Money isn't everything, according to Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson's "increasingly despondent" tweets:
Shortly after the sale of Minecraft's parent company, Mojang's co-founder Markus Persson had reportedly left the studio in order to pursue other projects. Naturally, before immediately moving on to another enterprise, the man more affectionately known in the gaming community as "Notch" has taken several beats to reap the benefits of his success, outbidding Beyoncé and Jay-Z on a $70 million home, and hosting lavish parties in his newly acquired mansion. However, he's also been afforded plenty of time to reflect on how far he's come, and not surprisingly, it's quite lonely at the top.
Recently, Notch took to his Twitter account to air his grievances with the current situation in which he finds himself. Although Persson's net worth currently rests at $1.33 billion as of writing, the famous game designer has confessed that such prosperity has essentially cursed him in the grand scheme of things, as he's "never felt more isolated". Apparently what John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote all those years ago is true, and it's that money can't buy love. Taking that into consideration, Notch's Tweets grow increasingly despondent, as seen below.
[Extended Copy]
The problem with getting everything is you run out of reasons to keep trying, and human interaction becomes impossible due to imbalance.— Markus Persson (@notch) August 29, 2015
Hanging out in ibiza with a bunch of friends and partying with famous people, able to do whatever I want, and I've never felt more isolated.— Markus Persson (@notch) August 29, 2015
In sweden, I will sit around and wait for my friends with jobs and families to have time to do shit, watching my reflection in the monitor.— Markus Persson (@notch) August 29, 2015
When we sold the company, the biggest effort went into making sure the employees got taken care of, and they all hate me now.— Markus Persson (@notch) August 29, 2015
Found a great girl, but she's afraid of me and my life style and went with a normal person instead.— Markus Persson (@notch) August 29, 2015
I would Musk and try to save the world, but that just exposes me to the same type of assholes that made me sell minecraft again.— Markus Persson (@notch) August 29, 2015
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 31 2015, @01:07PM
"I would Musk and try to save the world, but that just exposes me to the same type of assholes that made me sell minecraft again.— Markus Persson (@notch) August 29, 2015"
Find a goal, kid. Wallowing in self pity? FFS - approach Musk, and ask him if you can partner with him. If you don't have any goals in life, you might as well take a long walk off a short pier. If Musk won't consider a partner, even a junior partner, then just go into competition against him. Buld a better electric car, or whatever. Do SOMETHING useful!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by WillAdams on Monday August 31 2015, @01:13PM
Yeah, we need a foundation which takes the long-term view and looks at the problems of increasing automation and connectedness and social displacement and loss of family connections and uneven access to resources --- something other than the current model of using credit card debt as the new ``company store''.
I don't think it even needs to be anything as high-tech as is proposed in Marshall Brain's novella _Manna_ http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm [marshallbrain.com]
What we need are new social structures which provide the same sort of safety net as family once did.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @02:26PM
While the family has often provided a safety net, it has also come with a heavy cost: limiting the ability of individuals to express themselves in ways that modern society increasingly considers natural. If you choose to enter a different profession than the ones your parents dreamed of, if you are LGBT or choose a opposite-sex partners your family doesn't like, or if your religious beliefs differ from your relatives', then suddenly you might lose that safety net. And of course many families have been dysfunctional, with parents or extended family abusing or neglecting the children, and so the children never got that wonderful safety net in spite of their best efforts to please their family.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday September 01 2015, @02:52PM
Yeah, we need a foundation which takes the long-term view and looks at the problems of increasing automation and connectedness and social displacement and loss of family connections and uneven access to resources --- something other than the current model of using credit card debt as the new ``company store''.
What's a foundation going to do with credit cards that you personally can't do better?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by drgibbon on Tuesday September 01 2015, @06:07PM
Noticed the ``quotes''. It would be nice if SN parsed some basic stuff from various markup languages, LaTeX, markdown, etc instead of just HTML.
Certified Soylent Fresh!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @01:27PM
Something he could also consider is volunteer work or teaching.
Just dont tell anyone who you are. Just show up and help hand out cloths or food.
It gets you out among people and gives you something to do and look forward to.
Dont go Howard Hughes.
Also dont worry about the people you used to work with hating you. Having interacted with them on other forums they are just dicks. They are extremely smart but they are just dicks.
You are finding out the hard way that having that much money is a responsibility. Good luck.
(Score: 2) by Hyperturtle on Monday August 31 2015, @10:11PM
Yes, not identifying who he is would be a great way to be able to get out there. He isn't a celebrity by looks alone, and should be able to fly out to a location for a week or more, rent modest settings, and work a soup kitchen.
He can even anonymously leave money at some other soup kitchen that he isn't going to, to draw attention away from any money going to where the new guy that showed up for a month was at.
People can correlate amazing things when it comes to identifying sources of money, so he is best to provide sweat equity if wants to remain anonymous.
But if he is lonely, maybe he doesn't want to be anonymous anyway, but just doesn't know who to trust without getting exploited.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @11:37PM
The obvious: he can create a new ID so that people can't just Google him. Then again, these days, Google will find a way to link his new identity to his old one ... there will be some organization out there.
There are also a lot of really cool people that do have a lot of money that own their own businesses. Sure, nothing crazy like into the billions but at least millions/tens of millions. Of course most of them are very busy running their business but they also try to balance their time with friends and family to hang out. Perhaps you can find some of them. You guys can go bowling, fishing (boring... but for some reason people like to fish), out to dinner, etc...
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday September 01 2015, @01:23PM
I can empathize with the guy. Who would want to hang out with the super rich? The vast majority of them are not self-made. They have never created anything or done anything useful in their lives. They are churlish, petty, and cruel. Everyone else who is not one of the super rich (which is virtually everyone anymore) is being crushed under the clusterfuck that is crony capitalism in the 21st century; of course they're not gonna be much fun to hang around with, especially since it's easy for them to lump you in with the super rich who are ruining their lives.
Helping others is the right impulse, but against the afore-mentioned background that can be tough to do in a way that will make them happy, and you happy. It is really harder than most people think. Even the poorest people have their pride and resent having to rely on charity. Giving them handouts is more likely to make them resent and hate you and hate their own lives more, after the 5 milliseconds of relief have evaporated. Worse yet, you might find that the person you're trying to help takes you for a mark and tries to take advantage of your guilt. You quickly reach the point of anger, despising them, and sinking into a misanthropic spiral.
The best thing is to help anonymously, in such a way that seems miraculous and that gives everyone hope for the future. That's a very specific set of circumstances, and it's hard to come by.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by MadTinfoilHatter on Monday August 31 2015, @01:51PM
Do SOMETHING useful!
You make that sound easy. The problem is that we're mortal beings living on a planet that won't last forever in a universe that is dying of entrophy. What exactly would be a useful course of action? No matter what you do, be it genocide, altruism, a brilliant carreer or wallowing in self pity, eventually it will all amount to absolutely nothing. This isn't just sophistry. This guy's crisis is clearly existential in nature. I bring this up because I went through a similar crisis myself, and the "just get on with life"-type-advice is just utterly unhelpful in such a situation, and indeed reveals a shortsightedness and lack of understanding of the deeper questions of life.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @02:21PM
If you didn't live in a 70 million dollar house, then you didn't go through a similar crisis.
Sorry but McCartney later remarked the song should have said "CAN buy me love" because he got incredible advantages throughout life by having money and fame.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by MadTinfoilHatter on Monday August 31 2015, @02:47PM
If you didn't live in a 70 million dollar house, then you didn't go through a similar crisis.
