At first the food mechanic was a little annoying but it has added a nice touch to the game. You tend to be a little more careful than before and you have to devote a little more time to food resources. But this is slightly configurable based on the difficulty setting as well.
You'll be pleasantly surprised to know this is more of a viable option than it used to be. It's quite hard to fill up your food bar once empty, but quite easy to jump off a cliff to reset it.
>I never really had any good idea as to what I should actually do in the game, besides build a random house on some random hilltop and admire the view.
I think everyone has this question. I tried to solve it by setting personal goals for myself:
1. build a complex redstone circuit; here's one of mine: http://youtu.be/qnd9l2_qrF0
2. craft a map (which can only be filled in by exploring the surrounding area) and fill it in completely
If you decide to try to "beat" the game, be warned that it's rather boring and anticlimactic. Probably the coolest part is it forces you to explore the "Nether".
Overall, the game has progressed nicely.
For me, this works well, as I just play when I really feel like it and no more time that my brain can handle[1], and when there are dangerous situations, you can really feel the stress for survival and preservation of all the "things" built.
[1]: Sometimes with games, after one hour or two, one is just playing the game, but not enjoying it.
I know, grass used to be a precious resource. I spent hours cultivating it myself back in beta! But these days it's mostly decorative. You can even mine it and put it wherever you want.
Why would someone hoax this? What would they gain from it?
Does anybody know what version of Minecraft the experiment took place in? That could explain certain mechanics that will make sense, it looks like it was before enchanting/potion making.
People seem to underestimate the power of grass, grass + bonemeal means seeds for wheat, if the factions kept raiding the other players it seems very possible they looted the players from all wheat and seeds they might have had, the original forum post also details that factions keept stealing saplings from other players, thus allowing the possibility of wood for becoming very rare.
First, grass doesn't matter. Wheat matters, and you don't need grass to grow wheat. For those that don't know, you need to eat or you'll die and wheat can be used to make bread. But there's plenty of stuff to eat, including renewable zombie flesh.
Second, while there are a few blocks that aren't renewable, there are plenty that are. Wood and cobblestone are completely renewable. And a lot of blocks aren't renewable but never used up. You should have just as much dirt in the world when you end as when you begin, unless it gets blown up by creepers or thrown into lava.
And you hardly need to build on a mountain and then cut away the mountain. Just build up and outward.
Eventually you should end up with people using only wood tools and be completely out of interesting materials. It would just be boring at that point.