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I'm Leaving Mojang

notch.net

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Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#301

Post by opendais »

rpdillon wrote: post #295
opendais wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

He said he'd open source it, but it never happened. I think this pre-dates Mojang, but I'm not certain about the exact timing. http://web.archive.org/web/20100301103851/http://www.minecra...

I think you are ignoring the condition on that sentence.

"Once sales start dying and a minimum time has passed, I will release the game source code as some kind of open source."

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#302

Post by gknoy »

Tepix wrote: post #168
gamesurgeon wrote: post #18

"I’m not an entrepreneur. I’m not a CEO. I’m a nerdy computer programmer who likes to have opinions on Twitter...If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I’ll probably abandon it immediately." I have the utmost respect for notch after reading that.

I think it's sad to write something like that (abandoning something as soon as it seems to gain traction). Isn't that what games are about? Writing great games that a lot of people love to play and talk about? And in the case of Minecraft, hack and mod in unimaginable ways?

Perhaps the joy he derives comes not from the popularity or world-changingness, but rather from the process of creation, or the problems that he gets to solve in interesting ways.

I don't think he'll ever be at a loss for creativity. If he spends the rest of his days streaming (or not streaming!) him coding random small games, or tinkering on a renderer that is never used, I expect that he'll be happy and feel fulfilled.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#303

Post by jacalata »

yaur wrote: post #286
Fede_V wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, exactly. Dealing with social media as a divisive personality is exhaustive - either you completely shut it off and let some underpaid underdealing deal with it, or you will get horrendously burnt out by all the negativity. I hope he will produce another master work, but either way, I wish him a very happy life with all the money he earned.

> If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I’ll probably abandon it immediately. This is the part of the post that bothers me, especially in the context of 0x10c which seemed to follow that exact track. Its his life obviously, I just wonder what awesome stuff won't be made because Minecraft made him wealthy enough that he didn't need to worry about being productive anymore.

I don't think "so wealthy he doesn't need to be productive" is what happened. Rather the horrific experience of having indie game fans obsess over him made him determined never to do anything that would draw their attention again.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#304

Post by kayoone »

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…

While i agree it has to be noted that Musk also did instrumental stuff (paypal) to be able to do the work he does now.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#305

Post by krsna »

jacquesm wrote: post #96
TeMPOraL wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

> In my mind I divide companies (and professionals) by whether their occupation is an instrumental or terminal goal. That's a super good observation, thank you. It instantly explains why I have such a loathing for some companies and people and others I feel only pride. Wow. Never ever thought about it that way. I suspect this may also help you to pick out good founders from an investors point of view and good co-foun…

> It instantly explains why I have such a loathing for some companies and people and others I feel only pride.

I completely agree with this. It's basically optimizing for getting rich instead of optimizing for happiness. Many entrepreneurs make decisions (i.e. run their businesses) with the main focus being amassing money and getting rich. These are the ones that we find ourselves loathing so much. Whereas other founders make decisions with the main focus being happiness and passion for their work. These are the ones we admire.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#306

Post by phlakaton »

Something in a novel I just read last night comes back into my head: "I reflected bitterly that I had walked away from people I had known and cared about to avoid the very situation I was now in with comparative strangers. I wondered if there was any way to live amongst other people and refuse to be harnessed by their expectations and dependencies." (Robin Hobb)

If there's sadness I see in Notch's story, it's only that Notch appears to see and define his public persona in such a negative light. I wish he could see his contributions and influence on fellow hackers as a beautiful thing. But I totally understand and support his intent to find a new playground, free of expectations, regardless of his success on previous playgrounds. I hope that Notch finds the happiness that he seeks.

(I also hope his comment about abandoning his next project on the first sign of success was more tongue-in-cheek than it came off...)

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#307

Post by dasil003 »

mikeash wrote: post #272
bsaul wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 childr…

I don't confuse talent. I understand that making a video game fun is completely different from raw programming talent or whatever. But merely looking at what Notch has done, it looks to me like he got lucky rather than having some vast talent for making fun games.

And yet you casually quantify talent as being about making a fun game. There are so many flaws in this line of thinking.

At the top is the idea that if you make a game fun enough it will take off like Minecraft, but virality is not simply a product of fun, there are so many intangibles that go into blockbuster successes, and the people who get really good at wrangling those elements and distilling out a formula are not renowned for their talent (eg. Hollywood blockbusters).

But unpacking further, talent is something that needs to be developed. Natural talent is nothing without practice upon practice. Talent in some area requires years of practice that laymen will never really understand or appreciate. We can all talk casually about various kinds of talent, in programming, in art, in game design, in music, etc, but any kind of serious discussion needs to touch on the nuances of the specific work they are doing. Claiming Nickelback is more talented than Arcade Fire because they've sold more albums is a sure way to kill a conversation about music.

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#308

Post by clarkevans »

dasil003 wrote: post #300
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.

I don't think he wants sympathy, that's not how I read this at all. I think he wants freedom, and he is not asking for it but simply stating for the record how he is going about this. One of the thing's I admire about Notch's communication is that it always comes off as sincere and matter of fact. I think that is admirable in the face of the reality one faces in becoming internet-famous. The internet has a big proble…

Perhaps it's that Notch invited the entitlement with an explicit promise ? http://web.archive.org/web/20100301103851/http://www.minecra...

Included there is a dedication to (eventually) make the work open-source or public domain, and to contribute to it so long as people are paying. Those promises drove MindCraft praise, good will, and adoption. Do you think asking someone to keep these promises, the ones that drove adoption (and hence his current good fortune) is... entitlement?

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#309

Post by scott_karana »

paulhauggis wrote: post #186
snlacks wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's unfortunate that all our greed and crazy fandom keep scaring the great minds away from continuing to push us all forward.

I think it's less the greed and crazy fandom and more a new generation of people that feel they are entitled to everything and anything they want and if they don't get it, start an online witch hunt. There are numerous examples of this in the past 6 months and in Notch's case, it happened with EULA and 3rd party server support. A community that supports this sort of behavior wouldn't have my support either. I don't b…

> a new generation of people that feel they are entitled to everything and anything they want and if they don't get it, start an online witch hunt

Is it really fair to characterize this of a specific generation?

> “Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.” — Socrates

Re: I'm Leaving Mojang

#310

Post by dasmithii »

- "If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I’ll probably abandon it immediately."

These words describe how I've been feeling since the beginning of this year, when I first became a self-described programmer. Before then, I loved playing around with little toy projects, but I never considered myself as a programmer. Instead, I was a regular kid who programmed sometimes.

After realizing that, over some time, I had gained some real skills, I felt obligated to make use of them. It was no longer a playful activity, I put a burden on my own shoulders that my programs had to be significant or important to others in some way.

This sense of importance ruined programming for me. Though self-imposed, the homework-effect took over and I lost interest right away.

I'm sure many of you code for a defined purpose, whether it be profit or world effect. But for me, my computer is a toy.

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