Two bits of big Minecraft news for you today, one being a change in the account system and another to deal with social interactions on servers.
Firstly, Minecraft 1.16.4 pre-release 1 went out recently with a change to make playing Minecraft online a more pleasant experience. They're introducing the "social interactions screen", which will let you disable chatting with certain players, and have their messages hidden - helping to deal with players you don't get along with.
Here's an example of how it looks currently:
Mojang said that hidden players will reset each time you rejoin a server. So it seems it's not a proper block list, but a way to temporarily hide people from social interactions on each session.
The other big change is that in 2021, Minecraft Java Edition will be moving to the Microsoft account system as announced in a blog post. Any new players who create an account starting "this Fall" will instead be sent to a Microsoft account rather than Mojang, whereas every existing account will get a notification about moving over at some point which they're doing in batches and not all at once. After that, they're also giving out a special cape to players who transfer as a reward for being an original MC player.
What's the point of this? Well, it keeps all Microsoft owned games under one account and Microsoft security will be better with their account system compared with Mojang's original system. It's hard to argue against that.
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ObsidianBlk Oct 22, 2020
As far as Minetest is concerned... For not having to pay for it at all, it's a solid game. To those that say it's severly lacking... well, not knowing your criteria for making that determination (ex. Only played what you get in the initial download, counting number of monsters, blocks, bioms, individual mechanics, prettiness of textures all in comparison to the big MC?) I can't argue against you. That said, if you really do spend time with Minetest outside of "I installed it and it looks like crap", you'd probably notice that it's one of those games you do need to download mods for... like Mineclone. There are others that add bioms, blocks, weapons, mobs, and I've even seen an addon for trains and mono-rails, and a lot more. While I admit Minetest will more than likely always remain a more obscure game, it definitely has plenty you can PLAY within it. And as for having to download mods... hell, Minecraft itself lives on mods. There are mods for days!
Also... it's kinda funny, if you think about it. Linux and Windows are OSes and there are people today that refuse to touch Linux because of rumors they've heard about it that persist from back in the 90s and early 00s, but here we all are on Linux because, for us, we know better. Here's Minetest. One could argue it's like the early Linux of Mine-clone games. The raw experience looks bare, and, at best, unexciting to people comparing it to Minecraft, which, in this analogy is same-era Windows, obviously. Minecraft is shiney and has a lot of default features. But, the Minetest users know that with a little time, patience, and elbow grease you'll get a game that, for those players, is at least on par with it's more popular cousin, and, maybe for those players, is even better.
As for the Microsoft accounts... well, I have an XBox account and it was apparently hacked by Russians while I had been on hiatus from XBox (from 2011 to present). When I tried working with Microsoft over the issue (for over a month) all I ever got was "your situation has been escalated to our systems team. They'll contact you if they have questions". They don't ever contact, and when I attempted to follow up, I just get verification that the systems team has the issue on file and that they would contact me. I gave up contacting Microsoft on the issue for four months now, and not once have they contacted me... so... apparently they don't care about their users. Given that, and my preexisting distrust of a company that has, in the past, verbally (at least), admitted to a hatred of Linux specifically (and non-Microsoft platforms in general), why should I trust MS with an(other) account?
Distrust of Microsoft is not Tinfoil-hat-ism. They are a company that have come out admitting they wanted to destroy other platforms in the past. Just because they've toned down their outward hostility, and perhaps acquiesced in some areas due to industry pressures, I am very hesitant to mistake that for one minute as Microsoft truly turning over a new leaf.
Sorry, that became much longer than I originally intended.
Also... it's kinda funny, if you think about it. Linux and Windows are OSes and there are people today that refuse to touch Linux because of rumors they've heard about it that persist from back in the 90s and early 00s, but here we all are on Linux because, for us, we know better. Here's Minetest. One could argue it's like the early Linux of Mine-clone games. The raw experience looks bare, and, at best, unexciting to people comparing it to Minecraft, which, in this analogy is same-era Windows, obviously. Minecraft is shiney and has a lot of default features. But, the Minetest users know that with a little time, patience, and elbow grease you'll get a game that, for those players, is at least on par with it's more popular cousin, and, maybe for those players, is even better.
As for the Microsoft accounts... well, I have an XBox account and it was apparently hacked by Russians while I had been on hiatus from XBox (from 2011 to present). When I tried working with Microsoft over the issue (for over a month) all I ever got was "your situation has been escalated to our systems team. They'll contact you if they have questions". They don't ever contact, and when I attempted to follow up, I just get verification that the systems team has the issue on file and that they would contact me. I gave up contacting Microsoft on the issue for four months now, and not once have they contacted me... so... apparently they don't care about their users. Given that, and my preexisting distrust of a company that has, in the past, verbally (at least), admitted to a hatred of Linux specifically (and non-Microsoft platforms in general), why should I trust MS with an(other) account?
