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That's a lot of anger, negativity and bitterness, and entitlement (one of the game's creators for writing the ending text?). Reminds me of the kid on the cover

That's a lot of anger, negativity and bitterness, and entitlement (one of the game's creators for writing the ending text?). Reminds me of the kid on the cover of the Nevermind album and other people that are kinda tangentially connected to something massively successful, but not connected enough to benefit materially, and they let that define who they are and ruin their lives. Could have been a neat personal story, "hey you know I wrote the ending text to Minecraft?" Instead, it's this.

hericium 4y ago
> Reminds me of the kid on the cover of the Nevermind album Exactly the picture/cover/person I thought of while reading this (nicely written but still a) rant.
- pbhjpbhj 4y ago
  That kid had no creative input though, they did no work; this person did work, as an already successful professional, and had (IMO, obviously) a transformative effect on the whole project through his work.
  - rosywoozlechan 4y ago
    he had zero effect on the whole project, the game was already massively popular and a cultural phenomenon well before 2011 and before it had an ending.
whatshisface 4y ago
How can you call asking for nothing entitlement?
- dcow 4y ago
  It's the attitude espoused in the writing. The outcome was literally his way of not letting his own frustration consume him and only available to him after doing heavy doses of psychedelics. I'm glad he was able to let go because his attitude of being entitled to something when he was, in fact, not, is what has been causing him all the pain.
  - dr_dshiv 4y ago
    I think we all can empathize with the guy. He was close to massively successful people and he clearly contributed something soulful. It is the end jewel of the most successful game of all time! I feel for him and think this was a really nice outcome for everyone. (I just wish the essay was edited down by 1/3, but that’s me)
- colonwqbang 4y ago
  Isn't the whole point that the author thinks he deserves more compensation than he got? He's quoting the compensation for various Mojang employees and comparing it to what he got. He seems quite jelaous and/or entitled. 20000€ would in most European countries be a pretty good compensation for about 3 months of work, after taxes. It doesn't seem unreasonable on the face of it.
  - Moru 4y ago
    It wasn't just 20k, it was also some publicity for his other works which never happened.
    - fastball 4y ago
      Well he never signed the contract so...
    - nigamanth 4y ago
      Agreed, other companies/video games would have asked him for his stories on their games considering that he'd done it for one of the biggest video games.
  - operator-name 4y ago
    I'm not sure that is the point, as if you believe the author's summary: > I wrote a story for a friend, but in the end, he didn't treat me like a friend, and I'm hurt. In this framing, these are examples of being treated as an outsider.
    - colonwqbang 4y ago
      This is the part I'm thinking of > Early next year, Markus earned a three-million-dollar dividend on his shares in Mojang. But, as the actual value of his company, which he mostly owned, had gone up by many tens of millions, he figured he didn’t really need another three million on top. So he divided it between the twenty-five staff at Mojang, as a late Christmas bonus. That’s $120,000 each. Five or six times what I got for writing the actual ending. (Since the author seems to have spent about a month or so working on the game, you could reason that his compensation is about on par with the employees who worked for a full year. But he doesn't seem to see it that way, or he thinks he should be compensated better than them? I don't know.)
- ohbtvz 4y ago
  Is he asking for nothing? Half of the post is about how Mojang got millions then billions and he got nothing. If he's not asking for what he considers to be his share of the pie, then I don't know what the whole post is about.
  - zamalek 4y ago
    And the other half of the post is about how he grew to understand that he was wrong.
    - europeanguy 4y ago
      No, that's what he says. But someone who genuinely grew to understand he was wrong doesn't write blog posts like this, explaining how he was wrong, like that's a question in everyone's mind (honestly until now I'd never known there was an end to Minecraft) No, this is a person who's burning with envy and finds telling yourself stories an outlet.
