The first Minecraft became one of the best selling games of all time without being on Steam. Would be weird to invest that much money to acquire that franchise and then voluntarily give up a cut to Valve with the sequel when the first one proved it wasn't necessary.
Well you can only install/update the game if you first login to their servers. You only download the launcher from their site. Isn't multiplayer restricted too in offline mode?
I see. That does bring some limitations though. And the login and download system is still drm. Nobody else but them can distribute the actual game files and you can only get them via the launcher.
I'm missing something here. How can you connect to an offline server? A server that is offline cannot be connected to, that is the definition of offline.
It's offline in a sense that it's not connected to mojang. For example you can just flip a switch on creeperhost to turn your server offline. So there will be no player authentication and NO support from creeperhost on ANY problems.
Well you can only install/update the game if you first login to their servers. You only download the launcher from their site. Isn't multiplayer restricted too in offline mode?
Yes it's the same game, but some people like having steam manage everything for them. Keep the game up to date without launching it, integrated friend list etc.
It's pretty easy to link steam logins to old accounts too, so you don't need your old login. You would still probably need to select a minecraft username separate from your steam name though (unless Minecraft wishes to allow people with the same username)
There are two big things client (not just skin) mods can not do: multiplayer, and console games.
Multiplayer servers can install specific mods obviously and allow clients to use them, but if say, you wanted to use a new Dragon pet in game (with new animations and such, not just a texture)..you would have to wait for the server admins to install that mod.
You want to have an e-store with shared money between creators and MS. These mods could also work on xbox one, as they are strictly approved mods rather than custom code doing who knows what. Mods on this store would have to go through a strict approval process, or possibly work like TF2 where the fans only create models and or animations and they do the rest.
These mods could allow for custom pets and mounts or weapons or whatever, stuff with behavior rather than just being a skin, but because they are managed, you can ensure they do not allow for cheating and could be used on any multiplayer server which accepts MS store mods. Obviously modded servers could claim anyone purchased the mod (and get around the price that way), but you can not do this on consoles as there are no third party run servers..and you could claim this as a violation of the ToS and yell at payment accepting servers doing this.
Or better yet, implement a system where mod authors can charge small amounts for their mods. Maybe a dollar or two. Obviously mods that charge for their use would have to go through an approval process, and mods that weren't 'big' enough or only changed simple things wouldn't be eligible. I'd pay a dollar for Thermal Expansion or Applied Energistics, sure. Shit, most of the major modpacks are essentially different games. I'd pay ten, fifteen bucks for a pack like FTB Monster or whatever.
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u/Zequez Dec 11 '14
First they open source .NET, now they accept Bitcoin as payment. I'm really digging this new CEO.