I tried to get into Minecraft but find it hard to be engaged by a game without a story. I would like it a lot better if there was a story mode or something.

Similar feelings here, SMP makes it a lot more fun, but still, more stuff, would help a lot. Still, it's supposed to be a 'mine stuff & build stuff' game, so any enhancements beyond that idea, should be left to modders. I simply can't wait for a retro dungeon crawling experience, with some quests and stuff. Something like a low resolution yet real time EoB/LoL would be awesome.

I'd gladly participate in such a project myself, though i could only do projects, as i'm one of those lame people who only have ideas.

Anyhow, when i get to the point, where i get a bit bored, i start a new world, and that, my friend, WORKS. ;)


[edit]
Oh, no mentions about the time of this Beta? 20th starts in an hour here, i believe it's 2 hours where Notch lives, but since he wrote about 2 hours ago, that he needs rest, i guess it won't be available til 20th evening. Any ideas about that?

This is a quote from Notch's blog:

"With Beta comes a larger focus on polish and content, and we’ll start early on with adding proper modding support with a stable API, and we’d love all input we can get on this from the modders out there. We’ll also add some kind of non-intrusive narrative to the game to help drive the game experience early on, and to provide some kind of late game goal. There will be a bigger focus on testing and stability as well, with more time between updates."

So there will be missions of some kind but probably you will be able to ignore them and do whatever the hell you want to do in the game.
I just purchased Minecraft yesterday and I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing so I died on the first night without ever crafting a tool. I could find some enlightening youtube videos but an in-game tutorial would've been really appreciated.

I wish I could afford it. It seems like a good offer (or at least a better offer than what will be available in the future), but it's christmas, and my finances are low. It's a pity really, because I seriously don't see myself paying €15 for this game, ever, especially not with worse conditions than the people paying only €10 are getting. I even think (from what I've seen of it, and tried in a demo) that €10 is probably more than I'd actually want to pay for it.

Simultaneously raising the price and worsening the deal seems like an odd marketing decision.

That's my experience too. Some people just aren't made for sandboxes, and I know I'm one. I for example really enjoyed the story of GTA: Vice City, but when I tried to just mess around in the city, I got bored very quickly. My short time spent with Minecraft proved the same thing. I see the appeal, but the magic just isn't happening.

Strangely enough, I love Dwarf Fortress, though; I think it's because the game, even though it doesn't really have a story by itself is capable of generating some pretty amazing tales. For me, that's a huge difference from Minecraft.

I think I will still prefer original EoB/LoL - I love these games too much. They started my PC RPG experience.

I loved the graphics, those hidden switches, and stuff. Since i still can't get into D&D, i didn't do much in EoB, but i intend to work on my deeendeephobia. I got into LoL very late.. [this year, really!] and loved almost every bit of it [the amazon were a bit of a graphical let down, but that's it].
I wouldn't mind if someone made a game like that, even using MineCraft as a base.
A mod like that wouldn't be made to be better than EoB or something, rudely said, it'd be a "more of the same" because "there's not enough of that", and to that, i can't object.
Doku's texture pack, or it's modification GeruDoku just makes me feel that EoBy/LoLy mood. Inspiring stuff.
I love LoL, i love Jagged Alliance's and XCOM's [those " ' " should be there, right?], and i want more games like in that vein.
There's a thin line between inspiration/tribute and ripoff, but if the dev team tried to achieve the first one, why the hell not? Even as a "because LOL2 and LOL3 just weren't the same".:)

Oh, try The King, the Queen and the Jester, if You haven't already, You might just like it. ;)

There should definitely be a Premium option or something like that, for after beta. Maybe $30 for Minecraft and all future versions.

I simply cannot recommend it to anyone anymore, since it would end with "It's $15... but you don't get everything."

>.>

You'll still get the full game, just not expansions...

It's no different than any other game with premium DLC (which nowadays is most games).