For most of its life, Mojang has allowed private Minecraft servers to exist with few, if any, caveats. The largest servers, like Hypixel and Mineplex, have player bases rivaling those of full independent games, as well as enough staff to create experiences that can be almost unrecognizable as Minecraft. But in June of 2014, Mojang started cracking down on private servers and limiting what made them unique.
While Mojang/Microsoft are well within their rights to protect their brand and enforce their EULA, the changes have damaged the community, perhaps irreparably. Even though the largest networks remain operational, a lot of servers have shut down, and enforcement efforts are contributing to a narrativeofdecline. While reports of Minecraft’s death are undoubtedly exaggerated—sales are as strong as ever—we may be seeing the death of a certain type of Minecraft.
Cops n’ Crims on Hypixel
The Dawn of Independent Servers
Part of the reason for the popularity of private servers is the inadequate nature of official offerings from Mojang. Their multiplayer platform, Realms, has been fairly limited until very recently. It has yet to catch on in the way that private servers have, given how easy they are to set up, modify, and maintain.
That’s only one part of their popularity, though. In many ways, Mojang offloaded the responsibility of community management and development to independent actors. Private servers have worked hard to foster and maintain the community that made Minecraft such a phenomenon. Without the maps, mods, and spaces provided by servers like Hypixel—features that form the basis of the most popular YouTube channels— Minecraft most likely wouldn’t be as popular as it is today.
The largest of these servers provide a home for a competitive player base that prefers fast-paced PvP to Minecraft’s more idyllic survival mode, with the most popular modes such as Walls, Skyblock, and Factions being a combination of combat and building. Many players also enjoy more insular building and design-focused servers like Revand and Minecraft Middle Earth, and more still play on small private servers shared with a select whitelisted group focused on survival or exploration.
The exact number of players who experience Minecraft primarily or exclusively through private servers is difficult to quantify, but it’s significant—Hypixel alone boasts 10 million unique accounts. However, it’s easy to see the influence that these servers have had on the development of the game and the community. Most of the minigames that are now popular among Minecraft’s devotees were developed and popularized on large servers like Mineplex or Shotbow. Many of these, like Battle and Tumble, have received official treatment in Minecraft’s console versions.
Of course, just because private servers are free to create and run doesn’t mean that it’s cheap or easy to do so. Most servers don’t make their costs public, but a quick look at the monthly expenses of a fairly modest server like Minecraft Middle Earth shows that they can cost in the thousands of dollars. For many owners, running a private server is a full-time job. Some of the larger servers employ a full staff of developers, artists, and managers.
To pay for the cost of hosting and staffing private servers, a secondary market has emerged. It sells everything from cosmetic upgrades to in-game items. Some of these microtransactions are fairly innocuous, though a certain class of server quickly developed a reputation for charging exorbitant amounts of money for titles or ranks that often preyed on minors.
For a while, the largest private servers enjoyed a cordial relationship with Mojang. They had implicit or explicit permission to charge for services and use Mojang assets. In the early days of Minecon, their staffs were even invited to give talks or host panels like “Modding With the Pros” or “Growing a Server Community.” Over time, this relationship weakened, like “distant high-school friends,” as Navarr Barnier of Shotbow termed it.
The Shotbow Team at Minecon
The Crackdown Begins
Then, in June of 2014, just before the Microsoft buyout, Mojang dropped a bombshell on the community.
A blog post titled “Let’s talk server monetization” seemed innocuous enough, but it threatened to shatter the stability of the entire private server ecosystem. The blog post was essentially a clarification of the Minecraft End User License Agreement (EULA), but it made many common server practices, like allowing players to buy in-game currency, explicitly against the rules. There was a lot of disagreement about what exactly this meant, but the general consensus was that Mojang was within its rights to enforce these rules, which would cut down on the worst predatory and exploitative practices.
For some servers, the changes ended up being beneficial. For years they had operated without any guarantee that they would be allowed to continue or what exactly was allowed. The changes granted them an air of legitimacy and moved them out of the “greyzone,” as Aaron Donaghey, Operations Manager at Hypixel, termed it. “It allowed us to make a one year plan,” he said, “where previously things were month-to-month.” Without the looming threat of a shutdown, Hypixel and other legitimate servers could run their servers more like real businesses, hiring staff and expanding.
But for others, the future was less clear. The blog post wasn’t followed by any especially vigorous enforcement efforts, so most servers simply continued as they were, but the writing was on the wall.
