Notes

Minecraft and Microsoft: what Now?

Minecraft and Microsoft What's next? By Mark Ward Technology correspondent, BBC News



If you're trying to understand the reasons behind why Minecraft maker Mojang is being acquired by Microsoft, just play the game.



The single-player version revolves around an individual who has to survive in a harsh environment using only their creativity to ensure their safety. Their survival depends on their ability to build a home and take on monsters with only the tools and weapons they build with their hands.



If computer games were subjected the same kind of analysis as novels, it's easy to read this as a metaphor for the life of Markus "Notch" Persson, the game's creator. He's been quoted in the past about growing up "relatively poor" and also about creating his own entertainment, and whether he'll have to defeat the same "demons" that afflicted his father.



Family, friends and the success of the things Notch made with his hands helped him prosper in the harsh world of today, but the success has led to other difficulties. These are more difficult to conquer.



What had changed was evident at Minecon in 2012, where it was impossible for Notch to walk more than a few feet before he was grabbed by yet another fan keen to shake his hand, slap him on the back, take photos or ask him to sign their foam sword.



People control



This transition from a simple programmer with only responsibility for his own code to the leader of an international movement was something that he was not happy with. His sincere explanation of the reasons he's leaving Mojang"it's about my sanity "it's about my sanity" - reaffirms that.



He is aware that Minecraft is now about managing the community - far more than maintaining and creating an infrastructure for code.



Microsoft could face a problem in this regard.



With Xbox Live and its other cloud services , there's no doubt that it has experience running a massive computer infrastructure that serves millions of paying customers. This will be crucial when it is able to run the systems behind the scenes that keep Minecraft going.



Microsoft will alienate this community when they don't recognize how personal the game is, not only for Notch but for the many others who use it. It's where they make new friends, meet new people, and where they can be their individuality.



I've seen this with my children, who play it in different ways. One is a big fan of modified versions that involve arena battles or capture-the-flag-type competitions. The other spends hours creating intricate houses around swooping minecart tracks. Sometimes, he constructs treehouses that are affixed to forests. They usually go on adventures with friends to find treasure, avoid creepers and fight off zombies, spiders and Skeletons.



This is possible because Minecraft allows the player to be open and free. Millions of players like them are able to play it. They can change the game according to their preferences due to its flexibility. This is because it grants players access to a level of control that Microsoft has never granted in its business software. That's what has made the millions of players on Minecraft concerned. The players do not want Microsoft to restrict their freedom to modify and create the game as they wish. don't even mess with me They feel a pride in the games they make.



Microsoft will have to do a difficult task, given the importance of this community.



It will have to fight the two biggest enemies of online gamers that are downtime (aka delay) and lag. It is likely that any problem with the game's availability in the near future will be blamed on Microsoft - whether it is the company's fault or not.



Making more radical modifications to the operation of the game such as limiting the ways that people can modify it and charging them for items that are currently free , or restricting how they can tell the world about what they've done, might, if handled poorly, turn a big chunk of that community against Microsoft.



This is a problem, given that many of its players are now children who will grow up to become the gamers of the future. No doubt Microsoft hopes to impress them with the way it handles Minecraft. If it does it wrong, it could end up being one of the monsters that people would like to take on and slay.


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