So i just installed the Halloween update and I saw that spiders and creepers stay alive in day time. It makes this game A LOT harder for a 'fresh miner'.
Anyone else having this problem? 

This has always been the case. Though I did change my difficulty to hard when I realized I could (yesterday) and I can safely say that is a lot harder, as shown by my current status: "  Lost the pickaxe containing the only diamond I've found in the world to a zombie/lava while trying to get some obsidian for a portal. Fuck Minecraft."

It is much harder, My underground Obsidian Lab is suddenly a really bad Idea. I need more light down there or im screwed. I also heard that Ghast randomly spawn from portals, maybe thats a myth but one Ghast could tear my place to pieces.
 
And Spiders/Creepers have always stayed alive in the day, theres just more of them now, Spiders are also harmless in the day as long as you dont hit them.

I play on Peaceful unless I need something from a monster.

" Spiders are also harmless in the day as long as you dont hit them. "

Is there any benefit to there being monsters in Minecraft?  I thought the whole point was just to build stuff, so it makes sense to keep it on "peaceful", right?

I'm a brand new miner, but I do play on easy so :) once I get basics down I'm sure I will increase my difficulty at least to normal.

I go peaceful because the monsters aren't challenging, they're just annoying

I play on Peaceful as well unless i find myself in need of some string, or some gunpowder,  at which point i'll crank it up to hard just before day break, and get a bunch of free loot from the dudes that spawn.   But yeah,  there's nothing worse that being in your inventory and a creeper just pops up on you from the other side of a hill and blows you up,   that's just annoying.  I enjoy the mineral gathering and farming more than the monsters anyway.  Finding enough Iron to link my bases together with minecart tracks is Challenging enough wihtout having to fend off hordes of pointless monsters.  I just wish that you didn't regenerate health on Peaceful, so that you still have to be at least a little more careful.

" @Brendan said:

Is there any benefit to there being monsters in Minecraft?  I thought the whole point was just to build stuff, so it makes sense to keep it on "peaceful", right?

I was going to object with this but you're mostly right since the enemies are mostly just an annoyance in Minecraft.  Personally I'd rather play the game like a game and have enemies that really presented a challenge besides being cheap.  Minecraft could potentially be about more than just building stuff. "

I didn't realize there were difficulty settings until yesterday, holy crap does that make this better. I was getting real tired of having to spend half my play time holed up in a shelter, now I can finally bend this world to my will. 
 
Dunno if it's harder now, peaceful is pretty darn peaceful.

" @Diamond said:

" @Brendan said:

Is there any benefit to there being monsters in Minecraft?  I thought the whole point was just to build stuff, so it makes sense to keep it on "peaceful", right?

I was going to object with this but you're mostly right since the enemies are mostly just an annoyance in Minecraft.  Personally I'd rather play the game like a game and have enemies that really presented a challenge besides being cheap.  Minecraft could potentially be about more than just building stuff. "

What, just like every other FPS out there.  "

" You can build a castle in every FPS? "

" @Diamond said:

" You can build a castle in every FPS? "

Of course. Everyone does. :P "