Over the years, Mojang Studios’ perspective on certain matters has shifted.
Minecraft’s developers recently released a short documentary. CEO Jens Bergensten spoke about the creeper — the infamous hostile mob that sneaks up on players and detonates.
He noted that, by today’s standards, the team would be unlikely to add a creeper; the issue lies in its destructive potential:
«If we followed our current design principles, we probably wouldn’t have introduced the creeper. It’s a contentious creature: one that can suddenly appear and destroy what you’ve built.»
Jens explained that Minecraft is fundamentally a game about creation. While the threat of destruction should exist, Mojang wants to limit ways the game can take things away from players:
«Whenever you introduce something destructive into the game, you need to test it with players and make sure the level of destruction feels right,»
In his view, the game shouldn’t be excessively punitive — otherwise players won’t feel comfortable or at home in its world.
Creeper fans were reassured: the iconic character will not be removed.
Source: iXBT.games