Five Things that I Wish I had Been Told When I first started Playing...

There are a number of tips and potential mistakes that I wish someone had told me about when I first started playing the game, as many a hard-learned lesson would have been good to know before I actually did it -- so I have put together a list of tips, tricks, and actions that are best avoided for this section of the guide so that months from now you don't remark to yourself that you wish someone had told you about these things when you first started out....

Most of these factoids and bits of advice apply regardless of the version of the game you are playing, many are common sense that, had I taken a moment to consider them, I feel are obvious after the fact, but then there you have it...

(1) Don't Assume that it is safe to exit your house just because the Sun has risen!

One of the most frustrating experiences in the game is exiting your den only to learn the hard way that you failed to notice the presence of that Creeper -- and it makes its presence known by blowing itself up along with you and the outer wall of your den!

Seriously -- it is just this sort of event that explains why Glass Blocks exist in the game!  If you fail to install an adequate view out of the front of your house -- or better yet, build an upper-story exit to a patio or ledge that allows you to reconnoiter the area visually before committing yourself to walking outside you really can only blame yourself if you end up being forced to spend the day rebuilding your den rather than doing what you originally intended to do when leaving the house that morning.

(2) NEVER dig directly up or directly down!

When you dig up, you risk having a flood of Lava pour down upon you, killing you nearly instantly and destroying all of your possessions because of this careless act.  A similar disaster potentially awaits when you dig on the block you are standing upon -- a careless gesture that can easily see you plummeting through the air and into a Lava pool or into a group of Creepers because that block was the only thing between you and the dungeon below!

Both of these events happened to me -- remember what I said about learning things the hard way?  If I had a moment to consider the possibilities -- but of course why would I have done that?  I suppose that these are lessons that are meant to be learned the hard way, but I still wish that someone had warned me early on.

(3) Do not assume that the night is safe just because you are only stepping outside of your den for a moment or you don't SEE any threat...

Getting killed because you carelessly step outside of your den at night is such a crappy way to die...  Needing that one piece of Sugar Cane, or just a few Wood Blocks may be a reason to just dodge out real quick even though it is night -- after all, what is the worse that could happen?  Cha!  Right!

(4) Just because you managed to pull off a melee kill on that first Creeper does not mean you are good at melee battles with Creepers!

Chalk this one up to the natural ability for humans to fail to realize that they simply got lucky -- but when you deal with Creepers -- especially when they are stalking the front door of your den in the morning -- trying to melee them is just asking to experience a Creeper explosion... 

The hard-learned lesson here is when there are Creepers creeping about, head up to the sniper's roost and take them out with a Bow.

(5) Try not to waste resources -- especially the harder to obtain stuff like Diamonds and Gold...

You never need Diamonds until you really need them, and perversely in the world of Minecraft when you really need a particular resource for the object you want to craft that you lack, you always end up finding loads of everything except the resource you need!

On the first Map that I ever played I dug a mine down to bedrock and got lucky, as in under an hour I had nearly half-a-stack of Diamonds - so of course I just assumed that they were easy to get.  Fast forward to a new Map that I am playing while I write this guide and I cannot find a Diamond to save my life. 

It is situations like this that make you regret the fact that you made an entire set of Diamond Tools just so you could say you did -- when clearly the Diamond Hoe, Shovel, and Axe are a total waste of that valuable resource! 

While Gold has very limited uses, it having it available to make the really important stuff -- and specifically Powered Rails for your track run -- is key to happiness.  Wasting it on tools or Gold Armor?  That is a good reason to kick yourself.