Starting about nine months ago, Mojang hired several ‘brand enforcers’ who started cracking down on EULA violations. These enforcers sent e-mails to non-compliant servers and eventually created a blacklist of the worst offenders. Some servers that were previously in good standing were caught up in the purge. Hypixel had done away with all of its EULA-violating practices when the announcement was made, but it received a strongly-worded enforcement letter telling it to remove the horses it provided as rewards to donating players, even though those horses were purely for use in the lobby and provided no gameplay benefit.
Despite having an existing agreement with Mojang and an understanding that their server was in compliance, the Shotbow network recently received an uncompromising message from the Microsoft enforcement team telling them to remove their soft currency, Shotbow XP, or be blacklisted.
“We asked about our agreement with Carl [Manneh, previously of Mojang] and were told in no uncertain words that regardless of any previous communication and agreements we had to abide by these terms or be blacklisted,” said Barnier. “It was actually quite frightening: at this point we’d spent over four years on our games, and it was quickly set in stone that we could be finished on a whim.”
Even servers with large numbers of players have struggled to stay afloat after the changes. High-profile servers like Overcast Network, which was bought out by Pocket Edition mega-network Lifeboat, or Mineplex, once dominant but now plagued with rumors of player and server decline, have struggled. Some servers have even turned to extreme measures, distributing cracked launchers or running bootleg versions of Minecraft to avoid being targeted. Others have simply decided not to update and continue running increasingly outdated versions of Minecraft rather than try to meet Microsoft’s expectations. But for other servers, regardless of their legal standing, switching their funding models would mean shutting down entirely.
Though Mojang has made attempts to work with their community, their enforcement of the EULA has been inconsistent and unevenly applied. Some servers have received harsh punishments, while others have been ignored. Some large, healthy servers have had to scale back or close down, but many servers with paid ranks and items continue to operate, apparently without consequence. “The door for dialogue is opening,” Donaghey admits, referring to recent communication efforts by Microsoft, but the damage may already be done.
An Uncertain Future
“Where once you had a free market (and, to be fair, a more mature user base) you now have a walled garden with very strict limitations on how you can maneuver,” says Barnier. “Limitations that may change without your consent. I would be very surprised if Minecraft saw a resurgence of great multiplayer server mods like the initial releases of MineZ, Dungeon Realms, and others.”
A lot of Minecraft’s older player base has the sense that Mojang/Microsoft have abandoned the people that made the game popular. These are the people who put in the hours nurturing the community, creating the content, and building the popularity of Minecraft as it is today.
It’s also hard to not be cynical about how Microsoft is approaching this, given that they are borrowing heavily from the community to create new game modes and pushing an alternative hosting model. After years of leaving large chunks of responsibility to private server owners, many feel betrayed by the increased pressure and lack of communication from Microsoft and Mojang.
While Minecraft’s owners are clearly hoping that they will be able to stamp out non-compliant servers without too much impact, it may be harmful to the future of the game. The pre-2014 server environment was a rich ecosystem of innovative mods, maps, and game modes, but innovation has slowed considerably today. Many luminaries of the community, like the Yogscast crew, have largely taken their talents elsewhere. [Correction- 3:26pm: We initially named CPW as one of the developers who is no longer involved with Minecraft. That is not the case. We apologize for the error.] There’s also the risk that as these long-standing communities shrink or disappear, players who inhabited them will simply move on to different games, rather than move to Realms or to a compliant server.
As Microsoft continues to push Pocket Edition and console editions while neglecting the original Java edition and its community of creators, it feels to many like Minecraft is making a shift to a more structured, corporate model. This has some benefits—more polish, better support, frequent updates—but it’s not clear that they outweigh the loss of diversity that made the game such a monumental success in the first place. Minecraft might not die, but if things continue as they are, it might not be the same game.
Rob Guthrie is a lapsed academic who writes about history, video games, and weird internet things. Follow him @RobertWGuthrie for pithy Tweets and lukewarm takes.
Minecraft has turned into a gold mine for twin brothers from Co Meath. Ryan and Scott Fitzsimons, 25, each earned €1m in 2015 from posting videos of themselves playing the computer game on their YouTube channel.
Minecraft, in which players build structures using Lego-like blocks and fight zombies and skeletons using swords and pitchforks, has sold more than 100m copies and has 40m regular users.
