• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

I Can't Disassociate Minecraft From Notch

Grain Silo

Grain Silo

Member
Dec 15, 2017
2,504
Being fair, this might be because I only really played Minecraft heavily when it was in Alpha, but whenever I see anything Minecraft-related these days like Steve, the famous Creeper, or anything else, the idle "he made this" thought enters my head. I get there's a lot more added to the game now that has none of his input, but the foundations of the game still scream "Notch" at me. It makes me feel alienated from the game as a result.

Anyone else ever feel like this?
 
Aprikurt

Aprikurt

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 29, 2017
18,775
It is tough, and I struggle with it too, but a LOT of other people have made Minecraft what it is today.

But yes, inevitably, somewhere deep down, a guy who is horribly bigoted and conceited made millions off children. And that is irksome I suppose.
 
Wowfunhappy

Wowfunhappy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,102
As I see it: Notch didn't go crazy until after he'd sold Minecraft. I followed him on Twitter at the time, he was an extremely reasonable person.

I don't know what happened to him, but he's not the same person now.
 
Metalmurphy

Metalmurphy

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
542
No, not really. You can always uninstall and not play it again. There's plenty of other games to keep you entertained.
 
DSN2K

DSN2K

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,256
United Kingdom
I dont play the game but I think fact that the game empowers people to create new stuff makes Notch & the origional content irrelvent.
 

Deleted member 888

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,361
Microsoft gave Notch 2 billion and there's not really anything you can do about that.

It's their game now so if you enjoy it just enjoy it. If not there's plenty of other games to play.
 
scottbeowulf

scottbeowulf

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,348
United States
Wowfunhappy said:
As I see it: Notch didn't go crazy until after he'd sold Minecraft. I followed him on Twitter at the time, he was an extremely reasonable person.

I don't know what happened to him, but he's not the same person now.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That's the feeling I got. He got insanely wealthy and went kinda nuts. Maybe he had all his current shitty ideas before but it seems like sitting around in that crazy house he bought, not working, just being online all the time drove him mad.
 
Shelbyville Milhouse

Shelbyville Milhouse

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,378
Whenever I think off Notch I think of a sad lonely rich man, sitting in a big house full of stale candy, slowely getting mad on Twitter.
 
Joyful

Joyful

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
503
User Banned (permanent): Downplaying hate speech and previous severe infractions
well you can imagine him as a monster or accept he is a flawed human being with good and bad qualities
 
alexbull_uk

alexbull_uk

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,923
UK
Yeah I feel much the same but I think it's because like you, I only heavily played it during its early alpha & beta phases.

Of the hundreds (maybe into the thousands) of hours I've spent in Minecraft, I'd be surprised if even 20% of that time was spent playing after it got sold off to Microsoft, so the association with Notch is hard to shake.
 
Manu

Manu

Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,120
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Joyful said:
well you can imagine him as a monster or accept he is a flawed human being with good and bad qualities
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Pros:
-Created Minecraft

Cons:
tumblr_inline_osynq5t92C1u4mbmv_540.gif
 
Darryl M R

Darryl M R

The Spectacular PlayStation-Man
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,721
What is a notch? Nothing about Minecraft "screams" an individual creator.
 
Neiteio

Neiteio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,127
nynt9 said:
What about the game "scream"s notch to you?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
He's probably referring to the fact that Minecraft was birthed from Notch's imagination and creativity and was crafted by him.

An extreme analogy would be if Hitler invented Legos and others added extra blocks since then. Might be hard to disassociate.
 
Alastor3

Alastor3

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
8,297
i can dissociate kevin spacey from baby driver because it's a good movie, but i don't think i can do it for american beauty
 
StarPhlox

StarPhlox

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,374
Wisconsin
I thought his disgusting white supremacist fingerprints were all over the game, but I recently learned that the game came from space so I was wrong all along.
 
Thardin

Thardin

Member
Jan 7, 2018
926
Sothen said:
Being fair, this might be because I only really played Minecraft heavily when it was in Alpha, but whenever I see anything Minecraft-related these days like Steve, the famous Creeper, or anything else, the idle "he made this" thought enters my head. I get there's a lot more added to the game now that has none of his input, but the foundations of the game still scream "Notch" at me. It makes me feel alienated from the game as a result.

Anyone else ever feel like this?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Pretty much every modern wonder can be tied to the works of someone that did horrible shit. It isn't a good thing, but it is the reality we live in. Many other fantastic people have had their hands in most of those creations as well (whether it be earlier foundation work or future advancements) and I don't think we should tarnish their work just because somewhere along the way a terrible person was involved.

If you're view of Minecraft is tainted because of Notch's involvement you are seriously diminishing the work of a lot of other people (many of whom are probably wonderful).
 
Orbit

Orbit

Banned
Nov 21, 2018
1,328
Wowfunhappy said:
As I see it: Notch didn't go crazy until after he'd sold Minecraft. I followed him on Twitter at the time, he was an extremely reasonable person.

I don't know what happened to him, but he's not the same person now.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I always read that people who win those jackpots (or whatever they are called in the US, winning hundreds of millions) always leads to the recipient becoming depressed. I mean, same with Notch, he instantly was a billionaire, bought the fancy mansion, and now that he is secure the rest of his life, he doesnt know what to do with himself. Not that it excuses his behavior but it could at least make more sense of his radical change (or maybe he never changed? maybe he has always been this way and without the fear of having to worry about financials, he just says what he wants).
 
x3sphere

x3sphere

Member
Oct 27, 2017
973
Same actually, though I also played it very early on. I wouldn't say it's the sole reason I don't play it anymore but it definitely contributed to me moving away from it. At the end of the day, there's already so much to play, that I guess I'd rather not bother with something I have negative connotations with.

