
Producers of Minecraft Documentary upload their new movie to The Pirate Bay - milesf
https://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7946763/Minecraft__The_Story_of_Mojang
======
milesf
My son (age 11) wants to be a game programmer because of his love for
Minecraft. He talks about Notch as his hero.

I've setup a Minecraft server running on a headless box in my house. The
server has a whitelist of about 20 names with my children's friends from
school so they can play. It's running Craftbukkit/Spigot
(<http://www.spigotmc.org/>) and Purugin (<https://github.com/enebo/Purugin>)
which allows me to help them write Minecraft plugins in Ruby. Minecraft has
spread like wildfire at their little school in the country, and being able to
have their very own server that they are able to program and invite their
friends to play on has made them micro celebrities at their school.

As a parent Minecraft is a way for me to engage with my kids on something we
are all interested in. I am also teaching them programming on something they
really care about. It's exciting to watch and be a part of, and this
documentary will only fuel that growing passion to learn how to write code.

~~~
elisee
Hope you don't mind the plug, but I've been working on a Minecraft-inspired
real-time cooperative game-making platform geared towards gamers (both young
and older) and I think you might find it to be a great place to have fun with
your kid, learning programming (Lua) and making actual games together, if you
want to take it further. It's called CraftStudio and you can get it at:
<http://craftstud.io/>

It's still in alpha (I've been releasing updates every few weeks for a bit
over a year) but it's already capable of some very cool things. Videos of some
games & creations made with it:
[http://www.youtube.com/user/craftstudiodev/videos?flow=grid&...](http://www.youtube.com/user/craftstudiodev/videos?flow=grid&view=1)

Alternatively I know there are some great Minecraft mods like ComputerCraft
(also Lua-based) which allow doing programmy stuff directly within Minecraft
if you're so inclined.

~~~
milesf
Thanks! I am always looking for ways to ween my kids off of consuming
activities (eg. TV, most video games) and onto creating activities (playing
Minecraft, programming, etc). I'll definitely take a look.

Would a Linux version be possible? I can't afford Mac systems for my kids, but
they will both be getting Ubuntu laptops under the tree this year. I want them
to wrestle with Linux because using the OS naturally leads you to learn about
Unix.

~~~
elisee
Yup, the Linux port is in the works and I hope to have it available early next
year.

CraftStudio is built in C# with XNA. I've been using MonoGame
(<https://github.com/mono/monogame> \- open source, multiplatform
reimplementation of XNA) for the Mac build for a few months and already got
most of it running on Linux, I just need to find the time to get it into a
releasable state.

------
ch0wn
Description for those who can't access the URL:

    
    
        Greetings Pirate Bay!
    
        This is 2 Player Productions here, and we hoped we could be the first to
        upload our new movie "Minecraft: The Story of Mojang".  We've never uploaded
        a torrent before so hopefully this isn't all screwed up.
    
        We wanted to come here first because we knew the movie would end up here
        eventually, and the best thing to do seemed to be opening a dialogue.
        Torrents and piracy are a way of life and it probably won't be going
        anywhere anytime soon.  There are many people that want to punish you for
        that, but we have a more realistic outlook on things.
    
        We've been there.  We've all needed to do it at some point.  Maybe you don't
        have the money.  Maybe you want to try before you buy.  Maybe you're pissed
        at us for premiering the movie on Xbox Live.  These are all fine reasons.
        But if you feel that piracy is, in Gabe Newell's words, "a service problem,"
        please consider that we are selling DRM free digital downloads that you can
        watch in whatever manner you please.
    
        We're just three guys trying to make a living doing what we love.  We love
        the world of video games, and we love making it real.  If you buy the movie,
        you support those efforts.  The reason we Kickstarted this movie in the
        first place was that we didn't have enough money to make it ourselves, and
        even then, we still put A LOT of our own money into it.  Not to mention
        nearly two years of work.
    
        Watch the movie.  Hopefully you'll like it, and understand what we're trying
        to do.  Please consider supporting us by buying the $8 DRM-free digital
        download of the movie at www.theminecraftmovie.com, or the $20 DVD from
        www.fangamer.net.
    
        We've worked with a lot of amazing people in the games industry and had the
        incredible fortune to make some great films the way we wanted to make them.
        Please consider helping us continue on this path.  The best has yet to come.
    
        -2pp

~~~
gbraad
Really great stuff! Appreciate what 2pp is doing...

They also do an excellent job at filming the progress of the DFA (Double Fine
Adventure)

~~~
lorewarden
If you are a backer of DFA, you can watch the Mojang movie on their private
backers forum, it is being streamed, today (Dec 23) only.

------
milesf
The movie has an unobtrusive crawl around the 23 minute mark:

"Decided to pirate our movie, eh? Now you'll have to deal with these scroll-y
bits. If you like what you see, buy the drm-free version at
www.storyofmojang.com so that we can afford to keep making movies. Thanks!"

Very clever.

