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I'm Leaving Mojang

notch.net

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Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#261

Post by reledi »

mopedDreams wrote: post #245
scottjad wrote: post #86

The other day there was a post about some Doom map viewer Notch had written in Dart. One of the top comments said something along the lines of "This is why we all need to be rich, so we can work on stuff like this." I thought the comment was so sad because honestly, almost no one is going to benefit from a mostly broken Doom map viewer in Dart that's abandoned after a few days. Same with the numerous games he's start…

> Don't get me wrong, I like watching his coding stream as much as the next person Can you please post a link to his streams? I bet it'd be fascinating to watch.

Watching him create a game is unlike any other coding streams I've seen: http://www.twitch.tv/notch, http://www.hitbox.tv/Notch

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#262

Post by yupmetoo »

cLeEOGPw wrote: post #258
scottjad wrote: post #86

The other day there was a post about some Doom map viewer Notch had written in Dart. One of the top comments said something along the lines of "This is why we all need to be rich, so we can work on stuff like this." I thought the comment was so sad because honestly, almost no one is going to benefit from a mostly broken Doom map viewer in Dart that's abandoned after a few days. Same with the numerous games he's start…

It's sad. But it looks like he simply doesn't have what it takes to be the kind of person we all wish he was. Nobody can't blame him for that. Leading of something big is hard and exhaustive process. Especially for introverts like Notch.

Or perhaps he doesn't WANT to be the kind of person you "we all" wish he was. This idea that people who are good enough at a thing must somehow become a CEO or leader creates a lot of unhappy people. Let the managers manage, and the engineers make things. Don't put pressure on people to do something they don't want just because you want to see what happens.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#263

Post by opendais »

TruthSHIFT wrote: post #253
clarkevans wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I really feel for Notch" I don't. He cashed in and, well somehow wants the sympathy of free & open-source wish-keepers. He's in the money; and that was his choice.

Would Minecraft be in better hands if Notch open-sourced it instead of selling it to Microsoft?

Maybe but is it really a fair question?

Notch wasn't the only owner. In fact, he owns less than 50% and they have 40+ employees.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojang

Open sourcing it would likely screw his co-founders, employees with stock options, etc. compared to the size of this deal.

Tbh, I'd be happier if he donated 10% of his earnings from this sale to Open Source projects and feeding people. Rather than, y'know, having gone the route you suggested. He also seems like the kind of guy that would.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#264

Post by bsaul »

mikeash wrote: post #217
scottjad wrote: post #86

The other day there was a post about some Doom map viewer Notch had written in Dart. One of the top comments said something along the lines of "This is why we all need to be rich, so we can work on stuff like this." I thought the comment was so sad because honestly, almost no one is going to benefit from a mostly broken Doom map viewer in Dart that's abandoned after a few days. Same with the numerous games he's start…

I get the impression that Notch may not actually be all that talented. I mean, he's probably more so than the average Joe, but not super exceptionally talented. It seems like he got lucky, and was good enough to leverage his success into more success and was good enough of a businessman to profit handsomely from the whole thing, but that's about it. I understand that he hasn't done anything on Minecraft in quite a wh…

You may confuse talent with algorithmic or scientific skills. Which, in the case of videogame is just one small part of the whole.

People like notch and other indie developpers are looking for things beyond immediate technical prowess or easy instant fun. They are after something you may call poetry, and how to explore new opportunities created by technology.

In this regard and judging by the large interest of children for minecraft, this man is talented.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#265

Post by yupmetoo »

nightski wrote: post #210
scottjad wrote: post #86

The other day there was a post about some Doom map viewer Notch had written in Dart. One of the top comments said something along the lines of "This is why we all need to be rich, so we can work on stuff like this." I thought the comment was so sad because honestly, almost no one is going to benefit from a mostly broken Doom map viewer in Dart that's abandoned after a few days. Same with the numerous games he's start…

Minecraft was grown out of the way Notch works. What you are suggesting is impossible. No one, not even Steve Jobs sits down and says "My life mission is to benefit humanity". This is because we really do not know which efforts will have the largest impact on humanity. You could waste a lifetime trying to make a better battery - but it might never happen. Or you could hack around on a game and watch it explode and im…

I know this is outside the topic, but to critique your analogy - you could spend a lifetime trying to make a better battery, and share the knowledge of 1000 ways to not make a better battery, which is useful in and of itself.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#266

Post by adventured »

tdicola wrote: post #248

I can't help but think this deal is going to have the exact opposite effect on Notch as he intended. Now everyone knows he's a billionaire and people will come crawling out of the woodwork to try and get something from him. Also parts of the Minecraft community will be pretty upset about the decision, and if a year from now things go sour and Minecraft isn't what it used to be then people will be even more upset with…

Fine points, but he's not likely to be a billionaire.

He's a part of owner. Throw in the 30% Sweden tax on the sale, he's more likely to land around $600m to $700m (including previous income realized from Mojang). He's close to being a billionaire.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#267

Post by nkurz »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #88
jacquesm wrote: post #17

> I don’t see myself as a real game developer. I make games because it’s fun, and because I love games and I love to program, but I don’t make games with the intention of them becoming huge hits, and I don’t try to change the world. I think that's the essence of being a real game developer. It's sad that Notch feels this way, I think the majority of old school games guys and girls were just like that. Since it's beco…

> I think that's the essence of being a real game developer. I think that's the eseence of being a real X, X = insert whatever you claim to be in. In my mind I divide companies (and professionals) by whether their occupation is an instrumental or terminal goal. As an example, advancing rocketry and electrifying transport to advance humanity is a terminal goal for Elon Musk. I.e he cares about that and works on Tesla…

It's a good insight, but the repeated typo "paper-toilet" (incorrect, but interesting image) instead of "toilet-paper" (correct) made it difficult for me to understand on the first read. It's both here and in the post that links to this.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#268

Post by msh »

chris_mahan wrote: post #257
ido wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's quite hard getting over the interface these days. Surprisingly enough Warcraft 1 is still very playable.

Ya dune2 is dos based. Once you get used to it, though, it'll be very enjoyable. You can't rely on the Fremen unless you have 5+castles and send them all at once. Watch out or you'll run out of spice and won't be able to repair your missile launchers.

I tried playing dune2 again, it was still a good game but it was so annoying that you could only select one unit at a time.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#269

Post by sgtnasty »

Then why didnt he just open source it? That question deserves to be answered by Notch.

I watched my kids grow up on Minecraft, and how I led them to learning technology, enabling their future. Minecraft is more than just a game, and really the users own it, it's not Notch's anymore.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#270

Post by peterwwillis »

jokoon wrote: post #222

He sounds depressed and frustrated. All I see is bad emotions in all that. With all the money he has, he could at least try to share or expand his passion in some way. It's true that he's lucky, you sense the modesty, that he doesn't want to be perceived as talented. But even if that's true, he could at least try a little bit more. I mean he seems content with his work, but if I had such fame, at least I'd try to use…

Are you aware of how presumptive and insulting it is to speculate about someone else's life and tell them how they should be living?
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