How Mojang can improve archeology in Minecraft
Archeology was added to Minecraft as a feature to add a new gameplay loop to the game but it did little to improve the experience. You have to first craft a brush with copper ingots and feathers, a relatively easy craft. Then you can use it to dig up items from suspicious sand and gravel.
The gameplay loops of building, farming, mining, and combat have sustained Minecraft for over 15 years. However, like all things this can feel somewhat monotonous.
Archaeology did not help in breaking the pattern. There are only limited kinds of items you can get from this mechanic, and most of them are not that useful.
Problems with archeology in Minecraft
Archeology’s biggest problem is the quality of the rewards for the amount of work you have to put in. You can get the Sniffer mob, but first, you need to find ocean ruins, then find suspicious sand, and finally, there is a small chance of acquiring a Sniffer egg from the suspicious sand.
The reward you get for finding and hatching the mob is a few decorative plants. The torch flower, one of the decorative plants, cannot even emit light. The pottery sherds and armor trims are good, but again, they do not warrant the toil.
Ways Mojang can improve archeology in Minecraft
Balancing the rewards
Since you have to put in a lot of work to acquire the items, which don’t feel like much of a reward, Mojang could increase their drop rate. They could also add more items, which would make them still rare but feel rewarding.
Adding more suspicious blocks, like suspicious mud and dirt, can also be a go. They could also add blocks that can specifically be brushed, like fossils.
Adding more mobs
One easy way to create excitement around archeology in Minecraft is to introduce the potential to acquire new mobs through it. The possibility of getting ancient mobs was one of the most exciting things when the Sniffer was announced. They could add other mobs that resemble dinosaurs or create original designs like the Sniffer.
A raptor-like mob could act as a companion to players, similar to dogs. An ankylosaurus-like mob could act like an armadillo, dropping scutes that can be used to upgrade wolf armor. These could also be used to make raptor armor.
Adding ancient trees
With the Sniffer, it is possible to obtain a few plants, but if it were possible to obtain a new type of tree as wel, it would be a huge improvement. Apart from that, using the brush could sometimes give players the chance to acquire a sapling of another type of ancient tree.
It would also be cool to acquire saplings of already present trees from different biomes. For instance, you could get a cherry sapling in a desert or a jungle sapling in a dark forest.