Opinions on Microsoft buying Mojang

[Hambeau]

I trust Microsoft precisely as far as I can through their Corporate HQ. I approve of their corporate practices about as much as I approve of slave trade, since both business practices require massive blatant exploitation of people who are seen as valueless to the people in charge. I feel that the company is a canker sore on the technological industry by using code so horribly layered, by actually RELYING on coding bugs and errors to make the OS function as intended, and by leveraging their enormous pull to block attempts to use any other OS in the end-user environment.

If they buy Mojang, I walk. Flat out.

The $2B dollar tag for Mojang itself tells me that they're wanting more than just minecraft, they're wanting the IP and possibly the programmers. Which means they've got a project in mind using the skills and/or IP that is currently the property of Mojang. Which terrifies me.

Have you looked at Apple lately?

 

[mcalpha]

Would you guys please stop freaking out about microsoft and preventing modding? That will not happen. Do you realize how stupid this argument sounds?

Do you realize how current modding works? Microsoft will not tolerate the decompilation, deobfuscation and recompilation of their product to allow mods to work.

Look at this, for god's sake. The game has Microsoft's name on it, and is still moddable.

Wow, 48 files in total. 30 of which are texture packs. EXTREMELY moddable, I'd say.

 

[Hambeau]

IF this goes through, I can see four possible outcomes:

1. Microsoft doesn't really change much. Nothing serious happens. Life continues as normal.
2. Microsoft ruins the product and this community largely dies or is severely damaged.
3. Microsoft ruins the product and a Minecraft-type game is released by the modding community. It becomes a mild success and although the community isn't huge we get enough people from DW20 and the like to make it pretty large.
4. Microsoft ruins the product and a Minecraft-type game is released by the modding community. It steals the popular Minecraft YouTubers and becomes a massive success, possibly spawning a genre. In other words, a repeat of DotA.

The first option is possible and would be ok. The second terrifies me. The third and fourth might actually be cool, though I hope it doesn't have to come to that.

I notice most of your choices start off with "Microsoft ruins...". Bias much?

I have been part of such acquisitions in the past, and in all the cases I experienced the only thing that changed was the fact that our financial info was forwarded to a head office, and some infrastructure (accountants, etc.) were allowed to transfer to other subsidiaries as their roles at our site declined.

In fact, in all cases our company heads became directors of new departments if not roles like "Chief of Research" (these were all tech companies) and everyone ended up getting promotions and/or pay raises when the deal finalized.

I can see Microsoft continuing Mojang as it's own brand with no changes while at the same time providing resources to create "Minecraft II", complete with a standard API.

Microsoft isn't blind and sees how the modding communities have extended many markets beyond their natural lifespans (Doom/Quake, Unreal, etc.) and are probably interested in that facet of the modern gaming business.

 

[midi_sec]

Do you realize how current modding works? Microsoft will not tolerate the decompilation, deobfuscation and recompilation of their product to allow mods to work.

Point is they allow modding. Period.

Wow, 48 files in total. 30 of which are texture packs. EXTREMELY moddable, I'd say.

Do you realize how current modding works? People play the game, enjoy it, and decide to mod it. Bigger playerbase, more mods.

Now apply what now you know to this situation. What does it tell you?

 

[buggirlexpres]

Please people, keep it civil.

 

[Hambeau]

Guys, guys! Calm down! This is all a misunderstanding! Steve Ballmer just wanted to try out playing Minecraft and told his secretary to go "buy Minecraft", and an nearby journalist with an overactive imagination happened to hear the wrong half of that sentence...



In all seriousness though, I don't get the random flailing. Nothing has happened to Minecraft. If Microsoft does buy Mojang? Still nothing happened to Minecraft. It's only when Microsoft actually makes a policy change that does affect Minecraft, THEN it's justified to run screaming in circles.

There's nothing more facepalm-worthy than reading "I am leaving the Minecraft community because I'm imagining a hypothetical scenario in my head!". There's plenty of good reasons to move on to other games, but that is not one of them. Seriously, Minecraft community. Can you discuss anything at all in a mature manner, without devolving into excessive, self-generated drama?

This'll be my one and only comment on this rumor. I'll unwatch this thread and sit back and see how it plays out. See you on the other side of the rumored announcement window...

Except that Ballmer no longer has any connection with Microsoft except maybe as a stockholder... He resigned from the board after the purchase of the L.A. Clippers was finalized.

 

[keybounce]

"We will threaten to take over the most popular computer thing that there is, unless people pay us one hundred biiiiillion dollars!".

 

[mcalpha]

Point is they allow modding. Period.

Where modding == loading new resource packs, sure. Maybe even official mods with some kind of API. But the richness of "our" mods, the reason we can play for months and still find new stuff to do, comes from the fact that modders have access to the complete game and can change *everything*.

Do you realize how current modding works? People play the game, enjoy it, and decide to mod it. Bigger playerbase, more mods.

Now apply what now you know to this situation. What does it tell you?

I know about this situation mostly that we (users of heavily modded packs like FTB) are not in the majority. Not really important to keep that playerbase happy when you can make millions by selling MC to new customers on consoles.

