Minecraft sold to Microsoft.

[Max_x23]

I have a feeling Microsoft will duck up Minecraft totaly! This aint good! I remember the old beta days of the good times! When the game was full with good players now anyone buys the game and the team quit and everything goes to hell.

[ThePagan]

I know that if I spent 2.5 billion dollars on something I'd want a lot more people working on it. I'm sure Microsoft will place at least a few people in key positions with the current existing staff. Probably result in certain people leaving depending on who ends up with the final word on creative control. This could be really great for us as a whole depending on how Microsoft handles it. Only thing we can be sure of is that any hope there was of Minecraft becoming open sourced is now gone. I'm optimistic that Microsoft will make some good changes.

[Skelray]

Omg, does no one of you guys know what is going on? The hole attitude of "let's just wait and see" is just sickening!

Does no one know what MS did to the gaming industry years back? I have an armoured suitcase with a brand new PS2 

and my favourite games newly sealed, stored away. I keep a brand new television with SCART connection, and when 220v

will disappear I will buy a generator. I will be able to game the games I love until I grow old, and I'll be able to share that experience with my children.

If I didn't do that, in 10 years: I'll NEVER be able to explain to my children what "off line co-op gaming means". They'll NEVER learn to game from the same couch...

Pray to God they'll even know what "playing outside" means by then... but anyway:

 

Minecraft is/was a monument on it's own. You don't have to panic and say it'll disappear, but sitting duck and waiting is naïve.

Technic, you should backup all that you have now, and make sure you can have your mod-packs running independent from MS.

Now is THE time to make this independent back-up. Because if you wait, MS will cut the ropes, and MC as it is now, might for ever be lost.

MOD makers are already starting to quit, imagine never to be able to play AOTB fully functional, this is madness.

 

I know I can't call anyone anything, since I didn't create a MOD or a Game, but as a true gamer who has lived trough the whole gaming era,

I know what true amusement is in games. Minecraft with Technic's MOD-packs is by far one of the most excellent experiences I've had.

My god, if my old friends pay me a visit, I have to install my old SNES, because we've gone trough the good games of this century and find them... all played.

Good games now are EXTREMELY rare. Thank god, more and more new small game houses are making semi-good games, but boy there is a lot of crap,

Just look at  Final fantasy, do it! Look at it. Play FF7 and then play FF XIII, FFXIII is graphically superior, but it's NOTHING compared to a real game.

Seriously, some card games are more exciting than most news games.

 

ANYWAY, 90% of what I just wrote is opinion. If you don't like it, be a grown-up and deal with it. If you should remember 1 thing: just acknowledge that MC is rare.

Store it safe in a secure dungeon, and keep it accessible. Please...

 

And for all the babies who say:"grow up yourself", well... I did. And I know the future decisions will almost always be based on profit, because that's what humans are like. Fair enough, but most of the time it's just greed and fear that drives the descission, not good heartedness or common sence.

Therefore, if MC as it is right now will disappear, I just want to say thank you Technic, thank you for past experiences! I'll accept your death, if it would be so.

[Nitus]

-snip-

 

"Technic has plans to expand to other games, which games that'll be is still open" - Munaus, Technic Moderator.

 

(Time for inspirational text.) Technic doesn't die if something happens to Minecraft, it will evolve. Do you know why it won't die? Because WE are Technic. Yes, we. You, me, that guy that is sitting on the couch drinking beer. We are what makes Technic, Technic. (End of inspirational text.)

 

Now, let's look into this purely from a business perspective. The thing we all know is true is that Microsoft needs to get those 2.5 billion back. No. Matter. What. Now, they can't just go head on into this. Considering their previous fuck ups, the RareWare business, plus the public opinion they gathered because of the Xbox One, they can not fail on this. We are talking about a lot of money that is on the table. Not only the previous billions that were used now, but also their stock value. They can't gamble anything on this deal, or else they are fucked. The best thing they can do is invest on the game, make a good name of themselves, and then start harvesting their profits.

 

Now, let's look into the gaming side of things. You say people are jumping ship? Good. If they can't handle this, let them go. That way newer mods will take the spotlight, maybe a few toxic weeds get pulled out (if we are lucky), and maybe the modding community will improve a bit. And, honestly, I pray Microsoft will go down hard on modders. Set up some rules of what is or isn't accepted, set up their own Minecraft Forum, ask the current ones to close down (or give them a DMCA takedown notice, whichever they prefer), and finally fix this damn mess. Because, honestly, some modders need to be knocked down a peg, and a few of the moderators and admins of MC Forums need to be taken of their posts.

