Minecraft - f13 Server is: chugging along... again (Read OP)

[Mrbloodworth]

notch Markus Persson
Just got a letter from Bethesta's lawyers. They claim "Scrolls" infringes on their trademark and everyone will confuse it with Skyrim.

 

[Hutch]

notch Markus Persson
Just got a letter from Bethesta's lawyers. They claim that Mojang is swimming in cash, and they want a piece.

FIFY

[Malakili]

notch Markus Persson
Just got a letter from Bethesta's lawyers. They claim that Mojang is swimming in cash, and they want a piece.

FIFY

Truth.  I'm no lawyer but this seems pretty lame.  Also, 1.8 is looking pretty darn neat.  Players will be able to "claim" land, whatever that means.  

My principal creates and publishes interactive entertainment on platforms including TV, game consoles and handheld: treeless (wireless?) units. The company has a long and successful history, and is behind several award-winning games, including the world famous game series (The brand THE ELDER SCROLL) is protected concerns include + ALI entertainment goods and services, appears, then including computer and video games. In the EU, is my principal including the holders of registered Community trade marks with registration number 2840098 and 8283161.
It has come to my principal's knowledge that Mojang AB ("Mojang"), users can sign SCROLL in the marketing of an upcoming computer and/or video game. The title SCROLL exhibits significant visual, aural and conceptual similarities with my principal brand The Elder Scrolls. These similarities, strengthened by the fact that in the entertainment industry, including computer games industry, are cases that goods and services with a common commercial origin are marketed under the characteristics that are constructed from a common brand elements. For example, the company Nintendo's world famous Mario series of games titles like Mario Brothers. and Super Mario Bros or company Blizzard's Warcraft series of games titles that feature Orcs and Humans and World of Warcraft. There is thus an obvious risk of an average consumer to get the idea that the goods and / or services provided under the sign SCROLL and The Elder Scrolls are from the same commercial origin or at least from economically-linked undertaking. Against this background, it is our notion that the use of the sign SCROLL constitutes an infringement of my principal.

[Mrbloodworth]

Yeah, I'm no lawyer, but I'm not buying that reasoning. They should perhaps get a guy familiar with games to write the case. I cant see anyone would confuse the eldar scrolls with "Scrolls". In concept, game style, visuals or any other level other than "its a game, and has the word 'scroll' in the title."

[MuffinMan]

It has the word "-craft" in the title, now I'm getting it confused with WoW! This morning I forgot I was supposed to wear my pants and ate them instead. At least these waffles are comfortable.

[Ingmar]

More details:

Bethesda are suing us, here’s the full story!
A lot of people want more details about what is going on, so here is everything I know:

First of all, I love Bethesda. I assume this nonsense is partly just their lawyers being lawyers, and a result of trademark law being the way it is.

About half a year ago, our lawyers recommended us to register “Minecraft” as a trademark, so we did. I had voted against it initially, but we did it anyway. Better safe than sorry, and all that. At the same time, we also applied for “Scrolls”, the new game we’re working on. We knew of no similarly named games, and we had even googled it to make sure. I’m not even sure if you CAN trademark individual words, like “Scrolls”, but we sent in the application anyway.

(Disclosure: We’ve enforced the trademark for Minecraft once, when there was a minecraft clone on iOS, using our name. People were emailing me saying our iOS version was buggy and bad, so we asked them to change the name of their game, and they did.)

A while later, out of the blue, we got contacted by Bethesda’s lawyers. They wanted to know more about the “Scrolls” trademark we were applying for, and claimed it conflicted with their existing trademark “The Elder Scrolls”. I agree that the word “Scrolls” is part of that trademark, but as a gamer, I have never ever considered that series of (very good) role playing games to be about scrolls in any way, nor was that ever the focal point of neither their marketing nor the public image.
The implication that you could own the right to all individual words within a trademark is also a bit scary. We looked things up and realized they didn’t have much of a case, but we still took it seriously. Nothing about Scrolls is meant to in any way derive from or allude to their games. We suggested a compromise where we’d agree to never put any words in front of “Scrolls”, and instead call sequels and other things something along the lines of “Scrolls - The Banana Expansion”. I’m not sure if they ever got back to us with a reply to this.

Today, I got a 15 page letter from some Swedish lawyer firm, saying they demand us to stop using the name Scrolls, that they will sue us (and have already paid the fee to the Swedish court), and that they demand a pile of money up front before the legal process has even started.

I assume this is all some more or less automated response to us applying for the trademark. I sincerely hope Bethesda isn’t pulling a Tim Langdell.

[Malakili]

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/63bp/

for some reason can't hotlink it..

[Malakili]

MINECON!
http://minecon.mojang.com/

Official Minecraft launch
Keynote speeches (including one by our very own Notch)
Build contests
Breakout classes with all different Minecraft topics
Costume contests
Exhibits by leading gaming and Minecraft related companies
Meeting friends from around the world
Commemorative merchandise

November 18-19th in Las Vegas.

[Yegolev]

[Malakili]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEjaFoUb88o

Probably the best use of note blocks I've seen so far in terms of quality.

