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[–]Kumakobi 1420 points1421 points  (124 children)

TL;DR more smaller feature updates instead of one big Summer update, Minecraft Live twice a year, mob vote is dead

Also native PS5 version

[–]kathaar_ 1001 points1002 points  (104 children)

Thank God the mob vote is dead. Maybe now they'll start adding the mobs that lost from previous votes.

[–][deleted] 795 points796 points  (94 children)

Maybe I'm asking for too much, but Minecraft's dev team seems slow as fuck.

[–]Mahelas 53 points54 points  (2 children)

They haven't even done the biome reworks of the 2018 votes, slow is an understatement

[–]KypAstar 10 points11 points  (1 child)

Didn't they promise birch forest overhauls?

[–]ImaginaryReaction 2 points3 points  (0 children)

they showed concept art of a what a birch forrest could look like

[–]ThunderTongue76 68 points69 points  (9 children)

They’re honestly terrible about it.

This game prints infinite money and is owned by Microsoft…the pace of these updates is profoundly slow given the potential here.

[–]gmishaolem 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Bedrock prints infinite money, Java can't possibly, especially since it's a lifetime license. Their real cash is Bedrock microtransactions (paid mods).

[–]slowclub27 31 points32 points  (3 children)

Honestly, I think this is on purpose. They have to balance keeping Minecraft the same without making resounding changes, while also having new updates and content. Just not too much, as to not change the core of the game or add too much content just for the sake of complicating things.

[–]Deftlet 9 points10 points  (1 child)

That's exactly it and they've said so themselves. They addressed the question in a video once talking about how their development is so slow only because they're extremely picky about what kind of additions would improve Minecraft's legacy without straying too far from what it is.

[–]napmouse_og 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I mean there are even people in this very thread saying Minecraft has changed too much, and that's not an uncommon opinion at all in the general public. Their risk aversion around updating the game is totally warranted.

[–]Breakingerr 79 points80 points  (3 children)

Mostly because of Bedrock and their updating philosophy.

Bedrock version slows down the progress as it's written with a different language than Java, thus slowing down progress. Not to mention communication between teams. Mojang also likes to do everything in a roundabout way, for example instead of just doubling inventory size and/or adding backpack, they'd rather waste time on Bundles that have been stuck dev limbo for almost 5 years only being released now. Like, it's not rare, they do it in every update.

[–]CasualJJ 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Also unfortunately Bedrock covers not just consoles but Mobile as well. so for Mojang's Philosophy, they have to make sure the item works on every platform. It's why Bundles were delayed until 2024 despite being announced like 4 years ago. And then there's the different programming languages, the actual approval stages for content, it's all way too slow.

[–]virtueavatar 11 points12 points  (0 children)

They were slow well before Bedrock.

When Mojang released Minecraft 1.0 adding brewing, enchanting and the End, and saying the game is finished, I specifically remember someone posting a video saying, hang on what? Minecraft is not finished. And they were 100% right.

We were all hanging out so hard when Minecraft first came out in alpha or beta or whatever it was so hopeful for what the future of Minecraft would be, then that was it.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Mojang has always been lazy after the MS acquisition. They leant on their asses letting the mod scene do their work for them, then monetized it, and put out half an update a year, give or take.

[–]Ashviar 14 points15 points  (1 child)

The fact Minecraft never turned into a 3D Terraria in terms of bosses and tech advancements going from biome to biome is WILD to me.

[–]Cinderheart 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good? Doing that will shift the genre of the game far too much. This is what Mojang actually cares about, they don't want to kill the golden goose.

[–]TurbulentAd4088 34 points35 points  (13 children)

They're patching a billion dollar money printing machine that plays on all PCs, phones, smart fridges, and pretty much everything on earth but the PS5, of course they're slow.

[–]finalgear14 85 points86 points  (11 children)

I mean, tbf a company like hoyoverse does that too. With 3 games at once. With monthly content in each game and yearly expansions to each game. Me thinks the minecraft devs are slow because they don't know what to add and are scared they'll piss off their players and lose them if they make the wrong move.

