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The Minecraft Creator Markus Persson Faces Life After Fame

newyorker.com

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Re: The Minecraft Creator Markus Persson Faces Life After Fame

#21

Post by tobylane »

astar wrote: post #2

From the article: Since the game’s release, in 2009, Minecraft has sold in excess of twenty million copies, earned armfuls of prestigious awards, and secured merchandising deals with LEGO and other toymakers. Last year, Persson earned over a hundred million dollars from the game and its merchandise. Persson—better known to his global army of teen-age followers by his Internet handle, Notch—has a raggedy, un-marketed…

He has something more easily translatable to a product, just add a login system. Woz had blueprints and a few of his own, a physical product with massive costs for each one.

Re: The Minecraft Creator Markus Persson Faces Life After Fame

#22

Post by pjungwir »

What is the longevity of Minecraft? As a social sandbox game, people can play for a long time. We have a habit of treating games like movies, good for one time through, and perhaps most are. But what if some games are more like Legos, playable for years? Instead of a franchise (King's Quest I, King's Quest II, ...), what if there is some other extendable model, like buying a new Lego kit? I have no idea, but Minecraft is one of a handful of long-lasting games that suggest a different business model entirely. The MMPORGs are like this, too. I'm curious to see what they do with Minecraft Realms.

Re: The Minecraft Creator Markus Persson Faces Life After Fame

#23

Post by gngeal »

detritus wrote: post #12
diminoten wrote: post #8

I thought he was charged with murder or something.

no - it's abundantly not trying to be sensationalist. Life typically means just that - it's not some shorthand for a term of imprisonment.

"Life typically means just that - it's not some shorthand for a term of imprisonment."

Can you show me an actual statistics on what percentage of "X faces life" in English texts relates to severe criminal charges, and what percentage means something "non-sensationalist"? Because as a non-native speaker, I've always seen it in the former context.

Re: The Minecraft Creator Markus Persson Faces Life After Fame

#24

Post by diminoten »

detritus wrote: post #12
diminoten wrote: post #8

I thought he was charged with murder or something.

no - it's abundantly not trying to be sensationalist. Life typically means just that - it's not some shorthand for a term of imprisonment.

Haha, what do you mean 'no'? That I didn't think that?

Re: The Minecraft Creator Markus Persson Faces Life After Fame

#25

Post by stopline »

lutze wrote: post #5
locofacetwice wrote: post #4

http://kotaku.com/minecraft-creator-we-did-not-pay-anyone-to...

Wow, some real schadenfreude going on there. I really don't understand some of the bile that follows Persson around. Are people really that fucking bitter that a guy who by his own admission is a complete klutz (programming and business-wise) can become so successful?

He's just being modest. Anyone who's seen his coding livestreams could tell you that.

He's also in Mensa, not that it means much nowadays, but I think it moves him out of the 'klutz' category regardless.

Re: The Minecraft Creator Markus Persson Faces Life After Fame

#26

Post by sharkweek »

GHFigs wrote: post #14
DanBC wrote: post #6

> Computer magazines of the day would print strings of code on their back pages, which could be transcribed by the reader to create a playable game, and this code-by-numbers task gave Persson his first experience of what would later become his profession. “My sister would read the lines out to me and I would tap them into the computer,” he says. “After a while, I figured out that if you didn’t type out exactly what t…

One of the reasons I recommend Zed Shaw's "Learn Python The Hard Way" to people that want to learn is that it tells you to type out the code in the exercises. It's not quite the same as stumbling into it with the lure of having a game to play, but I think it probably has some of the same intoxicating power. To me the weird part is that nobody gets their start sitting at a computer with somebody else. Or at least, if…

I think one of the most underrated way to learn how to code is YouTube videos -- you hear a lot about books or interactive websites, both of which are great -- but I love following along with random heroes who document the start-to-finish process through video. Cherno's Java game lessons have been amazing thus far -- http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD1A2E956F00ECC48

Re: The Minecraft Creator Markus Persson Faces Life After Fame

#27

Post by detritus »

diminoten wrote: post #24
detritus wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

no - it's abundantly not trying to be sensationalist. Life typically means just that - it's not some shorthand for a term of imprisonment.

Haha, what do you mean 'no'? That I didn't think that?

sorry, i meant to 'reply' to VexXtreme - i figured you were simply being light hearted.

Re: The Minecraft Creator Markus Persson Faces Life After Fame

#28

Post by detritus »

gngeal wrote: post #23
detritus wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

no - it's abundantly not trying to be sensationalist. Life typically means just that - it's not some shorthand for a term of imprisonment.

"Life typically means just that - it's not some shorthand for a term of imprisonment." Can you show me an actual statistics on what percentage of "X faces life" in English texts relates to severe criminal charges, and what percentage means something "non-sensationalist"? Because as a non-native speaker, I've always seen it in the former context.

eh? It's all about context, isn't it?

‘Life after x’ never refers to a life sentence—neither I nor anyone will have a statistical reference to back them up on this assertion—it's just not needed.

shrugs

- ed

well, i suppose 'faces life after quadruple homicide' would.

Re: The Minecraft Creator Markus Persson Faces Life After Fame

#29

Post by [deleted] »

gngeal wrote: post #23
detritus wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

no - it's abundantly not trying to be sensationalist. Life typically means just that - it's not some shorthand for a term of imprisonment.

"Life typically means just that - it's not some shorthand for a term of imprisonment." Can you show me an actual statistics on what percentage of "X faces life" in English texts relates to severe criminal charges, and what percentage means something "non-sensationalist"? Because as a non-native speaker, I've always seen it in the former context.

[deleted]

Re: The Minecraft Creator Markus Persson Faces Life After Fame

#30

Post by applecore »

> “I have the ability to get code done, but I’m impatient and it’s scrappy as a result. Maybe that helped me with Minecraft, as it came quickly. But, well, at some point, I’d like to actually become a good programmer.”

It's amazing that he doesn't consider himself to be a good programmer. In what other profession would someone as accomplished as Persson say that?

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