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Item Descriptions

A lot of Minecraft comes from self discovery, or learning from friends. However, as a lot of new players pick up the game, they may feel certain areas are lackluster. In my opinion, items should have a brief description, with some quippy mojang-styled dialogue for some of the more self-explanatory items.

E.g. Obsidian would look like "A tough rock that is formed by rapidly cooling lava. Can only be mined by Diamond tools, and is often used in portal construction"

(This is descriptive, but not telling of all of the uses of the item. Obsidian is a very useful item in early game, and players should be aware of that.)

E.g. Steak would look like "Served medium-rare"

The aim is to subtly inform players what is valuable and what is common. It also adds an element of character to the game that would feel right at home in Minecraft. This options should be on by default, but of course can be toggled off.

Registered User shared this idea

• September 21, 2021 16:26
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  • February 17, 2023 01:08
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  I'm in love with the idea of adding descriptions to items in minecraft as a subtle way to inform new players while still letting them figure out things by themselves, and I have a few suggestions to expand on the idea:
  • When hovering above an item as a new player it could be overwhelming to read all the information presented, especially when doing so on enchanted armor, trimmed armor, banners ext. So I suggest that for the Java Edition a key would be assigned to reveal the item description and for Bedrock Edition the description could be revealed in a different tab in the inventory.
  • The descriptions have to be limited to the point of view of the player character meaning no information that isn't known to them such as building a nether portal should be presented. Instead the descriptions should present the items as they appear with additional hints to their potential uses, E.G. Obsidian: "A tough rock that is formed by rapidly cooling lava. It seems to have some magical properties that could be useful." This lets the player look for recipes using the obsidian & discover ruined portals and make their own conclusions.
  • This have the potential to give some lore insights through the items to enchantments, The Nether, mobs ext. E.G Sculk catalyst: "It seems to use the magical energy of fallen mobs to sustain itself. Makes you wonder what happend in the Deep Dark?"

  It's not meant to be a way to give the player a fixed path, it's a way to give guidance and encourage creativity