Minecraft reaches Beta status, price goes up

[Emil]

After over a year of development, Minecraft has hit Beta status today. Minecraft was developed for about a week before its public release on May 17, 2009. With the new milestone, the price of the game has increased to €14.95; when Minecraft moves beyond beta status, it will sell for €20.00.

The beta is more focused on polish and content. The aim is to add proper modding support via a stable API, some kind of non-intrusive narrative to the game to help drive the game experience early on, and a late game goal. Updates will be less frequent so as to make sure stability is maintained thanks to more extended testing. Despite this, there have already been two beta releases: client and server Beta 1.0 followed quickly by client 1.0_01.

The beta milestone also marks a change in the license for the game: the line that promises all future versions of the game for free has been removed. This change only affects people who buy the game as of today, so if you got the game when it was in alpha, you will still get all future updates for free. Buying the game during the beta will include all updates up until release, and bug patches will be free.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/41657-minecraft-reaches-beta-status-price-goes-up.html

 

[Guest]

i bought the game yesterday i had to wait a week to get it but i finnally got it. i honestly think i like minecraft more than black ops hehe...i just wish i could play more often my computers down so i have to play at 11pm est. on my moms laptop or wenever shes not on it. well thanks a million i love this game looking forward to final release.

 

[Tanstar]

No idea what this game is or why anyone would pay for a Beta (and had previously paid to Alpha test?). Might have been a more interesting article if there was some effort to tell us what the game is about, with screenshots perhaps, and an explanation as to why we should pay for a Beta version of a game.

 

[Guest]

If you bought the game while it was in Alpha, then you will still get all future versions free, including the release. I'm not sure about beta, but i think that you will only get updates until the release, where you might have to buy the release. The reason it is very fun, is because you can build anything you want. If you google image search minecraft, you can see some amazing creations.

 

[AnonymousSurfer]

$35 is too much for Minecraft... Thats why I had to use PirateBay...

 

[EDO219]

If I remember right, those who buy Minecraft as a gift this Christmas will still be buying an account that offers free lifetime updates.

Dooo eeeeet ... do eeeet nao!

 

[Guest]

@Tanstar Have you been living under a rock?
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103385-PayPal-Freezes-750K-in-MineCraft-Devs-Account
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/09/10/paypal-freezes-minecraft-devs-600k-euros/
http://tamebay.com/2010/09/12million-frozen-in-minecraft-paypal-account.html

Minecraft started with one indie dev and not it is him and his friend. Not sure if friend works on minecraft or not.

Also here is a video showing some stuff minecraft can do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn2-d5a3r94

You will notice the video has been viral.

Also what is the problem with paying for an alpha if it comes with the release? Its kind of like preordering but you get to play the game while it is being made.

 

[Guest]

Tanstar question is right in place. What is this game(?))? The "showing some stuff minecraft can do" video shows just some cunbe bumping up and down and some fuzzy shape suspended in the air. Should I be impressed?

 

[Guest]

havent gotten any sleep in the past week. Who needs to study, when there's MINECRAFT?!?!?!

now if you will excuse me, I do believe I hear a skeleton nearby

 

[Guest]

The game is kinda a meh.. Graphics that would make a 2600 game look good

 

[Guest]

"Graphics that would make a 2600 game look good."

Listen, bub, I have a working 2600. You don't have a clue how bad those graphics are.

Graphics are not the appeal here. Did you play with legos as a kid? If so, give this game a whirl. Don't blame me if you stop playing ever other game you own.

 

[Guest]

this message was written for mine craft players about "beta" and thats just what this vertion is caled its not the "beta"(aka tryout version).

 

[Guest]

To the people complaining about the article not spoon feeding them all the details about Minecraft, first of all it is aimed at people already familiar with Minecraft, I clicked it because I love minecraft and was glad to hear that now beta is out. Secondly, its called GOOGLE, that is what I did when I first heard about Minecraft and didn't know what it was. With over 1 million people playing it already its a safe bet that you don't need articles to give you all the low down on the game, for those who haven't found out yet. STOP BEING LAZY and go GOOGLE.

 

[Guest]

"Did you play with legos as a kid?" <- THIS

That is the best analogy for what Minecraft is, its like playing with LEGO but you are in the LEGO world and its far more fun than using the LEGO builder (and I'm 35 and I still play with the real LEGOs too, using my kid as the excuse , but I guess that's why I love Minecraft)

 

[Guest]

For anyone not happy with the graphics, I guess there are two things to note:

1.) cast your mind back to playing Duke Nukem 3D and thinking that the graphics were awesome. It's all about immersing yourself and suspending disbelief.

2.) If you don't like the vanilla graphics (and I don't personally think that texture design is necessarily Notch's strong suit) there are several easy to install and manage mods which imporove this aspect of the game. Recent updates have implemented a dedicated mod manager so it's never been easier to tweak the game the way you want it. There are scores of packs on the minecraft forum and many different themes and flavours. My recommendations, depending on taste and processing power available are:

16x16 (native resolution) - Quandry Texture Pack (with changing seasons!)
32x32 - Johnsmiths (my personal fave)
64x64 - Misa's (with amazing mobs)
128x128 - Aza's Arid Texture Pack (stunning graphics, possibly 128x128 is too 'stark' for some though, and there may be a performance hit)

All worth considering.

Guest, aka Sikander

 

[stylestrauss]

Graphics

Graphics dont matter. The gameplay is more crucial.

Look at games like oblivion. Before it was oblivion it was morrowind and bef that it was god knows what. Those were the precursor to the wild popularity of Oblivion itself, and their graphics (esp the earlier versions) may not even beat minecraft.