EA Thinks Notch "Needs Help" Managing Minecraft

[AlanJohn]

Update: Notch has responded via Twitter. "I'm sure EA is very successful at monetizing games, but the more we don't do what they would do, the happier I am," he says.

Original article: EA employees say the darndest things. 30-year industry vet and Chief Creative Officer Rich Hilleman, though, isn't one to run his company's name through the mud. Instead, his statements tend to be bold, a bit ridiculous, and, well, sort of un-EA-like. His latest drop of mad science, however, may very well take the cake. In a nutshell, he's pulling for Origin to throw its managerial weight behind Minecraft for free.

He explained his reasoning to Gamasutra:
"What I've told the guys who run Origin for us is that we should do it for free, because as you can see my vision of that business, that's not where the money comes from anyway."
"As somebody who has had to reinstall Windows on my son's computer after he attempted to install Mod Manager on that machine, there's a lot of value to be provided for the customer in making Minecraft and its mods and installations something that's a more commercial and predictable product. Those are the kinds of things that Notch needs help with, and that without the help of a publisher or other support, he's probably not going to get there completely by himself."
"Now maybe his community will, and I'd love to see that happen. It's a great experiment; I'm really anxious to see what happens. The reason I wish we were involved is because I think we'd learn from him. And the other thing that's true is Notch is a true talent of this business; I just like us being associated with great talent."
Admittedly, it's not something that sounds terribly plausible -- especially given Notch's past quibbles with any sort of "restrictive" policy, ala Steam -- but Hilleman's heart seems to be in the right place. Plus, let's be honest: at Origin's current rate of evolution, it probably won't wriggle onto land and sprout a mod manager until the year 2057. At which point Steam Workshop will have transformed into a sentient factory powered by tiny nanomachine elves that bear a striking resemblance to Gabe Newell.

Source

 

[Hyro-Sama]

I heard minecraft changed a lot. Is it even a sandbox anymore?

 

[AlanJohn]

I heard minecraft changed a lot. Is it even a sandbox anymore?

Its a sandbox with kittens now.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

I heard minecraft changed a lot. Is it even a sandbox anymore?

Well a sandbox implies you do a vast number of things so it never really was.

I think Notch needs help developing the damn thing. Oh wait, that's someone else's responsibility. The game is still incredibly unfinished and lacking in a lot of aspects. If it got a big name publisher like EA under it so they could, you know, actually make the game, then it'd be pretty neat.

EDIT: But this does absolutely reek of "Well Origin is kinda shit so we'll force more people to use it by segregating games to it." It worked for Battlefield, it worked for Mass Effect 3, but I can't think of any more big EA titles coming soon. So I guess if they can whore out Minecraft then it'd work.

 

[Wizerzak]

"As somebody who has had to reinstall Windows on my son's computer after he attempted to install Mod Manager on that machine,

And this guy is making computer games?

 

[AlanJohn]

I heard minecraft changed a lot. Is it even a sandbox anymore?

Well a sandbox implies you do a vast number of things so it never really was.

I think Notch needs help developing the damn thing. Oh wait, that's someone else's responsibility. The game is still incredibly unfinished and lacking in a lot of aspects. If it got a big name publisher like EA under it so they could, you know, actually make the game, then it'd be pretty neat.

"'The End' DLC, coming in May, for only 14,99$!"

 

[Jaems]

And then came Mojang.

 

[Foxi4]

Notch is not a "real developer", Notch is an Auteur. He doesn't treat Minecraft as something that he and his team works on for his fans to enjoy, he just conveys his artistic vision to the masses in hopes of "being understood".

If proper development conditions, patches on-the-schedule and optimizing games are the latest "hip things" then he will do the exact oposite to stand out. He doesn't want it to "be easy" - you have to work your way through hurdles to reach his Vision, which is obviously cryptic and only meditating with Master Notch can shed light on what really goes on in the world of Minecraft.

...in other words, he's Indier than Thou and full of shit.

 

[Snailface]

Inside Notch's head:

"Hmm ... might it actually be a good idea to partner with EA? [consults bank account portfolio]
Nah, that really isn't necessary."

 

[Guild McCommunist]

...in other words, he's Indier than Thou and full of shit.

Quote of the day. In a good way.

 

[EyeZ]

Those that have purchased the game IIRC have purchased the game and all future updates, so how does EA make a buck on this?

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Those that have purchased the game IIRC have purchased the game and all future updates, so how does EA make a buck on this?

Release "Minecraft Game of the Year Edition" or just get money from all future sales if they essentially "bought" Minecraft. People will still buy Minecraft, I just wish I could sell it.

 

[chyyran]

Notch needs help developing yes, but marketing? Besides, Steam is better than this Origin crap.

And on a slightly related note, why doesn't Minecraft use Spoutcraft's method of custom blocks? (Downloading textures and data on the fly) Would make modding much easier and more universal.

 

[Rydian]

As somebody who has had to reinstall Windows on my son's computer after he attempted to install Mod Manager on that machine

This means jack. I've seen people think they need to reinstall windows because an icon moved or they wanted to uninstall something and didn't know how.

However I really, really agree that mods need official support, and hopefully 1.3 will do that. They've been holding back official mod support since 1.0.

 

[Midna]

As much as I dislike Notch, this would be a guaranteed way to make everything about Minecraft 100% worse.

 

[Jamstruth]

"As somebody who has had to reinstall Windows on my son's computer after he attempted to install Mod Manager on that machine,

Umm.... what? Did he stick modmanager in system32 and delete some files in there when it didn't work? Nothing you do to mod Minecraft can EVER break Windows. Just the Minecraft install. Well, its possible this is his son being stupid and following a guide that said something like "now delete system 32".

As for the comment, publishers are rapidly becoming obsolete on the open PC platform. You don't need a license to run on a PC so you don't need the extra monetary support they give (in theory). I could code a game and stick it up here with a Paypal link and make money off it and not sell my soul or the copyrights to my product to an evil corporation who would never even let me buy it back. Mojang have hired the Bukkit team to help them with the mod APIs now, so hopefully it should be sorted out fairly soon.

 

[Armadillo]

Should do it and just sit back a watch the chaos as the masses whine about origin.

 

[Rockhoundhigh]

EA, I have a few words for you, back off. You already ruined good studios like Pandemic (no Battlefront III thanks to you), don't ruin another one.

 

[notmeanymore]

a more commercial and predictable product.

What I'd do for a more predictable Minecraft.
Minecraft's random instabilities are the reason my server dissolved. It decided it wanted to use far more resources than all the other servers on the network combined. And nothing I ever did could fix that. All the updates, addition (or subtraction) of plugins, and map wipes in the world couldn't fix that server.

 

[kthnxshwn]

EA, I have a few words for you, back off. You already ruined good studios like Pandemic (no Battlefront III thanks to you), don't ruin another one.

I'm sure they will come to GBATemp, read this comment, and decide to back off with no intent to go try again.