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In Notch we trust ;-)
Everyone and their uncle does that, Notch, sounds totally fine... it would be ideal to have an option to disable it, since I often play at work where I ought not generate weird traffic.
I voted yes, but with two conditions:
1. It must be an option controllable from within the client.
2. It must never impact performance. Not even a little hitch when it tries to contact the data collection server.
I voted no, but I would have voted for "yes if there's an option to turn it off" if the poll had had that option.
Yes, but only if there is an opt-out option. People get touchy about being tracked.
Also, could WE see how long we've played and how we've played too? That would be a cool idea, even if the total time is actually kinda depressing.
There needs to be a "Yes, that sounds evil!" option.
hehehe...hahahaha....MUAHAHAHAHAHA
>_>
No No and NO!!! Firggin ASK us why dont you? Make a post in the forums and we WILL tell you!!!!! I do not need yet another friggin service running in the background sending supposedly "anonymous" to some company that is too damned lazy to ASK. Christ sake READ THE FORUMS it would take you 10 minutes to figure out how people are playing Minecraft. PAY Attention to your community Christ sake. How is it that most people in the community can answer these questions for you but the creators of the game are clueless?
If you ask me this is a lame attempt at seeking out pirates playing on stolen clients. If not this then there's some other reason that's not being said cuz ALL of the info you are interested in is readily apparent in the community and if not, easily figured out by looking at logins compared to page views, quit bullshitting and come up with the real reason , at least be honest.
As long as it doesn't slow down Minecraft at all. My computer already is having trouble running it, even with OptiFine and the default texture pack.
It would be better if you made a prompt asking if your alowed to take our info.
i voted yes, but only because you asked nicely!
I say go further than that. I want to be able to track my blocks placed/collected, axes used, creeps killed, all of those statistics on a website. I love when games have lots of stats.
I say yes as long as we have the option to opt-out in the launcher, or something similar.
If you add the data collection, please allow the "opt-out" option.
I feel to make it completely not-evil, it should be toggleable and perhaps open source, so we can see it's not sending anything evil.
I voted "yes" but I have a reservation that it should be optional and easy to turn on and off.
you got 85% :D you could change the german constitution with that ^^
YAY! & YES!
Optionality to be tracked should be added (I'm probably the millionth person to say that) but "them" (mojang) tracking you shouldn't make any difference, if anything it could end up preventing people from using your account without you knowing (a feature like the gmail one, where if you login from your recent location, for example The UK and then later the "pirate" kogs in from USA, mojang will be able to realise that there is a "pirate" and inform the "real player" to change their password)
Whew....That was long!
I like it.
For those that dont. Give them the option. But if you play on a SMP server, guess what, they can track everything if they so choose, not too much difference here.
One problem. If you focus on developing for what the majority of people do. I hope the minority won't be left in the dust.
But cheers
as long as its anonymous
You could make it log stuff like that to a simple .txt file and send it at the end of the play, instead of real time, or itll send it next time you start it up, connected to the internet
"NO MORE A.C.T.A" XD I'm sorry but should be optional, vote yes, but I was shaking his finger, optional.
I understand in every way how it would be awesome. However, i do feel it should be optional. Call me paranoid or whatever, but i dont particularly like giving out info to the internet in general. Its not that i dont trust the site, theres just always that niggling feeling (which i suppose is paranoia) that i haven't actually met these people on the internet. Then again i can see how collecting info could not only help out the developers but also provide some fun statistics for users to look at.
So it could be fun or (and i cant even think of a reason how) annoying
NO MORE A.C.T.A
NO!
THIS IS EVIL!!!
If this happens you can rest assured i will do my very best to get it removed!
Comon guys! this is ridicules!
I'd so go for it, I have no issues sharing what I do in the game.
It would be no different from playing Team Fortress 2 and having achievements tracked, because regardless of what others think, it's still a form of tracking since it's stored online.
And I doubt it'd slow the game down at all. I'd assume it's a small text file that just contains some basic values.
Also, to those who worry about their internet usage statistics, you probably shouldn't be playing multiplayer if a small file is going to bump your internet usage over the limit.
To those that are afraid of anonymous statistics, what's the worse that you think could happen?
It's not like they could find out where you live and start sending you emails for counterfeit drugs by finding out that "One player has played for 2 hours and died X times via Y"
Besides if they did start to track things you didn't want them to, someone would find out quickly, and Mojang would be in court. The fan base is too massive to let anything slip through the cracks for a significant period of time.
it should be optional, but great idea though! and to the people who say the dislikers are paranoid and crazy, they're just sharing their opinion. they probably have a reason.
