Bukkit: It's time to say ...

Discussion in 'Community News and Announcements' started by EvilSeph, Aug 21, 2014.

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  1. Offline

    EvilSeph

    [​IMG]


    When we first set out to add our personal touch to what hMod offered the community 3 and a half years ago, none of us foresaw the success the Bukkit project would end up having. From a rocky start that wasn't of our own making (hMod suddenly disappeared without warning while we were just starting up the project, leaving us ill-prepared to fill the void left over), we stepped up to the challenge and managed to put together a usable, respectable alternative to other server mods. We even went so far as to improve on the Minecraft server itself. I can proudly and confidently say that Bukkit was and is a success: not only were we able to provide a platform for hundreds of thousands of Developers to build upon and make use of, we were also frequently providing our Server Admins with peace of mind knowing that the latest exploits and security holes were addressed in a timely and responsible manner.

    From the get go we were plagued with issues and obstacles we needed to overcome, one of which we were sadly unable to tackle despite our best efforts: the legal barrier of licensing and permission. When starting the Bukkit project and even getting involved with hMod before that, we all knew that our work - no matter how well-intentioned - fell into a dangerous legal grey area. As such, my first priority at the start was to do things right: contact Mojang to try and get permission to continue on with the project and discuss our licensing. Unfortunately, while we did get into contact with Mojang and managed to have a chat with Notch and Jeb themselves (who have said that they don't like our methods but understand that there isn't any alternative and are thus fine with what we were and are doing), we never did get an official meeting with their business side to get legally sound permission to continue as we were and were unable to sort out our licensing issues. To this day we find our project in limbo with a half-applied license some could argue is invalid and little power on our end to do anything about the situation.

    With that realisation came a nagging unease at the back of our minds that at any point in time Mojang could decide they didn't like what we were doing and shut us down - something we were all expecting for the first year or so of the project's life but, to our surprise, never occurred. Naturally, Mojang's conscious decision to not take action on our project gave us the confidence to continue on (something which I'm sure Server Admins out there can relate to given the recent, sudden and unexpected EULA enforcement) and we even later got further confirmation from Notch himself that we were and are allowed to keep proceeding as we always had.

    Fast forward to more recent times and Mojang have made the abrupt and sudden decision to start enforcing their EULA in an effort to quell the outlook of Minecraft being pay to win. While I can completely understand where they are coming from and support their mission to shut down pay to win servers, it's difficult to be supportive of their abrupt turn-around with enforcing rules they consciously decided not to enforce since the start of Minecraft. On top of this, there are also clauses - which it would be irresponsible of us not to be aware of - within the now suddenly enforced EULA that directly affect the Bukkit project.

    Most notably: "The one major rule is that you must not distribute anything we've made". While the EULA does go on to try and clarify what is meant by "anything we've made", I feel that it only serves to confuse the situation even more so. At the end of the day, it seems that Mojang can determine what is a "mod, plugin or hack" of their game on the fly and their recent abrupt turn-around on enforcing the EULA has us understandably worried. Couple this with the fact that it isn't legally viable or acceptable to enforce the EULA piecemeal and our future is clear.

    At this point in time, I think it's safe to say that it's no longer worth it for us to put up a fight when it comes to keeping Bukkit and modding alive. With large and significant changes coming in Minecraft 1.8 that we'll be hard pressed to provide support for and the lack of support from Mojang with updates since acquiring our original core team (Mojang used to provide us with mappings to speed up the update process), there is little motivation for us to continue limping on across various aspects of the project. From a project management standpoint, it's become increasingly difficult to find willing and able individuals to help out the project on a purely voluntary basis due to people losing interest in Minecraft or people looking for something more. Simply put, this was ultimately the final nail in the coffin.

    Nonetheless, no one can deny that we've had a fantastic run as a project. This is due in no small part to the support we received and continue to receive from both the Minecraft community and the many companies and organisations that have graciously chosen to support us with a ridiculous amount of resources, infrastructure and backing - far more than we could have ever asked for. No amount of words can adequately express the gratitude we have for all our sponsors who have supported us through our journey and ensured Bukkit had the infrastructure required to be the vast success it is today. To list all of what these sponsors have done for us would be a post equal in length to this one, so we will unfortunately need to keep it brief. We want to give huge shout-outs and thanks to: eXophase.com for getting us off our feet and hosting us at the start; Multiplay and Curse for swooping in and providing us with (emergency) hosting we continue to use to this day including dl.bukkit.org and our BukkitDev service; as well as AllGamer for providing us test servers whenever we needed a server to certify update and promoted builds or attempt to reproduce a bug report.

