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[RoninChaos]

Can't this just be a symptom of his depression? Some people self medicate with drugs, he's attempted to do it with extravagant purchases.

I'm sure it's possible, but it's a stupid thing to do. If I had the money he had I would elevate my friends and family up rather than myself and then hope they come along with me.

 

[| Praxis |]

No it is because he is richer and more successful than me therefore I hope he suffers

Well yeah, that's it. Heroin isn't something to be envious of, buying amazing houses is. The cause is probably the same.

 

[Zakalwe]

O for fucks sake.

Yeh, because there's no way that someone with all that money could be incredibly depressed.

Don't be an idiot.

 

[Codeblue]

Depression sucks, that much I can empathize with. It's too bad he lets loud and hateful people get the better of him and keep him from creating. I've only gotten one death threat on the job, and it was pretty jarring, but it helped me develop an ambivalent attitude towards whether or not terrible people like my work. I can't pretend to know what it was like having a fan base as large as Minecrafts constantly nagging you, but I hope he finds a way to go back to doing what he loves.

 

[E92 M3]

It's unfortunate that so many of you are jealous and are all about the money.

 

[BigDes]

I'm sure it's possible, but it's a stupid thing to do. If I had the money he had I would elevate my friends and family up rather than myself and then hope they come along with me.

Take it from me, depression does not encourage smart behavior. What it actually encourages is a desperation to feel anything at all.

 

[7DollarHagane]

What is some billionaire gave $5k to every family that made less than 50k a year to pay off debts.

That would be awesome.

 

[Messypandas]

his father had drug issues and killied himself a few years ago. had a hard time making friends at school, ended up dropping out if I remember correctly. spent all of his twenties programming. has explained the partying as making up for lost time. after the success he quickly got married to his gf but they divorces soon after.

Sounds like he may have already had a hole that he thought he could fill with the "high life" when he got the windfall then. Not trying to go House on it, but thats how I read the situation. "Depression is a first world problem" may be the dumbest thing I've read today.

 

[StrongBlackVine]

What is some billionaire gave $5k to every family that made less than 50k a year to pay off debts.

That would be awesome.

How would those families be chosen or would they just give all of their money away? Very socialist of you.

 

[GHG]

It's unfortunate that so many of you are jealous and are all about the money.

It's actually astounding. Some of the stuff I'm reading in this thread is simply astounding.

 

[SlipperyFishes]

depression is a first world problem, maybe that's why.



i'm sure he could afford some big producers, Kanye, Dr. Dre, etc.

This is an asshole thing to say as someone who has been deep in that hole so yeah, I hope you never get affected :/

 

[T.Slothrop]

He needs to start a charity or volunteer somewhere. Being idle and isolated is a recipe for depression. Fulfillment is found in altruism.

To be fair though, he has to make all new friends. And I don't envy him in that regard.

 

[Marcovaldo]

what good does any of us worrying about him do

 

[7DollarHagane]

How would those families be chosen or would they just give all of their money away? Very socialist of you.

Socialist would be the government doing it. An individual is philanthropy.

Easy enough to run credit/tax forms if given permission.

 

[BigDes]

It's actually astounding. Some of the stuff I'm reading in this thread is simply astounding.

Well name me a wealthy person who has suffered from mental health issues, they just don't exist. Now if you excuse me I am off to listen to the brand new Nirvana album.

 

[mitch1971]

GTFO with that bullshit. I suffer from depression and my job isn't going to give me a day off if I don't feel like getting out of bed. The problem with his tweets is that he has the means to do something about his problems and it's sounds like he's not doing shit. Most people do not have the money to take care of what they need to and take care of their own mental well being. Hence the lack of empathy for Notch.

What he's complaining about is the freedom wealth has given him. He can do whatever he wants and his friends can't. Well, he can fix that. He could start something else and hire his friends. He could help pay off friends debt and throw them some cash if he wants to change what they're going through. If he wants to be a regular joe he can give the money away but he isn't going to do that. So fuck him. I can't feel bad about a person who has options bitching like he has none. He didn't have to buy that house. He didn't have to move. He doesn't have to party in Ibiza. He doesn't have to do a lot of the things that make him miserable.

Or Maybe he's just a fucking asshole feeling sorry for himself? He's certainly lost perspective. Even in his one tweet he talks about pulling an Elon Musk but he doesn't want to deal with the people that apparently made him sell mine craft. So at that point my question to him would be "so what the fuck are you going to do?" He has the means to do whatever he wants. Get some help and do something to put meaning back in your life. Telling former coworkers "fuck you all" after he was bitching that they hate him doesn't really take into account why they might hate him. And making excuses for why you don't want to do anything with yourself on twitter is a bad look.

