Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-26564307-20190728053639

So Fangorn, one of the most unique aspects of Middle Earth. However, as someone who has been around for a long time, I feel that it has been majorly neglected for a long time. Thus I feel it is import to add more things to help out the area/faction.

Quick History of additions/major changes to Fangorn biome/faction:

First Added in B10

Current Draught mechanics added in B19, along with the Fangorn fog effect in a smaller B19 update

Draught "brewing" made to only work in Fangorn in B29

Minor fixes, Ent Texture Improvements, and dark oaks/crebains being additions to the forest were the only other things done for Fangorn.

Other Suggestions

For the most part, Fangorn has mostly remained out of the suggestions board. The only things I could find were:

High King Ithilion's Treeish Lands and A Wizard's Vale in December 2016.

My suggestion on Better Utilizing Fallen Leaves in May 2017.

Both of these were endorsed and help strenghten my point even more: improving the biome/faction.

Main Attraction: My Suggestions

Now that I have the groundworks for my suggestions set up, here are some thoughts for improving Fangorn.

1. A special tree or trees for the biome. My Fallen Leaves suggestion helps explain how this can work, and High King Ithilion suggests the Fangorn Holly. I do not personally care what this tree is, however I feel that a tree that this faction fully controls and requires special methods of gathering would do a lot for Fangorn.

2. Extended Ent Jar use. Currently, Ent jars can only be used inside of Fangorn to collect water and make Ent Draughts with. I agree that this function should only work in Fangorn, however that makes these much less valuable. Thus, I propose that a player should be able to place a block of dirt inside of these to make them into a type of plant pot. I would personally love if the mod improved flower pots and added more of these options, however I think this would certainly help out the faction. These would help greatly with decorating bases and could possibly be used for planting double-tall plants.

3. Fangorn Vines. I recently found out something suprising: Fangorn's giant trees still utilize regular vines. I could have sworn that these were religated as for Jungle-biomes. Because of this, I believe that the forest should get a unique type of vine. The new tree for the forest should have these growing down them. These would also help make the forest seem wilder and more uncempt.

4. Deep Roots. Fangorn is home to it's massive trees: a staple of the forest that should remain unique. However, perhaps some utility to could be added to them, a new block. These would kind of be blocks akin to walls, but would lay on the ground in 2-4 block long "patches". Right clicking them would result in collection 1-3 root strips (aking to how berry-bushes work). It would also be a really nice addition to the undergrowth of the forest, and could be explained off as existing because of the massive trees. The player would loose alignment for chopping up the base block. They could perhaps be used as a new draught type as well (though I'm not sure of what they could do). Ents would just walk over them, like they're a slab, but players would have to jump over them or walk around them, as if they're "tripping" over them.

5. Fangorn's Blessing. Fangorn is home to quite a few unique plants. I think a new one (codename Fangorn's Blessing as I'm not sure of a name) should be added, that spawn very rarely in groups of 2 or 3, but appear somewhat commonly when you bonemeal the grass in the forest. Though I originally just imagined them as a fun collectable plant for the player to get,  a new use could be added. As we all know, Ents do not have mini-quest (makes since to me). What if, by right clicking them with this in you hand, you gift it to them and gain a point or two of allignment. My reasoning is because it shows that the player has either helped the forest grow or explored the forest a lot, which the Ents would probably be happy about both. I also think it's a fun alternative to mini-quest. I imagine a light blue flower (and light blue dye).

6. Fangorn grass/ferns. Exactly what it says, plants to help make the undergrowth seem more wild and overgrown. The new fern(s) would replace the existing, vanilla ferns, while the grass would co-exist with the grasses already found in Fangorn.

7. Thick fallen leave piles. These would be slightly higher piles of fallen leaves on the ground (much like how the gold and silver treasure piles work). They would most prominately be found inside of Fangorn and other large forest, but players could create them with layers of fallen leaves. This would help add variety to the undergrowth.

8. Fangorn Singer. A unique bird for the forest, these birds would primarily stay up in the canopy of the forest. They could be caged like normal birds, but could also be tamed with seeds, and act similar to how parrots do (I realize this might be harder to code because of the version of Minecraft used, but it's a possibility if the mod ever does get updated past 1.7.10, and is probably still possible in earlier minecraft versions).

9. Party trees in Fangorn. Self explainitory. This would help the tree-line from looking so odd, with tons of little trees between the larger ones. I'm kind of suprised they aren't already. I know this might make the forest a little laggier, but it's a price I think is worth it. Personally, the tree line looks really weird currently without these there.

10. Fireweed Flowers. I'm not forgetting the Fangorn waste either. Personally, I know that I rarely visit this location whenever I'm exploring the game, so to help allieviate that, I think it should get a unique plant: the fireweed. As a result of the massive fires spread through the region, I think this plant would make a ton of sense. This would be a double-tall flower. Would give red dye.

11. Isengard Logging camps. A unique structure for the wastes, to help fill up the area and explain why so many Uruks are running around it. The loot would be basically the same as regular camps, with some logs added into the mix. Isengard lumberjacks could be a possible new merchant, who would sell you diffrent wood found in the area (including the unique tree type). Along the same lines, perhaps making Uruks spawn less and making snagas spawn some.

12. Water coloration and atmosphere. Currently, the waste have really bright blue water. Considering a whole section of the forest had been burned/cut up around it, I feel the water should be a muddied/darken color to better fit the atmosphere. The regular Fangorn water could also theoretically be made more "mountain spring clear" but I think the base water color is fine in Fangorn. Along the same lines, perhaps the waste could have a slightly ashen fog-affect. Not super noticable, but noticable enough.

13. New achievements. Includes trading with Isengard Lumberjack, giving an Ent a Fangorn's Blessing, aquiring the special tree's sapling, and entering the Fangorn Wastes. This would help bring the achievement list for fangorn up to a more comparable amount when compared to other achievement lists currently.

A Few Ending Notes

A couple of things I want to address about the faction as a whole:

1. I don't think Fangorn should have a crafting table. It is a unique faction and the lack of ct helps showcase this. They also do not have many things they would need to craft, so it would be a waste of space in my oppionion.

2. I don't think new draughts are needed: the current are well balanced in my mind. I am not against adding new, Fangorn specific flowers, but I feel more regional-specific flowers should be added elsewhere before Fangorn gets any more.

Overall

For the most part, I tried to keep everything said completely original (I know the first point has been mentioned before, but I think it is really important). I think a really good update would be a Flora and Fauna update, where tons of new trees, flowers, plants, and animals along with major improvements to farming and displaying plants (aka, expanded flower pot looks and types) could be added. However, even if an update like that never happens, I feel that adding at least a few things to Fangorn is really important to the biome and faction. Fangorn already takes serious hits by being confined to the forest and not having a crafting table, so anything that encourages players to interact with the faction more would be really helpful for it. These additions might not lead many poeple towards pledging themselves to Fangorn, but it would bring more people to the forest. 