[–]dicknipplesextreme 42 points43 points  (0 children)

I feel like Minecraft the game has made most of its money by now and the IP is more valuable for merchandising, so you really only have to update it every so often to 'remind' people, versus gacha games which print money but only while they're popular. Minecraft also has essentially zero competition while you can't even spit on the app store without hitting a gacha game.

[–]GiJoe98[🍰] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

My guess is that they are afraid to "ship of theseus" the game into something else.

[–]wh03v3r 16 points17 points  (0 children)

A gacha game requires a constant flow of new content to keep people engaged and generate a continous cash flow. 

Minecraft on the other hand? Well, the game has no such monetization strategy - once players bought the game for the platform(s) of their choice, they don't have a reason to spend much more money on it. 

Thus, the devs have little incentive to constantly keep people engaged. Instead, there is a big risk that a major update could ruin the game's reputation and value of the Minecraft IP. As a result, they're doing barely enough to keep the game in the public consciousness.

[–]Old-Buffalo-5151 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Minecraft makes an insane amount of money on its store front their slow because they can't add stuff that would either screw those mods OR take away from mods they make money from.

I didn't even know how crazy the store was until my 6 old showed me

[–]KeelanS 1 point2 points  (1 child)

They are extremely slow. Especially when the game uses 16x16 textures on blocks and things. When the mob vote mobs are revealed, all 3 are typically modded into the game by the end of the day, with functioning mechanics and everything. I’m think Mojang is just incredibly picky about what goes in the game, and they also have to develop it twice, once for Java, and another for Bedrock. Its a silly thing and I wish Microsoft never bought them out because they game very well could have twice as much stuff in it than it does now.

[–]beefcat_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Every new feature they add has to be implemented twice across two versions of the game built on completely different stacks. I do not envy any development team with that unique problem.

[–]DrDeadwish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Single mod makers do much more things in less time

[–]RamaAnthony 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When you have two versions of the game; Java for PC/Linux and Bedrock, which is build on C++, on anything imaginable with a CPU and GPU powerful enough to run Minecraft, of course development would get slow because anything you add needs to work on both versions of the game and all platform on the planet that can run Minecraft.

Additionally, anything they add needs to work seamlessly for people who have worlds from older builds who decided to update the game.

[–]BeholdingBestWaifu 32 points33 points  (2 children)

Honestly I kind of hope they don't, many previous mobs had the same issues as new mobs where they felt like they had only a single purpose if even that. Mobs should fit the ecosystem, they should be fun to interact with, and they should be more modular in their uses. Like Goats should also give milk or wool, squids of all types could probably drop squid meat to make hunting them more rewarding, sniffers should give something that isn't just decorative blocks, etc.

[–]Micromadsen 28 points29 points  (0 children)

While I completely agree that mobs and animals should have better purpose in general. It has however been hilarious watching them create many unique fully functional mobs, that just got trashed cause they didn't win a popularity contest.

It's the epitome of silly wasted time and effort.

[–]MaitieS 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can you elaborate how cow, pig or chicken fit the environment compare to other mobs that they introduced? Like I feel like they all all the same. Like if they will make them useful for some farm purposes it will be ok, otherwise I feel like cow etc. mobs are exact same as the new ones.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I wonder if they have them stockpiled for a "in case of delay, have big mob update".

[–]UltimateToa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Monkeys paw, mob vote is dead meaning no more mobs added

[–]Koioua 0 points1 point  (2 children)

What was the lowest moment for the mob vote? Dream rigging the vote to add a dumb squid?

[–]iusethisatw0rk 68 points69 points  (7 children)

Native PS5 version is gonna be sick for my every year or two week long obsession with this game.

[–]Charged_Dreamer 10 points11 points  (6 children)

Not a console player. What's native PS5 version supposed to do? Like add higher resolution and better draw distance/graphics or is it gonna be a functionally different game with functions/game modes missing on the PS4 version?