    Last, but definitely not least, we'd like to thank the many staff, both past and present, that have volunteered countless hours over the years. I am at a loss for words to express just how much these people have meant to the project and to myself. The core team who have constantly worked hard to update to every new Minecraft version, while adding in new API and improving the server itself. The BukkitDev staff who spend countless hours checking over the fantastic plugins our community creates. Our moderation staff keeping our forums orderly and safe for all people seeking out a great community to be a part of. Additionally, the many unsung people who have helped in various ways despite having no official title, simply because there was work to do. Finally, my administrators, who have tirelessly helped me keep the project functioning as a whole. I would especially like to thank TnT and mbaxter for sticking through it with me to the end, always ready to discuss an issue and provide me with advice.

    It's been a fantastic 3 and a half years of providing what we believe to be the absolute best modding platform for the wonderful Minecraft community to use. We really enjoyed seeing the amazing feats our many Developers and Server Admins achieved with the product we provided and continue to be amazed every day at the ingenuity our community shows. Thanks for everyone's continued support! It has and will continue to mean the world to us. Together we were able to provide a Minecraft server used by hundreds of thousands of servers out there (with our last Recommended Build having over 2.6 million downloads!), which is certainly something to be proud of and a great note to end on.

    This is the end, it's time to say goodbye. It's been an amazing run and we achieved much more than anyone thought was possible, even ultimately culminating in Mojang hiring our original core team. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and the Bukkit project has run its course, leaving me to make one final - incredibly difficult - decision to shut down the project I’ve poured 3 and a half years of my life into which means so much to me. We're no longer able to confidently distribute our modified versions of the Minecraft server and it is no longer smart for us to continue with our update process. Sadly, this means we will NOT be updating Bukkit nor CraftBukkit for Minecraft 1.8 and, since Minecraft 1.7.10 introduced the EULA enforcement, we will be placing the project under a code freeze for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, due to obvious legal reasons we will not be helping anyone else complete any updates nor sharing our methods despite any desire to the contrary. Although the project itself will essentially be no more, we'll continue to support our community, the forums, IRC and BukkitDev as long as we are able and as long as our partners support us with the resources and infrastructure to do so.

    As for us? Well, who knows? Maybe we'll find another game, program or project to be passionate about and we'll be back with a vengeance? Only time will tell, but I hope that we'll see you around the next passion-project of ours when it happens :)


    [lukegb]There's more to come on this. Please read this for more information about where we stand.[/lukegb]
     
  2. Offline

    ZanderMan9

    As I said in a recent post of mine, we can't know what Mojang will do in the future. Their behavior has been unpredictable enough so far, and generally trends continue. Who knows what they'll end up doing, I just hope it isn't something greedy or stupid.
     
  3. Offline

    obscurehero

    The fact that there has not been any official announcement of what they will do here or otherwise just speaks to the overwhelming failure that they've been at any sort of communication.

    The team should just retire from new media, and start learning to communicate like adults. The whole issue with the EULA would not have blown up like it had people properly communicated. This, also, would not have ended up like it has if Mojang would've communicated with the Bukkit team - A project they apparently owned.

    It's a real sh*t show, and it shows the utter lack of leadership over at Mojang.
     
  4. Offline

    Kitt3120

    Wow ... this is so sudden...

    Bukkit has been such a HUGE thing in my life... i started to code with 12 and now im 14... That *** EULA thing .. it kills the whole community

    One last question to you EvilSeph : If the EULA changes again, will bukkit go on ? :(

    R.I.P Bukkit

    Thanks for everything
    -Kitt3120, Developer of SpeechBubbles
     
  5. Offline

    Kitt3120


    Hey ... I know you :D
    -Coder of Speechbubbles
     
  6. Offline

    Enzer

    Read the thread or at least the information linked in the OP. The EULA has not effected Bukkit for at least the past two and a half years, Bukkit is not shutting down.
     
  7. Offline

    Cronos

    Bukkit is the best api for minecraft in the world. No new api can change this. Only EvilSeph is the guy the can bukkit it live on. R.I.P Bukkit Thanks For All to the Bukkit Team!
     
  8. Offline

    ygortrola

    Good bay bukkit, thank you for all!
     