~~~
kiskis
if the producers decided to upload this on a torrent, then they should not
call me a pirate because I download it.

~~~
darklajid
Why not? The producers shared that stuff on TPB because it'd end up there
eventually, and because they understand that there are reasons for kind-of-
sort-of-ethically-fine 'pirating'.

You grabbed the movie. You didn't got the payed version (otherwise you
wouldn't complain) and got a reference to pirating. Because .. you pirated the
movie.

They uploaded it to be in control on TPB. They explicitly ask for you to go
ahead, check it and please support them by buying the movie. If you don't do
that, you're pirating the movie with the help of the producers. At least in my
world.

(Downloading it right now, net's slow. Will watch it with my wife and invest
the USD 8 if it has a couple decent / funny / interesting scenes)

~~~
sukuriant
The moment the producer places the movie on pirate bay themselves and
encourages you to download it, then it is no longer piracy, it is using
torrents as a legitimate, distributed downloading service, like it was made to
be.

If anything, they uploaded a shareware version of the movie to the pirate bay.
Them saying you're pirating it is inaccurate. Instead it should be something
like "Hey! I see you torrented our movie! Thanks for watching it; and if you
feel like, please download the pay-for version of this movie to support us!
(We'll even remove this ask for money from the official!)"

Piracy is, in the lazy short verison, acquiring without permission. Torrenting
!= Piracy when you have permission. e.g. every World of Warcraft update.

~~~
chii
you assumed that putting their torrent on TPB is the same as giving you
permission to download without paying.

~~~
sukuriant
How isn't it?

What is a valid situation where putting your video onto a website and then
talking directly to the people you're marketing to in your video not giving
them permission?

------
citricsquid
I watched this earlier (backed on Kickstarter) and it's fun to watch. There's
no great insight into Minecraft and you won't come away from it knowing more
about Minecraft or Mojang or why Minecraft is so successful, but you will see
the personalities of some of those involved and things about the community and
the things people have done. If you're a fan of Minecraft it's definitely
worth watching (but it isn't a Minecraft equivalent of "Indie Game: The
Movie")

~~~
arrrg
I think 2PProduction's documentary of the development of the Double Fine
Adventure provides more insight into game development. (You can still back
them and get access to the episodes.) A lot of the very interesting things had
already happened when they started filming the Minecraft documentary so it
cannot provide the same deep look.

The Double Fine documentary is excellent. At this point I really care not one
bit about how the actual game turns out, the documentary has been extremely
rewarding. They really seem to show it all, warts and everything.

------
jiggy2011
I'm confused. I can't hit the link because I'm in the UK.

They may have uploaded it to piratebay (would have happened anyway), but are
they giving carte blance to download it however you like?

For example, since pirate bay is blocked here is it legal for me to search
other torrent sites and download it from there?

~~~
rwmj
I'm in the UK, saw the URL and I'm seeding the movie.

You need to change your ISP to one of the smaller ones, which will not just
mean that your connection is unfiltered but also mean you're using (and
supporting) diversity and increased competition.

~~~
gman99
OffTopic: Any recommendations for a small, good UK based ISP?

~~~
sstarr
Andrews & Arnold is one of the best and most nerd friendly ISPs in the UK:
<http://aaisp.net.uk/>

You can get a good idea of the company's general philosophy from their owner's
blog: <http://revk.www.me.uk/>

Unfortunately they are quite expensive compared to the bigger ISPs but in
their case you really do get what you pay for.

~~~
teh_klev
A&A are fantastic, yes they are a bit more expensive but they really do
outshine every ISP in the UK with their no-bullshit attitude, and I love the
way they take BT to task when things aren't 100% working properly.

I used A&A before I moved to Ireland and really miss them. I'm stuck with
Eircom (there is virtually no land-based provider choice in Ireland if you
live outside of Dublin) who are a financial basket case and suffering from
virtually no infrastructure investment outside of Dublin.

Internet access in Ireland is like the UK was back in 2002/3 and the Irish
government wastes millions of euros on half baked 3G/Wireless schemes that
don't work instead of fixing the terrestrial system properly.

------
mattvot
[http://pirateproxy.net/torrent/7946763/Minecraft__The_Story_...](http://pirateproxy.net/torrent/7946763/Minecraft__The_Story_of_Mojang)

------
milesf
Really impressed that the producers will have a family-friendly audio track
with the official, non-pirated version. My kids (ages 8 and 11) love
Minecraft, and it will probably be the highlight for them this Christmas to
watch the documentary as a family. I'll likely buy both the download version
and the DVD when it's released on Sunday just to be extra supportive of their
efforts.