Oh, trust me on this one: you can have an existential crisis without gaining either fame, wealth or power. Having these things may certainly speed up the process, since actually having them will help you realize that they're don't actually possess the value that people who haven't tasted these things typically ascribe to them. The realization that triggers the crisis can certainly be had without actually experiencing these things first hand, though so they're by no means necessary.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @02:32PM
The problem is that we're mortal beings living on a planet that won't last forever in a universe that is dying of entrophy
If that's true that's not a problem at all, that would be great. It would only be a problem if you are an immortal being trapped in a dying universe. If you thought being mortal in this universe was a problem, then you're actually the one who is short sighted and lacks understanding. So if you're mortal, be thankful. If you're immortal, good luck, you better go figure stuff out before it's too late.
So for the mortals how important are those deeper questions of life really? Billions and billions of animals have just got on with it. If they didn't they wouldn't have been evolutionarily fit.
Most of those deep questions are good masturbation just like most other stuff we're doing. Enjoy them if you wish but they really are not that important (at least to mere mortals).
To me the real issue is not the questions etc, the real issue seems to be he's not finding joy in stuff anymore. The eat, drink, be merry with friends stuff is not working for him. Maybe it's a sign of the beginnings of depression. Or that incident with the girl was a big downer for him (and if it's just the usual, then he'll recover normally after some time, he just has to keep going on till he recovers).
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Monday August 31 2015, @03:38PM
Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged. I liked how he handled the situation :)
Douglas Adams wasn't just about the entertainment.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 31 2015, @02:55PM
Sophistry? Sounds more like nihilism to me. Not that there's a lot of difference.
Maybe he should go to Tibet, and take up residence in one of their famous monasteries.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Monday August 31 2015, @08:07PM
I expect nihilism, ennui, and boredom will eventually be a big issue for all of humanity-- if we survive the huge challenges, many self-made, that we're currently facing. Right now, thanks to those challenges, it's pretty exciting to be alive. What are these challenges? Perhaps Greed is the root problem. Seems everyone wants more, more, and we seem unable to exercise much restraint. Lot of people seem perfectly willing to damn the environment, full speed ahead with suburban sprawl, power guzzling conveniences, and making more babies. Keeping up with the Joneses, coveting thy neighbor's goods is a favorite game. The Earth can look after itself, and only pansies and wimps worry otherwise.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday August 31 2015, @10:02PM
Perhaps Greed is the root problem.
I think it's ignorance.
Lot of people seem perfectly willing to damn the environment, full speed ahead with suburban sprawl, power guzzling conveniences, and making more babies.
You ought to pay attention to who is making more babies. It isn't the people with the power guzzling conveniences or the suburban sprawl.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday September 01 2015, @10:13AM
Making more babies seems to correlate with patriarchal society, in both rich and poor nations. The Duggars are an example of this. Others are the Quiverfull movement, and the Mormons and Islamic groups who practice polygamy. Afghanistan and Rwanda show where that thinking leads. Can there be too many children? Of course! What happens then? Life becomes cheap. In Afghanistan, women average 8 children each. Half the children don't make it to adulthood, dying of malnutrition, disease, or accidents, or caught in the crossfire of wars. That still leaves too many, and the young adults then face the problem of there being no place for them. Not enough land, not enough jobs. They have only a choice of evils: fight, or starve. The fighting never ends. It continues until the population has been beat back down to a sustainable level, which can be never so long as attitudes do not change. Many Afghans accept that's just the way life is, don't see that it doesn't have to be that way.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by kurenai.tsubasa on Monday August 31 2015, @08:56PM
Seconded.
This guy sounds like he needs to work on detachment from the material world and do some meditation on the nature of impermanence. Badly. Even better, since he seems to support Doctors without Borders, an alternative might be to do some volunteering for Engineers without Borders (donating optional). The hope is actually getting on the ground and helping out communities that don't even have basic sanitation would go a long way towards bringing this guy some perspective.
(15 bathrooms in that mansion to 8 bedrooms—WTF? Is that normal for mansions?)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by ilPapa on Monday August 31 2015, @03:10PM
That's easy. A useful course of action is STOP THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF. Be decent to other people, find out what they're interested in, what they need and how you can help.
It doesn't matter that after the universe dies of entropy it will amount to nothing. It will amount to something now. And it will keep you from being miserable.
It all starts with not making yourself the center of your universe. And don't just write a check, but actually go do something for someone. I don't care if it's just walking over to a neighbor and say hello. Just make sure you listen to what they have to say.
There are a million things that you can do right now, today, to make yourself less lonely and less unhappy. Even if at first you have to pretend to care about other people, eventually you'll get the hang of it and you will actually care, unless you are a true sociopath, in which case I am unqualified to help you.
This really is not "just get on with it" advice, and I hope you understand that. It's a very specific prescription for happiness.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @09:19PM
This is foolishness... "do for others"... bah!
What he needs to do is do for himself.
He needs to leave egalitarian Sweden where people look at him with suspicion for being rich, and also not bother with the US where people only like him for his money and would otherwise consider him a 'fedora-wearing neck-beard'. And look for something new. He needs to search for happiness if he wants it and doesn't have it.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by inertnet on Monday August 31 2015, @08:18PM
The problem is that we're mortal beings living on a planet that won't last forever in a universe that is dying of entrophy.
Well, yes but maybe there's a way out. I've recently developed a new (?) theory why we haven't contacted any aliens yet. Many theories come to the conclusion that our galaxy should have been colonized by now, but we can't find any evidence of that. So I thought, what if sufficiently advanced races eventually all either die off, or develop the 'magic' that enables them to escape from this universe to one that is more stable? For them there's no more point in exploring this universe, all efforts would be spent in order to leave this place for good. With this theory it's perfectly understandable why we can't find anyone out there.
On the subject, most people are struggling most of their lives, thinking unlimited money would solve all of their problems. So it's hard to empathize with rich people that are unhappy. I hope to be able to know how it feels to be rich someday, only without becoming a public figure. I'll let y'all know how that turns out.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @02:29PM
That he is lonely shows that he is weak-minded. You should not need much interaction with others to be happy. And just because you have enough money to retire, that does not mean you must do nothing. I would suggest developing Free Software, but Minecraft's coding work was atrocious; what saved it was its gameplay.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Thexalon on Monday August 31 2015, @02:37PM
The people he really needs to be talking to, if he isn't: Bill Gates, Elon Musk, or Steve Wozniak. Seriously, put down the Twitter, man, and ring up people who found themselves in a situation very similar if not identical to yours. My suspicion is that if you called up and offered to help any of those guys with their projects, they'd be happy to share some time and advice.
What's also true, though, is that very few who were single and friendless before striking it rich find themselves happily married afterwords. That has a lot to do with the constant tension of "Is she digging me, or is she digging my wallet?" and the constant threat of divorce = wealth cut in half. That means his dating pool needs to consist of women who are already rich (and thus aren't after his money) or women who were part of his social circle before he was rich (if they exist).
The issue that nearly all really rich people run into is that nearly everybody who they meet is looking to get their hands on some of that wealth, and so rich people feel (very justifiably) that they can't really trust anybody. Sometimes even family members: more than a few athletes and child stars have been ripped off by their own parents.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by AnonTechie on Monday August 31 2015, @02:43PM
Pick up a hobby, like Amateur Radio, Amateur Astronomy, both of which can keep him in touch with like minded geeks and can keep him occupied for hours. Reading is another great hobby to reduce boredom. Has he considered volunteering at a third world NGO and trying to make a real difference either in Africa or Asia ?
“You're never alone when you're reading a book.” ― Susan Wiggs
Albert Einstein - "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @03:07PM
The guy is looking at things the wrong way. He's thinking, "what should a fairly young person with over $1 billion be doing with his life?" He should be thinking, what should I be doing with my life, BTW I have over $1 billion in assets which may or may not figure in the solution.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anne Nonymous on Monday August 31 2015, @06:00PM
2,000 chicks at the same time?
