Game Theory: Minecraft, Stop Using Diamonds!

The Nether update introduced Netherite, a new ore that is superior to diamonds in every way, making it stronger and more durable than diamond gear.

• Diamonds have been Minecraft's uncontested champion for 10 years • They defined the game's visual style and were the ultimate mining achievement • No significant new ore had challenged diamonds since Emerald in 2012

The official update statement declared that Netherite makes diamond look like cobblestone, dethroning diamonds as the top-tier material.

Despite Netherite's superiority, there's an even better material that has been overlooked since the game's beginning.

Diamonds are marketed as super rare and super valuable, but this is largely artificial marketing and limited supply by the diamond cartel.

• Diamonds are the hardest material on Earth with a rating of 10 on the Mohs hardness scale • The word diamond originates from Greek meaning unconquerable • Some synthetic materials like wurtzite boron nitride can be harder under laboratory conditions

Diamond tools are used in industrial drilling and mining to cut through hard rock surfaces due to their extreme hardness and high melting point.

The jewelry industry successfully marketed diamonds as forever stones, making them the ultimate symbol of love and value.

Hardness and toughness are inversely related scientific properties. Hardness is resistance to deformation, while toughness is resistance to fracturing when force is applied.

• Glass is harder but plastic is tougher • A plastic bottle bounces when dropped but a glass bottle shatters • The harder something is, the more stiff and easier it is to shatter

Diamond is surprisingly easy to break with basic hammers despite its hardness. Less than 5 pounds of force can shatter a diamond.

When diamonds deform, everything shatters at once, making them terrible for applications requiring durability.

• Trees are chopped, not sawed, requiring impact force not cutting force • A typical axe swing delivers about 80 pounds of force • Since less than 5 pounds of force shatters diamond, the axe head will break, not the tree

Mining involves smacking rocks with pure diamond, which shatters easily. Real-world industrial drilling works by rubbing against diamond like sandpaper, not smashing it.

• Arrows travel at 225 feet per second with enough kinetic force to damage armor • Diamond cannot deform or dent without breaking • Any force strong enough to bend diamond will shatter it completely

Diamond tools and armor were never actually good for Minecraft, despite being the game's most sought-after material.

Creating Netherite equipment requires diamond equipment first, suggesting a diamond-Netherite composite that fuses both materials stronger.

• Metals can form alloys but diamond cannot bond easily with other materials • Diamonds are chemically unreactive, which is good for jewelry but terrible for mixing • This prevents making diamond less brittle through alloying

Netherite armor is likely just diamond armor with a coating of Netherite, explaining the color change from sparkly blue to dull.

• A Netherite coating doesn't eliminate diamond's brittleness • The diamond layer will crack if the coating bends • This makes Netherite armor potentially more dangerous than diamond alone

Gold has high toughness as a soft metal but low strength due to how easily it bends, making it unsuitable for tools and armor.

Iron performs well on both strength and toughness scales. It's not too soft like gold but doesn't break easily like diamond, making it the actual best ore choice.

• Adding carbon to iron creates steel, an even stronger material • Coal exists in Minecraft as a lump of carbon • Flint and steel already prove steel exists in the Minecraft universe

The best tool or armor material must be both strong and tough, resisting stress before deforming while also resisting fracturing after being cracked.

True loyalty should be to real science over game mechanics. A scientifically accurate crafting system would make steel accessible and stronger than every other ore.

Stop using diamonds on tools and armor. Use diamonds on hoes instead, as originally suggested.

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But hey, that's just a theory, a game theory.