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About Trial Keys (Snapshot 24w05a)vpn_key
This week Mojang finally gave Trial Keys functionality in 1.21's experimental features. Along with this was added the "Vault", a strange block in the Trial Chambers that rewards players only once when they use a key on it. Why add these vaults? Mojang said they wanted to create a way for all players to get loot rather than miss out when someone empties a loot chest's contents first. So, this is mostly a multiplayer feature, and that's what I want to focus on here.
If you ask me, adding a feature that gives all players a chance to obtain loot from a structure is kind of a weird thing for Mojang to do. If someone were to open a chest and take everything before any other player can look, that's something the players themselves should resolve. If you're playing on a server with someone who won't share loot that both of you worked hard for, they're likely not someone worth hanging out with.
But what if the Vault block is really cool? Ok, here's the other problem. If it were a matter of making structure loot more obtainable among players on a server, then why haven't they added this block to other structures too? Furthermore, if we just threw the Vault into jungle temples, dungeons, strongholds, etc., then you've got an unbreakable block that has no use once all interactions have been used, and that would interfere with mining and building if a player wanted to change the structure (i.e. a base, farm, harvesting blocks). In singleplayer, the Vault and the Trial Key that opens it don't add much to the game at all, and farming keys becomes pointless.
With all this said, the Trial Key's use is a real letdown. All this waiting just to have a new item that "resolves" a multiplayer issue that doesn't require any developer's help? Tell me if you agree or not. Also mention whether you like the Key's new texture, cause I sure don't.
If you ask me, adding a feature that gives all players a chance to obtain loot from a structure is kind of a weird thing for Mojang to do. If someone were to open a chest and take everything before any other player can look, that's something the players themselves should resolve. If you're playing on a server with someone who won't share loot that both of you worked hard for, they're likely not someone worth hanging out with.
But what if the Vault block is really cool? Ok, here's the other problem. If it were a matter of making structure loot more obtainable among players on a server, then why haven't they added this block to other structures too? Furthermore, if we just threw the Vault into jungle temples, dungeons, strongholds, etc., then you've got an unbreakable block that has no use once all interactions have been used, and that would interfere with mining and building if a player wanted to change the structure (i.e. a base, farm, harvesting blocks). In singleplayer, the Vault and the Trial Key that opens it don't add much to the game at all, and farming keys becomes pointless.
With all this said, the Trial Key's use is a real letdown. All this waiting just to have a new item that "resolves" a multiplayer issue that doesn't require any developer's help? Tell me if you agree or not. Also mention whether you like the Key's new texture, cause I sure don't.
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My problem with the Trial Key was that they announced it two and a half months before the Vault was announced. They hyped it up for months, and when its use was finally revealed, it was essentially just a chest, which is a very mundane use. They really should have waited to reveal that, since speculation got out of hand with this big mysterious key.
Mojang thought everyone would just love the Vault, so they couldn't help but add the Trial Key first as some sort of mysterious teaser for what's to come. They've got such a bloated ego.
- This has been a feature that players have been requesting for many many years. It might be fine if you're playing with one or two friends in the context you suggest, where you can easily share stuff, but what if you join a server with hundreds of players, many months after the world was created? You can't just retroactively ask all players for your share of the loot that was taken long before you joined.
- The devs have said that if people like them they may add this idea to other structures as well. I doubt they would add them to every structure, especially as a vault block which doesn't really fit thematically with a lot of things. I'm not sure why you're concerned about chests becoming obsolete for loot purposes though, what's the issue there? It's just a chest.
- I do agree that it was a bit dumb for them to hype everyone up about the trial key, especially considering they've been trying not to set expectations for things. If they would've just released them at the same time as the vault block then I don't think anyone would have complained. Also, I don't mind either texture, they're both alright to me.
- The devs have said that if people like them they may add this idea to other structures as well. I doubt they would add them to every structure, especially as a vault block which doesn't really fit thematically with a lot of things. I'm not sure why you're concerned about chests becoming obsolete for loot purposes though, what's the issue there? It's just a chest.
- I do agree that it was a bit dumb for them to hype everyone up about the trial key, especially considering they've been trying not to set expectations for things. If they would've just released them at the same time as the vault block then I don't think anyone would have complained. Also, I don't mind either texture, they're both alright to me.
If there were a ton of players, sure. There are other options though. I've seen servers that use some sort of datapacks or plugins that reload chunks or structures so that loot is replenished.
If this was really a requested feature Mojang was focused on adding, as you claimed, they could've just started an update that adds the Vault block among other quality of life features rather than adding a structure whose primary purpose was to improve multiplayer (not everyone gets the chance to play Minecraft with others you know.)
If this was really a requested feature Mojang was focused on adding, as you claimed, they could've just started an update that adds the Vault block among other quality of life features rather than adding a structure whose primary purpose was to improve multiplayer (not everyone gets the chance to play Minecraft with others you know.)
Correct, you can use a plugin/mod/datapack to replenish loot, but it's still a nice feature to add into vanilla Minecraft nonetheless. Not everyone plays with other people, no, but there isn't a downside to it existing. Why add anything at all when you can just mod everything in? Why bother adding the tick command, I can just use Carpet mod instead. Why bother adding the crafter when people who don't use redstone won't use it.
The structure functions exactly the same facing it alone in singleplayer as it does facing it alone in mulitplayer, you don't get anything extra for playing with others. It's not necessarily a feature developed solely for multiplayer, it's a singleplayer feature that also has considerations for multiplayer.
The structure functions exactly the same facing it alone in singleplayer as it does facing it alone in mulitplayer, you don't get anything extra for playing with others. It's not necessarily a feature developed solely for multiplayer, it's a singleplayer feature that also has considerations for multiplayer.