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Monday August 31 2015, @07:05PM
does not sound pleasant being *cooped up* with that many chicks!
oblig: ..."damn, it feels good to be a gansta!"
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Monday August 31 2015, @10:27PM
"Wallowing in self pity? "
You are being overly harsh. (its the internet so its expected though) He is having a existential crisis because there is a massive gap between how he thinks he should be now he "made it" and where he is.
This happens to people of all walks of life.
Sounds a lot like he has been on autopilot for too long and thus getting dragged along in the wake of his success and that of those around him. Too many choices overall and many of the choices being made for you or not thought about enough. Losing contact with real people and good friends to keep you stable cannot be helping either.
Strangely your suggestion seems to be a good one although only one part of a whole solution. Goal setting is very important but you first have to work out how to work out the best goals - it's harder than you think.
For example finding and working on yourself and becoming the person you want to be also: if you have not achieved this then how the hell are you suppose to work out what you want and thus what goal you should set!?
For example, his girl left him because of fear of him and his lifestyle....no, that would just be fear of him. His lifestyle is actually something HE chose.
Meh. Most people on the web will just consider this touchy feely nonsense in their scramble to appear the most machoist man they can be.
Those people are knuckle-dragging morons. :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @01:18PM
Saw that coming a mile away.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Hyperturtle on Monday August 31 2015, @04:02PM
Yes, his sequel he had in mind didn't work out. and it appears that he no longer has a controlling interest (or interest in the control he has) in his signature product.
Being aimless is a problem many have; but it is comforting to for a little person like me to know that wealth does not equal happiness in at least one clear example. It seems that the message is that if I work hard and make lots of money, the problems resolve themselves.
Of course, if work gives you meaning, the money is a nice benefit if one is rewarded well for the work in addition to the pleasure one gets out of the work. I'm hard pressed to think that he can't find something to do, a skill to learn, or a place to go. He has opportunities few others have. (Heck, I'd teach him networking for a modest fee and even play games on the VPN tunnel we'd set up as part of the training. Maybe something like Sacrifice?)
Too bad he has burned a few bridges on his road to riches. I am sure if he hadn't done so, other online communities may welcome him back. Maybe he can give back to some of them? He might not be able to buy love, but he may be able to reduce grudges.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 31 2015, @01:26PM
Bit of timeless wisdom from Chris Janson:
If you can't be happy fishing, you're in dire need of some medication.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Informative) by VLM on Monday August 31 2015, @02:26PM
I read that the first time as "meditation" which would probably be good advice. He can likely afford a few thousand lifetimes of zen retreats...
The guy needs an education, also. Obviously he never got one. The original purpose of education was to give idle rich young adult noblemen some topics and outlooks to consider for the rest of their lives while they kind of sat around and plotted against each other. It only later, recently, got perverted into a job training program for aspirational middle class consumers. If he seriously can't figure out what to do for the rest of his idle life, then he needs a nice liberal arts degree, give him some culture beyond MTV to think about for more than a couple minutes.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Alfred on Monday August 31 2015, @04:07PM
In contrast I wouldn't mind trying to figure out the combination of or picking a lock.
(Score: 3, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 31 2015, @05:14PM
Fair enough, I'm aware there're certain personality disorders that cause otherwise sane folks to not like fishing. Doesn't make you bad people, just a little weird.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @09:29PM
You catch fish when you go out? I thought it was just a way to get to a nice, quiet place to drink beer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 02 2015, @06:59PM
What's so good about fishing?
If I want to sit and do nothing, I'll just sit and meditate.
If I want to enjoy nature, I'll go for a walk in the country.
If I want to to have a drink, I can do that in front of a TV or at a pub with some friends.
I just don't see the appeal of it. Though I guess it doesn't help that I don't much like eating fish either.
So, can you enlighten me why it is something you think all normal people should enjoy?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday September 03 2015, @12:52AM
Largely because you get to do all of the above at once. It does help if you like eating fish but mastering a skill for the sake of mastering is also its own reward.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @01:38PM
I feel for him, I know loneliness & isolation firsthand (though not his material wealth). But he broke a big promise, in a big showy way, and squandered a lifetime of good will. I was thinking just the other day about how he let the world down by selling out the way he did (to be honest, I don't know how well I would handle that kind of offer either, BUT...), and wondering how many friends he lost.
What a miserable lesson to learn the hard way.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @02:16PM
Back around 1999, when AOL was blazing hot, there was an article [washingtonpost.com] in the Washington Post about the 20-somethings who cashed in their stock options and retired as millionaires. The story was about a slacker millionaire who was bored and didn't know what to do with himself.
Boo fucking hoo. Are we supposed to feel sorry for these guys? Who feels sorry for these guys? They complain of sycophants and false friends and shallow people, but then this guy throw lavish parties that are filled with sycophants, false friends, and shallow people? Fuck you. If you want real friends, stop being a douche. Look at someone like Warren Buffet. One of the richest guys in the world, but you can run into him, have conversations with him, sit next to him in the cafeteria and you wouldn't know he was stoopid rich.
Good for this guy for selling out and making a bajillion dollars. Only those who have been put in that position to be offered and to turn down a bajillion dollars has a leg to stand on to criticize him. Everyone else can STFU as far as I'm concerned. However, go head and pay $70M for your walled compound and throw your tens of thousands of dollar parties, but don't be such an ass to cry for my pity.
And yeah, I always hated Richie Rich comics as a kid. You gotta problem with that?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @04:48PM
The object lesson here is also rule of capitalism #1, people should never have more money than brains. Don't worry, the invisible hand of the market corrects any things that tread upon this rule. Warren Buffet is a man who personifies this. He is exactly smart enough for the wealth that he has.
Of course there is the rule of capitalism #2, people should never have less many than their greed demands. But he doesn't seem like a greedy fellow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2015, @02:02AM
Wow, someone has a massive load of unresolved anger issues. And obviously lacking any kind of outlet so you have to hate on people you have never met.
You are mad at Richie Rich too? He's a fictional character.
Seriously, your flame had no discernible focus. You had better get some help before you hurt someone, possibly yourself.
(you would get modded -1 Troll if I had an account)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2015, @04:45AM
Yes, Ritchie Rich. Don't you remember him? Probably not; you're probably too young to have developed any sense of responsibility, empathy, and self esteem. The tag line on his comics were Poor Little Rich Boy. That's what we got here. Oh, poor little rich boy!
I don't have any anger issues, except maybe towards pretentious dickwads like you. Like I said, good on him for selling out and I am the last to criticize or think ill of him for it (are you one of the dumbfucks who thinks ill of him for not turning down a billion dollars because "selling out to the Man" would ruin YOUR game?). However, I don't have to listen to him whine about how awful it is to be a billionaire. There's a Joe Walsh song that sums it up pretty good: Everybody's so different, I haven't changed. He could fuck movie stars for the rest of his life, or pull a Kurt Cobain, and it would make zero difference to me or my life, but forgive me for calling him out for being a whining little shit because he apparently has some need for attention and to receive confirmation that he's just a lonely regular guy.
I dunno, maybe you go walking through the homeless shelter complaining about how awful it is that because you have so much food, too much of it spoils in the fridge before you can eat it. Yes, clearly those homeless guys have unresolved anger issues towards you. It can't be that YOU are a unempathetic and ignorant jackass.
