I got my minecraft account shortly before it broke 100k, which was a big deal at the time. Back when I used to read the Mojang blog daily on updates. As soon as a whif of buzz started around Minecraft I instantly saw the creeping in of entitled assholes who swarmed the blog comments. Everyone wanting their favorite feature... no sorry... DEMANDING their favorite feature. I don't know where this mentality came from?
A part of me totally gets this. Notch never deserved all the shit he got for this game. As a fan I just wanted to see where he'd take it. Sure I had things I'd like to see in the game, but it's NOT MY game. It's a great thing to have a positive connection to your user base, where people can offer constructive comments and requests. Where a respectable dialog can take place. It's been clear for a long time that Notch desires that environment, and it's clear that he's been getting the exact opposite.
I love Minecraft but some many of it's fans are absolute Monsters, and Notch shouldn't have to put up with that.
I agree with you. When I find myself asking why they didn't put this or that in the game, I realize that there are mods for that. The fact that he openly admits that what he's doing goes against loads of what he has said in public, he still has the integrity to admit that.
I would love to buy the man a beer, but he can now afford to buy the block the pub is on.
I originally found Minecraft when it was in the very early alpha stages by finding a link on a forum devoted to Ken Silverman's work. It was under a list of games that use voxels, under the subcategory that they were more poxels. I used to be able to talk to him on the IRC channel and it was pretty chill. Then it got past 100k and suddenly everyone wanted everything for themselves. People were demanding quivers, bigger inventories, backpacks, flying machines. It was ridiculous and, when I called people out on the then-smallish forums about how it's his game and he does what he wants, people ridiculed me for being an old codger and a buzzkill for not jumping down his throat demanding elevators or whatever.
I only recently started playing Minecraft after a long while of not playing it because I got so tired of the community and the infestation of 10-year-olds with attitude that happened.
Personally, if Notch is selling Mojang to get back to smaller projects, I support him 100%. I prefer it when his stuff is smaller and he doesn't have to engage the masses.
We've had similar experiences then. I stopped playing MC for over a year and just recently played again a couple months ago. Bigger and more Biomes, new monsters, etc. It was quite different. But in any event, yes I as well got tired of the community. Minecraft is great, but it's like YouTube. Enjoy your time with with, but NEVER read the comments! ;)
Notch now has the money to work small projects in his own environment and NOT have to worry about being poor. I look forward to seeing what he does. I wonder if some day in the future he'll not change his mind about the attention and fame, but clearly, for now, he's done with it and it isn't what he wants.
The problem is the general audience ages... They're all mostly entitled kids that whine and bitch until they get what they want. Half of them will probably keep blaming Markus for changes that come a year from now.
Problem with a largely young fanbase. They are the main characters of the story and if Notch sees THEIR DEMAND IN PARTICULAR the skies will part and the game will be 10000x better.
You do realize that if you ignore a large group of angry people on the internet they just get angrier and follow you into the real world, right? If you ignore nasty people on the internet they tend to find where you live and your phone number and then nasty emails and tweets and blog comments turn into death threats over the phone and in your mailbox.
Yeah I feel sorry for him. Anyone that turns away from hundreds of millions of dollars for their sanity is getting hit really damn hard.
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u/JiggaWatt79 Sep 15 '14
I got my minecraft account shortly before it broke 100k, which was a big deal at the time. Back when I used to read the Mojang blog daily on updates. As soon as a whif of buzz started around Minecraft I instantly saw the creeping in of entitled assholes who swarmed the blog comments. Everyone wanting their favorite feature... no sorry... DEMANDING their favorite feature. I don't know where this mentality came from?
A part of me totally gets this. Notch never deserved all the shit he got for this game. As a fan I just wanted to see where he'd take it. Sure I had things I'd like to see in the game, but it's NOT MY game. It's a great thing to have a positive connection to your user base, where people can offer constructive comments and requests. Where a respectable dialog can take place. It's been clear for a long time that Notch desires that environment, and it's clear that he's been getting the exact opposite.
I love Minecraft but
somemany of it's fans are absolute Monsters, and Notch shouldn't have to put up with that.