Agreed. He should get off his arse and do something about it. Money isn't everything but it makes a hell of a fucking difference when half of life's stresses revolve around the stuff.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

I'd laugh if he posted something like this later on: 'Just bought a couple of new ferraris. Feel better now lol.'

 

[bomblord1]

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Always think of this poem when things like this are brought up. No, no amount of money can buy happiness and too much of it can alienate the people around you. When you have nothing else to look forward to people start to wonder what reason there is to continue.

 

[Zakalwe]

It's actually astounding. Some of the stuff I'm reading in this thread is simply astounding.

It's depressing in itself.

Sad because these people actually think and live that way, and even more sad because they don't realise how detrimental that way is to themselves and everyone around them.

It's even worse in relationship advice threads...

 

[MikeDip]

We really have a ways to go in mental health awareness eh...

Yes

 

[akidnamededdy]

Well at least he can afford therapy.

 

[StrongBlackVine]

Socialist would be the government doing it. An individual is philanthropy.

Easy enough to run credit/tax forms if given permission.

It's a socialist idea and not a good one.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

His Ibiza example was to accentuate his situation and how he's tried to deal with it and the absence of any solution evident to him. As is the more humble (and important) examples of being left by someone he loved and the boredoms he faces waiting for his regular joe friends to get off from work while he sits staring at a computer screen. The wealth he's accumulated has hit a singularity of usefulness in his own mind yet he still faces difficulties he possible feels ill-equipped, in experience and knowledge, to deal with. This is possibly (dangerous armchair hypothesis here) an adverse consequence of his rapid influx of wealth and over reliance on it as a solution to life issues, which for most people include bills, housing, food, and novelty entertainment goods/adventures.

Maybe he is an asshole. I don't fucking know, because I don't follow his twitter, I don't follow his business and economic adventures, and haven't expressed much interest in the lifestyle of Notch beyond various bullshit posted here and elsewhere about Minecraft's fortune, selling to Microsoft, and some house party pictures I saw a little back. That's a lie; I did see him in an interview once, and he seemed pretty quiet and grounded, but TV is TV so who knows what he's really like.

Many people suffer personal issues in life and don't know how to seek a solution. Having wealth is extremely useful in these situations, but not a solution in itself nor does it immediately reward you with answers and direction if you don't already know them.

You've presented a version of him that is, to be perfectly honest and from my perspective (and hey, feel free to disagree), hugely judgemental and laden in a bias of your own perspective on his wealth and what that means. He's just fucking sad dude. Sad that someone he loved left him because of his wealth and lifestyle when he probably thought he was living well. On a holiday in a notorious party destination and bored shitless and feeling like he cannot connect with anybody. He can absolutely take steps to fix it and being wealthy as fuck gives him a huge advantage in doing so. But does he know how to fix it? Does he know the steps he should take? Does he know how to satiate those internalised feelings of loneliness and isolation?

Have you offered him advice? Or are you too busy accusing him of not wanting to do anything about it?

I think you're getting to what I wanted to post in reply to your earlier comment, so I'll do it here instead.

The vast majority of people on the internet never cared about Notch to begin with, simply because he's a stranger to most of them. What a lot of people did care about, in my opinion, are the story and the ideals which used to be identified with him. The story of a humble indie dev making it big by creating a game anyone could appreciate, a game that was the antithesis of what the industry had up to then equated with a AAA financial success because it put the focus on personal expression and creativity rather than on flashy presentation and high production value. Minecraft as a game shared many of the ideals that used to be attributed to Notch back when he would go on twitter and call out others for putting money before other more important interests.

In my opinion, people loved those ideals far more than they loved the individual person. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but Notch probably didn't realize it.

I think a big part of the backlash comes from a perceived betrayal of those same ideals that made Notch an industry darling a few years ago.

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

Here's the thing, he seems like a good dude. I know he's donated money to charity and things like that. But if he was worried about losing friends or not being normal the his first step shouldn't have been to buy a 70 million dollar house. If I got stupid rich that would be the first thing I would avoid. No one is going to want to fuck with you if they're in a two bedroom apartment and you live in a house with 25 bathrooms.

But this is a ridiculous statement to make. "He has all of this money, he should have known NOT to spend it!"

Like, what would anyone do if they had what was, for all intents and purposes, infinite money? What would you do? Going by the $2 billion estimate, for him to spend all of his money, he would have to spend over $5.5 million a month, every month, for the next 30 years.