(I'd mod you -1 Dumbfuck, but you're not worth the effort of logging in)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2015, @11:53AM
Case in point.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2015, @02:31PM
What case in point? You make no point. I think this anger you perceive has been explained pretty well. If English is not your native son, then forgive me, but otherwise it is not on me if you are too dense to understand coherent sentences.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @01:47PM
Maybe the fucker will find jesus. Jesus can always use more money.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @03:05PM
Nah, Jesus doesn't need the money because Jesus Saves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @04:24PM
Jesus is Jewish. "needs more money" and "saves" both apply.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Monday August 31 2015, @07:07PM
"save pagan souls. win valuable prizes!"
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 4, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @01:47PM
and then he can go back to work and be poor and happy again.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tibman on Monday August 31 2015, @01:58PM
To have purpose is everything.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @02:04PM
Whatever it is, don't rush into a relationship just because you're afraid of being alone[1]- it's better to be alone and lonely than to be married/attached and lonely/frustrated/trapped.
Perhaps you may never find a soul mate, but some people keep pet dogs/cats for company, if you're a billionaire you could probably afford to keep some pet humans (even if some leave eventually). If you think that's terrible you should realize that many pet lovers treat their pets better than they treat humans, sometimes even better than their close relatives and friends ( Many pet lovers are fussier about humans than their pets - e.g. the very characteristics they find acceptable or even endearing in their cats they find intolerable in their bf/gf!).
[1] It's not that bad to rush into it if there's great chemistry "the stars are aligned" etc.
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 31 2015, @02:42PM
<sup/sub> tags work if you'd prefer them for footnotes. They're just not in the list for reasons of sneakiness.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @05:39PM
Aaaagh. Kill it with fire. How is it that people feel the need to put footnotes into one paragraph? God, it is annoying as shit. In almost every instance I've seen, their footnote would have been much easier on sentence flow if it was either stuck in parenthetically, or just stuck between two commas. Do people feel smarter or more scholarly if they put in footnotes?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 31 2015, @07:35PM
What can I say, I just like footnotes.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by VLM on Monday August 31 2015, @02:50PM
it's better to be alone and lonely than to be married/attached and lonely/frustrated/trapped.
There are even worse outcomes. To paraphrase the old saying, he could save a lot of time and effort by finding some chick he can't stand and give her half his money.
His best hope is probably to go on some reality TV matchmaking show and lie to all the women and claim be just another java programmer, some money and he's never going to starve, but not waving a flag of "hi there gold diggers, the feeding frenzy is over here"
When I was young and single and a little less than his age, and not nearly as wealthy but pretty well off engineer dude, it seemed like I went thru a phase where all the women I met saw me as $$$, it was pretty weird being pursued. Being a rich dude is kind of like being a hot young woman, at least wrt the pursuit. Something to do with their biological clocks ticking, they just go absolutely nuts around his age or just slightly younger. Also you have to be realistic, by his age, the "good ones" have been getting married off since half his age, so its going to be all single moms and foreclosing homeowner-esses and generally just women looking for a paycheck, possibly hoping to double down on alimony and child support. Of course the woman point of view is since half their age the "good guys" have been getting married off so how the hell is a guy with a good job, new car, and nice apartment walking around unattached? It was fun, but golddigger chicks are crazy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @09:33PM
But I bet the sex was great if they're the ones doing the pursuing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2015, @09:16AM
A fair number might still keep pursuing.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @02:07PM
I often imagine like all people in the world what would happen if I won the lottery. Of course unlike the mass herd of sheep, I always arrive at a horrible spiral of self-destruction. I never play the lotto for this very reason. I fear not success... since you cannot really call it that. I fear a "power surge" I think I would get from sudden influx of wealth. My ego is pretty big, and luckily my life provides it with plenty of opportunity for humility. I fear it would otherwise consume me, as would be the case if I got a billion dollars.
So only a fool dreams of winning the lottery, a smart man would know better. You may have grand ideas or ideals of what you would do with that money, and tell me I'm flat out wrong, but until you are in that situation you cannot tell me you could shake the temptation of destroying yourself.
(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Monday August 31 2015, @02:38PM
So only a fool dreams of winning the lottery, a smart man would know better.
Only a fool (by my standards) dreams of winning the lottery because the probability of actually winning the lottery is so small that you're just wasting your money.
What you say is entirely subjective. Not everyone is like you. Not everyone wishes to waste money on useless trash. Not everyone shares your values. Therefore, you cannot say that because you would not be satisfied with winning the lottery, that no one else would.
but until you are in that situation you cannot tell me you could shake the temptation of destroying yourself.
Similarly, you can't tell someone else how they would act if such a thing were to occur.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @04:59PM
GP here, Fair point in deed. I was merely reflecting on fallibility of the human condition. You think you can handle shit till you can't. Likewise some may handle it much better than others, I only fear that that subset is much much smaller. A lot of people would parade their intellect out front, claiming they would never succumb to any of the ailments that plague other men. I too think of myself intelligent, but I would not make such a statement.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 31 2015, @02:52PM
It really doesn't take that much to deal with money well. You just have to not really give a shit about it. If I, for instance, became suddenly rich the following things would happen:
Beyond that, I don't really have the ambition for that much money. I'd probably give most of it away and just keep enough to maintain a comfortable, if boring to many people, lifestyle.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 31 2015, @02:54PM
Hrm, looks like OLs, and probably ULs, could use some margin- or padding-bottom in the css.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday August 31 2015, @02:57PM
Should have noticed that when I started working on it in the extension. I guess I thought it was specific to VT100.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by OrugTor on Monday August 31 2015, @04:54PM
Own a boat? Wow, you really don't give a shit about the money. I give you three years to burn through the lot.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 31 2015, @05:07PM
Pretty fair point but I'm only talking like a 12-16' john boat. Most any upkeep of that I can do myself for little to nothing.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @05:12PM
That is a very rehearsed view of things. A lot of people go this route. If you have a plan for the money, you feel it would not get out of hands. But glancing at your list a few million could achieve that. Now imagine a few billion dollars. The level of problems associated with that wealth are significantly higher.
(For rest of the comment I will use 'you' in an abstract sense. It doesn't necessarily mean you personally, as I do not know you personally and cannot make an accurate judgement as to your character or level of apathy you might have towards how the funds are distributed. So please take no offense if it rubs you the wrong way, it is merely used to show a point.)
I hope you would successfully give it away. But imagine how hard it would be to give that much money away. How do you decide who to give it away? As soon as the word got out you were planning on giving it away you would be flooded with phone calls, mail, and in person visits from 'lobbyists' -- really only word that fits -- for every entity that wants your money. Even if you knew what cause was most important to you, how would you choose which charity to sponsor? I mean sure you care about heart disease, but would it be better to fund research for heart replacement or drugs that cut risks of heart attacks? Would you support an organization that has a good goal but only spends 10% of it's donations on non-overhead related expenses? Surely that would mean squandering the 'gift' you were given instead of using it to do some good. And should you use your money to fund projects directly, or to persuade politicians to funnel more public money to those projects instead. After all your wealth is nothing compared to the wealth of the nation, it could really make a difference. You would be in a hell-hole of a moral dilemma.
And no I am not projecting, because I would not give away any of the money personally. But I have given significant thought to what it would mean. Just look at Bill Gates' foundation. Lot of people think he is pissing his wealth away on bug-nets and converting piss to water. He evaluated these projects as once that would be more beneficial to humanity, and I'm sure he spent many hours trying to figure out how to spend the money. I have no idea how he arrived at his conclusions, but I do believe he would tell you it is really hard work. A lot more work than not having a care in the world for the rest of your life.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 31 2015, @05:37PM
Yeah, I could see how it would cause some people issues. Just not me. I'd keep probably twenty-five to fifty million for myself1 then give the same to twenty to forty of my friends and family. Boom, there went a billion dollars. Anything left over, I'd probably dole out to my favorite fishing lake(s) to make improvements.
