[cerevox]

Eventually all things will disappear, it is inevitiable, but I doubt there will be a true "glowstone shortage crises" for a very very long time. There will be no free-range glowstone after a month or so, but counting up all glowstone harvested and free-range, I doubt there is a small enough amount to panic about.

[eah]

Here's my analyzation of the depreciation of quantity of glowstone:

Blocks like dirt and sand can be placed and destroyed without any loss of the quantity. Though, they can still be lost upon death and such. In contrast, glowstone can be lost in that manner (though less often) but can also depreciate in quantity when destroyed.

Minecraftwiki.net says glowstone drops 2-4 dusts when mined. I assume for every 3 blocks of glowstone mined, one drops 2 dusts, one drops 3 dusts, and one drops 4 dusts for a total of 9 dusts dropped for every 3 blocks mined. That's an average of 3 dusts for one block mined. To compare, it takes 4 dusts to craft one block. For every 4 blocks mined, 3 can be crafted from the dropped dust.

So every time the quantity of glowstone is destroyed and re-placed, the quantity decreases by 25%. You're left with 75% of what was originally there. Do that again, and you have about 56% of the original. Again, and you have about 42% of the original.

Amazingly, only 75% of the glowstone available in the nether will actually be usable. After only 2 more times of being destroyed and re-placed, less than half of the glowstone is left than was originally in the nether. This is all based on the assumption that glowstone drops an average of 3 dusts when mined.

The numbers are significant only if people are constantly re-placing the glowstone, which is not the case. So yeah, a wipe won't be needed for 6 months or later.

[aguy130]

Minecraftwiki.net says glowstone drops 2-4 dusts when mined. I assume for every 3 blocks of glowstone mined, one drops 2 dusts, one drops 3 dusts, and one drops 4 dusts for a total of 9 dusts dropped for every 3 blocks mined. That's an average of 3 dusts for one block mined. To compare, it takes 4 dusts to craft one block. For every 4 blocks mined, 3 can be crafted from the dropped dust.

Wrong. 2-4 dusts per block. A 33% chance of one of those choices for EVERY block. It does not have to drop 2, 3, 4, every 3 blocks.

This error proved the rest of your post null and void.

[Aelcalan]

No, on average he's right. Glowstone, assuming large quantities, has a roughly 75% recovery rate. The bottom line is that supply and demand will always apply, and glowstone is going to be a high-tier item, thus making the effects more visible.

[Cogohst]

Minecraftwiki.net says glowstone drops 2-4 dusts when mined. I assume for every 3 blocks of glowstone mined, one drops 2 dusts, one drops 3 dusts, and one drops 4 dusts for a total of 9 dusts dropped for every 3 blocks mined. That's an average of 3 dusts for one block mined. To compare, it takes 4 dusts to craft one block. For every 4 blocks mined, 3 can be crafted from the dropped dust.

Wrong. 2-4 dusts per block. A 33% chance of one of those choices for EVERY block. It does not have to drop 2, 3, 4, every 3 blocks.

This error proved the rest of your post null and void.

That wasn't an error. He represented the 33% chance by having three blocks, each representing a third of the possibilities.

[aguy130]

Minecraftwiki.net says glowstone drops 2-4 dusts when mined. I assume for every 3 blocks of glowstone mined, one drops 2 dusts, one drops 3 dusts, and one drops 4 dusts for a total of 9 dusts dropped for every 3 blocks mined. That's an average of 3 dusts for one block mined. To compare, it takes 4 dusts to craft one block. For every 4 blocks mined, 3 can be crafted from the dropped dust.

Wrong. 2-4 dusts per block. A 33% chance of one of those choices for EVERY block. It does not have to drop 2, 3, 4, every 3 blocks.

This error proved the rest of your post null and void.

That wasn't an error. He represented the 33% chance by having three blocks, each representing a third of the possibilities.

I blame Kyle.

[FaeynHeart]

According to the Minecraft Wiki, the silk touch enchantment should allow for no loss of glowstone dust when mined. You will get 100% efficiency. I assume, hope rather, that the majority of players would be intelligent enough to mine glowstone using this method.

[cerevox]

majority of players

intelligent

These do not belong in the same sentence.

[Prodigy9]

According to the Minecraft Wiki, the silk touch enchantment should allow for no loss of glowstone dust when mined. You will get 100% efficiency. I assume, hope rather, that the majority of players would be intelligent enough to mine glowstone using this method.

Some players, perhaps even many players, will be intelligent enough to do so. But probably not the majority. Those who do use the silk touch enchanting will benefit (in the form of an increased price of glowstone due to lower supply of it, should they choose to sell their stocks) at the expense of those who do not use it. And that is as it should be.

[taxidriver308]

First off, enchantments are random, you do not get to pick what you get. Secondly, the silk touch enchantment is like a 1 in 100 chance of getting it (i think from what i gathered by glancing through the pseudo code). And this is if you have enough exp to attempt to enchant that many picks in the first place.

No, I believe that the majority of the glowstone will be picked clean before someone startes mining it with a silk touch pick