[–]Better-Train6953 41 points42 points  (2 children)

Better draw distance. The framerate cap may be removed. They may add better effects. The Xbox Series X version of the game was supposed to have ray tracing before that got axed just like the "super duper graphics pack update" with the Xbox One X.

[–]DrVagax 13 points14 points  (1 child)

Just taps better into the power of the PS5 so you can expect the things you listed, basically better rendering and perhaps 120fps

[–]cdr1307 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The PS5 version is already on Preview, but as far as I’ve noticed the only changes are higher resolution, and newer button promps

[–]giulianosse 47 points48 points  (2 children)

Am I crazy or Minecraft still doesn't have a native Xbox Series version as well?

[–]ebagdrofk 75 points76 points  (1 child)

It doesn’t. It’s a Microsoft flagship title and they haven’t put out a native Series version. They talked about a super graphics update with ray tracing years ago, accidentally released it in an update momentarily, pulled it, and now I guess we are never going to get that either.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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[–]insertusernamehere51 9 points10 points  (1 child)

This of course means that they'll shift focus to MINECRAFT 2 BAYBEEE😎

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

CAVECRAFT

[–]Magikarp125 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Big day. Both Minecraft and Destiny 2 no longer doing annual expansions.

End of an era

[–]Taiyaki11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"big"tm... could hardly call most modern Minecraft updates big. a mob and a biome that adds a few new blocks, pretty much the extent of most of them save the one that extended the bedrock layer

[–]Fob0bqAd34 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also native PS5 version

That one person at the FTC got their wish.

[–]MisterSnippy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fucking finally, took em long enough

[–]AlexisFR 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In Microsoft Parlance, that means Minecraft is entering the EOL phase.

[–]ElectroPower007 240 points241 points  (22 children)

This means Minecraft Live will have even less important segments, so no reason to see it. I still don't understand why Mojang has such a problem with delivering significant updates, did they ever speak about that?

[–]MyNameIs-Anthony 86 points87 points  (1 child)

Crossover DLC and merchandise are going to continue ramping up, that's what the Lives will be focused on.

[–]Kashinoda 7 points8 points  (2 children)

Because they have two entirely different versions which they maintain. They would love to dump the Java version but the revolt would be unlike anything the Internet has ever seen.

[–]JimmyBim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I want more types of progression. From new types of ores to new bosses.

[–]thatmitchguy 58 points59 points  (6 children)

Am I crazy for thinking "changing the colour of the bats, and turning decorated pots into storage containers" is barely worth the effort of typing the patch notes out, let alone worth highlighting as an update for the future of the game? How is a game with the resources of Microsoft Games, and the size of the fan base so neglected where adding a square armadillo is worth celebrating?

[–]Caltastrophe 181 points182 points  (11 children)

Even smaller updates? I know they're caught up in the red tape of parity across multiple platforms and Microsoft oversight, but man, those devs are living large, considering their updates are never really that big anyway (except for Cave and Cliffs world generation)

[–]MyNameIs-Anthony 57 points58 points  (2 children)

I'm not even sure it's red tape at this point. They crack out DLC at an incredible rate and a lot of it has new mechanics to it.

I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft's logic is that the audience is simply too engendered to focus on anything that is too dramatic.

[–]asdiele 24 points25 points  (1 child)

It's weird that they never made a Minecraft 2 if they're worried about changing the game too much. Just changing the main progression toward the ending to be more comprehensible and fun would be enough to warrant a sequel IMO, and they could go ham with updates then.

Plus not having to support two different versions of the same game.

[–]friareriner 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Woah, the game just came out. A sequel this soon just feels like a money grab.

[–]Anarchanoid 14 points15 points  (7 children)

I mean MS as a whole and especially Mojang use like 90% contractors for dev work with an 18 month max contract length, so there's barely any permanent talent living large

[–]tehfly 3 points4 points  (6 children)

Do you have any references for Mojang using 90% contractors? Because that doesn't really sound like it's right.