As for altruism? I don't have any. I don't do charity. Friends and family would get the money because it would make me happy to know they wouldn't have money worries for a while. The lakes would get the money so I would have nicer places to fish.
Likewise politics. I've got no interest in telling other folks what they should or shouldn't be legally allowed to do, so there aren't really any political causes or candidates I can contribute to; all of them are bastards.
1 Basically to live well off the interest.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Monday August 31 2015, @07:10PM
reminds me of an old joke:
"I have enough money to last me the rest of my life. just as long as I don't buy anything."
(jackie mason, I think).
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @04:00PM
I would in this order:
Buy a nice house, completely pay it off.
Set up a trust fund that should easily pay the taxes and insurance on the house for the next 100 years or so.
Buy myself a nice car/truck and a classic muscle car
Take care of friends and family.
Place the rest of my money into a trust fund that pays me a monthly stipend that should cover expenses.
Never worry about it again, and enjoy life.
Nothing in there would "destroy me" If you feel that money would destroy you, please feel free to just make the check out to me, I'll be glad to jump on that hand grenade for ya.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @07:58PM
If i won the lottery, i'd buy a nice house, take 6 months off work, go to usa, buy a a muscle car and drive around usa for that six months. Buying more muscle cars on the way and shipping them home. Then i'd go back to work, but i would know that i never need to worry about money or losing job again. I'd sponsor open source projects, that i feel are worth it, maybe even start my own company with the idea of helping open source projects and selling support and such. I know that's what i'd do. I know myself.
A billion dollars is a bit different thing. It would bring shit loads of security problems. I basically would have to buy a castle. Few millions, not so much.
As for the lonelyness, well, i know it all too well and i'm not rich. Me getting rich could only make things better.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by gman003 on Monday August 31 2015, @02:26PM
If I were in his shoes, I would take that massive pile of money, and use it to make more games. Form a small indie team, and take risks, make the games the publishers will *never* go for, because you've got enough money that you can tank quite a few complete failures. (Or so I say now, with five orders of magnitude less money in my bank account).
But I can see the reason why he's not doing that: a failure might not have significant financial repercussions, but he's got a reputation now. If his next project isn't a big hit (either critically or commercially), he becomes a One Hit Wonder. That could happen even if the game is a complete success, if it doesn't become big on the level of Minecraft.
The other problem he might have is that the Minecraft playerbase was not exactly fond of him. Notch's intent for the game diverged pretty heavily from what everyone else thought it should be, he took the blame for a lot of the programming flaws (since he wrote a lot of the base code himself), and because he was such a public face of the game, he was criticized for everything else that went wrong, from schedule slip to mods breaking. Since the Minecraft community skews very young, a lot of that feedback was probably pretty nasty as well. So he probably doesn't feel like he has an audience that wants him to keep making games, or one that will act appreciative of new games.
And to finish it off, he might feel some inadequacy issues. As a game designer, Notch actually hasn't done much. He hit on success basically by accident - the early versions of Minecraft had most of the player-centric stuff (crafting, building, exploring) but barely any of the design-heavy stuff he was planning to add. That early version took off *because* it lacked all the design-heavy elements - it was a blank slate that anyone could enjoy, not the niche horror/fantasy thing he was trying to build. So he's never really gotten validation of his actual game-design skills. From what I saw in Minecraft, he actually isn't that good at actual game design, but I'll avoid judging too much on that because he was rather constrained by the time he could actually do design-heavy work.
(Score: 2) by mtrycz on Monday August 31 2015, @02:40PM
He has already a longish track of other games done, iirc.
In capitalist America, ads view YOU!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by gman003 on Monday August 31 2015, @03:12PM
None that were hits, and TBH it's not exactly a long track. Scrolls was the only one to have any sort of success, and that was mostly by virtue of being the first follow-up to Minecraft after it got big. With that much free publicity, any game would be vaguely popular.
(Score: 2) by RedBear on Monday August 31 2015, @02:28PM
There is a simple solution to this problem. Offhand I don't know of anyone in modern times who has had the moral fortitude to attempt the solution by choice. There is a story of a Buddhist and his daughter in ancient times who either achieved enlightenment or, seeking enlightenment, placed all their worldly possessions in a boat and burned it, then took their rice begging bowls on the road and lived happily ever after.
Not happy having lots of money? Give it all away. You can do a lot of good things with $1.33 billion.
It does get difficult to find a decent life partner when one is ridiculously rich. I can totally sympathize with that. But it's one of those things where the right one tends to show up the minute you stop looking so hard. Especially if you're traveling around using your huge pile of money to do good deeds. Eventually you'll run into someone fantastic.
Any normal person can live very comfortably for their entire lives from just the interest payments from $10-30 million dollars or so. There's really no good reason to be afraid to spend the rest as quickly as possible, and come back down from billionaire zone to upper-middle-class zone. Problem solved.
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @02:49PM
Any normal person can live very comfortably for their entire lives from just the interest payments from $10-30 million dollars or so.
I live comfortably on around $25,000 a year, having retired very early by most standards. It's about not wasting your money and living within your means. This doesn't mean not having fun.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by skullz on Monday August 31 2015, @02:44PM
I'm assuming Notch is experiencing a lack of distraction with his social interactions. You take away the daily grind, the worrying about health care, the stupid deliverables and you are pretty much surrounded by ass holes. Not saying we aren't all ass holes but without the distraction it is hard to ignore. Dangle some money in front of their faces and the really bad ones float to the top quickly. Who among us actually has what Notch is looking for: good, solid friends and fulfilling relationships? Dream on, kid. We are just fooling ourselves.
So, with that in mind, try fixing the US's dairy farms. Get Farm to Table services for inner city kids. Develop a way to compensate media creators without advertising. Make 2016 the Year of Linux, not Android. Subsidize kids in Africa so they can go to school and don't have to work. Fund a project that gives 3rd world folks clean water. I bet you will at least a few honest, lifelong friends along the way.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Freeman on Monday August 31 2015, @05:28PM
"Make 2016 the Year of Linux, not Android." I think it would take a lot more than his 1.33 billion dollars to make that happen. The problem isn't that there's no good Linux distributions. It's that people don't know it or how to use it, if they had it. The masses barely know how to use their Windows Boxes. That is also in part due to Microsoft's investment in (Donations to) schools.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by skullz on Monday August 31 2015, @05:42PM
Yup, I don't think this would will be helped by coding alone. But maybe if there was an install that was as easy to get going with as an Apple product and you could have a virtual Microsoft for compatibility. It would require a lot of testing and focus groups, some tweaks to the UI, money for usability folks, etc. Basically a lot of polish. Polish is expensive. 1 to 10 million would go a LONG way.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @09:50PM
I am quite simply amazed that 20 years in we still hear this nonsense. Do you really believe that if you dropped someone in front of a Gnome/KDE/etc. desktop, they would be completely befuddled and wouldn't know what to do? "OMG! This screen has a trashcan! What am I supposed to do with it? Where did the Recycle bin go??" All these people who seem to be able to cope with the major UI changes from one Windows version to another, would be completely confused with a linux desktop? Seriously?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday September 01 2015, @03:27PM
All those people are also unable to cope with the major UI changes from one Windows version to another. Please see Windows 8 as an example. Sure, it's not rocket science, but it's like my Father In-Law. He can work on cars and has built a couple of houses. He can't for the life of him figure out how to use Windows 8. He hasn't ever figured out how to use Bookmarks. There is a huge number of consumers that fall into that category. It may be getting smaller with the newer generations, but I would have to see it to believe it.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Marco2G on Monday August 31 2015, @02:46PM
If your friends don't have time for you because of their jobs, pay their salary.