Distrust of Microsoft is not Tinfoil-hat-ism. They are a company that have come out admitting they wanted to destroy other platforms in the past. Just because they've toned down their outward hostility, and perhaps acquiesced in some areas due to industry pressures, I am very hesitant to mistake that for one minute as Microsoft truly turning over a new leaf.
Sorry, that became much longer than I originally intended.
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Quoting: ShroobsterQuoting: HoriAnd no, an open-source game doesn't provide freedom.
Thank you. You understood it. Open source in games has nothing to do with open source in software like a video editor or an operating system. People who (only) play open source games because they're open source shouldn't be allowed to play games.
Sometimes reading comments like these on the internet i get the impression these kind of trolls are irritated by the fact that what Stallman/the FSF and others said are true. In fact, they called against a lot of stuff that since have become fashionable to hate (like government spying, DRM, "bad javascript").
When people call a game open source, they usually do not mean doom 3, but a game that is released as free software with the assets also tipically released under a "user-friendly" licence (like the copylefty creative commons). These do not restrict the maker(s) to sell their game, mind you, it only gives you the rights to modify something which you paid for to your hearts content.
Since gamers are kind of uninterested in this stuff in general, here are a list of examples:
-Recently there was a big uproar about Blizzard relicensing some derived works (so like custom maps and whatnot) that are made for their warcraft 3 remake. Where could this not happen? With libre games, since they give you the right to modify them as you wish and redistribute your modifications.
-There's always some whining going on about companies breaking so-called eSports games. If one such game were a libre project, the community could curate gameplay changes and wouldn't have to rely on a company to make/break the game every few months.
-For most games, you cannot even make mods on linux, since the tools are almost never released even if the game itself is released on linux. You have to boot windows or hope that the workflow doesn't crash your wine setup too hard. This is also a non-issue with libre projects, since they by and large accept contributions that make them work on more platforms, even if supporting more than one is not necessarily their core goal (but most of them tend to support at least linux and windows).
-Libre projects also don't mine bitcoin on your computer when they are supposedly an online shooter.
-Libre projects are free of any kind of digital handcuffs.
On the minecraft thing especially: I don't like the direction minecraft's headed, not because of microsoft, but because of the focus on combat. I enjoyed it a lot more way back when the monsters were weaker and fewer in numbers. Minetest is great since it allows the community to make their own spin on the formula. I used to play voxelands, and nowadays i'm trying to get into voxelgarden.
Spoiler, click me
I said people who only play open source games because they are open source and boycotting proprietary games shouldn't be allowed to play games.
Why does this bother you so much? People could have different reasons to think like this.
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Quoting: ShroobsterAlso I never said that people who play open source games shouldn't be allowed to play games.
I said people who only play open source games because they are open source and boycotting proprietary games shouldn't be allowed to play games.
I'm trying to figure out how that makes any difference. What makes your opinion more legitimate than theirs? Why should you even care what someone else's motivation to play a game is? Wouldn't it be just as legitimate for someone who only plays open source games to say, 'People who are willing to play proprietary games shouldn't be allowed to play games' (in other words, not legitimate at all)?
I play mostly proprietary games, though I have been known to play open source games as well. If someone wants to play only open source games, or only proprietary ones, I couldn't care less. It's their decision.
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Quoting: DebianUserAny suggestions on must-have mods ? What are you using ? ThxWe're just playing plain MineClone 2 with some texture packs. We didn't explore other games or mods yet. I agree it is very simple and feels unfinished at many points, but it is still fun for kids.
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Quoting: DebianUserAny suggestions on must-have mods ?If you're coming from Minecraft, then Mineclone2, definitely. It can be installed from within the game.
Now, don't misunderstand: it's not quite an exact recreation of the other game, certainly not the current release, but coming back to Minetest a couple of years ago after switching to the “real thing” in 2013 or so, I was hugely impressed by how close it gets to the core experience of Java Minecraft around the time I started playing it, or even a little after. Which, for many players, will be more than enough. Although there are a few annoyances - the double- and right-click shortcuts in the crafting screen don't work, for example - once I got into my stride, I genuinely forgot I was playing a clone. Honestly.
Quoting: dvdSometimes reading comments like these on the internet i get the impression these kind of trolls are irritated by the fact that what Stallman/the FSF and others said are true.It's the “shouldn't be allowed to play games” bit that gets me. Some people need to grow up.
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DebianUser Oct 23, 2020
Thank you !
