Minecraft Forums

Quote from Smashingzwan

Concerning potential future moderation of this thread, Mods please read spoiler.

To any Moderators concerned with the location of this thread. I wasn't sure where it belonged since it could easily be put in both the "discussion" forum and the "1.8 discussion" forum (and I can just as easily see it being deleted for not being in the right one). If I have put this thread in an improper forum/subforum, I would really appreciate it if it could be moved to the proper place. If it for some reason breaks forum guidelines and you decide it should be deleted, please let me know what about it is inappropriate so I can refrain from repeating the same mistake in the future. I say this because I've had a number of posts deleted recently and I've received zero notifications or warnings letting me know why. If a post I make is deleted it should be because it breaks a forum guideline/rule and I should therefore receive a warning detailing why, correct?

I spent a good deal of time writing and rewriting this thread (I started pretty enraged, so the first draft was pretty inappropriate) so that it was as to the point and polite (as much as a thread like this can be polite anyway) as I could make it.

Summary:
-Notch takes 2 week break from Minecraft development during crunch time of 1.8 release to work on another game.
-Notch details why his cash shop would destroy the Minecraft community if those who played the game on steam couldn't access it.
-1.8 is arriving later than expected, and it doesn't appear that we'll be getting a "complete" 1.8 for some time to come. (Lets not forgot we've still got bugfixes and promises from previous updates that haven't materialized yet)

Because of these and other issues, I have lost a great deal of respect for Mojang and will avoid purchasing any of their products in the future.

[ WALLOFTEXT/ACTUALPOST : INCOMING ]

It is *CLEARLY* obvious that the eFame and millions of dollars Minecraft has made for Mojang has gotten to Notchs head, and by extension, the companies. He catches the most flak (and also, not to be forgotten or taken lightly, the most praise and worship) because he has set himself up as the face of Mojang/Minecraft. He is, to the average Minecrafter, the dude who made/developed/invented the game (regardless of whether it's true). This is in part due to the mindless zealotry with which some of the community speak of him on the forums here and all over the internet, and also due to Notchs own inability to put his ego aside and set people straight about the true nature of the games development.

Having said that.. Here are a few things about 1.8 and things that have come to light recently that have really soured my opinion of Mojang/Notch.

From Notchs twitter~
Jens will be the lead minecraft dev for a while because of a super secret project I will be working on for two weeks.

Yes, you read that correct. Notch is "taking a break" (as if he hasn't had enough) from Minecraft to work on an entirely different project... I'd imagine Notch is wealthy enough from Minecraft sales alone that he doesn't *need* to produce a new game right away from any sort of financial point of view. Let's not forget he's involved in the development of the more recently announced Mojang title "Scrolls" as well.

So to clarify: Even though Minecraft development seems slow and unsatisfying these days, Notch is of the opinion that he has no real obligation to help speed the progress along. Instead he chooses to enter weekend long game contests and work on his other (non-minecraft) game projects.

To any person with a conscious, that mountain of wealth (earned from Minecraft sales) would be an incredible motivator to complete the project that so many millions have paid him in good faith to complete. Yes, we knowingly purchased a product that was incomplete, but that purchase also included a promise of continued development for an unnamed period of time. Unfortunately we were never given any sort of development schedule and the guys at Mojang seem to be cool with a decidedly lazy approach to pretty much everything concerning Minecraft.

Where's the customer appreciation?

It doesn't exist, and I'll tell you why.

The mindless fanbase of Minecraft (No i'm not implying that everyone other than me, or that everyone who disagrees with me, is mindless. But I'd like you to tell me with a straight face that a large part of the community isn't infatuated with Notch to the point of overlooking any shortcomings he or the game might have) seems to see no evil in their dear old leader. They have been caught up in a great social tidal wave of euphoric eCelebrity worship not unlike the "two minutes hate" in the book by George Orwell, "1984". They will take whatever Notch and co. give them and they will rant and rave about how it's the greatest thing ever without even stopping to consider if it's actually any good. It is, I'm sure to some degree, this very idol-worship behavior which has gotten to the mans head and made him think he can behave however he wants without consequence.

Wait, 1.8 is delayed, is probably going to come to us in incomplete chunks, and there's no mention of resolving any of the longstanding bugs/issues that we've been dealing with? (pistons pushing pistons, redstone wiring circuit-autocomplete, etc)

I'm not sure I really need to expand on that. At least Notch is somewhat consistent in that he promises greatness and pretty much never actually delivers.

Lastly, this is another quote from Notch, concerning Minecraft being available on Steam:
"Being on Steam limits a lot of what we’re allowed to do with the game, and how we’re allowed to talk to our users. We (probably?) wouldn’t be able to, say, sell capes or have a map market place on minecraft.net that works with steam customers in a way that keeps Valve happy. It would effectively split the Minecraft community into two parts, where only some of the players can access all of the weird content we want to add to the game." ~Notch

If the thought of Notch considering a minecraft cash shop while the game itself is still incomplete doesn't get your blood boiling... Then his pathetic excuse about why he can't bring himself (We should be thankful he's so diligently trying to protect his cash shop for us, right?) to let the community be torn asunder because some people might not have access to virtual items for cash... This man has gotten *RICH* off of an incomplete game and is not only content to just let it putter along while the money keeps pouring in, he's trying to figure out ways to make MORE money from it.

Shame on you Notch.
Shame on you Mojang.
You suckered me in with an interesting game and all sorts of wild promises that never seem to fully materialize.
Won't happen again!
Was fun while it lasted.

If you made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read my thread. Feel free to post and tell me why you think I'm wrong or overreacting. Also feel free to chime in if you feel similarly to me and are rather let down.

Please try to keep discussion civil and orderly. I realize it can be an emotional subject for some (myself included), but let's try and argue with our brains, not our hearts. My disgust is pointed directly at Mojang, and not at any individual of the community, so please refrain from making personal attacks towards me or anyone else who posts in this thread and the favor will be returned.

I've read through this post about 20 times just to make sure I've toned down anything that could be considered insulting (except I guess towards Notch *rage*). If I somehow missed something or you take offense at something I've said, please let me know and I will try to promptly make the necessary changes.

It's not my intention to lash out at the community, it is my intention to express my disgust at Mojang/Notchs business practices in a place that they are most likely to see it.

Thanks again if you actual read my novel. Happy posting!