Minecraft Java edition got 1.19.1 back in July of 2022 that enabled chat reporting, message signing and server wide bans. It was the turning point where Microsoft pulled trust and control away from its users and begun acting more like a middleman.
The issue then would be migrating all of your existing server to an offline server auth method. If there’s anyone who doesn’t log in during the migration period, anyone else could nab their account name (and presumably everything that account has on it) once it’s fully swapped over.
Plus, if the server remains popular after this, Microsoft lawyers could pursue legal action on the operation to bypass their auth servers as well
It’s inevitable. Microsoft didn’t give Notch a billion dollars because they thought they could improve the product for the users. They bought it because of the number of users. They saw a revenue stream that wouldn’t require very many resources to maintain and that they could also expand to multiple microsoft platforms and then lock behind a walled-garden to sell access as a service. Of course they wanted to confine the player population to servers that microsfot controlled. That is the only way they could ensure that any add-ons/mods/players etc were gated behind their own storefront.
back when I played Roblox as a kid it was a small, windows only Lego game. at a certain point the games on the platform because much higher quality (around 2015), and it was great for me as a broke kid who couldn’t afford a better PC or “real” games.
which is why I didn’t say anything when my little brother was asking my parents if he could play it. now I really wish I had because the entire platform is a cesspool of consumerism, gambling, and predators
I’ve got a big soft spot for halo, my favourite memories in gaming happened in halo 3 custom pre-game lobbies, they really don’t make em’ like they used to!
I wish i had grown up on Halo, having played most of the games now. When i was first starting to get into gaming Halo 3 had just released and i tried it and wrote it off as just a Sci-fi multiplayer shooter. I was young, but damn. I didn’t know what i was missing out on. I had no idea about the Flood and the entire campaign. It took a while for me to realize the Flood was A actual enemy, and not some name for Zombies in the Infection mood.
Ya the lore is pretty great actually with the caveat that I don’t consider anything cannon post-bungie (including that stupid tv show). I even read some of the books and they’re not bad. like cheap margaritas, not much to them but you can just slam em’ back. The best was a full lobby playing jenga, mongoose race, trash compactor, ghostbusters, I haven’t scratched that itch in years. Back when games were built around fun and not competitive sweaty twitchy cash grabs.
Ah, of course it's about the serious violations on free speech in checks notes the brutal dictatorships of Britain and Germany. The dictatorship of common sense dictating you how not to be an asshole.
eh, the exaggeration aside…the trend lately IS extremely worrying.
especially the treatment of protesters.
that said I’m pretty sure that’s got little to do with this situation…tend to agree with the others ITT: “libertarian” and “free speech” is seldom a good combination of words…
I can't deny there were some cases where the authorities have exaggerated. Especially recently. But you know where these people are actually coming from.
but do we? Microsoft is absolutely a mega-corp and would not hesitate to screw over people for money. If you’re anti-bigoty, don’t assume they’re your friend. Maybe someone “insulted” Charlie Kirk, or said that ICE are Nazis. Remember Jimmy Kimmel? I get your sarcasm in your original post, but I think you’re making an assumption that corporations are in the right when they take down speech, when they’d just as quickly shut down a trans-supportive group as they would a transphobic group.
This seems entirely tangential to the thread. At least from what I’m reading, they’re discussing whether Britain and Germany allow freedom of speech. Nobody in the thread seems to be talking about MS’s stance.
I think the statement that Microsoft is not your friend is noncontroversial, a given, and applies to every large corporation on the planet.
To my understanding, for H4/5 one of the big drivers for why the games are quite different is that, following the split from bungie and breakoff to 343, naturally, a lot of new devs had to be brought on. That’s not terribly surprising, but additionally, during that hiring process, it was a goal to bring on devs who were not previously halo fans. Strange choice imo. The goal was to bring in fresh ideas and attract a wider audience (for one of the biggest franchises of the moment). The effect was a bunch of the employees didn’t have much investment in the franchise and often wanted to make changes that would alienate long time series fans.
I can see this reflected in the game for sure. It feels very COD-esque. The sprint always being an option is definitely the stand out example of this, but there’s also how much faster it feels in general. Along with the AR feeling more precise
Tomorrow, to conform to the new regime, Microsoft starts to shut down private servers with mentions to LGBT and Antifa.
If you don’t stand up for free speech when its idiots using slurs, there will be no one left to stand up for you tomorrow when its your speech under attack.
No, but, we’re not in control of the standards here. This is how every censorship process goes. It’s “For the Children” or it’s about stopping Nazis, and then when the system’s established and normalized, they creep it towards oppression and suppression. How people are supporting this with everything else we see in 2025 is beyond me. Palestine Action. Kimmel. Kirk.