  9. Offline

    CondeCero

    Thanks, for the best things you provide. You make the game work. Thanks.
    Muchas gracias, ustedes hicieron realidad el "nos gusta jugar no pagar" ("we like play not pay")
    thanks thanks soo much
    (perdon por mi ingles horrible)
     
  10. Offline

    Windows_i7_920

    This is not the end of Minecraft, it is but a change of path. A similar occurance happened with hey0's mod. The modding community will not let Minecraft be without a server side API.
     
  11. Offline

    ArsenArsen

    No, Forever.
     
  12. Offline

    Rydian

    There have been official statements.
    https://twitter.com/Dinnerbone/status/502381093731831808
    This has been mentioned multiple times in this thread.

    If you mean official statements on these forums by Mojang...
    Mojang doesn't run these forums. It's up to the admins on these forums to do so.

    This has nothing to do with the EULA. Seph was just taking the opportunity to complain about it.

    Such a lack of leadership that they're taking over and updating Bukkit because the existing people are not?

    Please read the thread to update yourself on the situation.
    Or if you're really lazy, at least click this link that one of the forum staff here made.
    https://storify.com/lukegb/the-tale-of-bukkit-for-minecraft-1-8
     
    Enzer likes this.
  13. Offline

    MaCA

    The Mojang will be get hating from peapole

    But thanks Bukkit Team for this craftbukkit and Bukkit API i never forget this good job and good luck for future!

    GoodBye Bukkit you is my life to code my plugin :( :'( :( (I'm NizarZa123 in bukkitdev)
     
  14. Offline

    SirFaizdat

    Bukkit is not dying you people! Read Dinnerbone and Grumm's twitters. Dinnerbone said he will personally see Bukkit through 1.8 and Grumm notified us that Mojang now has full access to all of Bukkit's projects and repositories.
     
  15. Offline

    obscurehero

    I'm not going to post snipe, because I think it's rude.

    There have been no official statements by Mojang. Twitter is not really a great medium for an official statement. Furthermore, Dinnerbone is not an authorized spokesman for Mojang and so it's tough to know if what he says represents his personal opinion or that of the company. This is relevant to the EULA situation in more ways than one. Grum's speaking for himself being interpreted as representing Mojang, and visa versa, was one of the many communication issues surrounding that kerfluffle. This (and others) is one of the reasons I suggested that the staff of Mojang stop using new media (Twitter, for example) until they learn to communicate properly.

    Mojang owns the Bukkit project, they employ two new (albeit, old/original) bukkit admins/developers who could also easily say something. @luke_gb should not have to run interference for them. However, even if he IS running interference for them, he should be told that and be allowed to make more official statements.

    I'm going to assume you don't recognize the success that good leadership has brought via EvilSeph, and so you're also unaware what a mess Mojang has been without any good leadership or communication.
     
    Skye likes this.
  16. Offline

    Kitt3120


    *CLICK*
     
  17. Offline

    feildmaster

    Yeah... have you even been here the last few days? You even linked to Dinnerbone and possibly others stating "Mojang owns bukkit." So where in your thought processing did you get "The forums aren't run by Mojang." Dinnerbone still has (and always has had) admin on this website, and Grum recently gained Admin as of this event, so they are within all power to add anyone that needs to be added for PR from mojang. They simply haven't done so as of yet.

    Also, to all the people stating "Dinnerbone started Bukkit," he may have made the first Commit, but I feel as if even Dinnerbone has forgotten that the Bukkit Project had always started as a Group Project between him and a few other people...
     
  18. Offline

    Padeius Etoh


    So you are saying dinnerbone did not start bukkit with grum? Are you also going to say that dinnerbone did not write the vast majority of bukkit? evilseph and tahg were also part of the start up but I would just like you to clarify what exactly you are implying?
     
  19. Offline

    ZachBail

    Wow... anyway what IS the official API? I wanna get in on that!
     
  20. Offline

    feildmaster

    I'm saying that everyone thinks "Dinnerbone started Bukkit by himself." (including, based on his recent comments, Dinnerbone himself)

    I am also going to say that his contributions, much like mine, were not always solely made by the commiter.
     
  21. Offline

    Padeius Etoh

    so of the 69 commits you have to bukkit/bukkit how many did you actually author?

    I am sure there are various versions of who what and when did what and when with bukkit at the beginning. If you are trying to make a case for one faction over another you are not being very successful.

    I shall pose one last question to you. If dinnerbone had not contacted grum, evilseph and tahg, would bukkit exist?
     
