4 ms·

"Now just to be clear, migrating from Mojang to Microsoft accounts is 'mandatory'." Whoever made the poor word choice of "mandatory", rather than "required", o

"Now just to be clear, migrating from Mojang to Microsoft accounts is 'mandatory'." Whoever made the poor word choice of "mandatory", rather than "required", ought to leave marketing altogether and instead teach in a middle school.

adhoc_slime 5y ago
I don't understand the difference?
- sodality2 5y ago
  "When something is required, it is necessary to complete an action or achieve a goal. When something is mandatory, it is obligatory, usually because some law or rule imposed it." https://thecontentauthority.com/blog/required-vs-mandatory https://thecontentauthority.com/blog/required-vs-mandatory
  - toast0 5y ago
    As a native speaker, I don't understand the distinction. If you want to achieve the goal of playing Minecraft, it is (or will become) obligatory to use a Microsoft account because Microsoft changed the rules to impose this. Is the nuance maybe that something that is mandatory must be done even if you are not in the process of completing a goal? It's possible that Microsoft will kill the migration process at some point (either intentionally or through neglect), so maybe this must be done if you want to play again without paying again.
    - Karsteski 5y ago
      It's somewhat nuanced. You're missing the human aspect of it. If someone tells you an action is mandatory, it implies that they have some sort of power over you (boss, police, government, etc.). If someone tells you something is required, it has more of an air of "you need to do this to access this product".
- Karsteski 5y ago
  One is far more aggressive and off-putting than the other.
franciscop 5y ago
Coming from Spanish it took me a while to learn/grok "mandatory"/"compulsory" (in Spanish we use the way simpler "hay que"/"tienes que", which would be like just "there is"/"have to"), so I thought that phrase was totally fine! Why would it be better "required" in this situation instead of "mandatory" if you don't mind me asking?
- Macha 5y ago
  As a native English speaker, I don't see anything objectionable either. The only thing I can guess at is OP thinking that mandatory means you have to do it, even if you have no interest in playing Minecraft again, but you could read the same into required if you wanted. Or maybe they think this page is being read by kids, and not their parents, and that kids won't know what mandatory means? But you're supposed to be 13 to have an account, and I'm sure 13 year olds know the word mandatory.
- chippiewill 5y ago
  "mandatory" comes across as a bit more condescending. It's really unusual phrasing for public messaging. Nothing linguistically wrong with it though.
- Jon_Lowtek 5y ago
  "mandatory" from Latin mandātor (“someone who orders”), compare: "commandant" "required" from Latin requīrō (“i seek, ask for”), compare: "request" and "aquire" Today the words are mostly interchangeable, but mandatory is more often used in context of laws and government while "required" is seen mostly in tech and engineering.

adhoc_slime 5y ago

I don't understand the difference?

sodality2 5y ago
"When something is required, it is necessary to complete an action or achieve a goal. When something is mandatory, it is obligatory, usually because some law or rule imposed it." https://thecontentauthority.com/blog/required-vs-mandatory https://thecontentauthority.com/blog/required-vs-mandatory
- toast0 5y ago
  As a native speaker, I don't understand the distinction. If you want to achieve the goal of playing Minecraft, it is (or will become) obligatory to use a Microsoft account because Microsoft changed the rules to impose this. Is the nuance maybe that something that is mandatory must be done even if you are not in the process of completing a goal? It's possible that Microsoft will kill the migration process at some point (either intentionally or through neglect), so maybe this must be done if you want to play again without paying again.
  - Karsteski 5y ago
    It's somewhat nuanced. You're missing the human aspect of it. If someone tells you an action is mandatory, it implies that they have some sort of power over you (boss, police, government, etc.). If someone tells you something is required, it has more of an air of "you need to do this to access this product".
Karsteski 5y ago
One is far more aggressive and off-putting than the other.

franciscop 5y ago

Coming from Spanish it took me a while to learn/grok "mandatory"/"compulsory" (in Spanish we use the way simpler "hay que"/"tienes que", which would be like just "there is"/"have to"), so I thought that phrase was totally fine! Why would it be better "required" in this situation instead of "mandatory" if you don't mind me asking?

Macha 5y ago
As a native English speaker, I don't see anything objectionable either. The only thing I can guess at is OP thinking that mandatory means you have to do it, even if you have no interest in playing Minecraft again, but you could read the same into required if you wanted. Or maybe they think this page is being read by kids, and not their parents, and that kids won't know what mandatory means? But you're supposed to be 13 to have an account, and I'm sure 13 year olds know the word mandatory.
chippiewill 5y ago
"mandatory" comes across as a bit more condescending. It's really unusual phrasing for public messaging. Nothing linguistically wrong with it though.
Jon_Lowtek 5y ago
"mandatory" from Latin mandātor (“someone who orders”), compare: "commandant" "required" from Latin requīrō (“i seek, ask for”), compare: "request" and "aquire" Today the words are mostly interchangeable, but mandatory is more often used in context of laws and government while "required" is seen mostly in tech and engineering.