[amluto]

I don’t play Minecraft, but I’ve noticed that there are plenty of what appear to be open source Minecraft clients and servers. Presumably one could connect an open source client to an open source server without any particular involvement from MS. It’s not even immediately obvious that doing so would infringe on any of MS’s rights.

So why do people, especially in places like Iran, use Microsoft’s Minecraft implementation? Is it just ease of use?

[willismichael]

I had my children playing one of the open source Minecraft clones for a few years, but after they saw all their friends playing Minecraft, they wanted the "real thing". It's not exactly the same game, and don't discount the value of shared experience with other people. Minecraft is as much about the community that you play with, and it's hard to get people to play an open source clone that sits in this uncanny valley of looking and playing just a little bit different than Minecraft.

[wizardwes]

Also, the open source versions are usually MineTest based, which is less a game, and more an engine that you add mods to to make your minecraft. That's another added layer of complexity to deter beginners, even if more advanced players enjoy the freedom for customization

[thriftwy]

The obvious answer is that either you eat it up and build an Iranian community based on the OSS thing, or use a VPN and conceal your connection to Iran.

This is the way.

[willismichael]

Well, sure, that's the HN answer, and that's what I would do, but not everybody is as technically inclined to just jump in and build their own thing.