      - jack_pp 4y ago
        Or it's a person who burned with envy, is introspective enough to recall that feeling and write from that perspective in order for his readers to learn from his own shortcomings.
        TheCapn 4y ago
        Or, it's a writer, who writes for a living, spinning a story to draw the reader in. He pitches his product at the end: he want's subscriptions to pay his rent and buy his socks. I have no ire towards the author. I thoroughly enjoyed the post and found several aspects of it that helped me find some introspection to something I was talking about with my wife just the other day (regarding capitalism, career, compensation). I think in the end that's what he's doing. It's an overly long winded way to say he wrote the poem. He's trying to wrestle that recognition for his work he thought Mojang was going to provide him and he's sharing a tale of one artist who wants to live above Intellectual Property law and create beautiful things while recognizing he has to eat and put a roof over his head. I pass no judgment on the author. I might slip him a few bucks in the paypal link he gave because I acquired Minecraft during beta and continue to play it off and on today and consider his contribution to be a nice addition to the game. Perhaps I will buy his novel. I think he did a great job trying to market himself here.
- whywhywhywhy 4y ago
  I read between the lines and don’t think that’s what’s happening at all here.
dcow 4y ago
Yeah, seriously. You didn't create Minecraft you wrote a poem that shows up in the credits. Notch wasn't your friend he found you through a recommendation on Twitter and contracted some content. 20k for something less intelligible than Kubla Khan seems pretty fair to me. Be happy your acid trip is preserved forever in one of the most successful games in history. And get over yourself.
- darepublic 4y ago
  I feel you are being a bit too harsh but also had to laugh at the kubla khan and acid references
  - dcow 4y ago
    Yeah I need to stop. The more I brood over what I just read the more unbearably frustrated it makes me. I want my time back. I am sorry if I'm being overly harsh. This one really hit a nerve.
    - prox 4y ago
      I am going to assume you are one of those reductionist materialists I read about. /s Just saying that I found the story interesting and well… lovely (in a way) but perhaps that’s different backgrounds at work (I dabble in art) so I wonder what makes this such an unbearable thing to read, perhaps a very practical person? Not necessarily directed at you dcow.
      - dcow 4y ago
        I actually did find parts of the essay quite reassuring and beautiful and the story in isolation rather interesting. As a copyleft non-believer in intellectual property (and rather that you must apply labor to ideas and can only own the outcome of such acts), I am also pleased with the outcome. So the sour aftertaste, for me, is likely related to the juxtaposition of positive and negative elements and I think ultimately is a reflection of the balance he chose to give each. Suffice to say, I think there's a not-so-different delivery of this essay which would have left me with a much better aftertaste.
europeanguy 4y ago
And not just entitlement, it's enjoyment coming from the worst place. This guy by his own admission never made the effort to fight for money, instead prioritizing love, whatever that means, but when it comes to getting paid he feels entitled to money. He just wants "fair" without having to make the effort to think about what that means.
- kergonath 4y ago
  Did we read the same thing? He says he felt at the time that he should have got something. Much of the post is about him avoiding trying to get any money. He had some issues, sure. Still has, by the look of it. But it’s not accurate to say he’s greedy and entitled. He failed to understand the situation he was in, got something that seemed good but was actually not that good (which does happen all the time), went through all sorts of weird metaphysical things (not my cup of tea, but I am not him), and apparently ended up somewhat satisfied in the end. We can disagree with him, the writing is rambling and takes for ever to get to the point, and then hits it on the head repeatedly, but in the end it does not matter. I suspect what is important (to him) is that he’s written it, not that you read it. Anyway, I am surprised to see so much hostility here.
  - europeanguy 4y ago