 

Things will change and we can do nothing about it but wait and see, so let's take our tin foil hats off, go outside and smell a flower.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Nitus

[FyberOptic]

Minecraft is/was a monument on it's own. You don't have to panic and say it'll disappear, but sitting duck and waiting is naïve.

Technic, you should backup all that you have now, and make sure you can have your mod-packs running independent from MS.

Now is THE time to make this independent back-up. Because if you wait, MS will cut the ropes, and MC as it is now, might for ever be lost.

MOD makers are already starting to quit, imagine never to be able to play AOTB fully functional, this is madness.

 

The problem is that Technic wouldn't be allowed to distribute any of those backups, particularly if Microsoft cracked down on the "no redistribution" part of the EULA.  I'm going to guess that currently Technic pulls client JARs from Mojang's servers, but if Microsoft shut those down, then Technic (and all modpack groups) would simply be screwed.  It might suck, but these are the issues you have to accept when you base yourself around someone else's product. 

 

Also you'll get no disagreement from me in regards to it being bullshit for games being so tied to the internet that one day they'll be worthless, being sold under the guise of being a benefit to the user when really they're to prevent used game sales and encourage future re-purchasing.  Luckily Minecraft's login system isn't any significant aspect of the game itself, so it can live on regardless of that.  Even skins could be modded to something other than a defunct Mojang server.

Edited September 21, 2014 by FyberOptic

[dwwojcik]

set up their own Minecraft Forum, ask the current ones to close down (or give them a DMCA takedown notice, whichever they prefer), and finally fix this damn mess.

Thank you!  This!

 

Microsoft may mess this up, but you can't deny it's already messed up.  It would be my dream to see Curse lawyered.

The problem is that Technic wouldn't be allowed to distribute any of those backups, particularly if Microsoft cracked down on the "no redistribution" part of the EULA. I'm going to guess that currently Technic pulls client JARs from Mojang's servers, but if Microsoft shut those down, then Technic (and all modpack groups) would simply be screwed. It might suck, but these are the issues you have to accept when you base yourself around someone else's product.

Worst case scenario: The Technic launcher has to include installer functionality, like back in the day before the launcher came out.

yeesh, that was like 3 years ago. Before my time, I've only ever heard of it.

Edited September 21, 2014 by dwwojcik

[Nitus]

Thank you!  This!

 

Microsoft may mess this up, but you can't deny it's already messed up.  It would be my dream to see Curse lawyered.

That's the beautiful thing about this whole shit. If they mess this up, they lose a ton of money, so they can't mess this up. What they can do, is make sure they are in control of the situation. This would be a great way of doing it. 

 

Also can't lie to you, it would be my dream to see some of those guys get a good hard dose of reality slammed into their faces. Bunch of fearful rabbits.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Nitus

[Skelray]

The problem is that Technic wouldn't be allowed to distribute any of those backups, particularly if Microsoft cracked down on the "no redistribution" part of the EULA.  I'm going to guess that currently Technic pulls client JARs from Mojang's servers, but if Microsoft shut those down, then Technic (and all modpack groups) would simply be screwed.  It might suck, but these are the issues you have to accept when you base yourself around someone else's product.

 

So I'm reading in between the lines, the best game ever has to go underground to survive? ... All I'm thinking now is the old true Gamer's saying: "Why won't you take my f*cking money?". I mean it, I would gladly pay more, and more frequently to game AOTB as is it right now, with the sphax texture pack and all. Seriously, like €15,00 every month. If MS does improve the game, and not by altering it, but by refining it, the game is worth that subscription. I've paid more for lesser games...

[disconsented]

Snip

Stop Fear-mongering

[Kalbintion]

Stop Fear-mongering

But the end is neigh! The inevitable doom that is known as Microsoft has taken control of our beloved game that would never change in a million years! Eons would have passed right before our very eyes before Minecraft moved to such an evil power. How could we as the community permit such a horrendous act to be committed and in front of our eyes! Why, dear Lord, didn't we stop this before it even started! Why must we be under such control. Why I say! Why!

