EULA Shenanigans

[cherbert]

http://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/27eo9b/no_more_pay_to_win_servers_d/

https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=@_grum


If you haven't noticed yet, the Minecraft community is in uproar over proposed EULA enforcement from Mojang regarding rewards for donations. Nothing is clear nor set in stone yet but if this escalates any more we might need to rethink how we fund this server. I see two options. Option 2 sounds good to me - its an idea I just had that doesn't break the EULA.

1. Donations have no rewards. Everyone has the same rank and features. We prey that we can convince players to keep the server alive month after month.

2. We open up a 1 month (or maybe 3 months?) trial period of whitelist (after an application). To keep access you have to donate at least once.​

I thought I would post this publicly to open it up for discussion.

My personal views that the message coming from Mojang thus far is a big f**k you to server owners who over the years have contributed to the success of Minecraft. I appreciate there are a lot of large pay 2 win servers out there abusing players and making money from children but Mojang so far don't seem to be acknowledging that many thousands of servers work extremely hard to cover the costs of hosting and certainly never come anywhere close to making profit.

 

[Angryboy]

2. We open up a 1 month (or maybe 3 months?) trial period of whitelist (after an application). To keep access you have to donate at least once.

Umm.... You mean the server would become a subscription pay-to-play thing?

 

[cherbert]

Umm.... You mean the server would become a subscription pay-to-play thing?

No its a one off payment to have a whitelist. Mojang have acknowledged that charging for access to your server is ok. You might not like it but do you seriously think people will donate out of the goodness of their hearts? This server will close if this EULA is enforced any more than it is currently.

 

[Angryboy]

No its a one off payment to have a whitelist. Mojang have acknowledged that charging for access to your server is ok. You might not like it but do you seriously think people will donate out of the goodness of their hearts? This server will close if this EULA is enforced any more than it is currently.

I wasn't complaining, just asking. I'm aware most people wouldn't donate out of the goodness of their heart.

 

[mokwar]

I don't really understand what you mean with trial period?

Is it like you have to pay once to play on the server?

Or is it a subscription thingy?

 

[Ced]

I don't really understand what you mean with trial period?

Is it like you have to pay once to play on the server?

Or is it a subscription thingy?

No its a one off payment to have a whitelist. Mojang have acknowledged that charging for access to your server is ok. You might not like it but do you seriously think people will donate out of the goodness of their hearts? This server will close if this EULA is enforced any more than it is currently.

 

[Cubey]

Drama? No thanks, I don't wanna to hear from them

 

[Itzzaboy]

Out of the two, option 2 certainly seems better, as I agree with Cherbert. Without the rewards, the amount of donators will see a huge decline.

I'd like to propose an option 3 which has been briefly brought up in the past (if EULA is enforced further that is)

3) Search for an alternative game to host Hollowworld on.

There are a lot of good games out there that builds on Minecraft's initial design, and while many of them are nothing more than quick cash-in imitations, I feel that if we cant find some sort of way to keep the server funded sufficiently, then we should perhaps look at an alternative roleplaying platform. I understand a lot of people might be against this, especially those that like Minecraft or that have large builds/projects on the server and would struggle to recreate them, but if the worst came to the worst and funding the server became near impossible without some form of monthly subscription, then I'd prefer to see some incarnation of Hollowworld on another game as opposed to no Hollowworld at all. Thoughts?

 

[roopot]

If we did pay for access then the kind people who ofer more than the minimum amount could be helping towards other... eg if the amount is $5 and someone gives $15 then that is one slot payed for and two avalible for someone to take.

 

[cherbert]

If we did pay for access then the kind people who ofer more than the minimum amount could be helping towards other... eg if the amount is $5 and someone gives $15 then that is one slot payed for and two avalible for someone to take.

That could possibly be a great system. If we had a number of slots each month and then existing players would donate to increase the slots. If available slots drops to zero then applicants go in a queue (unless they buy themselves in)

 

[Gaby]

wait a minute, under option 2, would every single one of the existing players have to pay the fee to keep their whitelist?

as far as anything goes, option 2 seems the least risky option. there may be enough good will going around to make users donate without any particular perks (as in option 1), but I know how communism failed, and I'm way too smart to trust people on goodwill only.

my problem with option 2, however, is the fact that there will be many players who either cannot or will not make the appropriate pay to keep their whitelist. they'll be forced to leave. this might seriously disrupt the roleplay for a lot of the people who stay behind, as all these characters have suddenly poofed into thin air. it's possible, but it could be a hard transition.

still, way better than having the server go down completely because people just aren't donating anymore.

