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Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

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Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#91

Post by ycaspirant »

lingben wrote: post #78
mrschwabe wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, nice to see Notch take a stand and provide some sliver of redemption today for the thousands of nerds (myself included) upset about the Oculus Facebook deal today. I can't imagine the Oculus team ever reaching their fundraising goal if backers knew the founders were going to sellout before ever reaching the vision they shared to get people to back it in the first place. EDIT: Notch seems to have just confirme…

Exactly. But this goes further and lays bare the sheer stupidity inherent in kickstarter or any other crowd-sourcing platform. Just like facebook's Frankensteinian monstrous mish-mash of consumer/content/advertiser/publisher crowd-funding in its current state is a mish-mash that ends up meaning nothing in the end. You are not an equity partner, you really have no say in how decisions are made, you are not a lender, y…

The terms of funding on Kickstarter are pretty clear and straightforward. You back a project for a certain amount of money in exchange for a promised reward (this reward is never equity). When the time comes you either get your reward or you get your money back. Simple as that.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#92

Post by mrb »

elohesra wrote: post #8

I can't honestly blame him here. I doubt the issue is Facebook 'creeping [him] out', so much as it is that it's uncertain what exactly Facebook is going to want out of the deal. Facebook isn't primarily a games company, and it's even less a 3D/desktop games company. There doesn't appear to be any obvious motivation for Facebook to use this tech for its intended purpose, so the question becomes what exactly they do wa…

"Facebook isn't primarily a games company, and it's even less a 3D/desktop games company"

So what? What were you guys thinking back when Google was purely an Internet/search engine company, and tried to foray into other ventures (Android, self-driving cars, etc)?

Companies expand their markets, create new products. It is natural. Why does the Oculus acquisition seem to perplex the HN crowd?

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#93

Post by baby »

mrschwabe wrote: post #19
skore wrote: post #3

> "Facebook creeps me out." Whether or not you agree with his decision, having Notch pull away from talks with you creates an instant credibility "situation". It's also noteable that Notch had been meeting with the Oculus team just two weeks ago[0], was tweeting about them in rather gushing terms[1] and seemed incredibly inspired to work on VR ideas[2]. He is now the personification of the a near universal feeling of…

Indeed, nice to see Notch take a stand and provide some sliver of redemption today for the thousands of nerds (myself included) upset about the Oculus Facebook deal today. I can't imagine the Oculus team ever reaching their fundraising goal if backers knew the founders were going to sellout before ever reaching the vision they shared to get people to back it in the first place. EDIT: Notch seems to have just confirme…

> nice to see Notch take a stand

taking a stand against Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and now Oculus ?

I know that Notch wants to develop games with passionate people, but he has to understand that this acquisition was the best thing that could happen to both VR and Oculus.

Anyway, Notch has been infamously known for his quick rants (see the "youtuber he insulted" issue)

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#94

Post by pepon »

bduerst wrote: post #81
noonespecial wrote: post #63

"And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition." I'm guessing that pretty much sums up the reaction of everyone who backed the initial kickstarter. Sounds like a serious lapse of "dance with the one who brung ya" to me.

It blows my mind how much people will throw their money at Kickstarter projects for the simple feeling of goodwill or novelty knick knacks (bumper stickers, buttons, etc). $10,000 should have bought some small amount of equity, even if it was only non-voting and non-dilutable.

The problem with Oculus kickstarter project was that you were buying a dev kit, not a final product. So now they sell the company and you have a dev kit for a facebook product... and the final usage of the Oculus may be very different than the one you thought it was going to be when you purchased the dev kit.

That cannot happen with other kickstarter projects that sell a final product like bumper stickers, buttons... In this case, the only difference with a normal purchase is that you buy the product before they manufacture it, so the startup avoids taking risks.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#95

Post by asdfologist »

john2x wrote: post #86
asdfologist wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WhatsApp lost hundreds of thousands of users out of 450 million. Yeah, I bet they're losing sleep every night over that 0.1%.

Still, that's hundreds of thousands the competition didn't have.

Crushing. Their competitors now must have enough extra revenue to buy an expensive couch.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#96

Post by sillysaurus3 »

lingben wrote: post #78
mrschwabe wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, nice to see Notch take a stand and provide some sliver of redemption today for the thousands of nerds (myself included) upset about the Oculus Facebook deal today. I can't imagine the Oculus team ever reaching their fundraising goal if backers knew the founders were going to sellout before ever reaching the vision they shared to get people to back it in the first place. EDIT: Notch seems to have just confirme…

Exactly. But this goes further and lays bare the sheer stupidity inherent in kickstarter or any other crowd-sourcing platform. Just like facebook's Frankensteinian monstrous mish-mash of consumer/content/advertiser/publisher crowd-funding in its current state is a mish-mash that ends up meaning nothing in the end. You are not an equity partner, you really have no say in how decisions are made, you are not a lender, y…

I'm happy Oculus got my money for the original devkit, and I spent several hours enjoying it. As far as kickstarter, it's hard to fault them.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#97

Post by baby »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #56
venomsnake wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The backlash is phenomenal. And completely predictable.

And ridiculous.

And over in a few days/weeks. It's a trend that comes from a gut feeling more than rationalization.

I really believe people will change their mind about Facebook now that Facebook is not just the social network but also Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#98

Post by aeturnum »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #56
venomsnake wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The backlash is phenomenal. And completely predictable.

And ridiculous.

The backlash is a bit silly, though I also find the acquisition surprising. I suspect that companies with any sort of capital investment in a rift-based-game will continue development.

That being said, Oculus owned by Facebook is a different sort of animal than independent Oculus. Previously, they had to sell the public on a $2-300 VR gaming headset or die. Now they have a lot more wiggle room. Personally, I feel more comfortable working with companies that have as much skin as I do in the game. I understand why the shift would unsettle people.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#99

Post by avar »

noonespecial wrote: post #88
Camillo wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I said that it was silly to simply donate money to a commercial venture without gaining any stake in it, they called me a naysayer. Who's saying nay now?

You are quite right, of course. But kickstarter is a brand new animal in the world of products and financing. There aren't any laws or even any concrete social norms around it yet. Perhaps people should "know better' but I'm not sure that's helpful. In the absence of laws or codified rules we should expect to fall back on manners . What Oculus did feels bad because its rude . At the very least, they should recognize…

What do you mean there aren't any laws? You hand people money in exchange for their non-legally binding vague promises. This model of exchange has been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. Legally speaking Kickstarter is nothing new.

If I meet someone on the street that promises me to try out some new idea and I give them money the courts aren't going to give me any more credence than someone who handed a $50 bill to a bum. How is this in any way a new and novel legal situation?

The only thing that's new is that now due to the Internet more people have the ability to easily give out their money to potentially stupid initiatives.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#100

Post by ycaspirant »

tomelders wrote: post #82

Does anyone have any insight into Occulus' incentive or motive to do this deal? Edit: beyond the obvious monetary incentive, which I'm not sure was that much of an incentive since hordes of people seemed ready and willing to throw money at the oculus rift. 2 billion sounds like a bargain right now.

Two billion USD.
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