I would love to see NPC villages in the new version! The challenge For the devs would be adding the NPCs, I’m sure, but I’m sure they will manage! Trading with Villager NPCs(I know what your thinking...:Minecraft. But wait, there’s more!)
Perhaps Adding quests for the player to gather, craft and sell or trade supplies for the Villagers. This would be useful if Red51 added: (1.) More crops, (2.) More Farm animals, bakery and dairy products, (3.) Currency(I’m thinking maybe the villagers will be the players source of currency in the beginning)The list goes on, but you get what I mean.
Also, I can see that the mining system could use a new, realistic system in the future. I’m thinking that when mining ores, you get crushed ore that needs to be sifted, and then smelted. Also adding a “Forge” for smelling, and leave the furnace for cooking and baking.
Another thing that could make the game more realistic is adding “tool heads” in the anvil. For example, a “Pickaxe Head” will be needed to crafted in the Anvil first, in order to make a pickaxe.
If you wanna go grind-happy, there is always more of a crafting system that would be Hardcore Crafting. For example, the system will add more steps to crafting and perhaps higher ingredient quantity demands. For example, with hard core crafting enabled, if you want to craft, say, 4 lumber, you’ll need 8 logs. I believe that players who like more of a grindy-challenge Would appreciate this feature being added! Therefore, it would be a separate game mode altogether.
