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Minecraft. Ok admittedly, this was 10 years ago and 4chan was a much different place (as was the internet at large). I was younger and spent a lot of (read: to

Minecraft. Ok admittedly, this was 10 years ago and 4chan was a much different place (as was the internet at large). I was younger and spent a lot of (read: too much) time on 4chan back then. At the very beginning of Minecraft, before it was even a thing, Notch would post on /v/ about it almost daily - incorporating changes/suggestions/criticisms people would fling at him anonymously and randomly. No one thought it would be huge - it was just fun. And Notch was so receptive. I can't help but think his current Alt-Right views may have been influenced by his exposure to 4chan, but in those days it wasn't as crazy as it is now. I have a 4 year old daughter now who LOVES Minecraft. And personally, it's been valuable to me, and I am utterly convinced that had Minecraft not been developed in its earliest days on 4chan, it might not have gotten to where it is today. *Small shoutout also to Katawa Shojo - also made with lots of input from 4chan, which turned out to be quite a compleling VN game. What has 4chan done lately that is valuable? That I couldn't tell you.

panarky 7y ago
Is Minecraft something that could not be developed on a site with less "vileness"? For example, couldn't Notch post on Reddit every day, incorporating changes/suggestions/criticisms people would fling at him anonymously and randomly? Is there something about 4chan/8chan that is intrinsically better for building Minecraft that isn't available anywhere else?
- odorousrex 7y ago
  It could have, and in fact Notch moved to reddit shortly after Minecraft's "birth" which helped expand it's popularity exponentially. (He went from posting on /v/ 100% to 100% on /r/minecraft over the course of a couple months - memory is hazy) I'm convinced the initial randomness/anonymous feedback/chaos of that initial period helped grow the spark from the ember that split off of Infiniminer. There is something creative in the chaos of 4chan - just look a greentexts. 99% of them are absolutely terrible. But the occasional gem catches on and made viral on the larger, less vile sites. Also, I can't believe I forgot about Caturday. That started on 4chan as well. (also 10+ years ago).

panarky 7y ago

Is Minecraft something that could not be developed on a site with less "vileness"? For example, couldn't Notch post on Reddit every day, incorporating changes/suggestions/criticisms people would fling at him anonymously and randomly? Is there something about 4chan/8chan that is intrinsically better for building Minecraft that isn't available anywhere else?

odorousrex 7y ago
It could have, and in fact Notch moved to reddit shortly after Minecraft's "birth" which helped expand it's popularity exponentially. (He went from posting on /v/ 100% to 100% on /r/minecraft over the course of a couple months - memory is hazy) I'm convinced the initial randomness/anonymous feedback/chaos of that initial period helped grow the spark from the ember that split off of Infiniminer. There is something creative in the chaos of 4chan - just look a greentexts. 99% of them are absolutely terrible. But the occasional gem catches on and made viral on the larger, less vile sites. Also, I can't believe I forgot about Caturday. That started on 4chan as well. (also 10+ years ago).