The brothers have attracted 2.87m subscribers to Littlelizardgaming: Minecraft Mods, the YouTube channel they created in June 2012. Their videos, which feature amusing voiceovers by the brothers while they go on Minecraft adventures, have had more than 1.5bn views. In the Minecraft universe, Ryan’s avatar is known as Little Lizard while Scott is Tiny Turtle.
Now that Batman and Superman have properly met on the silver screen, the biggest superhero team-up that fans want to see is one between Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool. Although it now looks like Wade Wilson won’t actually have a cameo in Logan (contrary to recent rumors), that doesn’t mean that these two hard-to-kill badasses won’t meet each other at some point. In fact, THR’s Borys Kit recently took to Twitter to reveal that — while Deadpool won’t show up during the events of Logan — there’s the distinct possibility that these two X-Men icons will meet up on the big screen in another project.
That announcement should definitely have you excited — even if it’s a bit vague. To help make sense of the rumors, we have taken it upon ourselves to compile a list of ways in which Deadpool and Wolverine could realistically come together in the X-Men universe. Some of these involve the characters battling one another, while others involve them actually teaming up, but they’re all insanely cool ideas that fans would love to see. Without any further delay, let’s kick this list off with (arguably) the easiest method of bringing these two together.
Wolverine Cameos In Deadpool 2
At this point a Wolverine cameo in Deadpool 2 seems like the easiest and most straightforward way for The Merc With The Mouth to interact with our favorite clawed anti-hero. Hugh Jackman has made his desire to officially retire from the role of Wolverine incredibly clear over the course of the last year, so a cameo in the Deadpool sequel could allow him to honor that decision while still giving fans what they want. The original Deadpool already made numerous references to Hugh Jackman and Wolverine, so the groundwork has been laid for a quick appearance. As long as they don’t show the “ball fondle” referenced in Deadpool‘s opening scene, we will be fine with a simple cameo.
They Team-Up In An X-Force Movie
Although it’s beginning to look like 20th Century Fox wants to give the actual X-Men team a break for the foreseeable future — they don’t currently have a traditional X-Men movie slated for release — an X-Force movie is entirely plausible. A darker and more aggressive team of mutants, the X-Force is a violent ensemble of anti-heroes that includes Wolverine, X-23, Psylocke, Deadpool, and Cable — all of whom are willing to kill to get the job done. Most of the recent movies have already done the necessary legwork to introduce this team of characters in the near future, so an X-Force movie seems like a perfect opportunity to properly introduce the relationship between Wade Wilson and Logan in a logical and kick-ass way.
They Make Another Weapon X Movie
Weapon X is an aspect of the X-Men lore that has been addressed on the silver screen numerous times over the years, but it still hasn’t received a proper adaptation yet. The closest we ever came to a genuine Weapon X storyline was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and we all know how that turned out. In the comics, Wolverine and Deadpool are both products of the military research project, and their shared background has bonded them in several storylines over the years. Deadpool never specifically denied that Ajax’s workshop had any connection to Weapon X, so it’s still within the realm of possibility that a future X-Men movie could potentially explore Logan and Wade Wilson’s mutual connection to this shady organization.
They Fight Each Other In The New Mutants
Although Deadpool has become a loveable anti-hero in recent years, his debut appearance in the New Mutants lore gave him a far more villainous persona. With a New Mutants movie set to debut within the next few years, there is no better time to give the character a more sinister role and send him up against the team of young X-Men. The story could frame Hugh Jackman’s Logan as a side character (and mentor to the young team) who steps in to defend them when The Merc With The Mouth comes looking for blood. Admit it, you already know that the idea of watching these two characters hack pieces away from each other (and quickly regenerate) is a tantalizing prospect.
They Make Their Own Team-Up Movie
The entire “buddy movie” genre is predicated on the idea of putting two diametrically opposed characters together and seeing how it pans out. We’ve seen Riggs and Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon, and we’ve seen Lee and Carter in the Rush Hour series; now we think it’s time to give Wade Wilson and Logan the same treatment. Between Wolverine’s gruff exterior and Deadpool’s wisecracking persona, there are endless possibilities for story when we put this mismatched duo together and watch the sparks fly. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have proven that they have impeccable chemistry in real life, so it makes plenty of sense to produce a movie that capitalizes on their dynamic.
How do you think Wolverine and Deadpool should meet in the X-Men universe? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below!
2016 may have been a weird year for movies, but in the Marvel and DC worlds, fans were introduced to many new players. The DC Extended Universe brought in their versions of Batman, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn and more, while in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther and Doctor Strange were two of the more notable characters to be thrown into the mix. Granted, not all of these movies were well received, but if you’re a longtime comic book fan like myself, seeing new versions of heroes and villains on the big screen is a treat.