[Mrbloodworth]

Notch Challanges Bethesda to a game of Quake 3 to settle lawsuit.

Hey, Bethesda! Let’s settle this!

I am back, and I am excited.

Marriage has been wonderful so far, and nobody sabotaged my computer while I was gone.

The only negative thing going on at this moment is the Scrolls trademark lawsuit nonsense, and I think I came up with the perfect solution:

Remember that scene in Game of Thrones where Tyrion chose a trial by battle in the Eyrie? Well, let’s do that instead!
I challenge Bethesda to a game of Quake 3. Three of our best warriors against three of your best warriors. We select one level, you select the other, we randomize the order. 20 minute matches, highest total frag count per team across both levels wins.

If we win, you drop the lawsuit.

If you win, we will change the name of Scrolls to something you’re fine with.

Regardless of the outcome, we could still have a small text somewhere saying our game is not related to your game series in any way, if you wish.

I am serious, by the way.

[Ghambit]

So, uh. You need to watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhksNvUwaRc&t=27m

I can barely comprehend the number of hours put into something like that. It's beyond impressive. It's demoralizing.

Link didn't work, is that the LotR thing? I found it more sad and depressing than anything else. I really don't know why people would devote so much time to such a homage.

The guy narrating/interviewing in the vid. works a lot with TotalBiscuit.  

[Mrbloodworth]

[Lakov_Sanite]

Challenge

[Mrbloodworth]

I didn't make it.

[Vaiti]

Pig Powered Slot Machine

[Vaiti]

So a game called Blocks That Matter just popped up on steam. Some indie title Notch helped co develop. Looks like it uses the minecraft blocks in a 2d puzzle scroller platform. Trailer on Steam is interesting, play it on mute tho, there is only music, and it made my ears bleed.

[Hawkbit]

Lots of great Notch-speak in this 7min video.  Previews 1.8 and 1.9, rivers, randomly generated NPC villages, sprinting, foodbar explanation... lots.

http://kotaku.com/5835043/notch-gives-us-a-tour-of-the-ever+expanding-radical-minecraft-18-update

[Mrbloodworth]

[Vaiti]

And in case you're sitting there going, huh, two pigs, what's the big deal.

Here is the deal on them. About 6 hours ago a poster on Reddit posted this, about 4 hours later Notch posted this to his Twitter and also this to reddit.

edit: added the notch's reddit post

[Mrbloodworth]

As I said yesterday, our best guess for 1.8 release date is Sep 8th

 

Yes everything at PAX will be included, but NPCs and stronghold objectives will have to wait

 

[Hawkbit]

In pic 1, did he raise the maxheight?  That looks a LOT taller.  I know he had mentioned that was an option he was working on.

[Vaiti]

Yep, also made worlds deeper, including deeper seas.

[Simond]

Is a miner not entitled to the diamond from his blocks?

[koro]

Minecraft 1.8 pre-release thing got leaked. Notch says "oh well, play it all you like".

http://www.minecraftforum.net/news/214-want-to-play-18-early-heres-how/

It's a huge improvement.

[Hawkbit]

It's crashing a bit on me, though.  I like the changes overall, now for some stability.

[koro]

I was honestly shocked when I found my first abandoned mine, replete with torches, mine carts, and infested with spiders. I hadn't been keeping up with release info so pretty much every new thing is a complete treat for me.

[Yegolev]

How long before the real release?  I don't want to get all into something and run into bugs.

[Malakili]

How long before the real release?  I don't want to get all into something and run into bugs.

I think the real release is scheduled to coincide with Minecraft Con, which is November 18-19.

[Hawkbit]

I hope they get 2.0 ready for mid-November.  If this is a sign of where the game is headed, I want to go along.  I hit my first abandoned mine today, on about y=26.  It is a huge help to have wood and rails that we can cannibalize to start building the underverse.  Saw my first Enderman today, too.  Things are fricking creepy.

[Xanthippe]

 

Just found an abandoned mine. This is awesome even though it crashes every time I use a furnace.

[koro]

How long before the real release?  I don't want to get all into something and run into bugs.

I think the real release is scheduled to coincide with Minecraft Con, which is November 18-19.

1.8 was supposed to come out Thursday and may still come out Monday, but Jeb is trying to squash the furnace crash bug and some kind of issue where it's rendering stuff too far out when set to Far view distance.

Edit: Apparently the furnace crash bug can be fixed by updating your Java.

[Malakili]

How long before the real release?  I don't want to get all into something and run into bugs.

I think the real release is scheduled to coincide with Minecraft Con, which is November 18-19.

1.8 was supposed to come out Thursday and may still come out Monday, but Jeb is trying to squash the furnace crash bug and some kind of issue where it's rendering stuff too far out when set to Far view distance.

Oh duh, he meant of patch 1.8, not of Minecraft in general.  I'm an idiot.

[Xanthippe]

Edit: Apparently the furnace crash bug can be fixed by updating your Java.

My java is up to date.  Still crashes upon putting something into the furnace.  Anything.

[Hawkbit]

Same.  It was neat to see the changes, but I'll hold off until it is more stable.