Worse Than EA? Notch Addresses Minecraft's New Rules on Premium Servers - GameSpot

"Discussing the way certain servers have been handled before now, Notch said, "Some privately run Minecraft servers do charge for in-game items, for xp boosts, for access to certain game modes. Some of them even charge quite a lot. I don't even know how many emails we've gotten from parents, asking for their hundred dollars back their kid spent on an item pack on a server we have no control over. This was never allowed, but we didn't crack down on it because we're constantly incredibly swamped in other work."



Are donators dead?

Let’s talk server monetisation – the follow-up Q+A


Can I sell “kits” for hard currency if I provide a balanced alternative for non-paying users?

If the “kits” contain gameplay-affecting features they are not allowed. Gameplay balance is not relevant to the EULA. If the items included in the kit are purely cosmetic, you can charge real money/hard currency.







The problem:
Terms and conditions:



1) All sales are final and non refundable, you may not buyback, stop, credit the server by any means necessary in order to receive your funds back that of which have been paid. And in doing so we reserve the right to disallow your continued play on the server/forums and not allow further funds to be added or taken away. We reserve the right to pursue any legal or collection action necessary to recover damages in the event of a forced charge-back. 2) We reserve the right to change, with or without notice, any item price that has been set forth. We also reserve the right to remove perks from players in extreme cases where deemed necessary. In the event that you have paid for an item and such a change occurs, you will not be refunded. 3) All purchases made are for digital/virtual (intangible) items. We are not responsible for any unapproved, accidental, or unauthorized transactions. 4) Any staff, owners, hosts, advertisers, officers, directors, employees, partners, and all other parties related to this servers staff reserve the right, with the appropriate permissions, to forcibly make you leave the server, permanently or temporarily, with no chance of refund – however this will never be unwarranted, this will only happen in the case of extreme rule-breaking. If you obey the rules, you will never be banned, plain and simple. 5) You expressly understand and agree that we shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential or exemplary damages, including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data or other intangible loss (even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages), resulting from or arising out of (I) The use of or the inability to use the service, (II) The cost to obtain substitute goods and/or services resulting from any transaction entered into on trough the service, (III) Unauthorized access to or alternation of your data transmissions, (IV) Statements or conduct of any third party on the service, or (V) any other matter relating to the service. Note that by accepting the terms in the document, you are also waiving your right, to take any action, legal or otherwise, against anyone or anything related to the staff, management, administrators, members, owners or any hosts of this server. You furthermore acknowledge that if any part of this document is found to be invalid or unenforceable in any way, any parts not found to be invalid or unenforceable will be considered fully valid and binding. 6) You agree to indemnify the staff, owners, hosts, advertisers, officers, directors, employees, partners, and all other parties related to this servers staff. By agreeing to these terms, you agree not to present any lawsuit or other legal challenge against the server staff for any reason, whether related to your purchase or not. 7) We reserve the right to change the terms and conditions at any time if necessary. All terms and conditions are in effect indefinitely as soon as the terms and conditions is accepted, and will remain to be active even after you quit, are banished, removed, or if you leave the server/forum in any way. By clicking I agree, you agree to the above rules, terms, and conditions. Please be patient and allow up to 1-12 hours for your item(s) to appear or for your rank to take effect.

 

Terms and conditions:



1) All sales are final and non refundable, you may not buyback, stop, credit the server by any means necessary in order to receive your funds back that of which have been paid. And in doing so we reserve the right to disallow your continued play on the server/forums and not allow further funds to be added or taken away. We reserve the right to pursue any legal or collection action necessary to recover damages in the event of a forced charge-back. 2) We reserve the right to change, with or without notice, any item price that has been set forth. We also reserve the right to remove perks from players in extreme cases where deemed necessary. In the event that you have paid for an item and such a change occurs, you will not be refunded. 3) All purchases made are for digital/virtual (intangible) items. We are not responsible for any unapproved, accidental, or unauthorized transactions. 4) Any staff, owners, hosts, advertisers, officers, directors, employees, partners, and all other parties related to this servers staff reserve the right, with the appropriate permissions, to forcibly make you leave the server, permanently or temporarily, with no chance of refund – however this will never be unwarranted, this will only happen in the case of extreme rule-breaking. If you obey the rules, you will never be banned, plain and simple. 5) You expressly understand and agree that we shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential or exemplary damages, including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data or other intangible loss (even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages), resulting from or arising out of (I) The use of or the inability to use the service, (II) The cost to obtain substitute goods and/or services resulting from any transaction entered into on trough the service, (III) Unauthorized access to or alternation of your data transmissions, (IV) Statements or conduct of any third party on the service, or (V) any other matter relating to the service. Note that by accepting the terms in the document, you are also waiving your right, to take any action, legal or otherwise, against anyone or anything related to the staff, management, administrators, members, owners or any hosts of this server. You furthermore acknowledge that if any part of this document is found to be invalid or unenforceable in any way, any parts not found to be invalid or unenforceable will be considered fully valid and binding. 6) You agree to indemnify the staff, owners, hosts, advertisers, officers, directors, employees, partners, and all other parties related to this servers staff. By agreeing to these terms, you agree not to present any lawsuit or other legal challenge against the server staff for any reason, whether related to your purchase or not. 7) We reserve the right to change the terms and conditions at any time if necessary. All terms and conditions are in effect indefinitely as soon as the terms and conditions is accepted, and will remain to be active even after you quit, are banished, removed, or if you leave the server/forum in any way. By clicking I agree, you agree to the above rules, terms, and conditions. Please be patient and allow up to 1-12 hours for your item(s) to appear or for your rank to take effect.