I know, I know, you'll always wonder whether they're your true friends yadda, yadda... That's a billionaire's problem, live with it. However, when someone can't spend time with you because they need to work for income and you're a freaking billionaire, I think your problems become self-made.
What Notch is now experiencing, though, is that people start treating you differently. And no matter how much I like to think of myself as a superior being, I have to admit that I, too, would probably start being envious of a friend who has 1.3 billion dollars and I have to waste forty hours a week of my life to make other people money.
Just to put things into perspective, though: This man could pay himself ten millions a year, he could hire ten people as staff at a very generous 100k a year and have ten friends living with him or close by and give them a million a year and keep that going for 60 years.
So... what exactly is the unsolvable issue here?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @03:16PM
He could even start doing some twinking or "power levelling" for amusement: http://wowwiki.wikia.com/wiki/Twink [wikia.com]
Perhaps he could put up a suitable test, and then twink the one who passes with the highest scores.
I daresay lots of rich billionaires are doing similar stuff with their kids.
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Monday August 31 2015, @06:24PM
If your friends don't have time for you because of their jobs, pay their salary. I know, I know, you'll always wonder whether they're your true friends yadda, yadda...
No need to wonder - the true friends are the ones that won't take your money. Seriously, that's a recipe for disaster. After a couple of years, depending on their character, they'll either be (a) spoiled for life and unemployable (esp. if we're talking about tech industry types) or (b) busy running a successful company they started once someone was paying their mortgage. What if they get married and want to spend time with their families? What if you fall out - will you fire them? Put an ad on Craigslist for a replacement?
Sure, you'd help your friends out if they were in a hole... but pay them a salary to be your friend? Ick. Sounds to me like passing on the curse...
(Score: 1) by Marco2G on Tuesday September 01 2015, @10:01AM
And so what? Unless they are true friends, you will grow apart anyway. So surround yourself with people as long as they are fun. When it stops being fun, you part ways. After being friends for a few years, nobody can reasonably have bad feelings against you because they are now pretty rich and if they haven't squandered all their money already, can conceivably stop working at all.
And if they should happen do be true friends, that will transcend the money issue all on its own.
Again, dude's a billionaire. He can't lose like this. Just takes a bit of balls and spine...
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @02:47PM
Sale to Microsoft: $2.5Bn
Notch's share: ~$1.3Bn
Reportedly, Notch gave each of the ~50 employees about $200K.
Typical example of the "founder exceptionalism" attitude. He took ~50% of the sale price, just because he started the business. The rest of the company? The employees? The people who actually have been doing all the work, and keeping the company going for the past several years, while the founder wandered from one failed project to another? 0.004% of the sale price. Collectively.
No, Notch. That's not taking care of the employees. That's pissing on them.
All you did was toss pennies from your gilded coach.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 31 2015, @03:00PM
Capital isn't scarce, vision is -- Sam Walton
If you think a bog standard code monkey's time is worth as much as someone with the vision to create something millions will enjoy, you're severely deluded.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @03:25PM
Notch didn't have any vision, that is why he made a clone of Infiniminer. If the entire scenario was played out just a hair differently, we would be talking about Zach Barth instead of Notch.
At least Barth has made several commercially successful games. He is genuinely a great person that has said this when asked about the plausible outcome of suing Notch into dust, "The act of borrowing ideas is integral to the creative process. There are games that came before Infiniminer, and there are games that will come after MineCraft. That’s how it works."
If anyone deserves the money due to vision, it would be the only person that actually created the vision in the first place: Zach Barth.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 31 2015, @03:45PM
I note you're dicking around here on SN instead of off sailing your yacht from all the money your ideas have made you... Oh, wait, they didn't and neither has the sweat of your brow. You know why? Lack of vision. Vision isn't just having an idea, it's also being able to discern whether the idea is worth a damn or not and being able to see that idea through to fruition. When you make a a couple million off seeing an idea into reality, then you can talk shit. Until then, it's all just some whiner spewing envious salt.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @04:32PM
The same conditional logic you wish to apply in shutting down dissension to your opinion can be applied to shut yours down as well. You have the time to be on soylent therefore your opinion does not matter. Why even come here if you have such a low opinion of the posters and staff?
Do you have a valid argument or just childish vitriol?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 31 2015, @05:11PM
I gave you a valid argument, slappy. The old "if it's so easy, why aren't you doing it" argument. Give me a reason instead of salt and I'll be happy to tell you why your reasoning is childish and poorly thought out.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @05:37PM
The validity of his arguments is independent of how wealthy he is or whether or not he acts on his own beliefs.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 31 2015, @07:37PM
It's really not. If finding and bringing to market a brilliant or even moderately good idea were as easy as he seems to think, everyone would be rich. Reality itself refutes his claim.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @09:40PM
My claim is not dependent on difficulty. Yours is. The strawman that you are arguing against is really just a mirror.
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Monday August 31 2015, @09:16PM
First-hand experience. The Mighty Bias is a poster *and* staff.
1702845791×2
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @09:43PM
That is why I said it, insinuating a disrespect for himself.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @03:31PM
Ideas are 10 a penny. Just ask anyone who's hung around a game-dev forum.
The real value of any endeavour is in the people actually getting shit done.
Besides which, in this particular case, the game's core idea was pretty much copied from Infiniminer. After that, it's just adding random shit and iterating. Minecraft never really was all that innovative or visionary.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by blackhawk on Monday August 31 2015, @03:01PM
Surrounding yourself with the sort of assholes who like to party with rich people is a sure path to a very hollow life. Just because you don't have to work now doesn't mean you shouldn't - people need work to feel a sense of self worth. It's ingrained into us at a very deep level.
Take $100,000,000 dollars and tag it for personal joy for the rest of your life and an inheritance for true family and real friends.
Now take the remaining billion and a bit and put it to good use. Invest a bunch of it and use that to fund worthwhile projects that help improve life for those struggling on the edge. Any of the following things are great causes and all of them would benefit from a ton of cash and a well known personality to drive them forward.
You could meet some really great, kind hearted people by being around these sorts of projects and helping others. It will get you a reason to get out of bed and a source of pride.
(Score: 2) by bradley13 on Monday August 31 2015, @03:11PM
So it's true: money can't buy happiness.
For most people, happiness comes from feeling needed. From feeling like you are some actual use to other people. Endless partying on Ibiza will just rot his liver and his brain, until he jumps off a bridge somewhere.
Notch has just ended one phase of his life. Now he needs to start the next: find a purpose, find something that interests him that would be of value to others. That could be another game, but probably not - if we're honest, Minecraft was a fluke, a lottery win. He could open a school. He could invest in startups. He could sponsor open source projects. He could...I don't know the guy, but there are a million things he could do.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @03:37PM
It may be true that money can't buy happiness, but it can buy something so close that you can't really tell the difference.
(Score: 2) by Alfred on Monday August 31 2015, @04:28PM
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @03:18PM
Heaven forbid he make another game. Hell, he's got the money to do it up right this time... Now, if only some indie dev would come up with the right core mechanics to run with. In fact, after the failure of 0x10c (268, a play on 80286), he mentioned he needed to hang out with some small time indies again.
Except, now small gamedevs know that the bigger fish will rip off your Tiny Towers and make Dream Heights. Lots of us don't care and keep churning away, prototyping all sorts of game mechanic combinations, just for fun. Most games don't ever see completion, either due to lack of execution skill or the game isn't fun, team breakdown, no funds, etc. Of the games that get completed most are only played by other (indie) gamedevs. Sometimes a dev will break even on the time/cost or make enough money to quit their day job. Occasionally a game will touch on some interesting elements and become moderately successful, such that average gamers will have heard of it. Rarely will a game become huge. Having been in the industry it seems odd he'd just decide not to do games anymore. A few flops or failed projects doesn't mean anything about you as a designer, that's expected.
