The Biomes Category is next on my list of “things to investigate”**, following the successful efforts of cleaning up the Gameplay category and the Mobs category split recently.
This post is about the category, not any specific biome, dimension or structure!
Something we've also observed, when posts go in this category, they maybe briefly mention an idea and then focus entirely on items in the biome or the mobs and exactly what they do. Moving posts isn’t actually a big deal (no really it's super easy), they’re just often really environment light and item/mob heavy. I mean that's cool, but doesn't really make that category useful like it could be.
That said, we have already seen a lot of cool suggestions in this category - several inspiring ones really and we want to see more!
Here are some questions I’d like for us to talk about in this thread, although I'm open to anything that falls under "constructive suggestions" for this category only:
- Would it make sense to provide a template that people could fill in to encourage more information about biomes/dimensions/structures that gives the community enough information to be able to vote sensibly for a post? What would go on that template? What do you wish people included?
- How do we keep encouraging unique ideas instead of very, very tiny variations on the same ideas? (Looking right at you, the nether and deserts.)
- Should we split the dimensions into Overworld, Nether, and Other?
- Should we move structures into its own category?
Thanks for any thoughts you have and thanks for using the feedback site!
(Please note off topic replies will be removed.)
** because I am not on the web or art team and as such I cannot resolve certain features of the website entirely by myself, I focus on what I can do here
Gave it some sleep over the weekend, here's where I'm at today:
I'm going to start with breaking out Structures first, and we'll see how that goes. Adding new forms for specific categories may be a specific item we address in the website visual overhaul. It'll take some balance to make sure we remain encouraging for ideas that aren't as fully fleshed out, non-native English speakers, and younger audiences, but I think we're off to a good start.
Looking forward to hearing more people chime in on these ideas!
What might work best is to split Biomes, Structures, and Dimensions into their respective categories. Then, for people proposing new dimensions, encourage them to create "hub posts" and link to separate posts of new structures and biomes within that dimension. For instance:
Q: I want to propose a new dimension that will include three biomes and at least two new generated structures.
A: Create a hub post in Dimensions discussing general information, mobs, access to dimension, overall goal of dimension, etc. (a template is a great idea for this sort of thing). Add a link to a post in Biomes that discusses the three new biomes. Add a link to a post in Structures discussing the new structures you want to add.
Q: I want to propose a change to an existing structure, or the implementation of a new one in a current dimension.
A: Post this in Structures.
Q: I want to propose an addition to a specific Overworld biome (say, new swamp trees), or the addition of a new Overworld biome.
A: Post this in Biomes. If your biome also includes an idea for a new structure, add a link to a new post for that structure under Structures.
Q: I want to propose a change to terrain generation in the Nether or the End (say, add water patches in the End).
A: This could technically fall under Biomes but perhaps makes more sense in Dimensions.
As far as your second question - Minecraft Abnormals is coming out with a video soon discussing this very topic! (I would know, I'm helping create it.)
I agree with macchupiccu96
There should be some way to chain related posts together for varying topics, a simple way to do this is under the feedback section for biomes have more form fillable boxes that ask specific questions. Such as, what structures are in the biome if any, where would this biome be located and why would players travel there?
I too agree with MacchuPicchu96 but I think instead of creating lots of seperate posts you should be able to create the whole post in one go adding in your general info, mobs and other such stuff into the correct areas of the “template” then when submitting the feedback, the “template” would then divide itself up into bits, and post those bits into their correct places on the site then automatically make a short link to the separate bits from the “mother or hub post”. This I believe would be less hassle for those who may find it fiddly to link things on phones and tablets (it can get very fiddly).
I agree with PolarMammoth. One of the biggest issues with linking to two or three other posts is that those other posts become lists, which don't make much sense out of context of the main post. If there were a way to keep the main post as one post but have different sections (one for items, one for biomes, one for structures, one for mobs) within that post, that would both make it easier for people to create, and for people to read.
Also as the 'sub-posts' are generally lists, they may not get through your rightly-intensive filtering, leaving the original post devoid of any information as its linked pages were removed.
To me, the difference between a biome and a dimension is how you get there. Biomes are usually large, so once you get there, from the player's point of view, you might as well be in another world. So for me it makes sense for them to be in the same category. For instance, a player proposing an underground glowing mushroom forest could propose it as either a biome (you explore and dig for it) or a dimension (you have to build a portal to get there), and these suggestions would be nearly identical from the asker's point of view.
I think Structures makes sense as a separate category, because they aren't usually large enough to feel like a separate world, and they exist inside of some external biome/dimension. e.g. Guardian temples exist in the ocean, mansions exist in the plains. A request for a guardian temple would not be a request for an ocean, nor a mansion a request for a plain.
My biggest concern with the biomes and dimensions category is how much effort it asks the poster to expend. For example, this post does an excellent job at following the guidelines:
It presents a well thought-out idea with everything from new mobs, items, and blocks to the overall storyline justifying its existence. Yet there is something that if I disagree with a part of the post, should I still vote for it? If I'm only 75% on-board, and 25% against, should I vote for it, or create a new post with my vision instead? Or maybe I just want some sort of magical forest in Minecraft, because of how it would contrast with the other two barren, hostile dimensions? If that's the case, then maybe I could vote for one (or all) of the posts doing so, some of which don't go into nearly as much detail:
To me, posts in Biomes and Dimensions category should capture atmospheres and concepts of environments, rather than the poster having the burden of building them out exactly - especially since (if adopted into the game) they will undergo major changes by the development team before release.
For instance, the top posts in the category should be able to tell you what kind of biomes/dimensions/environments/atmospheres players want in the game. If the topic is popular enough, you can bet there will be many comments with all sorts of ideas about the details it should have, and even references to other posts (block, item, mob, etc) that they think would fit well in that environment.
As another example, this post mentions sleep as a way of accessing another dimension:
And this one describes a dream-like dimension:
We can connect these two ideas together to get something I think is better than either one alone, and would keep each poster happy. Even though the posts are small, when lots of them are grouped together, we get an idea big enough for a new biome or dimension, with more support from the community than if one poster does it all alone!
TLDR The Biomes and Dimensions category should not demand long posts, which encourage more posts that are similar, and instead encourage smaller posts that have more room for cooperative discussion and the building of ideas.
EDIT Oh, and also, I think we should discourage using the poster's suggested name for the dimension as the title of the post to make it easier to search for and prevent duplicates. e.g. use "Evil Lava Dimension" instead of "The Nether". The name is usually less important than the environment itself.