    > But it’s not accurate to say he’s greedy and entitled I didn't say he was greedy; by the sounds of it he's happy with very little. It is 100% correct to say he's entitled. He doesn't want to do the legwork of determining the terms, instead he expects that someone else does, and in a way that protects his interests. He feels entitled to that.
    - kergonath 4y ago
      > I didn't say he was greedy Yes, sorry, that was in other posts and it got blurred. I did not want to put words into your mouth. > He doesn't want to do the legwork of determining the terms, instead he expects that someone else does He explains why he did not involve his agent, and also that he does not expect anyone to do it. Otherwise he’d have plenty of opportunities to do it. He sounds entitled in that he has weird ideas about love and friendship but he just sounds like someone hurt that the world does not work as they thought.
pgsandstrom 4y ago
Im honestly chocked that people react so negatively to this piece. Yes, the author expresses many negative and self centered emotions. He is very clear about that. It is part of the story. It is a story about being a flawed person. I sympathize with him. I loved this piece. I hope he truly did let go of all the hangups he described. And it does seem that he actually did sell the the rights of use to microsoft, making this whole text a weird misunderstanding. But that does not mean that the text is bad, or boring, or uninteresting. Rather the opposite.
- dheavy 4y ago
  My thoughts exactly!
- Tossrock 4y ago
  I think most of them didn't actually read it and instead skimmed a few paragraphs, saw "$20,000", and rushed back to comment.
  - wikfwikf 4y ago
    I read the whole thing. It was somewhat overwritten. Not my favorite ever post-hallucinogen-trip essay. I agree with other commenters that the author is greedy and petty. He accepted €20,000 for his work, a decent amount. Then he decided that he should make way more money because the game was successful. Then he tried to take advantage of the fact that he hadn't signed a contract, even though he had obviously accepted the terms when he accepted the money. He behaved shittily by not honoring an informal contract. He tried to paint it as some huge company legal dept vs little guy thing based on the fact that it's now Microsoft and yes, work for hire contracts drafted by corporate lawyers do look evil. But he had already reneged on his handshake agreement, after spending the 20K, even before big companies or professional lawyers were involved. Now he's trying to parlay his brush with fame into Substack subscriptions. Good luck to him.
    - mcv 4y ago
      I read almost the whole thing but stopped before the End Poem, because I still haven't defeated the Ender Dragon. I admit I'm not really trying, but might still do so at some point.
ChrisRR 4y ago
I feel like the Bayonetta voice actress has really brought this kind of behaviour to light recently. People who have minor contributions to large franchises and then think that their part was way more influential than it was.
- sprkwd 4y ago
  What happened with the Bayonetta voice actress?
  - mysterydip 4y ago
    https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1582438310718238720?s=46&t=ki1oaGzTd_be_2cC3ZluxQ https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1582438310718238720... sums it up pretty well
croo 4y ago
If you read the whole story you may realize that it was not the lack of material benefits that made him bitter but the distrust and a false friendship caused by miscommunication by flawed humans.
mherdeg 4y ago
Honestly I think the author has the right intuition - it's a sad story with no clear-cut lessons. He didn't file a wacky lawsuit like Wyn Cooper's friend from "I Wanna Be Yours", instead he's reflected on a brush with greatness, and he's still doing art. Seems ok. Perhaps he is better off not having Notch's riches considering that the guy went full QAnon?
Lendal 4y ago
You say entitlement like it's a bad thing. When I do work, I am entitled to compensation. So yeah, entitlement is the perfect feeling one should have in this situation. Not at all like a kid in a photograph, but more like the photographer and album cover designer. A smaller part of a much greater work of art.
AlwaysRock 4y ago
I guess money ruins everything, huh? If Minecraft didnt sell for billions I don't think this would bother the author as much as it has.
chemmail 4y ago
I think you would also be angry for not getting a small piece of that $2.5Bil pie.

