As many in the Minecraft community (TMC) know, the mob vote sparks controversy. Mojang and TMC have been at war, especially with the most recent mob vote. This vote might have been the last.
Minecraft LIVE is a yearly video that gets people excited for new Minecraft updates, explaining new tools, items, blocks, and the now controversial mob vote. The mob vote is exactly as it sounds: three mobs are shown to the public, but only one can be put in the game. TMC votes to decide which mob will be put in. Voting was open from October 13-14th for 48 hours. The winning mob was announced in Minecraft LIVE on October 15, leaving the other mobs to be scrapped. This is where the drama starts.
The past mob votes have yet to end up the greatest in TMC in the past few years. 2020 involved the glow squid which is a squid providing ink sacks that can light up item frames; the iceologor, a snowy biome version of the pillager; and the moobloom, a flower cow variant. Each was a variant of an original mob and gave some new and interesting benefits. The vote ended with the glow squid winning the majority. Controversy started when many people were angry with the apparent “rigging” of the vote. Infamous YouTuber, Dream, was accused of telling his millions of subscribers to vote for the glow squid which won both the first and final rounds of voting. Overall, the mob has not done much, but adds some light in the caves in the game, literally.
In 2021, the mobs included the allay, a light blue vex variant that carries your items around; the copper golem, a tiny golem made out of copper that would press copper buttons. This mob would work nicely for redstone mechanics. Lastly, the glare, a mob that would warn players if places were dark enough for mobs to spawn. It was easily the most unpopular of the three. It was a close call between the copper golem and the allay, but the allay came on top. Many were angered about this because the copper golem and glare would be scrapped and never to be seen again. The scrapping is what happens to the leftover mobs when the final mob is announced.
2022 had the sniffer, a huge, but gentle mob that digs up seeds and flowers in the sand that players can not find elsewhere. In addition, was the rascal, a creature that would have the player play hide-and-seek with it. If the player caught the rascal three times, they would get an item in return from the mob. Items given ranged from ores to enchantment books. Lastly the tuff golem, a small golem that would hold items; used to be a decoration. When the sniffer was announced to be the new mob, TMC erupted in anger—rumors of votes being tampered with spread like wildfire. Many described how the mob votes were not explained well enough.
With the mob in the game, it is so difficult even to obtain; players have to go into ocean ruins, check suspicious sand and gravel, of which only 6.7% of the sand and gravel have the egg in it, bring the egg to the surface, and wait for it to hatch. Overall, the sniffer didn’t seem like the best mob in the mob vote, and TMC was getting livid with this turnout.
Finally, the most recent vote, the 2023 mob vote, seemed like the breaking point of the community’s anger. The mobs included were the crab who’s claw when killed would give players farther range to place blocks, the penguin which would make boats faster; like Minecraft dolphins, and the armadillo which dropped its shell which players could use to make dog armor. All three were amazing options and were mainly considered to spice up the biomes they were to go in as well as provide new items in the game. What could go wrong? Well, the same argument as the 2021 vote erupted. All three mobs were loved, so no one thought the mobs deserved to be scrapped. With all of the anger from past votes, the community decided the best idea was to boycott the vote. Many players did not vote this year in the revolt against Mojang. Propaganda was even created by players to stop others from voting, which did not do anything. The armadillo was announced as the winner of the vote this year, gaining 40% of the votes.
TMC is livid at the mob vote, with many calling Mojang lazy throughout the internet. YouTube videos, Reddit, and even some websites about the forum are questioning what is going on with the fanbase. Modders in the community have proven this by creating many of the mobs in the past votes in a matter of hours. Also, many of the community have speculated bots voting more than once, raising concerns about the vote being rigged again. The once fun and exciting mob vote seems to be drifting farther away from its uplifting roots. The controversy is getting intense enough that Mojang may have to remake the vote or scrap it completely. All that current players can do is wait for the 1.21 update or until further news is posted.
Minecraft Mob Mayhem
Elianna Young, MVC writer
February 14, 2024
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