An important hint on what's to come to help you prepare

[Azdoine]

Hah, the 'Enderdragon is Good' thing was just something I came up with out of thin air. I don't really think that.

The more likely story is just a battle of lesser and greater evil.

[Heilkaiba]

Here's my possibilities:

Spoiler

Show

1. Your spawn point. It is obviously a "magical nexus": You woke up there (Or at least, you entered the Overworld in that place), and you always return there once you die. Plus, the compass points there. (By the way, it would be quite cool if the only way to get there is to destroy all of your beds and commit suicide).
2. One (or more) stronghold. That's how you enter The End (in vMC), that's the only way to get cracked/mossy bricks (in vMC), and the Eyes of Ender point there. Even in old worlds, they point to the appropriate coordinates.
3. 0,0. It's probably not this, though, because the only way to find out your coordinates is F3. Plus, this place is just the center of the world. It isn't very magical or special, it's just the middle.
4. A dungeon. Monsters inexplicably spawn at a high rate here, out of thin air, and the area around the spawner constantly becomes mossy.
5. A village. There are people (?) here, full of XP, and monstrous guardian golems who keep them safe. Well, safe from the monsters. Well, safe from the other monsters.
6. A mushroom island. It's super rare, it's got strange mushroom-like infestations, and more importantly, it stops mobs from spawning. That must be a crack in the world!

You can create villages though. I don't know that they would count as fixed points.

[Sarudak]

Why do people keep fighting the fact that the 4 points are the spawn and the three strongholds. The statement 'Others may or may not have already built structures around these locations' is so obviously talking about the stronghold points and that the points are what's important not whether the stronghold is there or not.

[Elevatator]

I think the "others" are the builder of the strongholds, not the players.

[Itamarcu]

Each of them acts as a magical nexus, each with its own unique properties.

That's why. 3 strongholds still have the same properties. I doubt FlowerChild would have written this sentence if 3 of the 4 were the same.

[Sarudak]

Oh really? They have the same properties? Based on what? Because they each have a stronghold with an end portal?

Well he specifically said each acts as a magical nexus. That's probably why they each have an end portal there. Maybe the stronghold builders didn't care about the points unique properties since they we're so focused on harnessing the energy to get them to the end. Or maybe they didn't realize or have the tools to take advantage of their unique properties. The point is there are no other fixed locatable points in the overland.

[morvelaira]

So, what you are saying is that you think FC will make the different properties as opposed to it being obvious now?

[Sarudak]

Yeah. I can't think of any other explanation that fits.

[Battlecat]

Fascinating hint FC. You've inspired me to go locate the other two strongholds in my world. :-)

I have to agree that the original spawn and the three strongholds are the most likely candidates. They are the only truly "fixed" points that aren't just arbitrary coordinates (0,0 is pretty arbitrary). Villages, Nether portals and other things can be moved, or adjusted.

More importantly for anarchy game play, they are four points that any player can locate using relatively easy to obtain vanilla technology (compass, Eye of Ender) and without cheats. Nothing exists in game that can conceal those four locations, which means any player can eventually locate them. The locations are also indestructible. Even if everything was destroyed down to bedrock, those points would still exist, would still be find-able and I think the end portal would even still function since the blocks composing it are as indestructible as bedrock.

[Awfulcopter]

I think it porbably ties in with FC's latest build. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4444#p72516

Some new resource that can be collected from ender portals.
Probably interacts with dragon orbs in some way, because FC likes interaction between elements of BtW.

[Sarudak]

Here's my thinking. Each of the points will have the ability to generate a unique resource that can only be made there. There may also be some general effect that can happen at any of these points.I think that we will need to the resources generated at each of the strongholds to be able to build the portal home at the spawn point. The fact that it'd be impossible to control all these points in multiplayer is actually a good thing. It means that players *have* to interact. You must trade or raid these points to get the resources you need to progress.

[Nexus Trimean]

0
64
128
256

[Sarudak]

0
64
128
256

Is that supposed to mean something?

[Awfulcopter]

0
64
128
256

Is that supposed to mean something?

I assume he means that controlling more of the points will become geometrically more powerful.

[walker_boh_65]

0
64
128
256

Is that supposed to mean something?

It obviously means:
4^0
4^3
4^7/2
4^4

Simple.

[Sarudak]

Well that was close but 4^0 = 1

Clearly there's something deeper going on?

[Catox]

I'd say : 0 + 64 + 64 + 128
... mystery remains complete

[walker_boh_65]

Well that was close but 4^0 = 1

Clearly there's something deeper going on?

Crap. You're right.

[Panda]

I think your all being trolled, I think he's just stating something that loosely pertain to something he may have pondered for a future feature, allowing you to wonder and come up with extreme outlandish and conspiracy~ish ideas. I do the same thing when my girlfriend asks about gifts im getting her, and you know what? She overthinks herself wrong 99% of the time.
Panda

[Gargantuan_Penguin]

I am pretty sure that he is actually helping us out here. At the very least warning us that whatever happens will involve a lot of work. The conspiracy theories are just a plus.

[BinoAl]

Yeah... Guys, it can only be the spawn point and the strongholds, Sarudak is right. What we need to be trying to figure out now is the significance of each point. Dungeons are spawned limitlessly, as are all the other ideas besides the spawn and the 3 strongholds. So, what do we know?
-The spawn is where steve (and every player, in smp) is inexplicably tied.
-Each stronghold has a portal to the end, and obviously, someone in the past found them powerful enough to build a fortress around them.

Now, interesting point: Each stronghold is generated 120 degrees from the next one, around the spawn. It creates an interesting formation. ;)

[Sarudak]

Nah. That would be mean. FC isn't mean. He specifically said it's for us to prepare and he wouldn't lie about that.

[Panda]

Yeah... Guys, it can only be the spawn point and the strongholds, Sarudak is right. What we need to be trying to figure out now is the significance of each point. Dungeons are spawned limitlessly, as are all the other ideas besides the spawn and the 3 strongholds. So, what do we know?
-The spawn is where steve (and every player, in smp) is inexplicably tied.
-Each stronghold has a portal to the end, and obviously, someone in the past found them powerful enough to build a fortress around them.

Now, interesting point: Each stronghold is generated 120 degrees from the next one, around the spawn. It creates an interesting formation. ;)

and again fc doesn't want to break old worlds, and old worlds, including his, have no end. Remember he tests features from his world, how would he test this design in relation to the fact he has no end in his world?

[Sarudak]

He made it clear in the op that it doesn't matter if the portal is there or not. The points still exists in old worlds and you can still find them with ender eyes. It just so happens that the stronghold builders used those points to reach the end. That has little/nothing to do with how we are going to use them.

[BinoAl]

Hmm... What's the difference between the strongholds and the spawn? Players enter the world at the spawn, and the strongholds have been previously found and defended. This might mean that the spawn is becoming a similar magical nexus to the strongholds, because of the players entering there (or maybe the players enter because of it's newfound magical properties?)

and again fc doesn't want to break old worlds, and old worlds, including his, have no end. Remember he tests features from his world, how would he test this design in relation to the fact he has no end in his world?

FC said some may or may not have built structures on these areas, but it's the areas themselves that are important. Sarudak made the same rebuttal to someone earlier :p
EDIT: Ninja'd Dx