Looking ahead to 2017, there are a lot of other new characters who will be put in the spotlight, so we’ve gathered together the 10 people from the Marvel and DC universe we believe will steal the show. Some of these characters are new, while others haven’t had the proper amount of time to show off. Let’s kick this off with someone who’s familiar, yet fresh at the same time.
Baby Groot
Is it cheating to have someone who’s a smaller version of a major character we’ve already seen? Well, it’s totally worth it, because Baby Groot is absolutely fantastic! Granted, we already knew how adorable the tinier sentient tree thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy‘s ending, but now that he’s mobile again, he can be both adorable and dangerous to any enemies that get in his way. However, like his taller self, Baby Groot isn’t ranking high in the intelligence department. Nevertheless, judging by the reaction online, he’s one of the main things people are looking forward to in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Aquaman
Aquaman briefly appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice earlier this year, but throwing a trident and quickly swimming away isn’t a lot to chew on. Justice League will be the first time the character is thrown into action, and we cannot wait. For decades, Aquaman has been the butt of jokes, but thankfully, his reputation has somewhat improved in recent years. We’re hopeful that Jason Momoa’s portrayal will continue the trend and impress moviegoers unfamiliar with the comics, especially once they see him controlling underwater life and tearing through Parademons.
Etta Candy
While her brief appearance in the Wonder Woman Comic-Con preview was fun, our first hint that Lucy Davis’ Etta Candy was going to be something special was the final scene in the most recent trailer. She made it clear that to the Amazon that women in the “outside world” rely on their principles first and foremost, but she isn’t afraid to a bit of fisticuffs should the occasion arise. Etta is obviously a woman who knows her way around early 20th century culture, but so far it also looks like she’s funny and sharp, so we’re looking forward to her being an excellent foil to the powerful, yet socially unaware, Diana.
Grandmaster
Grandmaster is one of the more obscure Marvel comics characters, but as an Elder of the Universe, he’s definitely one of the most important from a cosmic perspective. He’ll be introduced to the MCU next year in Thor: Ragnarok, and reports state he’ll be the one overseeing the gladiator battles that Hulk has been forced to participate in. That already sounds intriguing, but even better, Grandmaster will be played by Jeff Goldblum. This was one of our favorite announced castings in 2016, as Goldblum’s special brand of weirdness should be the perfect fit for playing an eccentric entity obsessed with games.
Mantis
Just like the main Guardians of the Galaxy were in 2014, Mantis is an extremely obscure Marvel character, but with James Gunn’s magic, she’s sure to become a fan favorite, too. Mantis popped up at the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2teaser trailer to show off her empathic ability, and obviously socially ignorant, she loudly revealed Peter Quill’s “sexual love” for Gamora, which Drax found “somewhat amusing.” This is a good indication that her naivety will be a prominent source of humor in the sequel, but not to worry, she’ll also prove key to helping this band of miscreants protect the galaxy.
The Flash
Like Aquaman, The Flash was introduced to the DCEU this year, and while Barry Allen got a little more to do thanks to his Suicide Squad cameo, Justice League will also be his first opportunity to truly shine on the big screen. Even with The Flash TV series currently enjoying popularity, we’re hopeful that Ezra Miller’s version of the Scarlet Speedster will be something special. Not only do his speed effects look cool, but his conversation with Bruce Wayne in the Justice League Comic-Con preview cents that he’ll be a welcome source of humor and lightheartedness in the midst of the superhero team’s conflict with Steppenwolf.
Hela
Malekith made for a painfully boring and generic villain in Thor: The Dark World, but we have a good feeling that Thor: Ragnarok‘s Hela will enjoy similar reception as Loki, one of the MCU’s most compelling characters. Hela has been one of the God of Thunder’s longest-running adversaries, and like her comic book counterpart, her MCU iteration will have control over the dead. That’s enough to make Hela a worthy antagonist for the third (and probably most destructive) Thor movie, but with Cate Blanchett taking the role, we’re practically guaranteed one of the best superhero movie performances of 2017.
X-23
Hugh Jackman’s time as Wolverine will conclude in Logan, but he won’t be the only clawed mutant receiving significant screen time. The third Wolverine spinoff will see the eponymous protagonist meeting a young girl named Laura, and while director James Mangold hasn’t confirm it, it’s clear she’s X-23 by her first name and two claws on each hand. Although she didn’t utter a word in the first Logan trailer, critics were impressed by her in the exclusive footage screened earlier this month, so it sounds like the cinematic X-23 will be just as fun to watch as her comic book counterpart.