[Nitus]

All I'm thinking now is the old true Gamer's saying: "Why won't you take my f*cking money?". I mean it, I would gladly pay more, and more frequently to game AOTB as is it right now, with the sphax texture pack and all. Seriously, like €15,00 every month. If MS does improve the game, and not by altering it, but by refining it, the game is worth that subscription. I've paid more for lesser games...

Fuck. That. Noise. I'm not paying X amount of money per month if I payed for the full damn game. And I'm pretty sure that's the equivalent of shooting oneself on the foot. They won't gain more money, they'll just lose more customers.

[Neowulf]

A monthly subscription fee only makes sense for MMOs because the game is built around a central hosting server setup. You're paying for access to the server playground because the game can't play without it.

To make that subscription viable for MC, they'd have to gut server logic completely. Leave just the networked client code and you've got a game completely worthless without hosted servers to play on, forcing people to play vanilla realms.

 

 

I know microsoft isn't that stupid.

[Skelray]

Fuck. That. Noise. I'm not paying X amount of money per month if I payed for the full damn game. And I'm pretty sure that's the equivalent of shooting oneself on the foot. They won't gain more money, they'll just lose more customers.

 

You didn't pay for the full game dummy, you payed to permanently log in to the game. But since that game might change completely, you might as well have bought a ticket that says"MS will now choose what you will get". If I buy a game on a DVD-rom, THEN I bought a full game... tss, noise...If you read my post correctly, smart mouth, you should know I also said make a full INDEPENDANT copy of what we have now, since I follow your logic of having paid for the game. It just might not be that game any more later on...

 

I know microsoft isn't that stupid.

 

You sure? You sure you're not the stupid one: to believe that? Just saying...

 

 

Stop Fear-mongering

 

 

But the end is neigh! The inevitable doom that is known as Microsoft has taken control of our beloved game that would never change in a million years! Eons would have passed right before our very eyes before Minecraft moved to such an evil power. How could we as the community permit such a horrendous act to be committed and in front of our eyes! Why, dear Lord, didn't we stop this before it even started! Why must we be under such control. Why I say! Why!

 

All I hear is loud yelling. "I'm not afraid! I will adept! I love change!". Well, good job, you don't understand the message at all... You're totally on the wrong track, and you just showed us all how you prolong a true confrontation with reality.

And that is actually the whole point. Change happens, things change, sometimes good, sometimes it's f*cked up, and sometimes it's in between. But that doesn't mean you should neglect what might happen in the future. It's true that we often don't have any control over bad things, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't learn from past events and stop anticipating. True that we don't know what will happen, but you ever heard of "better safe than sorrow"? This reminds me of an amorous Disney movie that many people live in, you can't argue with them, they are always right, untill... reality hits them. And you know, I'm fine with that, I'm a bit romantic myself from time to time. But what I absolutely despise is that, they complain about the problems afterwards. Have the decency to stop making statements that are just invalid. Like: "stop fear-mongering". Fear and logical risk covering are 2 different thing My'Lord.. So should you cry about loosing your minecraft world (for instance because of incompatibility and therefore impossible to load it: goodby 500hours game play), loosing your beloved friend-community and you beloved mod-packs that make that minecraft experience just over the top, I should come and mock the soul out of you. I'm not afraid, I'm just saying do what you can to secure the game for what it is now! It MIGHT not even be a shadow of what it is now. If it will be, the better for every one. But pls stop beïng naïve, or try to proclaim not to care and see it all. (by the way that wouldn't be an adult behaviour, but anyway...)

 

So true: stop fear-mongering, but you should say that to another person, in another conversation kid. This is about trying not to cry afterwards, WOULD it go wrong.

That being said, Microsoft doesn't give hope for fun enhancement, in the past they often did the opposite.

[Nitus]

I love that condescending tone in that text, I can almost hear you go "Tsk tsk" while I read it. And, yes, I did pay for the full game. By your logic, just because I payed for my games using steam, I don't own them, I just get access to it until they decide otherwise. 

 

And, no, freaking the fuck out over what might happen isn't a smart thing to do. Whatever the hell happens, happens. I'll move on to better games, so will Technic and we all live happily ever after.

[FyberOptic]

You didn't pay for the full game, you payed to permanently log in to the game.

 

I don't believe this is entirely true.  I actually could have sworn that it said that typical modern bullshit of "you have permission to use our game" but the EULA actually has some very direct wording:

 

"You have bought the game so you can use it, yourself, on your computer."