 

[MRPolo13]

Big f up? It really encapsulates what I've been saying about Mojang for a long time now. They do not, and never did care about their community. It's one of many examples of Indie syndrome, which is why I detest every Indie developer until they can prove they're here for their community, not money. Indie syndrome is the idea of making quick cash and then abandoning the project (like Towns). Minecraft had to be kept alive for as long as it made money. After that, they stopped caring.
Welcome to the world of Indie genre. I buy indie games that I know I can trust. Minecraft hasn't been made with love for ages now, although it once was. It's been made to cash in more money though.

 

[JustTooRadical]

This is complete and utter BS on Mojang's part. . .

 

[Faelin]

...This makes me all kinds of angry. People aren't being forced to pay, damn it. It's really none of their business what people choose to do with the game. If I sell someone some paper and a pencil, I don't then retain the right to tell them what to draw on it.

Anyway, if the internet uproar isn't enough to stymie this, I'm really inclined towards this idea:

If we did pay for access then the kind people who ofer more than the minimum amount could be helping towards other... eg if the amount is $5 and someone gives $15 then that is one slot payed for and two avalaible for someone to take.

Because, from a personal point of view, not everyone is going to have the funds, or else the means to bypass parent decisions on the matter (*grumbles profusely*), and hopefully the prospect of helping others will incentivise donations, particularly if we announce each one in-game.

 

[cherbert]

Big f up? It really encapsulates what I've been saying about Mojang for a long time now. They do not, and never did care about their community. It's one of many examples of Indie syndrome, which is why I detest every Indie developer until they can prove they're here for their community, not money. Indie syndrome is the idea of making quick cash and then abandoning the project (like Towns). Minecraft had to be kept alive for as long as it made money. After that, they stopped caring.
Welcome to the world of Indie genre. I buy indie games that I know I can trust. Minecraft hasn't been made with love for ages now, although it once was. It's been made to cash in more money though.

Glad I'm not the only one. Notch is greedy and Mojang is turning into EA. I'm sick of people referring to them as an indie developer.

 

[cherbert]

That could possibly be a great system. If we had a number of slots each month and then existing players would donate to increase the slots. If available slots drops to zero then applicants go in a queue (unless they buy themselves in)

...This also means the entire community is donating for others in most cases. And even those who are too young or don't have any money still benefit. So if worse case scenario we are forced to give up rewards I'm liking this concept more and more.

 

[cherbert]

The frustrating thing is Notch and Mojang are so cash rich now I doubt they give a shit.

 

[Tybalt]

My opinion on this is. If you don't like pay to win servers, don't let your 5 tear old whine his way into you spending 20 bucks just so he can start with a leather hat on a hunger games server.

It's all frighten stupid. It's your money, use it as you will. People should be smart enough to realize a scam such as the leather hat thing. Innocent servers such as Hollowworld shouldn't be caught in this crossfire. The donation system here is completely fair and reasonably priced. Soo what I'm trying to say is
Well thanks Obama Mojang.

 

[Sankera]

So even with a superpowerfull greedy group of bastards, we still stick together and try everything to keep this comunity alive. Because this comunity stands together(and cuz it's AMAZING)

 

[DraconDarknight]

Uff I don't think it actually targets HW since as far as I was told in the past over-funding is kept for months where no donations at all happen.

I'm totally against the way mojang is doing this tbh. They could just send a C&D to the servers that are problematic in their eyes or ask them to proof they don't actually make profit with the server.
On the other hand you got to admit that that woodcraft server is certainly overdoing it. They pretty much offer donations for everything even for skyblocks (which I assume are similar to airblocks, thus having no use at all). So yes looking specifically at that one example I can kinda see where they are coming from.

The sad issue is the way they try to execute it since it will effect servers that actually use donation money for the server costs.

Its probably an underhanded way to remove private server providers, since it hasn't been too long that they introduced realms... And suddenly poof - they decide to enforce their EULA.

Other than that: Its my freaking own choice what I want to spend money on - if I want to pay 15 bucks for flymode its my own b33r ><