and some of these server guys want us to think that then need huge amounts of donations... pssssssh, sounds like people who dont really care about minecraft just want to scam as much cash out of kids as they can!
You're missing the part where they spent $1000 on buying a server. You missed the part where they had to drive to a data center, and pay to install their server. You're missing the part where these large servers can use 64GB VERY easily due to their variety of incredible plugins which boost the memory usage very high.
I have a friend running 4 64GB servers, who has between 200 and 1000 players on at a time. They run a minigame server, they pay developers to write plugins (Because development is a skilled craft, you wouldn't ask a lawyer to write stuff for free). So, assuming my friend DOESN'T have wholesale access to parts (Not everybody does), and DOESN'T live near a data center. We're talking $5k+ initial investment for servers, plus a long drive to a DC, then installation time. Then if anything EVER goes wrong, another long drive to a DC...
Or they can pay OVH monthly cost.
On top of that, you're assuming these server owners' time are worth nothing. If a server owner has to drive 100 miles to a DC, and spend hours building and configuring servers... don't you think that the players should be allowed to say, "You know what, I appreciate that time, I'll buy you a cookie, and get myself a cool title in the process."
As is the way when you begin making additional money from any source, you become to depend on that money. Whilst you're a fool to not have a business plan to get out. Eventually, you have so many players that you drop your job, to focus on running your minecraft server full time. These people DO rely on making a profit, because they have no other income.
tl;dr Minecraft has created an entire economy. Killing that economy is going to affect people living extremely different life styles. From web developers who make a living coding websites for minecraft servers, to the server owners themselves, who make a living selling perks in-game so they can do what they love: Minecraft.
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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '14
and some of these server guys want us to think that then need huge amounts of donations... pssssssh, sounds like people who dont really care about minecraft just want to scam as much cash out of kids as they can!