~~~
mbubb
Me too - I have had to explain a few off-color words from their viewing of fan
videos on youtube.

"Dad is 'fucking retarded' a bad thing to say...?"

~~~
petercooper
Imagine my parents back in 1989 when I asked them "What does 'cXXt' mean?"
(I'd found it having opened up a text adventure I was stuck on in a hex
editor, they had some naughty commands in there..!)

------
matthew-wegner
Rather annoying that you _can't_ yet buy the $8 version on their site. It's
out tomorrow.

~~~
mickle00
Agreed. I always like to support this business/distribution model
(music/movie/comedy) when I can. I'll have to set a reminder to go back and
pay.

------
sasoon
I am currently downloading it, and I will buy 8$ download version just to
support the guys, because they have guts to do something like this.

~~~
fraXis
I am going to pay the $8 as well. I just wish I could give them my money now
while downloading it via the torrent, but it is not available for purchase
until December 23rd (tomorrow) on their site.

They should of put the torrent up on the same day it was available for
purchase.

~~~
citricsquid
The film is already available to download to backers, I assume they're pre-
empting the inevitable leak from a backer.

------
biot
The title is technically inaccurate; they've only uploaded the magnet hash to
The Pirate Bay. Interestingly, they also haven't provided a license so I'm
curious if anyone knows what the legal status of downloading this would be
given that you'll be getting parts from people not licensed to distribute it.

~~~
tantalor
I think it's clear that the producers consent to P2P distribution, given they
knowingly made it available.

I don't plan on watching it — so I won't pay for it — but I will seed it
because I'd like to encourage others to see it and pay for it. I think that's
what the producers want.

~~~
biot
It's interesting how this compares to projects posted without an explicit
license where many will refuse to consider using the project until a license
is specified:

[http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=%22no+licen...](http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=%22no+license%22&start=10)

[http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=%22what+is+...](http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=%22what+is+the+license%22&start=0)

------
milesf
It will be interesting to see if 2 Player Productions attempt to dialogue with
those who would normally steal their work will succeed in actually converting
many into customers.

------
tommys
I'm downloading and will buy it if it is good enough (does not need to be
great, just showing that the guys producing it does a good job). I really hope
it is good enough :-)

------
altrezia
By and sky users can't access TPB, any chance of a magnet link?

~~~
popey
magnet:?xt=urn:btih:41b2fd2403eba5a1dc23743fb08a15f968acc1b5&dn=Minecraft%3A+The+Story+of+Mojang&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.istole.it%3A6969&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.ccc.de%3A80

~~~
zevyoura
Interesting; this post has exposed a problem in the styling of HN, forcing
horizontal scrolling.

~~~
teach
This is an old, well-known issue. It just rarely occurs.

~~~
paulnechifor
Actually it occurs every time somebody writes something long like this:
xt=urn:btih:41b2fd2403eba5a1dc23743fb08a15f968acc1b5&dn=Minecraft%3A+The+Story+of+Mojang&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.istole.it%3A6969&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.ccc.de%3A80

It's unlikely it will be fixed though.

~~~
teach
I mean "rarely occurs" in the sense that folks rarely post things with really
long lines. Most of us have better sense than that.

------
dirkk0
Where can I buy it without the Pirate Bay Link?

~~~
jasonquinn
www.theminecraftmovie.com

~~~
petercooper
Except, bizarrely, not till tomorrow, especially given they say:

 _But if you feel that piracy is, in Gabe Newell's words, "a service problem,"
please consider that we are selling DRM free digital downloads that you can
watch in whatever manner you please._

Ironically, this situation is a perfect example of a service problem, since I
wanted to pay for and watch the film but have instead been presented with The
Pirate Bay as an immediate solution. Oops.

~~~
fzzzy
Exact same thing happened to me. I wanted to pay for it, couldn't... So the
only solution available to me is to download it from tpb.

Silly.

I'll pay for it tomorrow, but I wanted to pay for it now. This strategy
doesn't make sense.

~~~
teh_klev
Oh c'mon, you do have a solution, exercise a bit of patience for 24 hours (if
that). I bet most people complaining about this only found out about the film
in the past few hours.

It's hardly the same as waiting for months before Dexter turns up in a format
you want to pay for in your region.

Perhaps there is no strategy here, perhaps they just wanted a bit of extra
time to make sure that their download and payment services were up to scratch
so that there isn't a repeat of the JetBrains 75% off calamity.

~~~
fzzzy
True. I downloaded it yesterday and bought it today, but the point is -- the
first time someone hears about something, it is in the best interest of the
creator to make sure that person can pay the creator legally, otherwise that
customer may simply not remember and never buy it when it is available.

------
secondChrome
I wish they had a bitcoin address!