Ive tried Mineclone2 yesterday evening (without any other mod) and the work is impressive.
Its close to MC when i played it some years ago (firsts versions), a long time before MS.
Performance is impressive compared to MC Java client.
At this time, it lacks different biomes (i dont see sand, but maybe my seed is invoved, and maybe there is a mod for that, or i have to explore more), but the core gameplay looks pretty solid. :)
I've seen MC evolution trought some articles on it, and MT/MC2 may be far from that nowadays, but its enjoyable without any doubt.
Last edited by DebianUser on 23 October 2020 at 8:03 am UTC
Ive tried Mineclone2 yesterday evening (without any other mod) and the work is impressive.
Its close to MC when i played it some years ago (firsts versions), a long time before MS.
Performance is impressive compared to MC Java client.
At this time, it lacks different biomes (i dont see sand, but maybe my seed is invoved, and maybe there is a mod for that, or i have to explore more), but the core gameplay looks pretty solid. :)
I've seen MC evolution trought some articles on it, and MT/MC2 may be far from that nowadays, but its enjoyable without any doubt.
Last edited by DebianUser on 23 October 2020 at 8:03 am UTC
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Quoting: DebianUserThank you !
At this time, it lacks different biomes (i dont see sand, but maybe my seed is invoved, and maybe there is a mod for that, or i have to explore more), but the core gameplay looks pretty solid. :)
I've seen MC evolution trought some articles on it, and MT/MC2 may be far from that nowadays, but its enjoyable without any doubt.
Mineclone2 is aiming for the content of Minecraft 1.11. So a lot of the more modern stuff is intentionally missing.
There are 28 biomes implemented, so I think you have to do a little more exploring. :)
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Quoting: ShroobsterPeople who (only) play open source games because they're open source shouldn't be allowed to play games.
And who are you to tell others how they should live theirs lives? What a stupid comment.
Last edited by M@GOid on 23 October 2020 at 3:01 pm UTC
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Shroobster Oct 23, 2020
I have the feeling that some guys have no idea. People who boycott Minecraft now because of this are just clowns with tin foil hats. Nothing else. I also don't like Microsoft still I support the account change at Minecraft because it provides better security for the game and most of the alt accounts will die out which will reduce cheating on servers. We are on the gaming side on this with Microsoft and they do a great job in this section.
All arguments against it are invalid in my opinion because there is nothing to add anymore.
All arguments against it are invalid in my opinion because there is nothing to add anymore.
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Quoting: brokkrI went from skeptical to shoulder shrugging to kinda pissed off again.
I figured I'd get out ahead and create a Microsoft account for it. Turns out the email already had a MS account. Reset password, fine. The I'm told that the account had violated the service agreement. Please give us your phone number. You know what? No. I don't think I want to give you my phone number to play a game I bought.
An MS account is not a big deal but it is a deal because of the inevitable BS. If facebook linking VR headsets to facebook accounts is a deal, then so is this.
Exactly this is the major problem, I already have one MS account to keep using Visual Studio updated at work for the rare windows builds that we do and it's a constant pain to maintain it.
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Since I manage multiple Mojang accounts for the kiddos, my real concern is how often will I have to re-enter the password in the launcher. Also, now this account that was limited to Minecraft can be used for a lot of things that I'd rather not deal with yet.
Last edited by 14 on 24 October 2020 at 6:45 am UTC
Last edited by 14 on 24 October 2020 at 6:45 am UTC
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hmm.. I find it a bit funny that people stop playing the game just because owner of the company changes.. I was ofcourse worried that linux support would be dropped when Microsoft bought it, but instead of giving up, me and my kids just kept on playing and building worlds.
for these years that Microsoft has been the owner, things have been working just fine, very nice new releases of the game, and everytime I update my servers and we start new worlds.. I've been very happy so far.
now, if they just change the way you login, and not something like make you buy the game again, who really cares? nowadays everything requires registeration, I have millions of accounts to all kind of services and sites. I'm sure some of those are already owned by Microsoft anyways ;)
.b
for these years that Microsoft has been the owner, things have been working just fine, very nice new releases of the game, and everytime I update my servers and we start new worlds.. I've been very happy so far.
now, if they just change the way you login, and not something like make you buy the game again, who really cares? nowadays everything requires registeration, I have millions of accounts to all kind of services and sites. I'm sure some of those are already owned by Microsoft anyways ;)
.b
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I feel obliged to mention that my reason to develop Vintage Story was in part motivated by Mojang being sold to Microsoft. I loved the idea of this small indie game studio being able to do their own thing and genuinely just wanting to make a great game.
