5 ms·

Very peculiar seeing this news after Notch was so critical of the OculusVR sale to Facebook. Seeing as I bought my premium Minecraft account on 8/1/2010, I mus

Very peculiar seeing this news after Notch was so critical of the OculusVR sale to Facebook. Seeing as I bought my premium Minecraft account on 8/1/2010, I must be due some sort of equity for supporting him at such an early stage. edit: Oh, and what do you think will become of the old alpha/beta/release builds? I'm thinking about going ahead and archiving them all in case access to them is revoked. Not sure if I'm being too paranoid, but I much preferred the simpler versions without all the distractions like XP, hunger, and those weird tall black guys.

jacquesm 12y ago
> Very peculiar seeing this news after Notch was so critical of the OculusVR sale to Facebook. That's a valid point. > Seeing as I bought my premium Minecraft account on 8/1/2010, I must be due some sort of equity for supporting him at such an early stage. I don't think that's a valid point :)
- cma 12y ago
  Notch said the Facebook deal was rotten because early backers on Kickstarters who weren't promised equity didn't get equity. Minecraft was one of the first early access games and likewise didn't promise or give equity.
  - magicalist 12y ago
    No he didn't, he was very specific on why he didn't like the deal: http://notch.net/2014/03/virtual-reality-is-going-to-change-the-world/ http://notch.net/2014/03/virtual-reality-is-going-to-change-...
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
higherpurpose 12y ago
Everyone has a price it seems.
- JetSpiegel 12y ago
  https://twitter.com/notch/status/281139739304800256 https://twitter.com/notch/status/281139739304800256 Literally.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    At least he's consistent. And he managed to negotiate up from a former offer, that's quite an accomplishment by itself.
michaelt 12y ago
Very peculiar seeing this news after Notch was so critical of the OculusVR sale to Facebook. Well, a lot of the criticism of the Oculus sale was because the product seemed so at odds with Facebook's main products and lines of revenue. Microsoft, on the other hand, has the xbox and has been publishing games since at least the 1990s, maybe the 1980s?
- tellarin 12y ago
  Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.00 is from 1982. It's the oldest I know about. Even QBasic Gorillas is from 1991, and published by IBM. Not Microsoft.
- tellarin 12y ago
  Actually, just found out about another one. Olympic Decathlon, released by MS for the TRS-80 in 1980. PS: Separate comment as the anti-procrastination filter kicked in. ;)
- yaeger 12y ago
  Well, then these people are very nearsighted. Virtual Reality could very well become the next big thing. And not just in gaming. Apart from gaming there is simulation training and yes, communication for example. This could lead to some incarnation of a Holodeck if you will. Virtual meetings where you actually can see the other person and not just some avartar but the actual HD picture somehow modeled onto a virtual model in a way that makes it indistinguishable from real life. That may be decades down the road but it could happen. And facebook, being in the communication business is now trying to push this forward by backing Oculus. Trying to make VR be just about gaming is sort of like trying to make the TV be all about displaying your xbox picture. When in fact the TV can be used as a medium for much more.
bertil 12y ago
What you are describing is that changing your apparent opinion for money is abhorrent, because it confuses social elements with monetary considerations, not unlike paying you mother-in-law for dinner is shocking. More example of "abhorrent" behavior, i.e. mixing realms are paying for organs, or selling meat from pets. Occulus did something similarly unacceptable because they cashed out, in spite of fan monetary support. (Don't get me confused: I'm not accusing them of cannibalism, there are degrees in abhorrent: cashing out is low on that scale.) Notch said he never wanted to sell because cashing out didn't make sense to him. It still doesn't. He sold because he is tired and detached: he didn't sell for money's sake, he left and took the opportunity to have paper to throw at "cancer surgery and beer". This is not abhorrent to most because both his changing motivations (keeping creative control vs. not having to deal with that responsability) are both in the same principled realm. I would love to say this distinction is black-and-white, but any class on moral philosophy would show how it full of greys; in Notch case, the effort to stride such discrepancies is explicitly the main reason why he is leaving the company. Making moral calls in the name of a large community is exhausting; he prefers clear choices, like "fighting cancer". Good for him.
- mattdotc 12y ago
  Agreed. It's not a simple situation, and I tried not to pass any judgements in my original comment. I do appreciate you clearing up some of the finer points. I'm happy that he can do what he wants now without having to worry about impacting the giant brand he created. And if he sees my tongue-in-cheek claim to equity and wants to jokingly send me a few thousand dollars, I'll gladly send him my details.
- LandoCalrissian 12y ago
  If he wanted to walk away there are plenty of other options there that aren't about money. Open source it, give it to the employees of Mojang, or another variety of options along the same lines. This is completely about money, which is fine, but let's not pretend like their is some superior moral virtue going on here.
  - gknoy 12y ago
drzaiusapelord 12y ago
>Very peculiar seeing this news after Notch was so critical of the OculusVR sale to Facebook. Not really. MS is also a gaming company. Facebook is in no way a VR or emerging tech company. Are we really going to take seriously this "all big companies are alike" attitude? I wish the Oculus guys all the luck in the world, but I see myself buying a Sony or MS headset well before I'd consider the Oculus, which would require a gaming PC that dwarfs my current PC. My current PC plays just about everything at high or near high. The idea that I need a $1200 machine to do 1080p (or higher) per eye at 60 fps is kinda rough. From a culture point of view, it fits in with the hardcore gamer crowd. What does Facebook remotely know about that crowd? How does 'the social' intersect remotely with that crowd, especially since that crowd is so sick of tacked on social crap. I share the doubts that Notch has and with good reason.