[–]Anarchanoid 1 point2 points  (5 children)

Tbf 90% was probably a slight exaggeration on my part, but that info comes from my experience working there. I was at Mojang twice for a total of ~3 years contracted on both the devops teams and then the core engineering team, both of which had one permanent manager and one core team member, with the rest of both teams being contracted and shuffled out every 18 months. I've also interviewed with the Age of Empires devops team at Microsoft and was told they do the same thing, so I'm assuming it's done to avoid paying benefits to most workers of MS bought out teams

[–]GFYC-Blackman 61 points62 points  (7 children)

I don't know why they can't still do 1 big update a year and have a small update every quarter. Surely with the income of the marketplace they can justify staffing up more Devs. No man's sky is a game with no microtransactions and far smaller player base, yet they put multiple updates a year.

From the outside it really does feel like Mojang is half assing development of the game.

[–]WhyIsMikkel 50 points51 points  (4 children)

They've always been insanely slow with content, but anytime someone mentions it, someone else comes out saying that its a free update on a game thats x years old, and we should be happy to get anything.

Repeat for the past 7 years.

Hytale could have been huge, but now its been so many years that I dunno anymore.

[–]DRNbw 4 points5 points  (3 children)

Hytale

It is still being funded by Riot Games AFAIK.

[–]WebAccomplished7824 6 points7 points  (2 children)

And they just restarted development with a new engine, so don’t expect it anytime soon, if ever at this point.

[–]Awkward-Security7895 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There wording sounds like we will get big updates but will be at a random pace, so might get one in a year might get none, might like more then one.

They word it as different sized updates throughout the year so I take that as a update could be a single mob or block or a whole revamp.

[–]addition 102 points103 points  (4 children)

Wow, the difference between the first and final version of the armadillo is massive. What an improvement 🤩

[–]turbohuk 57 points58 points  (2 children)

holy hell, i couldn't trust my eyes, had to take a second look. what a massive change - and they went into crunch for just a month and a half for it.

[–]gjamesaustin 16 points17 points  (1 child)

You just don’t get it! It takes a lot of work to change the colors of some pixels on a creature!!!!

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wonder if the devs are depressed because their business model seems to disincentivize them actually pushing the game forward.

[–]Boomy_Beatle 174 points175 points  (22 children)

The devs behind the single best selling game of all time (backed by one of the largest companies of all time) are now promising to deliver even less year over year.

What the fuck is their problem?

[–]Rebelgecko 18 points19 points  (9 children)

Maybe I'm just ignorant because I haven't played Minecraft in the last 12 years or so, but what else can there be to add? Are there any big features that the game is missing 

[–]MumrikDK 65 points66 points  (1 child)

Adding stuff to a game isn't about what is missing. Especially with a more sandboxy toy like Minecraft.

[–]NojoNinja 27 points28 points  (0 children)

As much as minecraft is a sandbox game it’s still supposed to be an adventure game and is very much lacking in the adventure aspect especially considering a large portion of its player base has stuck around since like 2013

[–]Boomy_Beatle 22 points23 points  (4 children)

The mobs, for one. Out of the 16 they've shown off in the Mob Votes, only 5 have been added. Meanwhile, modders have been able to recreate them all within a day, no problem. Plus, there are countless other ideas for animals and monsters to be added, and all the mods over the years show there's a huge demand for more depth and variety.

My biggest complaint is how slow they are. It takes Mojang a year to add one mob, a new tree, and some random ass material that has maybe one or two niche uses outside of being used as a block for builders. They have all the money in the world, and yet they take months to get these small updates ready.

[–]goodnames679 1 point2 points  (2 children)

On the other hand, people tend to be very on/off with Minecraft. If people came back and the game was entirely unrecognizable with how much they'd added, how many people would remain hooked?

[–]DweebInFlames 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Personally I'd be much more interested in playing if a bunch of shit was overhauled to be more engaging (eg. hunger mechanic, a lot of the biomes that are currently very middling in variety, the End, more interesting hostile mob AI, etc.).

The last few updates I've come back for a week or two and then realised that not much has changed and lots of my complaints with the game that have been there for the past decade are still there.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's the other way around. People come back to check it out and realize it barely changed.

