Fandoms and communities have always been able to sway media tides and charge through metaphorical walls. Some companies recognize the weight that their community carries and embraces their voices of change; Mojang being one of them.
On November 18, 2017, Mojang held the first Minecraft “Mob Vote” on the livestream known as Minecon (later called “Minecraft Live” and in-person conventions called “Minecraft Festival”). The developers released concept art of four mobs they had designed and gave a brief description of how the mob would change the game.
The first mob vote resulted in Mojang adding the Phantom –hostile flying mob that only appears and attacks after 3 in-game days with no sleep– to the game in the following update. The next mob vote didn’t take place again until Minecon Live (also known as “Minecraft Live”) in 2020, when viewers were able to choose between the Moobloom, Iceologer, and Glow Squid. Those who play the game today have probably already encountered the winning deep-underwater glow-inker.
The most recent mob vote took place during Minecraft Live 2021. It was the poll that brought about Allays and put the Glare and Copper Golem back on the shelf to possibly be offered up again in the future alongside the other losing mobs.
Crafters around the world are hyping themselves up to choose one of the three mobs to be added to the game based on the next mob vote. The first announced mob in the running was the Sniffer. It’s an “ancient mob” that hatches from an egg like the turtle mob. The eggs can be found in underwater ruins’ chests. The special perk coming with the Sniffer is its ability to sniff and dig up ancient seeds that will grow new plants- also to be added should the Sniffer wins.
The second to be announced is a little friendly, yet shy, mob: the Rascal. Found deep in the darkness of mines, it will play a small game of hide-and-seek with the player. Upon being found three times, the Rascal will present the player with an “enchanting” item, leading miners to believe it will be an enchanted tool of some kind.
Last but not least in the poll, is the Tuff Golem. The Tuff Golem, should it prevail, would be built by the player much like the Iron and Snow Golems. It can display an item given by a player or pick up an item if its hands are empty and display it instead. The cloak it wears can be colored depending on how it’s built, and the golem, regardless of what it may or may not be holding, will be able to go to sleep in a statue-like state.
Players will be able to choose between the three potential mobs in the next mob vote on Friday, October 13, 2022, starting at noon EDT. Instead of livestream attendance, the voting will take place in three locations to enable more players to have a voice: a Bedrock Edition server, the Minecraft Launcher, and the official site, minecraft.net.
Brooke Holben
Brooke Holbenis a fourth-year student at Lock Haven University dual majoring in Communication (Electronic Media) and English (Writing with a minor in art). She served as a staff writer and photographer off-and-on for the Eagle Eye staff and now currently works as the Online Editor. Brooke is also the president of the campus's chapter of national honorary band fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi (Eta Alpha, HA). After Lock Haven, she plans to continue her education with a masters degree in Creative Writing for Entertainment and furthermore use the combination of degrees to become a script/narrative writer for video games, comics, and other forms of entertainment media.