  22. Offline

    feildmaster

    What exactly are you trying to say bastion? I'm saying that things come together as a Group Effort. I put a lot of work into Bukkit and CraftBukkit, that work was joined with other members of the Team, as well as members from the Community. My contributions may or may not have been pushed under my name, or someone else's contributions may have been pushed under my name, either way it's the same for Dinnerbone. But even more so, what in the world is the point of your response?


    Does it matter who contacted who? Similar people had a similar idea and came together to bring out a project. All I'm saying is Bukkit is not a "One Man contribution".
     
  23. Offline

    Ganman3

    It's a good try, but no.

    Twitter is and has always been *the* medium for preliminary statements and dialogue. This is why the Twitter feed is on the side of the Mojang homepage, constantly updating. Twitter is how snapshot information has been teased, how we got all of the discussions before official statements, and so forth.

    EvilSeph's post was unnecessary drama, really. He misinformed people on a lot of issues. Should Dinnerbone/Mojang have to contact Daniel Kaplan to make an official statement every time something like this happens? I think not.

    Furthermore, you hopefully realize how many posts Mojang made on the EULA. They had Twitter posts following the reveal, and not a week later, they had an in-depth Q & A post. And that Q & A post is now all over the Internet, every time the EULA is brought up.

    So, in all fairness, I think you're being incredibly hard on Mojang. They have always been very good at communicating, and you're not entitled to an official statement at the drop of a hat. For at least a year (probably a lot longer) Twitter has been the official source of communication. Dinnerbone might not be a spokesperson, technically, but it was very short notice, and he's one of the most qualified people to talk about it.
     
    Rydian likes this.
  24. I say to the bukkit team, mojang is doing like any other company with a big head is doing, look at Kixeye. They have gotten very big in a very short time, so they will continue to do what they can to fill their pockets. I am sad to see the bukkit team go but since this news I have looked at other games that could fill the void as I love running a Minecraft Server. With this said a up and coming game 7 Days to Die might be a possibilty.. there is a lot of room for many mods for players and server owners alike in that game. if anything it is a thought.
     
  25. Offline

    Padeius Etoh

    Why are you tagging my roommate?

    Yes it does matter who contacted who. It also matters who wrote the vast majority of the code for bukkit. I do not remember seeing anything from dinnerbone stating that he was the only one who started bukkit. He did state he started bukkit, but did not exclude anyone else. Based on your pov evilseph was talking only about himself when he wrote his goodbye, but then everyone is told it was a group decision. Sorry you can not have it both ways.

    The point of my questions and comments are to get clarification for the spin you are putting on this story.
     
  26. Offline

    TnT

    EvilSeph did not mislead anyone. We had fully agreed to shut down the project due to EULA concerns and inability to find dedicated, qualified staff members to help out in almost every aspect of the project. If anyone has been watching the project, they'll notice that BukkitDev approvals have been taking longer, Beta/RBs have been taking longer to get released, and even updates themselves have taken far longer than anyone would have liked. We struggled to find people who were as motivated as we were to keep the project alive. Everyone on the development team had full time jobs or were students. Our BukkitDev staff had the same concerns. The staff were, and continue to be amazing, but life's commitments were hard to get around. There simply were few others willing and able to help out, despite how much we tried to find anyone.

    Mojang pushing out a 1.8 update is great, but they have not made it clear what their intentions are for the rest of the community. Bukkit is more than just the API and the server.
     
    Eathuis, CubieX, lol768 and 4 others like this.
  27. Offline

    lukegb


    This. EvilSeph did, as project lead, what he felt was right for the project.
     
    lol768, squidicuz, Skye and 3 others like this.
  28. Offline

    lilacorn

    will this in any way affect the plugin developers? and will this website stay up so that way the plugin developers continue to have a place to share their wonderful fun stuff?
     
  29. Offline

    CrystalxNeth

    It was a great run, and I'm incredibly sad to see Mojang not support you guys after you pretty much made the game what it is today. Over these past few months I've lost all the respect I had for Mojang. It seems they sought out to destroy the empire they created which had made them millions upon millions. The EULA was one thing (it severely hurt many great servers), but forcing the discontinuation of Bukkit as it is will surely hurt each and every server in the long run. But I guess the money and power got to their heads as it always does. RIP Bukkit (and probably Minecraft as a whole in the future). gg.
     
  30. Offline

    Awesomedanguy

    :( Sad News. But it has been an amazing run.
     
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