5 ms·

Minecraft bans integration with NFTs and Blockchains

128 points by jessmartin 4y ago

creatonez 4y ago
Glad they cut this stuff off before it got too big. Cryptocurrency grifts have been taking over Minecraft Java Edition in the past year or so.
jrm4 4y ago
Eh, not that I'm in love with crypto or Web3, but as I've been getting into server stuff and mods for my kids, it's really hard for me to see Microsoft's dealings with Minecraft as a hugely missed opportunity, perhaps even an all out failure. The "metaverse" people keep touting could have (relatively easily, I think) been nearly the sole perview of Minecraft if Microsoft didn't Microsoft Minecraft so hard. Even e.g. Roblox does a much better job of trying to integrate the creator/modder experience.
- frozencell 4y ago
  Why is this getting downvote? Minecraft could have been so much, particularly regarding educational content. I don't like the Roblox experience partly due to some pervert indie creators I've heard about. Minecraft could really be extended, not on its main version but through community-reviewed mods probably.
  - jrm4 4y ago
    I'm frequently critical of Microsoft, and I can always count on what strongly feels like a 4 or 5 downvote overreach regardless of the criticism.
  - jrm4 4y ago
    Right. So my kids are into both the Roblox and the Minecraft and that's kind of what got me here; I'm thinking that Microsoft could (very) theoretically have had a long term "Marketplace" vision for Minecraft that looks like the best of what Roblox is today. (I mean, this is a huge pipe dream. MS has always had the resources but literally has never had anything remotely close to a vision like this)
redsoxsouthie 4y ago
This is a refreshing stance from a company. Kids are too frequently treated as just a way into mom and dad's wallet.
- _aavaa_ 4y ago
  This is not a "stance", Microsoft owns plenty of game studios which are more than happy to include in-app purchases for every skin, emoji, and loot box they can. They are preventing this for the reason others have already mentioned: they don't get a piece of the action.
  - creatonez 4y ago
    Should be noted, Minecraft already allows Java server owners to take a surprisingly large piece of the pie. They've loosened the EULA to allow most forms of pay-to-win, you can pretty much sell whatever you want as long as it's not the specific narrow situation of items/commands that benefit a player's ability to PVP, used on a server that is almost exclusively dedicated towards competitive PVP. Other than that it's free reign and there's quite a lot of shady pay-to-win servers out there. (There are many ways to "win" in the game other than PVP, such as digging a massive hole -- no kidding, on our homely non-profit server we do competitive hole-digging and take it VERY seriously and would be pissed if someone was able to purchase an advantage.)
    - _aavaa_ 4y ago
      I agree with the feeling of being annoyed by pay to win. But I don’t think that Microsoft should be dictating what players can and cannot do on private servers.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
arilotter 4y ago
how do you ban mods to your game when the mod distribution and SDK are entirely 3rd party?
- _aavaa_ 4y ago
  By leveraging their ability to ban people from all servers, see the discussion from a few days ago. A) Ban from all servers (even private): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31860168 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31860168 B) Forcing people to provide personal information to play the game at all: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32142847 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32142847 Together create effective permabans for anyone Microsoft wants
  - syeare 4y ago
    Surely, this ban does not apply to servers which do not connect connect to Mojang servers (e.g. online-mode set to false aka "cracked" servers)?
    - _aavaa_ 4y ago
      It applies to all servers, even java ones run by third parties: https://help.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/7317376541197-Minecraft-Java-Edition-Player-Reporting-FAQ https://help.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/7317376541197-M... If you crack the game to not validate through Mojang servers, then it will probably bypass the ban, but I don't know if you'll be able to connect to a 3rd party server which excepts the users to be authenticated
ilaksh 4y ago
Whatever you feel about NFTs or cryptocurrency, it's quite obvious that they are 100% lying about the reason they are doing this. The real reason is that cryptocurrency makes it relatively easy for people to transact without Microsoft taking a cut. That's it. Minetest had no such restrictions by the way.
- hammyhavoc 4y ago
  People have been able to use PayPal for well over a decade to buy in-game perks and memberships on plenty of Minecraft servers, even buying plugins for their servers, and hosting. Bypassing Microsoft isn't really an issue with the Java edition, short of changing the license the game is provided under.
whatisweb3 4y ago
Not entirely surprising. Minecraft gets to maintain full control and custody, including extracting rent from any marketplace and assets selling on its platform, and at the same time look like the hero to the game community that so fervently hates NFTs.
- waste_monk 4y ago
  NFTs are a cancer, it's entirely reasonable to not want to be associated with it.
  - whatisweb3 4y ago
    The irony is that Minecraft and its players have no problem with virtual tokens known as Minecoins that are used to buy game assets and mods. Instead of allowing this sort of pattern to be decentralized and permissionless, they are forcing it to remain on a centralized and permissioned stack that allows them to consistently extract rent, exert control over what kind of sales happen, and limit how users can dispose of these assets. You can’t even sell back your Minecoins, you are only given license to use them for the Minecraft Marketplace. Had this been a standard ERC20 token the company would have no way to block you from reselling unwanted coins on a secondary market.
    - EdwardDiego 4y ago
      Is anyone speculating in Minecoins and constantly shilling it to push to the prices before selling out? Your comparison is very selective.
  - andirk 4y ago
    I am not big on the jpeg NFT marketplace, but I'm also not a collector of baseball cards or magic cards or cool skins for my video game character. There are stark similarities between NFT jpegs and any other virtual asset, right? A good use of NFTs can be representing the virtual ownership of a unique artwork, like a receipt that comes with the physical purchase. Being the "true" owner of something has a value. Music CDs often come with a code for the digital version. Isn't that an NFT? But yeah I'm still not buying anybody's jpeg.
hammyhavoc 4y ago
Good.

