
The past, present and future of Mojang as seen through Notch's eyes - mlla
http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/5/4183864/minecraft-scrolls-0x10c-the-past-present-and-future-of-mojang-as-seen
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Maxious
Interesting to see how Mojang/Valve's "work on what you want" policy might be
Considered Harmful. Not wanting to finish a game, tune a webserver that
processes your sales or freeze and document an API because it's hard.

Even with the API where Mojang hired the developers of the de facto mod API
Bukkit, the development seems to have just continued on Bukkit while the
promised API languishes for 8 months.

~~~
zalzane
Yeah, I had a talk with someone from valve awhile back and he mentioned that
only a certain kind of developer works well in the "work on what you want"
strategy. If you don't have goal driven people who know what they're doing,
nothing will ever ship.

On the other hand I see Mojang, the company who in its infancy hired the
popular and attention-obsessive "minecraftchick" to do PR/Advertising rather
than someone who actually knows what they're doing.

On top of this, Valve has the kind of financial backing where they can screw
around all day and still not go bankrupt for awhile thanks to their previous
work in Steam. Mojang on the other hand is only making income on merch and the
5 people who haven't already bought minecraft.

As much as I hate to say it, the more I read about Mojang, Minecraft, and the
decisions they're making, the more I feel like the success of the game was an
act of serendipity rather than one of skill.

~~~
ChiXiStigma
> the more I feel like the success of the game was an act of serendipity
> rather than one of skill.

I see it the same way, and honestly when I hear Notch speak about all of his
success he seems about as confused as everyone else. I'm happy for the guy,
because he worked hard on something he was passionate about and it was a huge
success. But at the same time he kind of hit the lottery with Minecraft.

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pippy
Notch could be suffering from programmeritus - a condition where a programmer
works a difficult, but fun problem that doesn't help reach the end objective
(in his case, making a fun game).

We've all been there - spending months doing something that in the end doesn't
matter.

Notch has the ability to make fun games quick, I'd gladly pay for a full
version of the last game jam he participated in. If he made a series of demos,
then chose the best one he wouldn't be in the dilema he's in now.

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Keyframe
_"I kind of see this a little bit like my hobby: just being able to just work
on games and not have too much external pressure that (those games) have to
make money or whatever."_

Maybe that's the problem. No pressure can also take toll on finishing
something.

~~~
cuu508
If it's a hobby, and you do it for fun, why not finishing anything is a
problem?

~~~
Keyframe
It's not a problem by itself. Nothing wrong with fooling around. However, if
your objective is to produce something then it becomes a problem. When there
is a set deadline or a resource limit you're forced to make decisions, while
if there are no limits it's easier to fall into "creative blockages".

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ChikkaChiChi
Maybe more structure and less treating Mojang like its your personal frat
house is the answer.

Minecraft has allowed them to bankroll certain proclivities that the whole
"we're cool nerds" culture Persson likes to perpetuate; but if they want to be
taken seriously as a gaming company, they might want to knuckle down a bit and
use some of the tried and true methods for bringing a project to market.

I work for a Swedish father/son company. Interestingly, the son has the same
problem; take something interesting 90% of the way then wander off to a new
shiny before the project gets done.

~~~
calebegg
> if they want to be taken seriously as a gaming company

I don't think that they necessarily do, though. At least, it doesn't seem to
be a high priority.

~~~
waterlesscloud
All they have to do is release a very cool game every few years and they'll be
fine.

It's not like anyone else is releasing good games on a faster schedule. Most
companies just pass the time releasing crap.

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klrr
Programming inside the game sounds really interesting. I really hope they
focus on 0x10c, although it won't be as big as Minecraft obviously.

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StavrosK
> 0x10c (pronounced ten to the c)

Really? It's pronounced like that? What's the reasoning behind it? Why not
"268", or "ten cee hex"?

~~~
nightpool
Notch and the community seem to have actually settled on the pronunciation
"Trillek"

~~~
StavrosK
Hum, that makes it even more convoluted :)

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omn1
> But you couldn't use the spaceship CPU to subvert the basic tenets of the
> game. Put another way, players would be working within the confines of the
> existing system when coding in 0x10c, not dipping into the game's raw code.

Modifying the game from within actually sounds like a good idea.

~~~
icebraining
Not the same as code, but the Cube FPS[1] allows realtime, multiplayer changes
to the 3D map.

[1]: <http://cubeengine.com/>

