Comment by jokoon | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jokoon | Hacker News Reader

He sounds depressed and frustrated. All I see is bad emotions in all that.

With all the money he has, he could at least try to share or expand his passion in some way.

It's true that he's lucky, you sense the modesty, that he doesn't want to be perceived as talented.

But even if that's true, he could at least try a little bit more. I mean he seems content with his work, but if I had such fame, at least I'd try to use it and approach game companies to negotiate deals, and share his vision of gaming.

Hasn't he ever tried to lead some team and get in touch with programmers he likes to do something ? Can't individuals like him hire a manager to do the job and project his vision into something ? I mean aren't there decent people able to know when there's potential, and solve the relational stuff ?

I mean you can't be modest like that all the time. at some point it's grumpiness, not modesty.

I wish there were businessmen able to notice those modest, hard working loners and just get small companies working with them. Not even companies, just small teams and projects. Some coaching. I wonder what's Carmack's story. I'd love to hear about the work stories of those guys, or maybe hear them talk about work politics. Of course they don't want to, because they might be made fun of, but meh.

"...and share his vision of gaming."

I think you may be ascribing meaning to a man with no such vision. He says he just wants to have fun and tinker, not change the world and I think that probably sums up his sentiments pretty well. I myself would love to change the world, I don't think you'd ever hear me speak those words. If you're a like-minded individual then I think it can be hard to put yourself in those shoes. Some people actually are just happy doing what they enjoy.

> He says he just wants to have fun and tinker

Then why no try to promote tinkering ? A game company dedicated to game development in a way he deems fit ?

> Some people actually are just happy doing what they enjoy.

There's always some small thing you wish you could be able to make, some quirky, imaginary idea you want to achieve. When you see what's on the market, you know and wish you could just do better. This kind of mindset enables you to feed your tinkering enjoyment. I mean you don't just spend time programming, your sense of creative smell makes you think about projects.

With the fame and money he has, he might be able to hire people and develop those projects, and if he can't, maybe he could try to make a game company or structure that helps other small developers work on their own ideas and concepts.

Something to counter the corporate, uncreative way AAA games are made.

> Then why no try to promote tinkering ? A game company dedicated to game development in a way he deems fit ?

But why? If he doesn't want to run Mojang, he probably doesn't want to start another game company at the moment.

Can he enjoy tinkering around himself without having to go on some divine mission to spread his ideas and passions around the world?

> some divine mission

you're exaggerating. that's not what I'm saying. maybe he just doesn't really like video games after all, he just like writing lines of code without any interest in the result ?

Why does he keep having small projects though ? I don't understand what's the purpose of keeping it small. Why not hire people and tell them what sort of algorithms he wants ?

Some programmers have a fetish for the code itself, not for the result. Just being proud of "I did it myself". How about making a game that can be enjoyed, that's the only thing I think that really matters I think.

>> He says he just wants to have fun and tinker >Then why no try to promote tinkering ?

"Promoting tinkering" is not "tinkering". That is a distinct passion, which he very well may not have.

when you have a passion, you wish to share it with people who have the same passion.

That's a generalisation that doesn't apply to everybody. SOme people like to share, others don't care to.

Interesting. I don't get this at all from his message (that he is depressed and frustrated). I understand that this is painful for an entrepreneur to read, but Notch doesn't seem interested in using his fame to project his vision, or change the world, or any of this big Jobs-y stuff. He doesn't owe it to anyone, and people have no business telling him to do it or else he's a traitor, or grumpy, or a fake.

It's his life he can do what he wants.

That's obvious, but it's often helpful to hear what other people think you should do with your life. That's true humility, and it can get you out of depression. Not saying I necessarily agree with GP though.

Are you aware of how presumptive and insulting it is to speculate about someone else's life and tell them how they should be living?

It's sad to read that he would abandon something that gets traction. It doesn't really make sense.

For indie game developers, this story is kinda sad, that's all. To see a lone dev exiting through the back door like that, it is kinda discouraging.

Sad for you. Not for him.

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