Hi Notch!
I hope this comment makes it to you, and that you aren't too busy being awesome to catch it.
I support anonymous usage statistics, however, I would hope that you adopt information gathering best-practices. This means:
1) An Opt-Out, easily available either through the client or through account management
2) A full list of the information that would be obtained/kept that is viewable through a policy agreement (privacy agreement or whatever the lawyers end up making you go with).
Keep up the awesome,
~D
I like the idea, for the dislikers there should be an on/off button
I wouldn't mind this, but I have one argument I want to make that I haven't seen just yet.
Link it to the account, not the client!
I use MC on 4+ computers on a regular basis, and I don't want this to be more complicated than it has to be. Make it an option on signup for new users, and a one-time popup or something for existing users, then when we get a new machine or play MC anywhere online, keep our preferences there. The ability to turn it off or on at any point is also a must.
Honestly, how can so many people be scared of sending data, that has no meaning to them what-so-ever, to the maker of the game they are playing so the game can be improved?? I am appalled by how over reactive you people are, Notch went out of his way to ask how we felt about it when he could have simply written it into the next update, and reading over these comments all I see is criticism, do you people even know what "anonymous" means?! Give the guy a break and help make the game you paid for a little better, if nothing else it makes sure you get your moneys worth, so stop being a bunch of paranoid hypocrites!!
Yaaaaaaaaaaay polls! Also, comments! Haven't seen a comments link on this blog in forever!
On topic: I think that sounds like an awesome idea, but I'm not sure if it should be optional or not...
What about people who don't own minecraft? (i personally have bought minecraft,and enjoy playing it) would this make their playing more ''difficulty''? but at second hand...i dont give a shit. its their problem and it would be epic if they were planning lederboard thingy!
People are so damn paranoid. Scared to have anonymous information given to you? It's not like they want your anonymous (Still, who cares? It's anonymous) porn site history. They want to know what modes you play and on what OS. WHO CARES? Bunch of paranoid crazies.
Thanks for asking!
Personally I wouldn't mind (mostly BECAUSE you asked), but I agree with folks who say it should be an option. Yes, that biases your data towards people who are willing to volunteer it, but it's worth it for the respect for privacy IMO.
Those of us with a limited internet connection that makes you pay for every megabyte used will not like this (i.e. me). Maybe an option to turn it off? I wouldn't mind otherwise, but the usage would really take a toll on my being able to play minecraft...
Wow, thanks for at least putting a poll asking us, Lol.
I don't mind. Perhaps create a leaderboard or something relevant with the stats? Great idea still. Would really help you see what to focus updates and adjustments on.
You guys are seriously paranoid and idiot, when it's sharing your own information on FB which is perfectly stored and sold illegally to other companies, but when Notch wants to know how long you play you're complaining haha :D (seriously I wish notch had more intelligent fans sometimes....)
Yes kids Notch will steal your password and hack your pc!
I bet the majority of the no votes are people with hacked clients.
Can we be able to change our player names first?
I hope those who say no realise that many, probably most, online games track some kind of user information.
It's not like they're measuring your dick. Relax.
Make it optional, as it would be a right to privacy issue in my opinion. Other than that, I'd be perfectly fine with tracking what I do in game. It's valuable data to you as a developer, at no impact to me in any way. Well, maybe a slight hit to my bandwidth, though I don't think I'll notice.
Hello Notch and whole team. I am gonna participate in anonymous statistics as long as it helps you make the game better :)
Just one suggestion. With the data sent put there a field for client (not only web version or standalone) so other client cant send their data too. For example i use Spoutcraft client very much and i want you to know it :)
Thank you for you attention, sincerely Kyborek.
I don't mind, but you need to ask me to opt in first.
You should also track the most used servers and mods
ah yeah, here is my ip like all my other plans for the future, i going to the toilet right now (pls track this^^)
thats EVIL dont do it
Lol look at all the whiners!
Are you guys really afraid of Mojang doing some crooked shit? They're asking for the simplest of the simple data-logs. It's almost as harmless as what Steam does with their achievements, time played, etc.. Get your heads out of your fuckin arses, fucking bunch of retarded down-syndrome spoiled bitchy kids.
I logged in the other day and was wondering why on earth more tracking was not going on. I realize from watching videos that I don't play ANYTHING like the people that post videos on youtube. ALL my worlds are underground and they are vast underground that have been explored and linked by amazing underground networks of tunnels.
