Minetest is golden age of Minecraft

[runs]

I'm going to allow myself to express my opinions.
I played Minecraft back in 2010, when it was still in beta, long before anyone knew it, it was a game for freaks, and long before Youtube catapulted it to fame. It was great, a revolution in the world of video games, a simple and entertaining sandbox. But it had problems, the development was slow, it had few developers (3). And mods were hell. Minecraft even today still doesn't support mods. They're more like hack-mods. And on top of that, slow, they make Minecraft heavy. Also with each new version of Minecraff, they stop working. And it's also a game of just building blocks, little adventure. In 2013 I abandoned it (v1.7.x). for me the last good version.

I love Minetest. You can install the mods you want, it doesn't get too slow because of it. The basic game is simpler than Minecraft, but enough.

Bad things (for being an open source project):
- Few developers. That implies a dictatorship. Basic functions are not supported. Prepotency. It is not a negative criticism. For example, I started using Gimp in 2010, its developers refused to implement a single window system, they said that their window system was superior and that you should not copy to Photoshop, but accustom users. It took them 15 years to realize their mistake! Now the two systems coexist and nothing happens, each one chooses the one he wants (for me the Photoshop system is better). With Minetest it's the same, it's good that it don't copy Minecraft, but that it copy the good things that it have. The Open Source world has some arrogance, and is reflected in the sentence: 'if you don't like it, you can make a fork and ready', that is, presuppose that the common user has the knowledge and desire to do it, that is, to say that is a way to shake off the uncomfortable matters in an easy way.
-Little vision of the future. Three years delay for version 0.5-5.0? Oh, hell. The Minetest engine seems stagnant and without new ideas and promising.
-No mobs. This is a classic, I know. I'm not saying that there you have to create the sheep and gets to dance the conga, but with a minimum basic support for mobs the foundation for a good mod of mobs would be feasible.
-Open source implies that the mods rest on a single developer, the most normal thing is that he abandons the game after a while, leaving the mod abandoned and useless (it also happens to Minecraft, but it is worse in Minetest because it is less popular). That's why the wheel is reinvented, many mods that do the same but none perfect. That's why Minetest's default game should be simple, but that it doesn't lack the essentials, which is a reference to what the game engine is capable of doing. Then if there are a couple of good games apart from that one, so much the better. If you give people a good base game, they'll be encouraged to play it, they won't compare it to Minecraft and they'll be encouraged to install more mods and discuss it with their friends.
-No more ores, tools in Minetest Game, it's better to have new and revolutionary ideas, like binoculars.

[wziard]

The Open Source world has some arrogance, and is reflected in the sentence: 'if you don't like it, you can make a fork and ready', that is, presuppose that the common user has the knowledge and desire to do it, that is, to say that is a way to shake off the uncomfortable matters in an easy way.

I agree with most other things you say, but I object to the term 'arrogance'. Open source developers, at least in the case of minetest, are not paid. It is a hobby, not a job. In 99% of the cases (overall open-source, not specifically minetest) the sentence 'if you don't like it you can fork it' is a reply to users complaining or trying to pressurize (? is that a word ?) the developers into doing something (quicker). But as it is a hobby project, people work on what interests and or benefits them or their friends. That's not really arrogance imho. If your hobby is knitting, for example, people don't expect you to knit a certain kind of sweater. And they don't berate you if you knit a sweater only you yourself like or call you arrogant when you give away only sweaters and no socks because you hate knitting socks.

There's only one way to get an open source coder to do create some feature: make him want the feature himself. Either by interesting him in the feature, or befriending him and *then* nag about it :-)

But maybe I'm overreacting, as I've been on the developer side too often. I'm not trying to attack you, just trying to make you see my side. (And of course, arrogance is a character treat slightly more prevalent in coders, who are often rather socially inept. Not talking about the minetest community here, I'm too new here to know, just talking about the coders I know, including myself :-) )

[runs]

Language barriers. Maybe 'arrogance' is not a suitable word, sorry.

I meant money makes the world move. Notch won $2 billion when he sold his game to Microsoft. And he moved to Los Angeles. And so he liked to pretend to be a normal neighborhood kid... Surely now his girlfriend is a Victoria Secret angel.

I love Minetest, and my criticisms are things I think. I would like Minetest to advance, that's why I say them. I don't have possession of the truth, and I don't intend to. I'd like the developers to make millions and make the best game possible, really.

[wziard]

No harm done and no offense taken. :-) (I'm not a minetest dev btw, just a random coder new to learning the innards of this wonderful game) .

Money makes the world move, that's true. Sometimes when you get the reply 'go fork it' you can answer with 'and if I pay you?'. But not always. Sometimes a hobby is only fun as long as it stays a hobby, without the responsibilities of work.