I've got no problem with other people enjoying the game though, and I wouldn't expect those who didn't follow Notch in the early days to even care about this.
 
nicolasacmf

nicolasacmf

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
1,515
Who is Notch and why should I associate this game with him? If I recall, it was found by Microsoft on a meteor crash site.
 

Deleted member 31092

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 5, 2017
10,783
The entire American space program is born on the ashes of the Nazi technology used in WW2 to kill people in London and with the help of unrepented war criminals that got a pass because the US needed them.

Still, the Moon landing is the most important and unifying event of the last century.

The final product is simply completely unrelated to the author, enjoy it.
 
OP
OP
Grain Silo

Grain Silo

Member
Dec 15, 2017
2,504
Thardin said:
Pretty much every modern wonder can be tied to the works of someone that did horrible shit. It isn't a good thing, but it is the reality we live in. Many other fantastic people have had their hands in most of those creations as well (whether it be earlier foundation work or future advancements) and I don't think we should tarnish their work just because somewhere along the way a terrible person was involved.

If you're view of Minecraft is tainted because of Notch's involvement you are seriously diminishing the work of a lot of other people (many of whom are probably wonderful).
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You make a good point. H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu mythos are fine examples of this. Separating art from the artist is definitely a lot easier when the art is actually separated from the artist in ideology and ownership.
 
Wulfric

Wulfric

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,964
Sooo many people worked on Minecraft in the early days. I wouldn't expect kids or casual players to know who he was.
 
Wispmetas

Wispmetas

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,546
giphy.gif


The guy doesn't even work on the game anymore, and is not getting a penny from it...
Game is still great and has nothing to do with how shitty he is in real life.
 
XDevil666

XDevil666

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,985
Minecraft has grown and evolved massively since notch created it!

That's like believing Bill gates still codes windows!
 
delete12345

delete12345

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 17, 2017
19,673
Boston, MA
Wowfunhappy said:
As I see it: Notch didn't go crazy until after he'd sold Minecraft. I followed him on Twitter at the time, he was an extremely reasonable person.

I don't know what happened to him, but he's not the same person now.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Money and fame can change a person. Before Minecraft blew up, Notch was known as a humble developer who used to think about what fruits to buy at cheap costs.
 
LaneDS

LaneDS

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,594
None of his personal bullshit is in the game (and thank goodness) so I'm not bothered by it. I'm glad Microsoft owns and runs it now completely without him, and am not at all bothered playing it.
 
Hate

Hate

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,730
It's fine.

That shouldn't stop your enjoyment from the game. Separate the artist from the work and all that.

Just like Tolkien lore is the basis of every fantasy nowadays as well as lovecraft being influential in a lot of stuff.
 
Dache

Dache

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,129
UK
More people than Notch have worked on Minecraft than him alone at this point, he probably wasn't actively working on it for the last few years he was at Mojang anyway. It's barely his game anymore.
 

Deleted member 10629

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
12,238
It isnt his game anymore. He sold the rights to it, now it belongs to MS.

Just because Bayer did some terrible stuff back in WW2 you shouldnt refrain from taking an aspirin, that Bayer is gone. Same as Minecraft, it is not made by the same people anymore.
 
Chacranajxy

Chacranajxy

Member
Oct 29, 2017
905
If you're that fragile when it comes to who made a given piece of entertainment, I've got bad news for you: there are assholes everywhere.
 

Deleted member 5334

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,815
Honestly, I do get where you're coming from. This is something I struggle with Dragon Quest a bit because of Sugiyama's involvement (due to music production and him having a partial copyright ownership of the IP). I know it's not just him, and the team involved with it are all great people. They're wonderful games and I want to support the team despite this issue. But it's so frustrating knowing that a small percentage of Dragon Quest sales, Sugiyama does profit from it. This is, unfortunately, an area that Square Enix absolutely cannot get out of, so it's more of a matter of him passing.

What's also hell is Sugiyama has a significant hold of the Music industry and his connections, so even if Sugiyama himself didn't have partial ownership of the franchise, removing him would be incredibly difficult due to these connections. Plus, he has has politcal connections all over the government, so this is one area I honestly get why Square Enix treads lightly with, both this and his connections with the music industry.

But yeah, I totally get where you're coming from man on Minecraft. Try to focus on the good and what the current team that's developing it has put into the project. Notch relinquished any control he has over it, so you're honestly in a better position than I am with Dragon Quest.
 

Deleted member 3294

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,973
Jokes aside, it wouldn't be bad if folks stopped seeing games like this as the creation of one person. Minecraft wasn't just made by Notch, it has always been made by a team. And a team has been adding stuff to the game for a really long time now without his involvement, and plenty of people who aren't Notch were behind large parts of the game from the start.
 
Rowsdower

Rowsdower

Prophet of Truth - The Wise Ones
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
16,565
Canada
I get where your coming from. Playing Minecraft in Alpha, having Notch be represented as the "god" of Minecraft, his made up brother being Herobrine, "Notch fix the ladders" on youtube, all the weird ass lore and fan stuff from that.... it can be hard.

But Minecraft was made by other people, even back in the Notch days. Plus, he's no longer invested in the IP; the game really is Microsoft's now. MS has made amazing changes to the game, stuff I'd never thought could be done back in the old Java days.

You can enjoy a work even if the person who made it is scummy. I sill love the Lovecraft mythos and reading his books, despite knowing what type of man he was.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.