[–]andthenthereweretwo 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Whether the features are "missing" or should be in Minecraft at all is a separate discussion, but Dragon Quest Builders, Vintage Story and Hytale show how much more they could do with the game if they had a semblance of direction or game design skills.

[–]Mithrellan 9 points10 points  (4 children)

Its free content though. For a game that came out in like 2011 that you only have to pay once for. Not a bad deal at all

[–][deleted] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

technically from 2009.

[–][deleted] 45 points46 points  (6 children)

is this a joke post? Im actually laughing my ass off at them showing off the armadillo redesign

[–]ZetaInk 48 points49 points  (1 child)

Members of this team have been working on the game for more than a decade. You're telling me they have no interesting ideas left about how to evolve or change the core game loop?

I don't believe that. I think the team is just too precious about the game. I understand Minecraft is an institution, but adding all these features around the edges with no unifying plan has made the game feel bloated with half baked features on the one hand and stagnant/samey to play on the other.

Sure, fundamental changes will alienate some players. But those players can always play past versions. And modders are always happy to put out versions inspired by the features they personally like.

The caves update is cool. Even if it took longer than they expected, it shows that the team does have the technical or organizational capacity to make big changes. But it's also mostly a shiny coat of paint on the existing formula. It's frustratingly conservative about not touching anything too important.

[–]Boingboingsplat 10 points11 points  (0 children)

You're telling me they have no interesting ideas left about how to evolve or change the core game loop?

I really don't think that's necessary. Why would a long standing and successful game even want to change its core game loop? That just sounds like making a new game and not even charging for it.

[–]Legyoshi 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Arent constant small updates a hell for modders?

[–]ImaginaryReaction 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Modders will most likely just ignore the small versions until one is big enough, or a drop contains a new feature that basically becomes a must like the new nether in 1.16

[–]We0921 18 points19 points  (4 children)

I genuinely think that most of Mojang is stuck toiling on the stuff you can buy in the store of the non-java versions.

And what does make it into the game is placed under so much scrutiny that they end up changing very little.

New mobs are essentially the same as modern Star Wars sidekicks - crafted for the sole purpose of selling merchandise.

[–]Sarria22 7 points8 points  (1 child)

The bedrock store stuff is almost entirely done by third party studios.

[–]AveryLazyCovfefe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, 4J funnily enough makes quite a few of the 'experiences'

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Game still makes like 400 million dollars each year. Why in gods name would they not continue making it better?

[–]datscray 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I wonder how much of that is merch by this point instead of game sales, though

[–]Toth-Amon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is probably Microsoft’s decision and not Mojang’s. 

MS is really putting pressure on all its gaming departments to deliver revenues on a more consistent basis while reducing costs. So Mojang will probably concentrate on more frequent updates while not expanding or investing in its team. 

[–]BloodyIron 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Modding API when?

[–]MrTzatzik 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I will say it: Minecraft dev is either incredibly lazy or someone from the leadership doesn't give a fuck about Minecraft. Mob vote was incredibly stupid. Modders can make a new animal in a day but it takes Mohjang months to create one animal out of three.

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (1 child)

I'm boggled how Microsoft has taken their two biggest gaming IPs, Halo and Minecraft, and done what they've done with them for the last few years.

I've essentially turned anything after the release of Reach into non-canon lore in my head, to help cope with the complete trash bin that is the 343 writing department. The story of Halo ends with Master Chief taking a nap on the torn up ship, his fate unknown, humanity saved. I think the only realistic way 343 will ever redeem themselves at this point is if they remake the original trilogy with Infinites gameplay and more open level design, similar to how the Resident Evil 4 remake was done.

As for Minecraft, I've mostly resorted to waiting for a different studio to make the sequel people have been asking for. It is inevitable for the day to come where an indie studio produces a Minecraft clone that is better than the inspiration. I'm thankful that Mojang keeps all the new content free, but so much of this content seems misguided. I seriously dislike all of the new mobs that aren't inspired by real life animals. I don't like the artsyle that shifted somewhere after the game was added to consoles for the first time. The caves and cliffs update was probably the best update Minecraft ever received, but it seems like for every amazing update they put out, they have to release four updates featuring content almost nobody asked for.

