Something that people don’t seem to be aware of is that about all of this stuff has been in place for several years. If you go look at the old usage guidelines, the rules that everyone is yelling about are nothing new and have existed for a while.
For example, AntVenom says that server ranks are dead based on this:
You may make money by…:
- Asking for donations, so long as you don’t offer the donor something that only they can use[.] However, you may offer all players server wide rewards if donation goals are met.
However, ignoring AntVenom’s claim is refuted two bullet points later—
- Selling cosmetics, except for capes or anything that attempts to visually act like the feature of a Minecraft player cape
—the old commercial usage guidelines, which were in place since at least 2020, say the exact same thing about donations as the new ones:
…YOU MAY:
- ask for donations (as opposed to direct charges) IF you do not offer the individual donor something in exchange that only he or she can use. You may offer server wide rewards if donation goals are achieved though.
Yet, lo and behold, server ranks are still around.
Mojang isn’t killing servers and maps. They’re not going full 1984. These are pretty much the same guidelines that have been in place for at least 3 years—just with some clarification. Server ranks didn’t die, maps with McDonalds in them weren’t taken down, and unless you think the devs are suddenly going to go full evil mode when it would just actively hurt them, there’s no reason for all of the fearmongering.
EDIT: Fixing formatting with the quotes
The problem isn’t that they are going to take these down but they’re giving themselves the ability to, instead of allowing the more decentralized model of moderation minecraft had before.
To repeat, they haven’t really given themselves new ability to do much of anything. These guidelines have existed for a while, only that now they’ve been reworded and clarified a bit. They’ve had in their guidelines for at least 3 years that servers you’re making money off of should be child-friendly. The same goes for the rules about constructed promotions. All of this freaking out is based on the worry that Mojang will suddenly start taking down maps and servers they haven’t in the past under the exact same rules they’ve had for years when they have no reason to.
Mojang can’t really act on guidelines unless clarified. Players can’t be reported to mojang unless messages are cryptographically signed and there’s an actual report system.
Even if the rules are not enforced, they’re still there. They’re stupid and should not exist. Minecraft is a game for all ages, and it warns you very clearly when you go into the multiplayer section that content you may find there is not controlled by or affiliated with microsoft and when you join a server you join it at your own risk and if necessary with consent from your parent or guardian.
I’m not really seeing the problems with these rules. Yes, Minecraft is a game for all ages, and by extension, it’s perfectly reasonable for Mojang to ask that you don’t make money off a server on their game if it has porn and gambling there. A lot of it basically boils down to, “Don’t make your unofficial things look official, and you can’t make money off our family-friendly game via adult content or anything that would hurt Minecraft’s brand.” If you’re making money off a Minecraft server or another Minecraft-related product, that can reflect on the Minecraft brand, so it’s perfectly reasonable that they have restrictions on that.
What exactly in these guidelines do you have an issue with? I’m not seeing the problem.
It’ll be Interesting to see how this gets implemented. It will be hard to judge cases fairly and consistantly given the vague wording.