jacquesm 12y ago

> Very peculiar seeing this news after Notch was so critical of the OculusVR sale to Facebook. That's a valid point. > Seeing as I bought my premium Minecraft account on 8/1/2010, I must be due some sort of equity for supporting him at such an early stage. I don't think that's a valid point :)

cma 12y ago
Notch said the Facebook deal was rotten because early backers on Kickstarters who weren't promised equity didn't get equity. Minecraft was one of the first early access games and likewise didn't promise or give equity.
- magicalist 12y ago
  No he didn't, he was very specific on why he didn't like the deal: http://notch.net/2014/03/virtual-reality-is-going-to-change-the-world/ http://notch.net/2014/03/virtual-reality-is-going-to-change-...
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]

higherpurpose 12y ago

Everyone has a price it seems.

JetSpiegel 12y ago
https://twitter.com/notch/status/281139739304800256 https://twitter.com/notch/status/281139739304800256 Literally.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  At least he's consistent. And he managed to negotiate up from a former offer, that's quite an accomplishment by itself.

michaelt 12y ago

Very peculiar seeing this news after Notch was so critical of the OculusVR sale to Facebook. Well, a lot of the criticism of the Oculus sale was because the product seemed so at odds with Facebook's main products and lines of revenue. Microsoft, on the other hand, has the xbox and has been publishing games since at least the 1990s, maybe the 1980s?

tellarin 12y ago
Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.00 is from 1982. It's the oldest I know about. Even QBasic Gorillas is from 1991, and published by IBM. Not Microsoft.
tellarin 12y ago
Actually, just found out about another one. Olympic Decathlon, released by MS for the TRS-80 in 1980. PS: Separate comment as the anti-procrastination filter kicked in. ;)
yaeger 12y ago
Well, then these people are very nearsighted. Virtual Reality could very well become the next big thing. And not just in gaming. Apart from gaming there is simulation training and yes, communication for example. This could lead to some incarnation of a Holodeck if you will. Virtual meetings where you actually can see the other person and not just some avartar but the actual HD picture somehow modeled onto a virtual model in a way that makes it indistinguishable from real life. That may be decades down the road but it could happen. And facebook, being in the communication business is now trying to push this forward by backing Oculus. Trying to make VR be just about gaming is sort of like trying to make the TV be all about displaying your xbox picture. When in fact the TV can be used as a medium for much more.

bertil 12y ago

What you are describing is that changing your apparent opinion for money is abhorrent, because it confuses social elements with monetary considerations, not unlike paying you mother-in-law for dinner is shocking. More example of "abhorrent" behavior, i.e. mixing realms are paying for organs, or selling meat from pets. Occulus did something similarly unacceptable because they cashed out, in spite of fan monetary support. (Don't get me confused: I'm not accusing them of cannibalism, there are degrees in abhorrent: cashing out is low on that scale.) Notch said he never wanted to sell because cashing out didn't make sense to him. It still doesn't. He sold because he is tired and detached: he didn't sell for money's sake, he left and took the opportunity to have paper to throw at "cancer surgery and beer". This is not abhorrent to most because both his changing motivations (keeping creative control vs. not having to deal with that responsability) are both in the same principled realm. I would love to say this distinction is black-and-white, but any class on moral philosophy would show how it full of greys; in Notch case, the effort to stride such discrepancies is explicitly the main reason why he is leaving the company. Making moral calls in the name of a large community is exhausting; he prefers clear choices, like "fighting cancer". Good for him.

mattdotc 12y ago
Agreed. It's not a simple situation, and I tried not to pass any judgements in my original comment. I do appreciate you clearing up some of the finer points. I'm happy that he can do what he wants now without having to worry about impacting the giant brand he created. And if he sees my tongue-in-cheek claim to equity and wants to jokingly send me a few thousand dollars, I'll gladly send him my details.
LandoCalrissian 12y ago
If he wanted to walk away there are plenty of other options there that aren't about money. Open source it, give it to the employees of Mojang, or another variety of options along the same lines. This is completely about money, which is fine, but let's not pretend like their is some superior moral virtue going on here.
- gknoy 12y ago

drzaiusapelord 12y ago

>Very peculiar seeing this news after Notch was so critical of the OculusVR sale to Facebook. Not really. MS is also a gaming company. Facebook is in no way a VR or emerging tech company. Are we really going to take seriously this "all big companies are alike" attitude? I wish the Oculus guys all the luck in the world, but I see myself buying a Sony or MS headset well before I'd consider the Oculus, which would require a gaming PC that dwarfs my current PC. My current PC plays just about everything at high or near high. The idea that I need a $1200 machine to do 1080p (or higher) per eye at 60 fps is kinda rough. From a culture point of view, it fits in with the hardcore gamer crowd. What does Facebook remotely know about that crowd? How does 'the social' intersect remotely with that crowd, especially since that crowd is so sick of tacked on social crap. I share the doubts that Notch has and with good reason.