Most independent gamedevs I know do it for the love of making games, not for the money and surely not to solve some imaginary world problems. Rich people can be some of the biggest suckers for scams. Stop watching the news, and listening to people like Bill Gates (who's been going around getting billionaires to donate "to the greater good" -- just enriching certain foundations and pushing crap like Common Core). You don't have a moral obligation to "fix" the world, and the problems are created by other billionaires anyway (sometimes purely as propaganda), so don't buy into the "you must save the planet" or "find a higher purpose" nonsense: It'll never happen and the planet of these apes will always be under some "imminent" sensationalized threat.
Well, Notch, at least you're not using your fat stacks of cash to steal ideas from the little guys -- You could buy a small studio and add your ideas to make a new game, like when you added crafting to block stacking, [youtube.com] except the other dev would actually get some benefit for their R&D time spent finding the fun core mechanic combo. Oh, there's an idea! Why not give Zachtronics a little slice of that pie since you were so heavily "inspired" by his game? Maybe collaborate with some other devs and see what you both could make next? Drop the "not invented here syndrome" and go back to ripping off games like Super Mario Bros again. Infinite Mario Bros. was neat, if only it had some more original elements other than $RETROGAME + proc-gen. Alternate reality and Augmented reality games are pretty cool, there's more gamedev mediums now, some even using multiple disparate devices -- Eg: A persistent FPS for PCs with tactical elements like supply management and troop deployment managed via players on mobile platforms. There are even people releasing FORTH and C compilers for old consoles and cabinents. New (homebrew) games are coming out for everything from (S)NES to Sega Genesis, from GameGear to GameBoy, even the cult-classic Dreamcast. All by gamedevs who don't have or expect funding. If you've got the money, there's no excuse NOT to do whatever you want.
Maybe that's why Notch is sad? He tried to do original games without borrowing ideas and couldn't make anything fun? Since 0x10c, Notch says he's got a creative block. Well, that's strange. Every poor gamedev I know of has more ideas than they have time and resources to implement. Esp. the ones churning out stuff for free doing game jams/competitions like Lundum Dare, One Game a Month, Space Cowboy Jam, [itch.io] etc. [compohub.net] Having a shortage of game ideas is not a problem any gamedev actually has (not having any good ideas, on the other hand...) What's more important than the idea is its execution.
Seriously, I have no sympathy at all. There are so many avenues open to billionaires (he can even afford meds if it's depression). IMO, the reason he's so lonely is due to the actions he's taken himself. I wouldn't hang out with Notch in the first place, but if I did I wouldn't talk gamedev and risk being his next Infiniminer. If the mony disparity is so bad maybe try hanging out with "equals", like Carmack? He could just retire but is having fun strapping toasters to peoples heads and reminiscing about the VR craze that took off just before Doom. Maybe help him remake Dactly Nightmare and Exorex? [youtube.com] (that was my shit back in the day).
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Monday August 31 2015, @03:56PM
that just exposes me to the same type of assholes that made me sell minecraft again.
On September 15, 2014, Microsoft announced a $2.5 billion deal to buy Mojang, along with the ownership of the Minecraft intellectual property. The deal was suggested by Persson when he posted a tweet asking a corporation to buy his share of the game after receiving criticism for "trying to do the right thing." (Wikipedia)
People are perennially unable to use "had to"/"forced" correctly. Were there any legal reasons or anything that he "had to" sell the company? Somebody with a gun to his head?
For some reason the narrative online became that I had decided that we should have an End User License Agreement and that I was like ruining the game for everyone. And I wasn’t even involved in Minecraft development at this point. So I got really frustrated. I couldn’t deal with all these fans that just get the wrong idea and just get pissed off at me and I hadn’t even done anything. So I just tweeted, I can’t put up with this, does anyone want to buy the company? (Forbes article [forbes.com])
Oh boo fucking hoo. That's the Internet for you. With a product this big, there will always be a lot of people who don't understand you.
I first wore a hat after seeing a friend wear a hat. It seemed like a neat way to keep snow off my head without having to wear a beanie, so I tried it on for a while. Turns out I started wearing the hat at around the time people took pictures of me and put them online and in newspapers, so it kind of became part of my public image. Over time, this hilarious narrative developed online of how hats are for social rejects, and I more and more regretted accidentally picking the hat as part of my image, and started to phase it out without making a big deal out of it.
Notch, you need to stop listening to the haters online.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @04:02PM
Notch rose above the level of his competencies. He's not a particularly talented game designer or programmer, and he's now thrust into a position where people (and himself) are watching for him do to the next great thing, which will never come. He should not live like a billionaire. He should try and live like his old friends still do... and just retire to obscurity.
(Score: 2, Informative) by tchi.keufte on Monday August 31 2015, @04:46PM
Stated differently, Notch is finally entering a phase of spiritual transformation. This is not a comfortable stage to be in. May he find meaningfulness and detachment from unneeded addictions, which gives a higher form of freedom. It is very hard to get rid of those kinds of addictions, I mean trying to control your own life for your own interest, trying to have selfish goals, to preserve your own wealth, etc.
"If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me." (Matthew 19:21)
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Monday August 31 2015, @04:48PM
If success was strongly related to talent, his previous success should indicate enough talent to build up a new business again. Since he apparently was happy(er) with his previous life, the course of action would clearly be to start a new business from scratch.
The fact that he doesn't take this course of action indicates to me that he knows that his success was rather a lucky strike than based on his talent. This does not help for him to find an answer, but might help us to save some money by not buying all those crappy books on how to successfully start a business -- it's good luck, you have it or you don't.
@Notch: If you don't need your money, why don't you try to spend it on a good cause? Keep enough to have a secure life (Buy a house, invest enough money to be able to live on the interest; maybe invest is in a way that prevents you from touching the substance, allowing you only access to the interest), build some schools in some third world countries or invest in some lobbying for things you believe in. Monitor the progress, take some active interest, and let the word our that you spent your money on it. Once you are not rich anymore, there will be enough women who appreciate a kind-hearted man even if he's not a billionaire, and since you don't have legal access to the substance of your fortune anymore, no-one can play foul to get it from you either. A lawyer will probably be able to help you with the details...
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday August 31 2015, @06:11PM
There are plenty of paths for Notch. Take his money, donate some of it, invest some of it for easy capital gains (or let a foundation/manager do this), invest in higher risk ventures closer to his heart, like indie game studios, and either get back to making games or find some place that will employ a billionaire gaming celebrity. Shouldn't be too difficult.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @08:54PM
He should make http://www.lgdb.org/game/chaosesque-anthology [lgdb.org] better!
(Score: 2) by looorg on Monday August 31 2015, @05:03PM
Yes it must be so hard for him. Nobody understands him but his billions of dollars and his mansions. *sob* *sob*
If he now somehow believes it's the money that is the root all that ails him then he could just give it all away. Sponsoring some indie dev team is probably not an option, as soon as he gets involved the expectations probably go thru the roof and his helping hand is more like the kiss of death.
From his twits it seems he should just take his money and build himself a una-bomber shack and stay away from the rest of humanity.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @05:09PM
Why not make the next Duke Nukem?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @05:19PM
"While this case focused on the defendant's use of Twitter, he also used messaging apps like WhatsApp and Tox for ISIS-related communications, one of his attorneys said in an interview."