128 points by jessmartin 4y ago

Glad they cut this stuff off before it got too big. Cryptocurrency grifts have been taking over Minecraft Java Edition in the past year or so.

jrm4 4y ago

Eh, not that I'm in love with crypto or Web3, but as I've been getting into server stuff and mods for my kids, it's really hard for me to see Microsoft's dealings with Minecraft as a hugely missed opportunity, perhaps even an all out failure. The "metaverse" people keep touting could have (relatively easily, I think) been nearly the sole perview of Minecraft if Microsoft didn't Microsoft Minecraft so hard. Even e.g. Roblox does a much better job of trying to integrate the creator/modder experience.

frozencell 4y ago
Why is this getting downvote? Minecraft could have been so much, particularly regarding educational content. I don't like the Roblox experience partly due to some pervert indie creators I've heard about. Minecraft could really be extended, not on its main version but through community-reviewed mods probably.
- jrm4 4y ago
  I'm frequently critical of Microsoft, and I can always count on what strongly feels like a 4 or 5 downvote overreach regardless of the criticism.
- jrm4 4y ago
  Right. So my kids are into both the Roblox and the Minecraft and that's kind of what got me here; I'm thinking that Microsoft could (very) theoretically have had a long term "Marketplace" vision for Minecraft that looks like the best of what Roblox is today. (I mean, this is a huge pipe dream. MS has always had the resources but literally has never had anything remotely close to a vision like this)

redsoxsouthie 4y ago

This is a refreshing stance from a company. Kids are too frequently treated as just a way into mom and dad's wallet.

_aavaa_ 4y ago
This is not a "stance", Microsoft owns plenty of game studios which are more than happy to include in-app purchases for every skin, emoji, and loot box they can. They are preventing this for the reason others have already mentioned: they don't get a piece of the action.
- creatonez 4y ago
  Should be noted, Minecraft already allows Java server owners to take a surprisingly large piece of the pie. They've loosened the EULA to allow most forms of pay-to-win, you can pretty much sell whatever you want as long as it's not the specific narrow situation of items/commands that benefit a player's ability to PVP, used on a server that is almost exclusively dedicated towards competitive PVP. Other than that it's free reign and there's quite a lot of shady pay-to-win servers out there. (There are many ways to "win" in the game other than PVP, such as digging a massive hole -- no kidding, on our homely non-profit server we do competitive hole-digging and take it VERY seriously and would be pissed if someone was able to purchase an advantage.)
  - _aavaa_ 4y ago
    I agree with the feeling of being annoyed by pay to win. But I don’t think that Microsoft should be dictating what players can and cannot do on private servers.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

arilotter 4y ago

how do you ban mods to your game when the mod distribution and SDK are entirely 3rd party?

_aavaa_ 4y ago
By leveraging their ability to ban people from all servers, see the discussion from a few days ago. A) Ban from all servers (even private): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31860168 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31860168 B) Forcing people to provide personal information to play the game at all: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32142847 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32142847 Together create effective permabans for anyone Microsoft wants
- syeare 4y ago
  Surely, this ban does not apply to servers which do not connect connect to Mojang servers (e.g. online-mode set to false aka "cracked" servers)?
  - _aavaa_ 4y ago
    It applies to all servers, even java ones run by third parties: https://help.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/7317376541197-Minecraft-Java-Edition-Player-Reporting-FAQ https://help.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/7317376541197-M... If you crack the game to not validate through Mojang servers, then it will probably bypass the ban, but I don't know if you'll be able to connect to a 3rd party server which excepts the users to be authenticated

ilaksh 4y ago

Whatever you feel about NFTs or cryptocurrency, it's quite obvious that they are 100% lying about the reason they are doing this. The real reason is that cryptocurrency makes it relatively easy for people to transact without Microsoft taking a cut. That's it. Minetest had no such restrictions by the way.

hammyhavoc 4y ago
People have been able to use PayPal for well over a decade to buy in-game perks and memberships on plenty of Minecraft servers, even buying plugins for their servers, and hosting. Bypassing Microsoft isn't really an issue with the Java edition, short of changing the license the game is provided under.

whatisweb3 4y ago

Not entirely surprising. Minecraft gets to maintain full control and custody, including extracting rent from any marketplace and assets selling on its platform, and at the same time look like the hero to the game community that so fervently hates NFTs.

waste_monk 4y ago
NFTs are a cancer, it's entirely reasonable to not want to be associated with it.
- whatisweb3 4y ago
  The irony is that Minecraft and its players have no problem with virtual tokens known as Minecoins that are used to buy game assets and mods. Instead of allowing this sort of pattern to be decentralized and permissionless, they are forcing it to remain on a centralized and permissioned stack that allows them to consistently extract rent, exert control over what kind of sales happen, and limit how users can dispose of these assets. You can’t even sell back your Minecoins, you are only given license to use them for the Minecraft Marketplace. Had this been a standard ERC20 token the company would have no way to block you from reselling unwanted coins on a secondary market.
  - EdwardDiego 4y ago
    Is anyone speculating in Minecoins and constantly shilling it to push to the prices before selling out? Your comparison is very selective.
- andirk 4y ago
  I am not big on the jpeg NFT marketplace, but I'm also not a collector of baseball cards or magic cards or cool skins for my video game character. There are stark similarities between NFT jpegs and any other virtual asset, right? A good use of NFTs can be representing the virtual ownership of a unique artwork, like a receipt that comes with the physical purchase. Being the "true" owner of something has a value. Music CDs often come with a code for the digital version. Isn't that an NFT? But yeah I'm still not buying anybody's jpeg.

hammyhavoc 4y ago

Good.