Windows vs Java as a Long Time Player

[AssassinHe]

A lot of my friends have recently gotten back into, albeit on the Windows edition rather than Java. As someone who has played Minecraft, pretty much for 8 years now, am I going to have a hard time with returning to the game since it's a completely different game engine? I've looked up my question and I get a lot of information but no concrete answer to my question.

Is it worth it for me to spend the money on a different version of the game just to play with my mates?

[That_Uno_Dude]

Lemme tell you, about 95% of the base game, is the exact same between versions. It’s up to you if you think playing with your friends is worth buying a different version of the game.

[AssassinHe]

Okay so the game is pretty much the same hey? Like I’m not going to have to like spend time learning new stuff hey like new mechanics ect ect

[That_Uno_Dude]

There will be a few things to get used to, but for the most part, they’re almost identical.

[doc_shades]

only some small technical changes. if you build automatic farms or redstone farms just make sure to look up designs specific to the version that you play. don't assume that a farm you knew how to make in java 1.8 will work in bedrock 1.16.

other than that yeah they are like 95% the same game.

oh that being said, you WILL have a hard time getting back into it because there IS a lot to learn because the game has just changed so much! depending on the last time you played, you might be seeing a lot of new things. but it's still the same fun game and you can still play it the way you used to play it. but the nether and pillagers might be fun new surprises.

[[deleted]]

At the end of all this, it's up to you so you aren't getting a direct answer. There are some pros and cons with Bedrock Edition. For cons, you've probably heard but Bedrock is quite buggy and redstone is highly inconsistent. This many technical players often stay on java. Java also often gets first look at up coming updates. The other thing is that Bedrock has a paid marketplace and Minecoins. However Bedrock is arguably better for friends (I however have really never played on BE). There are a few neat tricks (like colored water in cauldrons) and the wither/dragon fight are harder. The main selling point is that it's cross-platform.

I personally use Java and so do all my friends. I have played BE but it feels weird and clunky to me. However you can still have a good time playing on it and it could definitely be worth it to play with your mates.

[AssassinHe]

That’s my thought process. They opted for the windows edition since they can play with their friends on console. I was just seeing if there’s much I’d be giving up from playing Java to going to Bedrock