>Tox
Idiot should know better than to use software that's still awaiting a professional security audit. Not to mention how much the devolopers tell you to NOT use it for secure communication yet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @05:22PM
Oh, goddammit I replied to the wrong article. Sorry everyone.
(Score: 2) by The Archon V2.0 on Monday August 31 2015, @07:02PM
Hey, there's something he could do with his money: Security! Cleaning up this mess of insecure network protocols that grew into the basis for most of our economy. Plenty of assholes, I suppose, but dealing with assholes is something that could be delegated. He could do some of the high level managing to make sure his money is being spent right, but otherwise make video games in his corner office all day. He'd have the benefit of a job to go to and some structure but enough free time in the day to fart around with games, and then publish under a pseudonym. Notch becomes head of some IT company and slowly fades off the radar, while his (new) pseudonym makes a few games and is the part-time indie developer again.
It's not a perfect solution, but it's an idea.
(Score: 1) by Eunuchswear on Tuesday September 01 2015, @03:19PM
No, no, I think you're on to it -- Notch should give all his money to ISIS.
That way he would get to spend the rest of his life with interesting people.
Watch this Heartland Institute video [youtube.com]
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @05:27PM
I'm lonely too, where's my article? What, nobody cares about me because I'm not famous? Fuck you too, assbag.
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Monday August 31 2015, @07:54PM
Really? How come? Which interests do you have, did you try to join some groups interested in the same topics? (Online communities, user groups?)
Or because it's more interesting to see that people getting rich could still be lonely and unhappy... Most people struggle for worldly possessions in order to achieve happiness, therefore it is interesting / instructive to be reminded that this does not work.
Oh, well, nevermind, I just decided I don't like you...
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @08:34PM
You are a fucking AC. Who gives about you lot? Even I don't.
(Score: 2) by nyder on Monday August 31 2015, @07:04PM
Notch buddy, let me give you some advice. Being lonely is a state of mind. You think you need another person to complete yourself, not true. You think you aren't doing it right because society says you are supposed to fall in love, get married, have a family? That isn't true. Some of us aren't meant for that sort of life. Once you figure it out, then you are free, and can't get lonely anymore.
Plus I suggest getting a cat.
(Score: 2) by The Archon V2.0 on Monday August 31 2015, @07:12PM
When I last paid close attention to Notch he was in a long-term relationship and head of Mojang. Then I heard about the hugeass buyout. Now I see this article saying Notch is hated by everyone and in the kind of downward spiral that ends with one dead in a bathtub.
Could someone explain to me what I missed? I mean, it wasn't an instant jump from cash windfall to losing everyone he ever loved.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @08:16PM
Money can be funny.
Some people think because they have it they are better. They then treat everyone around them accordingly. Suddenly no one wants to hang around anymore.
He is running into the wall of 'money does not buy me friends' 'it buys me stalkers'.
It is kinda sad to see the way people act around it. I do not have nearly the level he has but the way people treat my wealth is sicking (and I dont have much). They assume you can just do whatever half arsed idea that pops into their heads. Also you can do it for 'free' because 'you can afford it'.
I have seen grown men act like fan girls around rich guys. Thinking somehow that money will 'come their way'.
Also 'work friends' are not always 'outside friends'. They can intersect but usually not. Now that he is 'out' they do not want to hang around anymore as they do not really have anything in common. The only thing they had in common was the game.
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Monday August 31 2015, @09:13PM
So, notch has US$1.33 billion. Assuming he lives for another 50 years, that's about 1.5 billion seconds. So, notch can spend more than US$0.80 per second for the next 50 years and not run out of money. Taking a dozen of your closest friends to Ibiza for a fortnight and spending less than US$70,000 per day is a cheap holiday. A US$70 million mansion is about 32 month of outgoings and is a one-time expense unless he intends to purchase multiple mansions.
In these circumstances, stooping to pick up US$1 is a poor use of time. Getting a degree is certainly a bad use of time.
1702845791×2
(Score: 1) by pvanhoof on Monday August 31 2015, @10:34PM
Notch, thanks for what you made. You did good. What's next? I don't know. Just try to use your extra resources to do more good. Nevertheless, you already did something good. It's alright. Enjoy your riches. But try to contribute back.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @10:53PM
Find a way to make others' lives better. Especially focused on those who hardly seem to have a chance. Practice gratitude: It takes a little work to form the habit, but there is great power in that.
I'm sick & just watched a movie on youtube about serving others called "unconditional" (if I knew a way to pay a few dollars for the view, without committing to a huge super-complicated legal agreement I would pay them; I'm not going to pirate it...).
Anyway, one might find it very inspiring as I did. (ps I'm a Mormon, too tired right now to look up my password, but when I do what I know I should it gives me peace amid problems, and ultimate good hopes.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @10:59PM
ps you're welcome to help at onemodel.org. Join the mailing list for later details than the site shows.
(Score: 2) by kurenai.tsubasa on Monday August 31 2015, @11:21PM
Notch, I have no idea if you even know this site exists or will ever see any of the advice posted above. You hit the jackpot of modern eCapitalism. You've got it made. You are now free to live your life however you want. Consider yourself retired.
The mansion causing you problems? Get rid of it.
The money causing you problems? Get rid of it.
Lots of good suggestions above. The Project Australia suggestion in particular caught my eye. Also see my earlier suggestion I see somebody else also made without naming them of volunteering for Engineers without Borders.
It's all temporary in the grand scheme of things. Don't let it screw you up. Recall that Prince Siddhartha only found enlightenment after rejecting both a lavish lifestyle and the ascetic lifestyle. Avoid worshiping mammon and find better philosophical guidance, even if you don't actually believe Siddhartha or Jesus ever existed.
You don't even need to personally Musk. (Is Musking an intransitive verb now?) Set up a foundation or endowment and follow in the footsteps of somebody like Carnegie. As somebody above suggested, get Bill Gates or Elon Musk on the horn. I'm sure they can point you in the right direction. Now that you've achieved the status of Master of the Universe, JG, you're in a perfect position to get away from the crack-snorting kind. Instead of staring at yourself in the mirror while your mates wage-slave away, make some phone calls. I'm sure you can find enough reputable people to manage the thing. All you need to do is check up on them every now and then and make sure they're dutifully Musking for you. (Don't forget such organizations are like magnets to embezzlers and money launderers, so I'm not saying you don't need to put forth some kind of effort, but point is you can pay people to deal with the crack-snorting MotU for you.)
Or heck, just cut Engineers without Borders a check for a cool billion or do a 50/50 split between them and Doctors without Borders, retire on the rest, and call it a day.
Here's another idea: partner with GT Academy [gran-turismo.com]. It's video games! It's putting people who could only dream of being a race car driver in the driver seat of a real race car! Create some more options for folks like me who can't stand Nissans! (Recommendation: Mitsubishi or Ford rally)
← This is the tl;dr point. I'm just babbling below this line and fantasizing out loud. (Disclaimer: the above may be that as well!)
If any of the games I've been involved in had ever rocketed me into the financial stratosphere, here's what kind of endowment I would set up (while setting just enough aside for myself, perhaps $30,000 per year, maybe less [to be fair, that's after buying a decent house, probably looking at new construction at around $200k, and a Lambo or somesuch], so that I'd never need to work again):
tl;dr There you have it! Maybe Project Australia is the better idea, but at any rate, if your cash is screwing you up, get rid of it!
(Score: 1) by acp_sn on Tuesday September 01 2015, @04:01AM
sweat, pain, and occasionally blood will make you happy
take that self hate and use it to push out another rep, add another 5 minutes on the treadmill, another lap in the pool
pick and work toward a ridiculous training goal that has only been attained by a handful of people throughout history
you have no excuses
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2015, @12:17PM
That's the only reasonable thing to do.