 

[SolManX]

I suppose we now know why Mojang started enforcing the EULA - preparation for sale.

Would you guys please stop freaking out about microsoft and preventing modding? That will not happen. Do you realize how stupid this argument sounds?

Look at this, for god's sake. The game has Microsoft's name on it, and is still moddable.

Now please, FFS, all of you...

I hope you are right, but I don't know why you think corporate shareholders would give a monkey's about modders. Regardless of what they say they'll do to salve Notch's conscience, they would be insane to fork out $2 billion and then not squeeze every last drop of dough from the large, loyal fanbase.

I'm no expert, but I'd imagine mods will have to go on their store, meaning the notion of sites like FTB - free mods made by people doing it for their own enjoyment - will be dead in the water. Modders will have to charge for their mods in order to give Microsoft the cut they will demand.

 

[midi_sec]

Where modding == loading new resource packs, sure. Maybe even official mods with some kind of API. But the richness of "our" mods, the reason we can play for months and still find new stuff to do, comes from the fact that modders have access to the complete game and can change *everything*.


I know about this situation mostly that we (users of heavily modded packs like FTB) are not in the majority. Not really important to keep that playerbase happy when you can make millions by selling MC to new customers on consoles.

I'm not arguing with you over facts. I understand this thread is about opinions, but when you nail it down, Microsoft is not against modding. Period. End of conversation. You cannot argue with that. I will not continue arguing with you about it.

Feel free to troll these lists of IP's owned by Microsoft. A lot of them have been modded and have (small) communities set up around them.

edit: and if they do get a game like minecraft, which as "actually more like a social network" (just heard a segment on NPR with a Microsoft rep speaking on the matter, actually) I can't see them intentionally alienating any portion of the playerbase.

I mean, you do realize you can mod it on xbox, don't you? Wouldn't they have locked that down if they were anti-mod?

I suppose we now know why Mojang started enforcing the EULA - preparation for sale.

Hah, yup.

And I'm sure the server admins who have been silently flipping Mojang the bird about EULA are thinking twice about ignoring it because "mojang doesn't have a legal team" lel

edit edit:
Ohai, here's an idea. What if microsoft became the evil money mongering servers that the EULA got rid of? On world generation there's a microsoft shop at spawn, where you may purchase blocks ingame for microsoft dollars.

 

[mcalpha]

I'm not arguing with you over facts. I understand this thread is about opinions, but when you nail it down, Microsoft is not against modding. Period. End of conversation. You cannot argue with that. I will not continue arguing with you about it.

I agree, such a blanket statement cannot be disproved. How they will behave in relation to Minecraft modding, I can only speculate about.

Anyway, let's be positive, I can only hope you're right Only, experience with life in general and big corporations in particular makes that hard for me, and apparently for lots of modders (e.g. https://twitter.com/Pahimar/status/509688624703881216)

 

[Bigpak]

Well to be perfectly honest after I finally got some sleep I am not panicking as much as i was. This could be good or bad or nothing at all and we all will just have to wait and see what develops.

 

[Wagon153]

It would be hilarious if everybody moved over to that game Eloraam is developing.

 

[mcalpha]

It would be hilarious if everybody moved over to that game Eloraam is developing.

Muhaha

 

[midi_sec]

and apparently for lots of modders (e.g. https://twitter.com/Pahimar/status/509688624703881216)

Yep, seen a few of those from devs. Reactionary kneejerk responses imo.

No offense to anybody, and I've got no love for microsoft either, but they can clearly see how profitable mojang is. They want to jump on that platform bandwagon. I'm sure they can also see that it has a rather finite lifespan to the average player. Once you've played vanilla a few times, you're wishing there was more. I just can't imagine a scenario where Microsoft would put a damper on modding, unless a complete refactoring of code and a move away from java is done (Minecraft II, as someone put it). I'll go out on a limb and say Not gonna happen until such a scenario.

The way acquisitions like this usually go is "Hi, I like your money... I mean games. Can we talk? Keep your studio, just make games, we'll collect money and do all the hard publishy stuff, and we'll cut you a check. Deal?" I don't see much changing, except maybe integration with whatever-microsoft's-gaming-hub-like-steam-is.

You guys really should try and find this NPR bit. It should be on the website by now.

It would be hilarious if everybody moved over to that game Eloraam is developing.

I thought that was a dead project m7

yeah, not a mention of it since before the last RP release.

 

[Bigpak]

Link?

 

[Dorque]

As I understand it, they're planning to monetize MC by splitting off the horse armour into a separate DLC.

Sent from my Toaster using Tapatalk

 

[midi_sec]

As I understand it, they're planning to monetize MC by splitting off the horse armour into a separate DLC.

Sent from my Toaster using Tapatalk

Come on now. This is Microsoft, not EA.

 

[Scott DTA]

Come on now. This is Microsoft, not EA.

So it will be bug ridden horse armor?

 

[Trailmix23]

Not to be pessimistic at all but http://beta.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=5676545&cid=47867469

Don't know if this is legit or not