I’m glad someone else sees it. I’m very unsettled by the widespread support for corporation-determined censorship on servers Microsoft doesn’t even pay for. Did we forget Jimmy Kimmel? Do you not know of the “Chat Reports” feature??
I hate Microsoft but I also hate self-described “Libertarians” complaining about free speech because it usually means they want to spam slurs and white supremacist bullshit without pushback.
I replied to a comment like this somewhere else, so I’ll just paste this here
Take this with a grain of salt, as I’m a commoner on the server.
While freedom of speech means you can yell whatever racial slurs you want, it doesn’t mean you are free from consequences. When you start saying bigoted stuff on the chat, you will be targeted by players and get /ignore’d.
I would advise you to make your own judgement by reading the chat logs on Discord or IRC, but not everybody has that amount of time. Some people said vile stuff here, but every time someone says some weird stuff, it always gets backlash, and it definitely isn’t a nazi breeding ground.
Also I’ll add this, Most of the server staff and community are queer and from different backgrounds, slurs aren’t taken kindly here.
While freedom of speech means you can yell whatever racial slurs you want, it doesn’t mean you are free from consequences.
This seems to be the MS stance as well, and they seem unwilling to associate with that kind of speech, so they want to cut that connection off as a consequence.
MS isn’t telling them not to speak. MS is telling them to take their speech somewhere else.
Mojang as well? Because MS employs hundreds of thousands of employees making their own decisions and owning their own work. I don’t see how Minecraft has anything to do with the poor decisions made on Azure.
That aside, the fuck does Halo have to do with Mojang? Unless you’re saying it’s the Xbox people as a whole I guess, which makes a lot more sense to me. I saw a bunch of people talking about Palestine and assumed you were just talking about that somehow.
Anyway, none of this really explains to me why they should not be allowed to limit speech on their own platform, regardless of what speech is limited. People can always pack up and go somewhere else. This isn’t the government coming in and arresting some people for having an opinion they don’t like. This is a company coming in and saying they want that speech somewhere else.
Edit: found the Halo reference, had no idea this was a thing honestly with the dumpster fire that is the US government going on.
I am? You’re the one coming out of left field with the Azure issues?
The actual topic is Microsoft games wanting to distance themselves from alleged racist speech while at the same allowing one of their largest IPs to represent one of the most openly racist organizations we have seen in recent American history.
The issue is whether they can limit speech on their platform. Their own hypocracy means absolutely nothing. They are free to be as inconsistent as they want so long as their rules stick to their own software and platforms.
Edit: I should add that “they should allow racism here because they do somewhere else” has to be the most wild argument I’ve ever read.
I mean fair enough. I think we both agree on a base level. I’m not arguing they shouldnt limit their server, and you’re not arguing that their ICE support is laudable. Think we just started misaligned.
It sounds like Microsoft is being notified by its Minecraft players that toxic interactions are happening on MinecraftOnline’s server, and they’re taking action to reduce toxicity associated with their IP.
It’s really hard for me to fault them for that. Especially since MinecraftOnline is using the the Minecraft trademark in a way that sounds official in the name. I’m surprised they didn’t put a stop to that as it is.
Yeah honestly. Fuck Microsoft and all that but this sounds like there’s a strong reason behind it, and the owner’s post about “free speech” and “totalitarian China” is a MAJOR red flag.
Right? I’m a bit jaded but when someone starts making the “they’re attacking free speech” argument it usually comes down to “wahhh they won’t let us say slurs on Minecraft anymore” it sounds like users of the server are reporting toxic behaviors and the owner knows exactly what they mean.
Fair, but the point is valid even if we do not like the behavior they might exhibit on that server. It is their server, ran on their hardware. They should absolutely be able to swear and curse and be general dicks on their own server.
In my opinion the issue is more that the name seems very official and might be misleading to players. They should make them change it and perhaps delist them from their official server finding tools, assuming those exist (have never really clicked with minecraft myself, though i do love me some space engineers)
An Ex-post facto EULA. Because whatever dumbshit Microsoft acquisition EULA that bootlickers like you want to point to in order to justify censorship 100% didn’t exist beforehand. But beside all that if I’m running it on my computer, your EULA doesn’t matter anymore at all.
I love GoG, but I wish it stopped getting games so late that, by the time they release on it, I’ve already bought them on two competing platforms.
Aside from that, this is a solid release. RE1make is one of the best horror games ever made: I was scared shitless even on my third playthrough. Highly recommended if you want a good game for Halloween night.
bin.pol.social
Aktywne