Notch says 'If you can't afford Minecraft, just pirate it'.

[DjinnFor]

Great! Since there's no way I'd drop money on the game, this gives me an excuse to try it out so I can bash it with the knowledge that I've actually played it first.

(Yes, I've tried it out before. I'm joking when I say I don't like it without ever having tried it. Please learn to recognize facetiousness if you didn't figure this out.)

 

[Lunar Templar]

Reading that put a grin on my face. It makes sense he would want people to enjoy his game, and he is very anti-SOPA. He's going so far as to say "go ahead and steal my stuff" to state his stance on the matter. That both amazes and amuses me.

I still won't pirate it, though.

one must question if its actually theft if your given the go ahead to take it though

still o.o; wow

 

[Twilight_guy]

No, Fuck you Notch. I will not support a world wherein if you can't afford it then you're encouraged to just take it anyways. That's not how a functional world works.

 

[Dunkerloop]

He did say in the same post that if you do pirate it, you should still feel slightly guilty, and if you enjoy it enough and you at one point end up with enough cash, buy it.

 

[Sleekgiant]

I bought a key for $6 so yeah, wasn't very expensive for me

 

[Porecomesis]

Alternatively, you could buy it as Notch really put a lot of effort into it and he does deserve the money so that he and his new friends could make even more good games.

 

[Creator002]

Maybe Notch has decided to follow Sweden's newest religion.

Serioulsy though, that's great he just wants people to play his game. I never would have bought it if I had not of got a pirated version from my cousin. (Before realising it was available to buy. I thought it was a freeware indie game back then.)

 

[shado_temple]

It's certainly a good way to maintain his image as "the little indie guy that could". With any luck, it'll drive up the sales of his upcoming game.

 

[kouriichi]

Notch knows all this piracy is being blown way out of proportion. Piracy doesnt hurt sales, and Notch knows even if he said "Pirate my game all you want " we'd still support him.

Its all about the quality of your product, and Notch knows his Product vs. Price is the best on the market.

Other companies should take head of this. If they make better products at a lower price, it wont get pirated as much, and the pirating that does happen, doesnt hurt you as much. If 1 man can make one of the greatest games ever produced in Java at the cost of only his free time, im sure a studio can make a game on par with 1/3rd their current budget usage.

 

[evilneko]

Notch is old enough to recall a famous usenet posting:

"Don't worry when they pirate your software. Worry when they don't."

 

[HandyAndy136]

I had a pirated version of Minecraft until about two months ago. The only thing Mojang does to try and combat it is some sort of code that was added into the game in ~Beta 1.7 that checks if your account is verified. Then a message just appears for the rest of your play. Not exactly intrusive.

Also, Minecraft is $20. It's not like a big budget, $100 dollar, new release game. Which is why it's wildly more successful than so many other 'mainstream' games.

 

[chaosyoshimage]

Hmm, maybe I should give it a try then...nah, I'm not going to pirate it. Although, I'm still not sure if I want to play it or not...

 

[JediMB]

Personally I already own three copies of the game, because I'm insane.

 

[Andrux51]

I keep hearing things about piracy being able to have a positive effect on potential sales, it's interesting to see such a strong example. How many more people are going to buy the game now that he's stated that he'd be ok with people getting it for free? Respect goes a long way...

 

[Jekken6]

It's a trap.

 

[LilithSlave]

I think this might be a good opportunity to repeat my stance on "how would you like it if your stuff was pirated" often used by anti-pirates. Any media I had ever created, I would not to ever be a must to buy. I would feel awful and pathetically over-entitled to think that somebody had to pay to enjoy something I made. As well I would feel terrible if my material wasn't shared and "pirated" because that would mean a lack of exposure and interest in my material. If I ever charged for a product, I would never want it to be anything other than optional to buy.

And if there's anything I would want to use my "right" to "intellectual property" or "copyright" for. It would be to keep websites with strict anti-piracy polices from so much as using my trailers or anything like that. Or any other legitimate share in my material and use. It would be impossible to completely do, as many of the companies I like and respect, such as Nintendo, are anti-piracy. However, I would do everything in my power to keep buying optional, and not support groups and websites and so forth that are anti-piracy. I would personally rather support people who used my stuff for free when I was charging than support someone who punished people who did use my stuff without paying.

Because first and foremost, I would want something I did to be enjoyed. And furthermore, I think that punishing people that don't pay would just make me too demanding and curb my exposure and therefor profits. The only thing that is more valuable than people's money, is people's time and interest.

 

[Vegosiux]

I keep hearing things about piracy being able to have a positive effect on potential sales, it's interesting to see such a strong example. How many more people are going to buy the game now that he's stated that he'd be ok with people getting it for free? Respect goes a long way...

This, basically. It's not a case of "it's allowed, so it isn't cool anymore" it's "Well, that's nice of him. I'm going to swipe it for free for now, but I'm surely paying for it when I can." But he obviously wants, first and foremost, people to play his game.

Which makes sense, indie developers can't afford fancy adverts. Free file sharing (to use a politically neutral term) is more useful to indie devs, because that's a good way they have to get their games out, to spread them and get people to know it without having to blow piles of cash they don't have on adverts.

Then again, it's not really piracy if it's consented to by the creator, is it? If someone gives you something for free (or says "There it is, feel free to take it") it's a gift, not a sneaky underhanded acquisition for free.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

I still don't understand why people hate Notch. The biggest real complaint I have heard is "We still don't have lanterns!1!".

 

[manic_depressive13]

I think Notch just doesnt give a shit about minecraft anymore

Even if he didn't, you would expect him to care about the money it could still rake in.

What a decent guy. The respect this comment will earn him is much more likely to encourage people to actually buy his game than any intrusive DRM would. I think if the public were to see developers as reasonable people rather than greedy corporations trying to maximise on profits at the expense of the game, piracy would be significantly reduced. Similarly, I doubt most shoplifters would actually steal from a person. When all you can see is a massive, greedy company it's hard to care that you're stealing from them.

 

[JesterRaiin]

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/121/1216416p1.html

Notch has announced on Twitter to a fan of Minecraft that if they can't afford it, just pirate it instead.
Hey, I'm just as surprised as you are.

And i'm not.
Notch always seemed like quite amiable guy despite all those angry people running around, calling him a thief. I think such statement exactly fits his character.