Minecraft player complains about game becoming grindy with every update

Minecraft has made more than a few changes in recent months before and after the Trails & Tales update, but some have been more controversial than others. First came the changes to acquiring netherite gear, now requiring templates to upgrade diamond weapons, armor, and tools into netherite quality. Recent snapshots and previews have also changed villager trades substantially.

The alterations to Minecraft's villager trading have segmented librarian enchantment trades into multiple different biomes, and some enchantment trades require players to grind a librarian's profession to master level. This has drawn the ire of some fans like u/GoshtoshOfficial on Reddit, who decried the move as being unnecessary.

To hear this player and many Minecraft commenters tell it, recent in-game changes simply make the sandbox title more grindy without any substantial payoff.

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Minecraft players discuss the topic of grinding after snapshot 23w31a and preview 1.20.30.20

Mojang needs to stop making minecraft so grindy, it's ruining the game. by u/GoshtoshOfficial in Minecraft

Although the most recent alterations made to librarian villager trades are still set behind the Experimental Features toggle, Minecraft fans aren't happy with the direction being taken after the Trails & Tales update. u/GoshtoshOfficial stated that the recent villager trade changes and netherite upgrade tweaks have made the game more time-consuming.

According to them, acquiring librarian villager enchantments already took quite a bit of time when it came to leveling up the villager's profession. Meanwhile, ancient debris needed to make netherite gear was difficult to find in abundance, and requiring a smithing template that can only be cloned with diamonds simply makes the process long-winded and expensive.

u/GoshtoshOfficial stated that Minecraft went from being a game of building and exploration to one of farming mobs and resources for hours just to acquire enough resources to make the builds that you want. Obviously, this complaint omits the use of commands and Creative Mode, but other commenters on the game's subreddit seemed to agree.

Meanwhile, other Minecraft fans stated that the problems were exacerbated by the changes made to world generation. Many commenters stated that they had to travel obscene distances to find the biome they needed without resorting to using a seed picker or generator to get what they required.

One point of note, in particular, was the desire to find swamp biomes, which are now required to create swamp villagers and receive some of the enchantments that were segmented in Minecraft 23w31a and preview 1.20.30.20. Players must now breed specific jungle and swamp villagers and level them up to receive enchantments that they could've gotten elsewhere prior.

Comment by u/g3org3_all3n from discussion Mojang needs to stop making minecraft so grindy, it's ruining the game. in Minecraft

Comment by u/MrZeusyMoosey from discussion Mojang needs to stop making minecraft so grindy, it's ruining the game. in Minecraft

Comment by u/hayful59 from discussion Mojang needs to stop making minecraft so grindy, it's ruining the game. in Minecraft

Comment by u/Bluepikmin_64 from discussion Mojang needs to stop making minecraft so grindy, it's ruining the game. in Minecraft

Comment by u/DragonBornServer from discussion Mojang needs to stop making minecraft so grindy, it's ruining the game. in Minecraft

Although plenty of fans were in agreement with the original contention, others pushed back. To them, if the original intent was to build a cozy home and a small farm and then explore the world, then that's still entirely possible.

According to some commenters, depending on what you want to do in the game, there's no need for high-level enchantments or netherite gear. Some fans also pointed out that grinding has always been a part of the game, even the older versions that many players view with reverence.

Comment by u/IceFire0518 from discussion Mojang needs to stop making minecraft so grindy, it's ruining the game. in Minecraft

Comment by u/Kalinka-Overlord from discussion Mojang needs to stop making minecraft so grindy, it's ruining the game. in Minecraft

Comment by u/Cheap_Application_55 from discussion Mojang needs to stop making minecraft so grindy, it's ruining the game. in Minecraft

Comment by u/funkyskunk1_ from discussion Mojang needs to stop making minecraft so grindy, it's ruining the game. in Minecraft

Comment by u/burns13s from discussion Mojang needs to stop making minecraft so grindy, it's ruining the game. in Minecraft

It appears that the recent changes made in Trails & Tales have polarized the community, but Mojang has stated that they are making decisions based on player feedback. It's possible that with enough criticism from the community, the developers may still make changes to the controversial villager trade tweaks or the netherite smithing templates.