From above ground there is often almost no sign or mark that I have made any impact on the world at all. In fact prior to beds (and not knowing about the coordinates being available with F3) I had to can many a world where i got stuck below ground, died and then wandered around never finding my original base (usually just a door in a hill).
Track away. Please make some of the statistics available. I love the stats page. A global online stats page would be great too. breakdowns by region would be awesome. And most importantly, better gaming experience could be produced. Some people are paranoid. Let it be optional (have them uncheck it if they dont' want it) and everybody should be happy.
Why is everyone complaining? All it does is see how long you play for etc. Its hardly hacking your computer or anything!
As long as I don't have to accept a long legal agreement, ever...
yeah, i dont mind, andthing for minecraft but i think you will lose players if you dont add toggle for it
Should be able to toggle on or off
This just sound retarded, i don't want to feel watched/tracked well playing minecraft.... If this happens i am giving up on the game :/
If this doesn't have an opt out, I'll be blocking the Minecraft.jar from internet access. Just because some people are happy to share information, doesn't mean everyone is, as is apparent from this poll itself.
Yes, however it would be nice to add an opt-out feature. It has been said before, however I think it's important to show support for any idea that you actually care about.
Make it opt-in. Have a dialog pop up when the game is first started, asking for participation. I would probably accept it then, but I am voting no on this poll since you do not indicate that you will make it opt-in.
You cant use a poll as an agreement for all users to allow tracking. I don't care if it's in the game but I want to opt out.
Snooping as usual I see.
Lol jk, like everyone has said before me. Optional please.
I think an opt out would be good. I don't think I would submit this data from many other games I play if I was given a choice, but I have no fear you will mis treat it. All that being said, here's my data.
I play multiplayer nearly exclusively, and when I am in single player mode, it is to test something before I put it into the multiplayer server I run. Game sessions are about 2-4 hours long.
I just wanted to say the same as everyone else. It's fine with me. But be sure you make it optional as to avoid offending the minority and to play off-line (not that it should only be optional by playing off-line, I'm just saying it should still be possible to play off-line).
Yes, so long as you have a setting in Minecraft to opt-out.
Opt-out and I'm fine with this. Not that I would, but it's only polite.
Maybe also raise it as a message after the upgrade so that other users (who haven't seen your post) are aware that it's happening and they can disable it - but that it is incredibly useful to you.
That should cover all the legalese and stop any complaints!
A needed internet connection while playing is evil.
Please collect whatever you want (opt in) and send that along with the "next" login to your server.
Using the internet all 5 minutes will break some games on trains, airplains etc...
I voted "no" on the poll only because there was no distinct "Only if opt-in" option. Without that option, this IS a definite no.
But yeah, I totally agree "time-to-penis" should be a metric.
I would say no, only because I play on my friends server, which he hosts from his laptop, in our dorm. Therefore it would cause his game, and probably a lot of others, to be extremely laggy and bandwidth hoggy. lol
Look at Steam and Team Fortress 2:
steam tracks a lot of game stats for all games in general, but TF2 tracks almost everything you do. It's cool because it lets you see how much time you play each class and the kind of points you rack up. It is also used in tracking long time achievements like getting 2004 kills on scout and whatnot.
People who are afraid of having their actions tracked are either stupid, conspiracy nuts, breaking the rules, pirating the game, or just seriously over protective.
Stat tracking lets you see ways you can improve the game that you might not have seen before. If you track stats that'll even allow you to add your own kill x amount of badguys and etc. later.
I've seen a few stat tracking plugins for server mods and I think tracking stats is AWESOME! Being able to turn off such functions is nice so that people who either are those things I stated earlier or, if stats become like TF2 and people annoy the hell out of you by checking their "rank" every 5 seconds and you want to avoid that, you can!
I'd love to see a stat tracking system that people can either build on, or has built in ways to view and access them ourselves and even show them off.
Like others said, make it optional to opt in or a pop-up when user first log in for this and make sure there will be comprehensive list of EVERYTHING thats being collected and most people will have no problem with it...
If you don't tell people what exactly is collected it will sound suspicious
That's a good idea to do research for Mojang. I don't see why people would be upset about. I mean were only playing a simple game it's not as if we have some dark deep secrets or conspiracy to over rule the world.
Look, Notch. I don't trust you. You fix bugs the community loves for no reason. You change things that worked perfectly fine and break them completely.
So no. You don't get my usage statistics. I don't want you to fuck up whichever game mode I play more often.