hericium 4y ago

> Reminds me of the kid on the cover of the Nevermind album Exactly the picture/cover/person I thought of while reading this (nicely written but still a) rant.

pbhjpbhj 4y ago
That kid had no creative input though, they did no work; this person did work, as an already successful professional, and had (IMO, obviously) a transformative effect on the whole project through his work.
- rosywoozlechan 4y ago
  he had zero effect on the whole project, the game was already massively popular and a cultural phenomenon well before 2011 and before it had an ending.

whatshisface 4y ago

How can you call asking for nothing entitlement?

dcow 4y ago
It's the attitude espoused in the writing. The outcome was literally his way of not letting his own frustration consume him and only available to him after doing heavy doses of psychedelics. I'm glad he was able to let go because his attitude of being entitled to something when he was, in fact, not, is what has been causing him all the pain.
- dr_dshiv 4y ago
  I think we all can empathize with the guy. He was close to massively successful people and he clearly contributed something soulful. It is the end jewel of the most successful game of all time! I feel for him and think this was a really nice outcome for everyone. (I just wish the essay was edited down by 1/3, but that’s me)
colonwqbang 4y ago
Isn't the whole point that the author thinks he deserves more compensation than he got? He's quoting the compensation for various Mojang employees and comparing it to what he got. He seems quite jelaous and/or entitled. 20000€ would in most European countries be a pretty good compensation for about 3 months of work, after taxes. It doesn't seem unreasonable on the face of it.
- Moru 4y ago
  It wasn't just 20k, it was also some publicity for his other works which never happened.
  - fastball 4y ago
    Well he never signed the contract so...
  - nigamanth 4y ago
    Agreed, other companies/video games would have asked him for his stories on their games considering that he'd done it for one of the biggest video games.
- operator-name 4y ago
  I'm not sure that is the point, as if you believe the author's summary: > I wrote a story for a friend, but in the end, he didn't treat me like a friend, and I'm hurt. In this framing, these are examples of being treated as an outsider.
  - colonwqbang 4y ago
    This is the part I'm thinking of > Early next year, Markus earned a three-million-dollar dividend on his shares in Mojang. But, as the actual value of his company, which he mostly owned, had gone up by many tens of millions, he figured he didn’t really need another three million on top. So he divided it between the twenty-five staff at Mojang, as a late Christmas bonus. That’s $120,000 each. Five or six times what I got for writing the actual ending. (Since the author seems to have spent about a month or so working on the game, you could reason that his compensation is about on par with the employees who worked for a full year. But he doesn't seem to see it that way, or he thinks he should be compensated better than them? I don't know.)
ohbtvz 4y ago
Is he asking for nothing? Half of the post is about how Mojang got millions then billions and he got nothing. If he's not asking for what he considers to be his share of the pie, then I don't know what the whole post is about.
- zamalek 4y ago
  And the other half of the post is about how he grew to understand that he was wrong.
  - europeanguy 4y ago
    No, that's what he says. But someone who genuinely grew to understand he was wrong doesn't write blog posts like this, explaining how he was wrong, like that's a question in everyone's mind (honestly until now I'd never known there was an end to Minecraft) No, this is a person who's burning with envy and finds telling yourself stories an outlet.
    - jack_pp 4y ago
      Or it's a person who burned with envy, is introspective enough to recall that feeling and write from that perspective in order for his readers to learn from his own shortcomings.
      - TheCapn 4y ago
        Or, it's a writer, who writes for a living, spinning a story to draw the reader in. He pitches his product at the end: he want's subscriptions to pay his rent and buy his socks. I have no ire towards the author. I thoroughly enjoyed the post and found several aspects of it that helped me find some introspection to something I was talking about with my wife just the other day (regarding capitalism, career, compensation). I think in the end that's what he's doing. It's an overly long winded way to say he wrote the poem. He's trying to wrestle that recognition for his work he thought Mojang was going to provide him and he's sharing a tale of one artist who wants to live above Intellectual Property law and create beautiful things while recognizing he has to eat and put a roof over his head. I pass no judgment on the author. I might slip him a few bucks in the paypal link he gave because I acquired Minecraft during beta and continue to play it off and on today and consider his contribution to be a nice addition to the game. Perhaps I will buy his novel. I think he did a great job trying to market himself here.
whywhywhywhy 4y ago
I read between the lines and don’t think that’s what’s happening at all here.

dcow 4y ago

Yeah, seriously. You didn't create Minecraft you wrote a poem that shows up in the credits. Notch wasn't your friend he found you through a recommendation on Twitter and contracted some content. 20k for something less intelligible than Kubla Khan seems pretty fair to me. Be happy your acid trip is preserved forever in one of the most successful games in history. And get over yourself.

darepublic 4y ago
I feel you are being a bit too harsh but also had to laugh at the kubla khan and acid references
- dcow 4y ago
  Yeah I need to stop. The more I brood over what I just read the more unbearably frustrated it makes me. I want my time back. I am sorry if I'm being overly harsh. This one really hit a nerve.
  - prox 4y ago
    I am going to assume you are one of those reductionist materialists I read about. /s Just saying that I found the story interesting and well… lovely (in a way) but perhaps that’s different backgrounds at work (I dabble in art) so I wonder what makes this such an unbearable thing to read, perhaps a very practical person? Not necessarily directed at you dcow.
    - dcow 4y ago
      I actually did find parts of the essay quite reassuring and beautiful and the story in isolation rather interesting. As a copyleft non-believer in intellectual property (and rather that you must apply labor to ideas and can only own the outcome of such acts), I am also pleased with the outcome. So the sour aftertaste, for me, is likely related to the juxtaposition of positive and negative elements and I think ultimately is a reflection of the balance he chose to give each. Suffice to say, I think there's a not-so-different delivery of this essay which would have left me with a much better aftertaste.

europeanguy 4y ago

And not just entitlement, it's enjoyment coming from the worst place. This guy by his own admission never made the effort to fight for money, instead prioritizing love, whatever that means, but when it comes to getting paid he feels entitled to money. He just wants "fair" without having to make the effort to think about what that means.