 

I

stand corrected thanks for clearing that up i will delete my post

 

Can I charge access to a specific part of my server, such as a minigame or world?
No, you cannot charge for any part of a server. Only the access. Once on a server, all players must have the same gameplay privileges. You may make a different server which features “premium” areas, and charge for access to that server instead, but the benefits cannot carry between servers.

I think that could be the solution. Make another server or modify one of the existing ones so it's donor only. Move all donor island there. It would suck not being able to talk to our non-donor friends, but it's the only solution I have thought of.

 

i know im probably going to get alot of hate from you people but I dont personally even think that this is just a huge deal to the players.. yes we lose some perms we have had for ages and that we have gotten used to use, but its really alot bigger pain to the server and its owners. Its not my place to whine about us losing perms at this point. Notch just did what he had to do. Its his game and when people are using it to get money with it, its basicly copying someone's idea irl and presenting it as your own. I know the terms that the EULA has set are quite harsh but still, Notch doesn't deserve all the hate and bs just cause people donated to a server and now think that their donations are going to get worthless. Just my thoughts on this ._.

 

^ What he said.

Also, all of you knew the terms and conditions of donation, it is a PURE DONATION, you are not "supposed" to get anything out of it. All of the donations keep the server running. Also, as stated, donor perks can be taken away without permission of the donor.

 

There are going to be 95% less donations.

 

I'd say even less than that.

 

I still would have donated, though not as much I must admit. But I agree, finding any kind of donation activity is going to be super tough now.

 

I think I know what they're going to do to make that not happen. Everyone thinks that we're just going to lose our flight and god mode and stuff, and we're going to simply get the same thing as we normally get without gameplay affecting stuff: some diamonds and cobble and stuff. But, they probably realize that we're going to donate less, and that is really bad for the server. They're probably going to do things like add more things to the kits, maybe give us different commands that don't affect gameplay... I don't know, but the server is going to change for sure.

 

Illegal or not, it will still be done. Selling virtual items has been done for many games, and will continue to be done because of the easy profit. Just want to see how server owners will react when it is in place.

 

...Until legal action is taken by Mojang.

 

They can't take legal action against everyone, I highly doubt they would go as far as tracking people on things like forums or even Skype. Deals between regular players, not servers, can be done with ease anonymously.

 

im still pretty sure that if for example this server doesnt obey them mojang will just have the server shut down eventually.

 

I am really annoyed, and I wish this weren't happening, however, the fact that we were allowed to do this was a privilege, but that doesn't mean I'm not annoyed because other servers that rely on kits have no other options.

 

They can't legally do that. The server is private property of Noobcrew and is not affiliated with Mojang in any way except that it runs Minecraft. From a legal standpoint, they can't shut down the server.

 

I feel like Crew would rather just avoid a court case and shutdown his servers. Because, somehow, one way or another, Mojang would find some loophole in their rules or some bullpoop and try to get major server networks to submit to their rules. Also, Mojang has top-notch lawyers (excuse the unintentional pun), so they possibly could manage to take legal action against Skyblock.

 

You guys are totally creating a situation that will never happen xD think about it. Skyblock is no different than any other server: they're going to do what everyone else does. We're not as special and unique as we think we are

 

Actually, Skyblock is unique because it doesn't require many administrating staff. Whereas many other servers require Developers and other administrators that need to be paid, Skyblock doesn't, which means it doesn't suffer as much as other servers. Skyblock doesn't have developers (since Justin), unlike some servers who have full-time jobs for developers.

...But obviously that's not what you meant. I just like to contradict people.

 

lol I feel the need to just plain rate that winner. I like you now...