The Minecraft Workbench, as the name suggests, is a site with tools and resources for Minecraft players, and it's yet another reason why the hit indie game which now surpasses World of Warcraft on Google Trends fascinates me so much. All but unknown only a few months ago, a large fan community has sprung up to support each other with tools like this: A php tooltip plugin that enables you to link Minecraft items on a website with popup tooltips, taking that information from the Workbench's database (so far over 160 unique Minecraft items):
As "WelshPixie", the publicist for Minecraft Workbench tells me, this energy is inspired in great part by the Minecraft community: "[It's] one of the friendliest gaming communities I've had the pleasure of playing with. I think anything we can do to keep the phenomenon fun and interactive even when you're not actually in the game is a good thing." The tooltip plug-in is meant to do just that.
Another motivation, interestingly enough, is a desire to support Minecraft's main creator, Markus "Notch" Persson, who's become a multi-millionaire nearly overnight because of the game's success.
"Notch is the soul embodiment of everything we are working for," as Minecraft Workbench developer "Syllus and Luclin" puts it to me. He, along with other members of the site's development team, are indie game developers themselves, and want to support Persson in any way they can:
"He is a small independent dev who was doing what he loved to do, and unlike so many other independent studios, he made it! We are very passionate about the game we are doing, and as any indie will tell you, whenever one of us makes it big, it is very exciting for all of us! Almost anywhere you go in the indie dev communities, the one thing you will find, almost regardless of engine, genre, or team size, is that it is almost like a family of sorts. When you hear about one of them making it big, it's like being proud of a family member, and also being inspired by that family member. Notch is yet another bit of proof telling me that my team can finish this product, and can be a success, so there is that initial feeling of connection there."
With that kind of passion, we're likely to see Minecraft keep getting bigger, and more projects spin out from its success.
Got Minecraft news you want to share? Contact me, part-time Minecraft reporter Wagner James Au at wjamesau at well dot com. (My Minecraft avatar was made by Bone Mosten of Punching Trees).
I think Notch should be the next LL CEO :D
Posted by: Eggy Lippmann | Thursday, October 28, 2010 at 01:40 PM