I'll toss in my two-cents on the "name" topic.
A name that has much more broad appeal could be helpful or, given the amount of recognition Minetest has built up so far, it may be better to capitalize on a recent shift in Minetest's competition - "Minetest is
not Microsoftcraft".
If a new name is the path chosen, then the key point should be "broad appeal"; not limited to the technically sophisticated
(nerds).
"Minetest" sounds like an exam that miners or geologists have to take before being allowed to work in the mining industry. However, if marketed just right, "test" could be perceived as a robust challenge, a rite of passage.
"Test" your metal.
(internal fortitude) The world is yours to master.
"Test" your creativity and imagination. Unbound by the constraints of reality.
If the new name is too scientific or technical then,
as Rochambeau recounted, most people will lose interest in it the moment they hear the name.
We
want to draw people in.
We
want people to be intrigued the moment they hear or read the name.
We
don't want them to think it is a homework assignment.
The name "Minecraft" is
not scientific and is
not technical and
does not instantly invoke a sense of "boring" or apathy when heard or read by the non-nerd populace.
While it is easy to fixate on the literal meaning of "Minecraft", a game where you "mine" and "craft" stuff, there are other factors of the game that the Minecraft title did not encompass.
"Minecraft" also probably enjoyed some sense of appeal or initial interest upon hearing and/or reading the name, based on the familiarity of two other popular "craft"-named games - "Warcarft"
(WoW) and "Starcraft".
Though not related in the game-play, the name recognition of "Warcraft" and "Starcraft"
(name recognition - a big goal of marketing and PR) and the follow through, assumed association -
"It's probably like Warcraft and Starcraft.", may have been enough just to get people to
try Minecraft.
Changing Minetest's name to a world-like name is a gamble. "Terraria" sounds like a single world. Minetest is capable of many, radically diverse worlds.
Minetest is not a world, it is an engine. The problem is, while nerds may look for an "engine", everyone else looks for a
game to play. Again, the key point is broad appeal.
The words "Mine" and "craft"
(and their non-English counterparts) are words that are part of the common, every-day communication; just like "car", "dog", and "tree".
I have yet to find "voxel" used anywhere outside of 3D gaming. "Voxel" is
not part of the common, every-day communication of the non-nerd populace. Again, the key point is broad appeal;
not to give Minetest a new name that causes people to instinctively relegate it to something only the technically sophisticated would be interested in.
While brainstorming for names, try to keep in mind that it needs to be something simple, catchy and easy to roll off the tongue; something that a normal, little kid could understand. If the little kids can understand it, then the name is effective enough to compete with the barrage of other game-names out there.
I've tried to think of names, myself, but the trouble I run into is that the possibilities Minetest provides are boundless. So much so that it is proving very difficult to sum them all up into a two or three word name.
Minetest is coming in late on this issue. Most of the short, catchy, and relevant names seem to have been taken. So perhaps the best course of action is to keep the name, "Minetest", build on the recognition it has gained so far, and pursue what I mentioned earlier, "Minetest is
not Microsoftcraft."
+1 Minetest
"Minetest - The worlds are yours to master."
(Edits to fix typos, mangled grammar, and broken bits of thought.)