Discarding the Mojang accounts seems like just another step of slowly embracing and eventually gobbling up the game for maximized monetization, in an abstract sense. They need to get back the investment, after all.
Last edited by Tyron on 25 October 2020 at 7:55 am UTC
Discarding the Mojang accounts seems like just another step of slowly embracing and eventually gobbling up the game for maximized monetization, in an abstract sense. They need to get back the investment, after all.
Last edited by Tyron on 25 October 2020 at 7:55 am UTC
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Quoting: TyronDiscarding the Mojang accounts seems like just another step of slowly embracing and eventually gobbling up the game for maximized monetization, in an abstract sense. They need to get back the investment, after all.
what do you mean? the game wasn't free, I paid for all the accounts already.
are you saying you think they will start charging monthly fees or something?
btw. nice game that Vintage Story, I bought it for me and my daughter as we love everything crafting and surviving and farming.. and it has lot of good in it, but some things threw us away a bit like the complexity of crafting. it's a whole lot of hassle to just produce a simple thing, and then you need it again you forgot how you did it :)
but, actually a nice reminder, thank you, haven't tried it for some months, and I see there has been updates, so time to check it out again!!
.b
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chris.echoz Oct 31, 2020
Quoting: ShinyaOsenYeah where's my alpha cape, I don't want one for making a Microsoft account :(QuoteAfter that, they're also giving out a special cape to players who transfer as a reward for being an original MC player.
Man this will be the second time needing to migrate my minecraft account first was from minecraft.net account to mojang and now this. Man wheres my cape for doing it the first time.
Feels weird that original minecraft players are from alpha to 1.16 according to them. So me and my friends will have the same capes as newer players even though iv played since release 1.0 and some of my friends since beta. Saying that makes me feel old even though im only 20 6th grade feels so long ago.
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Oh look. GFWL is back. We know you hated it in individual games so we will use it for all the games and all the services under the Microsoft Umbrella.
Won't be long until Java edition receives the in game purchases that bedrock has now. Given enough time -- mods and skins will be against TOS unless purchased through the in game store.
I personally can't wait for paid expansions and season passes!
Also, make sure you don't screw up on ANY other Microsoft service and offend anyone or your ENTIRE Microsoft account can get locked/banned.
And sure, Minetest isn't Minecraft. I dont think it is supposed to be. Mineclone 2 is a lot of fun -- we have a world in our home that we play as a family frequently. There are other game modes too that are almost nothing Minecraft like and are their own thing. They are fun too. Some are janky etc. I think given enough time the game is going to just get better and better. I mean look at SuperTuxKart and how far it has come. These are amazing games. No one cares if people addicted to live services are threatened by them. Don't like them? Don't play them.
Just for fun:
http://web.archive.org/web/20100301103851/http://www.minecraft.net/about.jsp
"I plan on developing Minecraft until it's a finished complete game, with a downloadable client (with fullscreen mode), custom key re mappings and possibly modding support.
For as long as people enjoy and purchase the game, I will develop extensions after the game is done. These will be free for anyone who has purchased the game.
Once sales start dying and a minimum time has passed, I will release the game source code as some kind of open source. I'm not very happy with the draconian nature of (L)GPL, nor do I believe the other licenses have much merit other than to boost the egos of the original authors, so I might just possibly release it all as public domain."
- Notch
Won't be long until Java edition receives the in game purchases that bedrock has now. Given enough time -- mods and skins will be against TOS unless purchased through the in game store.
I personally can't wait for paid expansions and season passes!
Also, make sure you don't screw up on ANY other Microsoft service and offend anyone or your ENTIRE Microsoft account can get locked/banned.
And sure, Minetest isn't Minecraft. I dont think it is supposed to be. Mineclone 2 is a lot of fun -- we have a world in our home that we play as a family frequently. There are other game modes too that are almost nothing Minecraft like and are their own thing. They are fun too. Some are janky etc. I think given enough time the game is going to just get better and better. I mean look at SuperTuxKart and how far it has come. These are amazing games. No one cares if people addicted to live services are threatened by them. Don't like them? Don't play them.
Just for fun:
http://web.archive.org/web/20100301103851/http://www.minecraft.net/about.jsp
"I plan on developing Minecraft until it's a finished complete game, with a downloadable client (with fullscreen mode), custom key re mappings and possibly modding support.
For as long as people enjoy and purchase the game, I will develop extensions after the game is done. These will be free for anyone who has purchased the game.
Once sales start dying and a minimum time has passed, I will release the game source code as some kind of open source. I'm not very happy with the draconian nature of (L)GPL, nor do I believe the other licenses have much merit other than to boost the egos of the original authors, so I might just possibly release it all as public domain."
- Notch
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