Valkyrie
Valkyrie is one of those Thor characters who some fans have been dying to see in live action, and that will finally happen in Thor: Ragnarok. Played by Tessa Thompson, she will be Thor’s new love interest, but with her mighty sword and natural Asgardian abilities, she’ll likely be helping the God of Thunder and Hulk defend the Nine Realms from whatever Hela, Skurge and the movie’s other villains are plotting. Valkyrie is also already confirmed to return for more movies, so look forward to more of her superhero contributions in 2018 and beyond.
Vulture
Since Vulture was the second super villain Spider-Man ever fought in the comics, it’s appropriate he’ll be the main antagonist in Spider-Man: Homecoming, as Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is still early into his superhero career. Played by Michael Keaton, this version of Adrian Toomes will lead a gang that’s come into possession of advanced technology. In Toomes’ case, he’ll be terrorizing New York in a winged suit that effectively blends his classic look with a modern twist. More importantly, Keaton’s Vulture is ruthless and unafraid to do whatever’s necessary for him to make it to the top of the criminal underworld.
The latest updates to Minecraft spark the interest of the players. With the Minecraft 1.10 for consoles now available, significant changes to endgame content will be experienced, other than the new mobs, blocks, and items.
Mojang, Minecraft developer launched Minecraft 1.10 in order to delight all gamers with a huge update to the sandbox video game. This new full changelog is something that the video gamers will really enjoy. For over the years, both the game’s creator and the huge community that formed around it witnessed the evolution of Minecrafttogether. This made it possible for the building adventure title to spread across multiple platforms and to cater to multiple generations.
According to the release notes, new End Cities and End Ships have made their way to The End. This adds more life to the game and gives players a lot more to play around with once they’ve exhausted the game’s final area.
Another addition to the game is Elytra, a chestplate-slot item that gives the player wings. While equipped, players can glide from high ledges until they reach the ground, controlling their rate of descent by looking up or down. This allows players to get an aerial perspective on what they build and/or what others build around them. However, Elytra cannot be crafted, only found in the end.
A Mojang spokesperson said that they have been working in the depths of their bunker complex. Minecraft artists and builders have been busy blasting its glorious overworld into an irradiated wasteland fit for “Fallout” fans to wander.
Other updates also include new blocks, new mobs, new items, and an updated crafting interface. Only bad news is that the Minecraft: Pocket Edition and Windows 10 Edition will not be a free download for users.
Just before year 2016 comes to an end, good news keep coming, especially for Minecraft fans. Players are treated from the latest update to the latest version of Minecraft. If you’re a fan, you will be jacked up by what you’ll read below.
Minecraft Console Update
Microsoft has started rolling out the Minecraft 1.10 for console with new additional features such as new blocks, mobs and items including some changes to the content of the end game. The free update also includes new downloadable contents that are perfect gifts to avid Minecraft players — a sure way to keep players’ interest in the game.
Meanwhile, if players wanted more than the free update can offer, they can at any time purchase the new downloadable content, “Fallout” mashup pack for $6 which already include 44 skins or the Merry Bundle for $7, GameSpot reported.
Minecraft Pocket Edition Update
Just after the update for console, Microsoft also rolled out an update for the pocket edition of Minecraft where players can add music which can be downloaded in the store. The update also features the option to delete add on for the unwanted add ons, Mobipicker reported. The other features include the following:
A message appears after dying or the bed was destroyed (“Your home bed was missing or obstructed”)
“100% dragon free” or “It’s alpha” splash messages removed
Get one item with full durability after taking two damaged items and putting them in crafting grid or anvil
Faster transfer of items between containers
Animation for throwing items
Wearing helmets can prevent endermen from attacking
Make huge mushrooms from regular mushrooms
Beetroot and beetroot soup in the creative inventory
Aside from the update, players who own Apple TV receives good news. According to Neurogadget, the experience in using the console or PC will just be the same when playing “Minecraft” using the Apple TV with 7 DLC. In a press release, Mojang revealed that the DLC will include “The Holiday 2015,” “Natural,” “Cartoon,” “Town Folk,” “Festive 2016 Mashups,” and the “City Skin Folks Skin Pack” and is now available in iTunes which costs around $20. However, it will not support the “Minecraft Realms” or Xbox Live for now.
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