 

"When you buy our Game, we give you permission to install the Game on your own personal computer and use and play it on that computer as set out in this EULA. "

 

"If you've bought the Game, you may play around with it and modify it."

 

In other words, by having bought the game, they're saying I have every right to strip out their login system, modify it to use local skins, and basically do whatever I want to ensure that my copy works until the end of time.

 

Edited September 22, 2014 by FyberOptic

[Skelray]

And, no, freaking the fuck out over what might happen isn't a smart thing to do. Whatever the hell happens, happens. I'll move on to better games, so will Technic and we all live happily ever after.

 

Hmm, if you think this is "freaking out" you should look around you bud, I'm quite calm about this.

 

"If you've bought the Game, you may play around with it and modify it."

 

In other words, by having bought the game, they're saying I have every right to strip out their login system, modify it to use local skins, and basically do whatever I want to ensure that my copy works until the end of time.

 

 

So Fyberoptic, thanks for a constructive answer, a thing not to be said about all repliers. I believe what you say is true. BUT "the game" you are talking about, might as well change in any form.

And I'm not entirely sure of the UELA staying the same when Microsoft owns it: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/developer/rules

 

I love that condescending tone in that text, I can almost hear you go "Tsk tsk" while I read it.

 

You're actually smarter than you think, I think.

[Neowulf]

You sure? You sure you're not the stupid one: to believe that? Just saying...

I grew up on dos. I watched as bill gates saved apple's ass during the 90's. I laughed as microsoft took a mid powered computer during the early 2000's and passed it off as a gaming console. I cursed when they bought FASA and turned both a tried and true game line and promising FPS based on interesting lore into lackluster offerings. And I saw them take a small game studio and transform their sci-fi shooter into something so compelling it turned the frat-boy crowd from diehard anti-nerd into console freaks who camp midnight launches.

I've watched microsoft for a quarter century now. And I can tell you they do make mistakes, but a company with nearly $100billion in yearly revenue doesn't just blindly drop a couple percent of that on a property then gut it while claiming they'll make it back in a year.

They do their research with people who have written essays about the socioeconomic effects of frogger on america. They run it past people who's whole job is to gauge market trends and warn them if their plan is so bloody stupid a 5 year old could point that out. Infact I'm guessing there's a dozen MC players out there who are still under an NDA from when they were in a focus group within the last year, who could give you a general idea of what MS plans to do with MC.

tl;dr You may want to believe microsoft is staffed by retards with zero business sense, but that doesn't make it true.

No one would think it's a good idea to tell their new playerbase that they can't play the game they already paid for unless they fork over a monthly fee.

[Nitus]

tl;dr You may want to believe microsoft is staffed by retards with zero business sense, but that doesn't make it true.

No one would think it's a good idea to tell their new playerbase that they can't play the game they already paid for unless they fork over a monthly fee.

People seem to forget that running a business isn't just about them zeros in a paycheck, you need to garner clients and maintain them. If they basically say "Hey you! Yes, you! Go fuck youself!" they aren't running a business, they're running a circus...a really, really bad circus...full of code monkeys *cough cough* that like to throw their own shit at their clients.

[Kalbintion]

All I hear is loud yelling. "I'm not afraid! I will adept! I love change!". Well, good job, you don't understand the message at all... You're totally on the wrong track, and you just showed us all how you prolong a true confrontation with reality.

And that is actually the whole poin... *snip*

 

You obviously missed the fact i liked the previous post and that entire post of mine was sarcasm. Good job, "kid"

[Skelray]

They run it past people who's whole job is to gauge market trends ...

 

There you've said it. The freaking market trends. If we follow them wo mostly get:

1. More money

2. Less decent product

 

And that's logical, because most people are to stupid to ask what they really want. They just get excited over some spectacle. And if you give them something decent, they won't realise it untill it's gone.

A strong company creates what the ppl need, not what the shout for. And what ppl need, ... well... just type "minecraft" in youtube... You won't see much vanilla minecraft...

 

You obviously missed the fact i liked the previous post and that entire post of mine was sarcasm. Good job, "kid"

 

I didn't miss the fact it was sarcasm. If you sarcasticly say MC moved to "such an evil power", you're actually saying that you don't believe that. And as it was an answer to me, it must have been an answer to me saying something about MS that would lead you to believe I find this change evil, and thus thereby misunderstanding what I was saying... (it's okay if you got lost half-way the sentence) The change can't be called "evil" yet because no real change has happened. (If you're really sharp, you can notice that you're being a hypocrite here. Because here you reveal that it is you who is panicking. But never mind,  that would lead us to far...)  What I WAS saying is that it would be a logical move to backup what we have now independently, if it where possible.

