have every book available, but not able to have any of the master books at max (Excluding Mending and silk touch, as they are only lvl 1) So then you could have the other villagers have their exclusive books, but always be of a better quality.

     

    I personally prefer the second option, as it does nerf villagers, which they do need, but still keeps the ability of strong villagers, so long as you put in a bit of work instead of relying on RNG

  • 4
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I like the idea, but it seems way more difficult and would only seem to be useful late game, I think they would also make early game more difficult because now you will need way more levels and diamonds to make new armor.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I have some suggestions regarding the villager update in the new beta.

    1: On the basis of the update, increase the number of goods sold by villagers by a small amount, slightly reduce the replenishment time of villagers, and replenish up to 3 times a day

    2: When there are villagers of the same occupation within a radius of 4 blocks of the villager, the replenishment speed is accelerated

    3: Villagers can sell enchanted books from other biomes with a very small probability and increase the price of 2~5 emeralds.

  • 25
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    The biggest issue is that villagers are no longer selling enchantment books for tridents and crossbows
    This is very unfriendly to long term survival servers, suggest not updating like this

  • 25
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Add new things to encourage exploration instead of TEACH PLAYERS TO PLAY

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I would've agreed to this if only Villager transport was easy. It takes a whole lot of time just to find a village itself, and it takes a whole lot more just to find biomes in one world. It's not like all biomes are going to be around in a 1k radius around spawn. In my current Minecraft world, I need to travel 3k or more blocks just to get to a swamp. That's not even a straight line, I need to get through 3 oceans just to get to the swamp. The nearest desert is also a trek southward, crossing land bridges. It would be fine if I only played Minecraft my whole life, but I'm a student and I don't have time to go from place to place 3k blocks each way just to get a mending book that won't even be guaranteed, let alone be cheap. I get the idea of nerfing villager trades, that's fine, but please, make it reasonably easy as well. 

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Not a fan of the Villager Trading Nerfs. Making the game more grindy doesn't make it more original or fun, doing more work than what we used to for the same stuff. It's a sandbox game, we should be able to play it the way we want to, instead we are being nudged more and more to forcefully explore to an excessive degree. Restricting a Sandbox game more and more goes against the concept of Minecraft being a Sandbox Game.

     

    I like keeping my world file size down, things like this do not help. And while I have made sure on my personal Bedrock Realms to lock in Villager Trades so this nerf doesn't affect me (Including with a 1.16.20 through 1.16.100 Librarian that sells Soul Speed III), this nerf will deter me from playing on friend's worlds that were generated after 1.20.12. Also people who didn't like the Current Trade System (That is going to be axed soon), just don't use it. It isn't hurting anything.

     

    I also have a friend who has decided to close his private Vanilla Bedrock server and stop playing due to the upcoming update as he is that put off by it. So let the damage of that sink in.

     

    And instead of nerfing Librarian Trades, how about fixing the Anvil Issues instead such as 'Too Expensive' and costing rediculous amounts of XP to rename an item?

  • 31
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    this should NOT be in the game. stop making players do more unnecessary things

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    The new trade with the inhabitants is disgusting. Who even needs to build a village for the sake of "Mending"? It will not be convenient and long for anyone. Canceling discounts after re-infection is an even more disgusting idea. No one will want to constantly give away 15 emeralds instead of 1 for the sake of mending, because it is very expensive. It is necessary not only to constantly pull emeralds out of the inhabitants, distributing the necessary materials (cane, wheat, etc.), but also to give them away for the sake of books, at a loss.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Only one zombie-cure discount sounds reasonable.  Wandering Trader changes are OK.

    The rest of these changes are AWFUL.  Please consider abandoning them immediately.

    Biome-locked trades do NOT help with a process that "feels random."  Instead, they force tedious exploration of random world generation.

  • 26
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    The experimental villager changes would make trading even more tedious than it already is. Needing to transport villagers thousands of blocks just to make a trading hall would be annoying and slow. Nerf the trades if that's what it takes for rebalancing, but please don't make it that drastic.

  • 25
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    These changes seem more annoying than rightfully balanced.  If enchantments are getting nerfed like this atleast make the anvil better

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I'm sorry but I don't see how this update will add anything that players will like. The trading system is fine as is. I feel like there's other ways to encourage players to explore biomes than to make them run around randomly in hopes of finding a specific biomes. If changes must be made for trades there must be a better way.

  • 25
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I have to say adding tedium to the game to try and balance it is not a great way to go. I get the system is broken, but making it take hours longer to set up does nothing but make the game more boring. If you want to fix it consider doing some other nerf like making the trade 1 per reset or changing the book trade to diamonds.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Instead of changing villagers we need to just fix the enchantment table. The enchantment table should be made more like the brewing stand in the fact of using certain items to make what you want. For example if I want feather falling IV I would have to use a blank book, (X) of lapis lazuli and 4 feathers. Each enchantment would require its own unique item and certain amount of lapis lazuli. This would make a more positive change for the game.

    Changing the villagers the way you guys are right now is just making the game way to tedious and annoying.

    The zombie villager changes and the wandering trader changes are good changes.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Terrible idea.

    Most casual players have a very difficult and tedious time getting these trades, at it is. Sure, people who play MC for a living may like the challenge, but the rest of us who just play for fun struggle with villagers. They're such a headache, as it is. Please, for the love of everything, don't move forward with this idea! Making netherite armor harder to make was bad enough.

     

    BUUUUUT, I do like the update to the wandering trader. That is excellent!

  • 27
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I'm not a fan. At all. First the Netherite change and now this? Why are you suddenly trying to make the early game last forever?

    Please just discard these changes. Keep the curing "fix" if you have to, but don't change librarians.