These are not gated by a skill/tech tree. The limitation here is simply resource collection. Same as StarMade. I can build endgame armor 2 minutes into the game if I have the right stuff. I do not need to increase my skills first, I do not need to 'unlock' the technology.Minecraft is a sandbox game too. It has armor and weapon tiers, and then later-game tiers of enchantments, potion effects, new dimensions and materials, etc., all gated or effectively gated by the tier before them, without sacrificing a feeling of freedom.
I've just scraped my ship design for the third time and am about to start rebuilding it to make it more complex, efficient and just plain cooler. I feel plenty of challenge. Because I set my own goals and do not rely on Schine to tell me if I'm doing it right.It also presents a feeling of challenge we just don't have around here...
You are comparing game version 1.8.8 to version 0.19488, Minecraft is 9.5 times older as far as code and implementation. Of course there is more to do in Minecraft. Did you watch the Q&A? Have you read any of the Dev blogs? I will be playing StarMade 1.0 over any version of Minecraft.There, there's always some danger that can really ruin your day (especially if you go out looking for trouble) until very late endgame stuff. And even then, there tends to be an upkeep fee for invincible-level power, so there's usually incentive to keep going. ADDITIONALLY there is a creative aspect of being able to build whatever you want, with several subsystems including redstone logic gates (our logic), automation mechanics, piston stuff (our rails), minecarts and roller coasters, etc... But that is not all there is.
Mining isn't a grind in Minecraft?...As if StarMade doesn't have grinding too? If it weren't for planets (which lag servers anyway) or custom configs, mining would be a nigh-intolerable grind, and unchanging, and unending... bluh... At least an experience-type grind would be leading to some definite end.