Check minecraft version number as well. I'm sure it would be useful to you to know how many people are using old versions to allow for mod use.
Do it! I don't know how you got so far without doing this already. Feedback is obviously crucial!
You better capture crashes while you're at it.
And please, if you haven't already, add New Relic to your back end. Super quick installation for any typical java app and lots of amazing insight into performance and use.
I voted Yes, but would also prefer that it be optional.
If for no other reason, I think it's a good idea to ask the user if they want to provide information because it ensures that they are aware of it and won't be surprised later to find out they're being tracked.
Making it an option would mean leaving that type of people out of the statistics which hate bigbrotherdom, as they might play more singleplayer than multiplayer or vice-versa... we may never now, unless you make it non-optional.
Add a popup box at some point, defaulting to on but not sending any data before the user agrees:
===
Can Mojang collect some data about the way you play minecraft? It will be anonymised and used internally for our research only.
( )Yes
( )No
If yes, which data can we collect?
( ) Track me by a unique identifier (default off)
( ) Send my OS specs
( ) Send my hardware specs
( ) Track my game session length
( ) Track my general in-game actions (time spent mining, fighting, building, exploring, farming)
( ) Track my achievements
( ) Track my time-to-penis
( ) Track my MP connections and friends
===
Most users probably won't mind you collecting data, and different users mind different data collection, and more users would be accepting if they knew what exactly was being collected.
This method would get you the most data possible with the least people offended.
Make it opt-in, and I have no problem with it. Put it in as opt-out or without a choice, and you become malware in my book. Even Steam, the granddaddy of big-brother DRMs, has a pop-up to ask permission before gathering local hardware and software information (and there is no consequence for declining).
The information will be very interesting to see, but it should not be gathered without express consent of each user. Besides, doing so without at least ammending your EULA and sending notification to your userbase would be illegal in the US.
I love statistics, and would really like to see fx how many people play survival vs how many creative. Not to mention how many play Hardcore! (We should really make a "Lets get the Hardcore stats up" day then)
The selling point for Minecraft that tipped me from, "hey, that looks cool" to, "I have to buy this right now" is when my buddy showed me the "Not on Steam!" text on the title. I hate all social media and the Big Brotherization of the Internet in general. I would be cool with this if and only if it was off by default and you had to opt in to it.
Heh, was going to say it should be a toggle-able option, but seems from the comments everyones got that covered already ;)
Perhaps adding a suggestions box or something which people can optionally fill in to help give more data? For instace I like to play long sessions, but because im currently using an old laptop, i have to keep them short or else they get too laggy :/
Its ok as long You do it the optional way. Also You didnt mension the purpose???
And I agree, that by how we are playing minecarft cold meen not only widows or mac, but also game type- survaival, creative, how many pleyers per multiplayer server.
If you implement it, make it optional ok? Otherwise I may choose to stop playing. I voted "no", I don't want my data tracked, if you want to know what people want just read the forum suggestions ok?
I Actually think this is pretty cool, so I voted "Yes"
For those who are scared by the idea you should implent an off button
And we should be able to see our own informations so we can analyse our own gamingstyle.
I personally think that stats in games are one of the funniest things to check.
Just remember GTA:VC and SA etc.
I voted no since there was nothing mentioned about an option to get out of it. If you set the default to "opt-out", let people opt-in, and don't nag about changing the setting within in the game once the user has made a choice, I would be ok with that.
It would be interesting if you could track other things like the most crafted items or the most popular things to make/do in minecraft. With that data, you could maybe make updates to the parts of the game that people enjoy the most. Or flip that idea and make updates for the things used the least so that people will use them more.
Do it as opt-in and put settings to it in options. Also allow people to read about what kind of information is being sent. You can also add a few steps of tracking, e.g. non/general session info only/general gameplay style (time spent in specific biomes, or underground)/etc etc. This could provide you information which places should be more attractive to player.
Totally fine with that, as long as it is opt-in / opt-out and doesn't make the game lag. I love to have my stats available in BF3 or TF2, so I don't see how it could be a problem in Minecraft. Valve and EA are way much more "evil" (as some of you said) than Mojang I'd love stats about what I've done In Minecraft (distance, number of blocks used, etc...).
Anyway, as long as it helps making the game better it's ok for me. Keep on the good job guys !
I voted "No", but would be cool with it if an attempt was made to notify all players, possibly through in-game announcement, giving them the option of stopping their use, and/or deletion of, the game if they do not like it. Also, I would want to know how long do you intend to collect this data for? Obviously you need it for development, marketing, or some-such, but when will you have enough data?
