this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2024

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To buy no longer means anything (youtu.be)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

22 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I’ve just watched the video. I find it pretty outrageous. The word about it should spread.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Can a service really be "bought" buy a consumer? It can be paid for, sure, but bought? Only another company can buy it and own it since it's a service.

However, if they sell you the server software to host it and they leave out some essentials like an authentication server that they own, then yeah, there's a point there. But in this world of subscription-only, you're only buying access that can be revoked at any time.

It still means something, just not what we want to mean. If you want to own stuff, don't buy access. Or better yet, use opensource and donate what you would've paid to the developers/maintainers. They probably will do a better job a trying to keep it runnable and for longer than most corps.

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Is a game even a service to begin with? The servers which provide online services to a game may be one, but why would the same apply to standalone instances of a software that you have purchased? At most I could see why this could mean they aren't obligated to continue offering updates, but not that it ought to allow them to take back the software they sold.

All of this is only happening because the law does not give a damn about customer rights anymore. It's entirely dishonest to visibly sell something and then turn around and say "we only sold 'access'". That's not what a sale means. Companies were simply allowed to redefine what purchases and ownership means, and they are trying to do the same even with devices you physically carry with you.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Is a game even a service to begin with?

Depends which game. An MMO? I'd argue for that to be the case. A single player game? Most likely not. I haven't played minecraft, but from what I understand there's a client and a server, and the server hosts the game with which the client itself would be utterly useless. Maybe that's a misunderstanding on my part.

I agree with the rest of what you said though.Moving things into the digital realm has required the law to keep up, however it's written by rusty, old dudes paid to look the other way. And the majority of the population doesn't understand until affected, so their voting behavior doesn't change.

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Minecraft has both a single player mode and multiplayer which can be either hosted by the player themselves or by Microsoft. I wouldn't deny that Minecraft Realms, Microsoft's server subscription, is a service. But Minecraft, the game, has no reason to be considered a service.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Even "games as a service" aren't very service forward. No real reason they couldn't be hosted locally for the game part other than the developer does not give the user access to the server software to host your own games. The actual "service" is having a store with constant, small content additions, and not being able to play in servers outside the developer/publisher's control. MMO's fall into this category, too. Plenty of defunct ones that have been revived through user created server emulation show even a regular player could technically host these games and still play them without the need for using the developer's servers.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Absolutely true. The reason why so many games have cut down on standalonge games and player hosting options is that it allows them to control and sell microtransactions better. Who would buy skins if there's modding? Who would buy lootboxes if you can use a couple commands to have all the abilities and the best equipment in the game? They need to restrict player control so that only they can sell extras and power-ups.

Our ownership is undermined so that we can be fleeced on top of that.

The utter meaninglessness of "buying", or even worse, "gambling" for a single instance of an in-game item that is stored in a server we have no control over really appalls me. They managed to completely mix up the players' perception of value to the point they can't tell apart what is additional content from what is an insignificant fictional gameplay element. Say, producing infinite gold coins costs nothing for the developers.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 8 months ago (1 children)

If buying isnr owning piracy isn't stealing

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Minecraft being the best sold game while also extremely easy to pirate, lacking any real form of DRM apart from the official launcher simply not launching it into a non-"demo mode" session if you don't have a login is a testament to how piracy isn't always a danger.

Sure, Minecraft is really enhanced with multiplayer which is harder to do on a pirated copy, but there's nothing really unethical about that.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

How would one go about getting pocket edition? :3

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Good question. Tried an APK? I assume they have DRM, now thinking. Java doesn't.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Haven't tried one, might just get minetest tho :3

Idk

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Play Minetest.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Yeah... I already play minetest too. :)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Is there a Minetest community?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Heck yeah!

https://forum.minetest.net/

If you mean a lemmy instance I have no idea lol

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah, I meant Lemmy. I kind of wish we had a more specific name for it than "community". (Instances are the servers, so like @lemmy.world)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

maybe "sublemmies" ? hah (idk)

[–] [email protected] 20 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Apparently I don't own minecraft anymore.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

We never did ☹️

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Copies from before the Microsoft Launcher should still be yours just fine I assume.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Did they change how launching the game worked?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I started playing Minecraft with Alpha 1.1 so I might actually have some archived antique versions somewhere. It has been years since you could just DL the game and play it though, so even the latest of those would be terribly out of date and missing many features. Better off at this point moving to Minetest-Mineclone 2 and avoid all the hassle.