kergonath 4y ago
Did we read the same thing? He says he felt at the time that he should have got something. Much of the post is about him avoiding trying to get any money. He had some issues, sure. Still has, by the look of it. But it’s not accurate to say he’s greedy and entitled. He failed to understand the situation he was in, got something that seemed good but was actually not that good (which does happen all the time), went through all sorts of weird metaphysical things (not my cup of tea, but I am not him), and apparently ended up somewhat satisfied in the end. We can disagree with him, the writing is rambling and takes for ever to get to the point, and then hits it on the head repeatedly, but in the end it does not matter. I suspect what is important (to him) is that he’s written it, not that you read it. Anyway, I am surprised to see so much hostility here.
- europeanguy 4y ago
  > But it’s not accurate to say he’s greedy and entitled I didn't say he was greedy; by the sounds of it he's happy with very little. It is 100% correct to say he's entitled. He doesn't want to do the legwork of determining the terms, instead he expects that someone else does, and in a way that protects his interests. He feels entitled to that.
  - kergonath 4y ago
    > I didn't say he was greedy Yes, sorry, that was in other posts and it got blurred. I did not want to put words into your mouth. > He doesn't want to do the legwork of determining the terms, instead he expects that someone else does He explains why he did not involve his agent, and also that he does not expect anyone to do it. Otherwise he’d have plenty of opportunities to do it. He sounds entitled in that he has weird ideas about love and friendship but he just sounds like someone hurt that the world does not work as they thought.

pgsandstrom 4y ago

Im honestly chocked that people react so negatively to this piece. Yes, the author expresses many negative and self centered emotions. He is very clear about that. It is part of the story. It is a story about being a flawed person. I sympathize with him. I loved this piece. I hope he truly did let go of all the hangups he described. And it does seem that he actually did sell the the rights of use to microsoft, making this whole text a weird misunderstanding. But that does not mean that the text is bad, or boring, or uninteresting. Rather the opposite.

dheavy 4y ago
My thoughts exactly!
Tossrock 4y ago
I think most of them didn't actually read it and instead skimmed a few paragraphs, saw "$20,000", and rushed back to comment.
- wikfwikf 4y ago
  I read the whole thing. It was somewhat overwritten. Not my favorite ever post-hallucinogen-trip essay. I agree with other commenters that the author is greedy and petty. He accepted €20,000 for his work, a decent amount. Then he decided that he should make way more money because the game was successful. Then he tried to take advantage of the fact that he hadn't signed a contract, even though he had obviously accepted the terms when he accepted the money. He behaved shittily by not honoring an informal contract. He tried to paint it as some huge company legal dept vs little guy thing based on the fact that it's now Microsoft and yes, work for hire contracts drafted by corporate lawyers do look evil. But he had already reneged on his handshake agreement, after spending the 20K, even before big companies or professional lawyers were involved. Now he's trying to parlay his brush with fame into Substack subscriptions. Good luck to him.
  - mcv 4y ago
    I read almost the whole thing but stopped before the End Poem, because I still haven't defeated the Ender Dragon. I admit I'm not really trying, but might still do so at some point.

ChrisRR 4y ago

I feel like the Bayonetta voice actress has really brought this kind of behaviour to light recently. People who have minor contributions to large franchises and then think that their part was way more influential than it was.

sprkwd 4y ago
What happened with the Bayonetta voice actress?
- mysterydip 4y ago
  https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1582438310718238720?s=46&t=ki1oaGzTd_be_2cC3ZluxQ https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1582438310718238720... sums it up pretty well

croo 4y ago

If you read the whole story you may realize that it was not the lack of material benefits that made him bitter but the distrust and a false friendship caused by miscommunication by flawed humans.

mherdeg 4y ago

Honestly I think the author has the right intuition - it's a sad story with no clear-cut lessons. He didn't file a wacky lawsuit like Wyn Cooper's friend from "I Wanna Be Yours", instead he's reflected on a brush with greatness, and he's still doing art. Seems ok. Perhaps he is better off not having Notch's riches considering that the guy went full QAnon?

Lendal 4y ago

You say entitlement like it's a bad thing. When I do work, I am entitled to compensation. So yeah, entitlement is the perfect feeling one should have in this situation. Not at all like a kid in a photograph, but more like the photographer and album cover designer. A smaller part of a much greater work of art.

AlwaysRock 4y ago

I guess money ruins everything, huh? If Minecraft didnt sell for billions I don't think this would bother the author as much as it has.

chemmail 4y ago

I think you would also be angry for not getting a small piece of that $2.5Bil pie.