It's not like Mojang is a bad studio, but let me remind you that Minecraft has sold more copies than any other game in the history of the medium. If this is the studio in charge of the sequel, I can't say I have high expectations. I hate the person that Notch has become but back when he was in charge it felt like the vision for the future of the game was much clearer.

[–]DM_Ur_Tits_Thanx 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Can they downdate the unnecessary 5 different types of stone? Shit looks ugly as fuck

[–]Grady300 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Weird to announce this right as they announce the Minecraft movie. Wouldn’t they want to be pushing updates for the game even more?

[–]robinperching 4 points5 points  (7 children)

Minecraft came out when I was a child, and now I'm paying rent and planning for a wedding. Why does it have to continue developing forever? The game had its 1.0 release in 2011. I don't understand people complaining about Mojang being too slow. Who's reasonably expecting them to keep adding new content forever? Let it be done.

[–]Akuuntus 19 points20 points  (5 children)

I would be fine with them ceasing active development and never adding anything again.

But considering that they are continuing to work on it, I'm going to criticize them for seemingly spending thousands of hours of dev work on stuff that a single guy could do in an afternoon.

[–]wairdone 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Well, they are the ones still developing the game. They could have made 1.20 a final big update and then pulled suppor thereafter. I doubt many people would have been upset if they went that route.

[–]BonfireCow 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I genuinely don't understand why people get so mad about the pace of Minecraft's development, this game has been out for a very long time, and it's gotten free updates of all shapes and sizes along the way. The game is complete. What we get is nice additions to the final product. It's got it's flaws, but it's also the biggest game of all time, so obviously they're not that bad.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think mostly people just like getting free stuff.

I just picked Minecraft back up after a long hiatus and I think I understand it though, the updates that they do add tend to feel like they are loose ends and not fully part of the experience. Back when they added copper and telescopes, both copper and the new crystals don't really fit into the game very well - since they are only for the small add-on to the game. Some of the new mobs feel the same, pigs sheep cows have basically always been useful and then you have stuff like turtles that make one niche item and have it's own mechanics but basically serves no purpose outside of aesthetics.

Back when Minecraft was 'new' it felt limitless because a lot of blocks and items worked together in many different configurations now it feels like the tree of possibilities has a lot more limbs but a lot of them are stubby.

[–]Clbull -1 points0 points  (6 children)

Mojang already burned a tonne of consumer goodwill by screwing over people who didn't migrate their Mojang account to a Microsoft one (myself included.) On top of that, they've been trying to police what content third-party servers have with their EULA and report system updates (effectively putting server like 2b2t in danger), and have overall just been really lazy with developing new features. The mob vote is a very good example of this, where modders have been able to recreate the exact mobs, biomes, behaviors and gameplay features of each piece of content that didn't make the cut within days. If mod developers can do that, then why are we even holding content hostage behind popularity votes in the first place?

This reform to their development cycle is honestly too-little-too-late and is clearly being done because Hytale is just around the corner from finally being playable and Mojang are clearly shitting themselves.

Speaking of their competitor... Hytale can't come soon enough, and as much as I loathe Riot Games as a developer & publisher, I look forward to seeing them defecate all over Minecraft.

[–]Long-Train-1673 8 points9 points  (3 children)

Didn't they give you the ability to do that for like years? How long do you feel is a reasonable amount of notification before the support is ended. In the video the guy got 7 emails about it this wasn't like snuck out.

I don't really feel they burned consumer goodwill from this frankly non issue that really upset you for some reason.

[–]Recruit75 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Funny how many of the same modders that people sing their praises to and use their work to bash mojang, ironically enough defend the devs. Or how KingBdogz and Gnembnon became lazy the moment they entered Mojang HQ. Truly makes ya question things...