 

[Neowulf]

There you've said it. The freaking market trends. If we follow them wo mostly get:

1. More money

2. Less decent product

 

And that's logical, because most people are to stupid to ask what they really want. They just get excited over some spectacle. And if you give them something decent, they won't realise it untill it's gone.

A strong company creates what the ppl need, not what the shout for. And what ppl need, ... well... just type "minecraft" in youtube... You won't see much vanilla minecraft...

Ok, so what market trend would they follow that tells them they can completely change a game by turning it from a normal single purchase game into a subscription MMO, after it has already been released for years, and expect not only 100% retention but userbase growth?

Or did you forget what my reply was actually to?

 

You keep acting like microsoft is completely retarded and only some satanic deal has kept going as they rape and pillage good honest projects.

You're like a mac fanboy from the late 90's. Completely convinced microsoft is on the brink of utter collapse and will take all it has shit on with it.

News flash, they've been in business probably MUCH longer than you've been alive. And I for one trust history's teaching that they'll keep plodding along being mediocre, over your end of the world prediction.

 

 

So, lets assume microsoft does kill minecraft in a couple months. So badly no one could ever log in again and no patch will ever come.

What do you expect us to do about it?

[Melfice]

The only reasonable thing, of course. Say a few words in passing, after which we'll move on to the next game.

There are three scenarios:

1) Minecraft is turned subscription-based. Everybody leaves.

2) Minecraft is killed off for Minecraft 2. Everybody leaves.

3) Minecraft is left alone, while Microsoft explores different venues for recouping losses (possibly including Minecraft 2, which may our may not be subscription-based). Nobody leaves, unless MC2 turns out so much superior. But Minecraft survives.

You lambast us for taking a "wait-and-see" stance and for not fighting, but unless you know what you're fighting against you're fighting imagined things.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Melfice

[FyberOptic]

I'm mostly of the opinion that I paid for this game years ago and Mojang has given me more free content for a single game than most other companies combined, so I don't know what position I'm in to demand anything.  Short of pulling the pen out of Notch's hand before the deal is done, I don't see what I would do anyway.  I don't have $2.6 billion to outbid Microsoft with.  The only position I'm personally in is having the ability to make existing (and possibly future) Minecraft work regardless of what Microsoft decided to do to it.  But at this point, it very much relies on waiting and seeing what happens.  I'm busy enough taking 1.8 apart to worry about future ones anyway, to be honest.

 

I think a Minecraft 2.0, sold as a separate product, has always been on the horizon.  Mojang needed a new product eventually.  This would have meant the gradual decline of Minecraft 1's development regardless.  Even without Microsoft I feel that the plugin API was probably the finishing touch for 1.x and after that it would have primarily been bug fixes.  That way the community could continue to add onto that game while they work on the next one.

 

That's not to say that Minecraft 1 will die at that point though, no more than the countless other games that are still played and modded despite multiple sequels.  

Edited September 24, 2014 by FyberOptic

[Nitus]

I think a Minecraft 2.0, sold as a separate product, has always been on the horizon.  Mojang needed a new product eventually.  This would have meant the gradual decline of Minecraft 1's development regardless.  Even without Microsoft I feel that the plugin API was probably the finishing touch for 1.x and after that it would have primarily been bug fixes.  That way the community could continue to add onto that game while they work on the next one.

Question: What exactly would Minecraft 2 consist of? That's something that has been fucking with my brain for awhile.

[FyberOptic]

Question: What exactly would Minecraft 2 consist of? That's something that has been fucking with my brain for awhile.

 

The possibilities are pretty endless.  Maybe you're on a different planet this time, with completely new mobs.  Maybe you can travel between planets through some new portal system (like Mystcraft, but perhaps with more of a purpose).  Maybe it randomizes what mobs/materials planets contain entirely.  Different ores, different building materials, different tools (climbing gear, throwing spears, hookshots, who knows), a proper magic system (with projectiles and healing), etc.  Rendering probably improved to look more modern.  Better ways for players to interact, like friends lists, with ways to easily invite them to your worlds, etc.  And most importantly, a crafting guide.

 

I have not even the slightest clue what they might do, but this is the kind of stuff I'd probably look into if it were me.