Appreciate that our opinion was at least asked. Thanks.
Just my $.02
TB
Well, in case of minecraft its ok, since it would be easily possible to analyse the content beeing send. (looking at the games code)
Thus the community serving as validation instance, and reporting system if anything is unproptiate.
Just echoing the sentiment, but providing an opt-in would be ideal; on first-run, the game could pop up tracking data with a check box, for example: "Would you like to send anonymous user data to Mojang while you play? No personal information will be sent and it will help us improve the game! You can change this setting at any time on the options screen."
Also, I would suggest being totally transparent on what gets tracked, so that the uber paranoid and otherwise unsure can make informed choices; just a page on the minecraft site explaining what variables are tracked. If you want to go the extra distance, maybe explain some examples of how that info is useful to you as a dev; education solves many problems!
I say do it, just give us an option to opt out!
I'm excited to see what you gather from all of this.
First Google and now Mojang, think it's time to get out my tinfoil hat.
I don't want to internet any more.
I don't want people stalking me
I don't really have a problem with it. Steam collects this kind of data and calls it a social feature. It's freaking hilarious that some people literally said "i wouldnt even let valve do it if they asked" when Valve not only does it, they show the stats right on your profile.
HOWEVER, the key here is transparency in what's being collected. I'm totally ok with "we're collecting length of play sessions, hardware stats, and game mode info." I'm NOT ok with "we're collecting anonymous play data."
It should optimally be optional. The best way to do it is the way companies like Mozilla do it: when you first start up, pop up a dialog explaining what's being collected and why, possibly with a link to a website explaining in greater detail, a checkbox that says "I'm down with this" and an ok button. You'll get more data if the box defaults to being checked (just like countries that make being an organ donor the default magically see a massive uptick in number of organ donors), and as long as your aren't sneaky about it ("Do you not not mind if we don't not track you?") no one will really have room to complain. Oh, that won't stop some people, but those people aren't worth worrying about.
Making it configurable for the ~13% of us that seem to be completely paranoid would work well.
Rather than base future features on what's happening (well what's just happened) just as you produced a great game from your ideas I think *you* should keep innovating based on what you think not from what's happening. Using the tracking data is a bit like investing based on history.
Definitely okay with that ! As long as you allow people to deactivate it, there's no problem I can see. Also, could you also add the statistics uploading on minecraft*dot*net ? Would be quite similar, I guess :D
I am OK with this. I hope that this means too that if you find people are not using you may take it out or dial it down? There are some changes made with the release that have severely diminished my enjoyment of the game. I can Ignore them and still have fun in creative mode, but survival has gotten too unnecessarily complicated.
er guys, he didn't even need to ask you. he already has the ability to change the code and you can't do a jot about it. he's polling you to cover his ass so don't think your ridiculous opinion counts for anything
Sounds awesome as long as there's no lag and it doesn't turn into a DRM-type thing. I don't know why the hell people are freaking out about it tracking you, there's no reason for it to know who you are, or where you are IRL or anything. It just wants to know what you're doing in MC. Believe it or not, nobody's going to use that info to come rape your kids.
I see no harm. What damage could they cause with how long I've been playing or what mode I'm in. shoot they don't even know my name. Go for it.
I really don't care about what you do with my data. You can make it log a few kb every couple of minutes for all I care.
Anyone that's signed up to the steam network has to experience all sorts of data logging, and it really makes it worth it when you see your stats compared to others.
Go for gold!
Timo et al, I've learned more about you from reading that comment that you left and clicking on the URL than I could ever learn with a Terabyte of the kind of data on play times, client versions and other such data that Notch is talking about. It's very hard to see how they could use the data for evil even if that was their intention. In fact, it seems to me the only possible thing they could use such data for is if it was all put together and they used it to figure out how to serve the users better. And the more universally that data is collected (i.e. not just by opting in), the more accurate it will be, and the better use it can be put.
I totally understand people's concerns about private data, but this is not private data and I think that as well as being protective about the use of our information, we need to not be so data-paranoid that we flinch at even the most innocuous uses. It's not a slippery slope - Notch wanting to see what clients people are using today does not mean he wants to know what newspapers you read or what colour your toothbrush is tommorrow. In fact, I'm surprised that they weren't already collecting this data.
So, my stance is: use my non-personal, anonymous data how you like, you don't have to ask me. If you have a reason to want to know more personal stuff, ask again, and then let's talk about opt in/opt out.