We know he's tried to invest it in other things. He tried to be an angel investor for Doublefine at one point, but eventually backed off because as he eventually found out, there's all kinds of laws and legalese and red tape to go through before you can just give somebody money like that.

I imagine he went down a list of things he'd like to do and he got to the bottom and went "I don't know what else is left."

Like that's the whole problem with this thread, it's a lot of armchair psychology about oh, he's depressed, he should get counseling, oh he should have done this, oh he should do that

It's really easy to be a back seat driver. And hindsight is always 20/20. I'm not sure anyone in this thread, be it me, you, or anyone else, would have found better ways to deal with having that much money.

 

[Walpurgis]

He needs to find something to do. I think philanthropy would be good for him. He should call Bill Gates.

 

[blastprocessor]

I wonder how many of those tweets where posted after a few drinks? Sounds like he's bored of the good life and needs to create a new game.

 

[Grief.exe]

I've always felt Notch should just start a small game company out of his mansion in California. He has the money, let his imagination go wild.

This also fills his obvious need for social interaction as several people now come to his house daily.

He needs to find something to do. I think philanthropy would be good for him. He should call Bill Gates.

Starting a video game related charity is an excellent use of his time!

Especially in California where you have a huge concentration of wealthy people looking for tax write offs.

What is some billionaire gave $5k to every family that made less than 50k a year to pay off debts.

That would be awesome.

Haven't you heard of trickle down economics?

 

[New002]

I think that part of his problem I exactly what you have mostly demonstrated here in this thread. When you become extremely wealthy, you lose friends, peers, empathy to things that have nothing to do with money, and the respect of people who once admired or believed in you. Then, because of your high status, you're surrounded by toxic people who's only interest in you is money. While everyone who isn't as wealthy as you, that you wish to relate and associate with, will never sympathize with any single human difficulties you have. Like money somehow removes your rights to have emotional or psychological turmoil. Wealthy people tend to end up leaving their old associations behind not because they can't keep up with their rich life style, but because those friends and peers reject them.

Sad? Lonely? Depressed? Need help? Scared? All things every single one of us will experience, and compassion and empathy for that should be universal. Regardless of class status.

Solid post, and to be honest I'm definitely part of the problem. I read the OP and I've read through chunks of this thread including your post here, yet I still have to force myself to empathize with Notch if that makes any sense. Like I KNOW I should feel empathy here, but it just feels like he has so many options open to him. BUT depression is a nasty thing, and it can be difficult to realize that you even have any options.

I think when it comes to wealth I just have this annoying empathy barrier shaped by my family's experience of coming up poor in the US and having to watch my mom support me and my siblings while being able to keep nothing for herself. I'm not saying that those experiences make it okay to not empathize, or to not empathize as much, with the wealthy, but they have shaped my outlook for better or worse.

In the end I hope he gets his life sorted out and is able to find some happiness. Hopefully he can use that wealth to start making moves towards that goal.

 

[GHG]

I wonder how many of those tweets where posted after a few drinks? Sounds like he's bored of the good life and needs to create a new game.

What is this "good life" you speak of?

If he's not enjoying the so called "good life" is it still the good life?

 

[L.O.R.D]

i just hope he wont use drugs or something like that to get away the depression

 

[Trojita]

Found a great girl, but she's afraid of me and my life style and went with a normal person instead.

A normal person?

In sweden, I will sit around and wait for my friends with jobs and families to have time to do shit, watching my reflection in the monitor.

Is he complaining that other people have to work so he can't hang out with them until they have time off?

Hanging out in ibiza with a bunch of friends and partying with famous people, able to do whatever I want, and I've never felt more isolated.

Depression is a hell of a thing.

 

[fantomena]

This thread makes me angry.

Some of you are straight out assholes.

 

[Skinpop]

yeesh

Must be fucking weird when success and pressure doesn't really make you happy, but money doesn't either.

Like, where are you supposed to go in life when that is the situation? Give it all away and start from scratch, but you're still the guy who created Minecraft so that's not really an option. Carry on trying to buy happiness, but that doesn't seem to work.

I'd wager he'll get over it. it's just change, and change always comes with some measure of pain even if it's a positive one. time should sort things out for him, and I'm sure he'll learn a lot about himself during all of this to make good decisions for his own well-being in the future.

Should I ever get filthy rich, I hope that nobody will know about it.

my ideal fame/profession combination - being a successful writer working under a pseudonym.

This. It's not like he had to buy the most expensive house and do the things that make him depressed. Maybe he should take some notes from the other Swedish billionaire

the whole thing with kamprad living a frugal life is pretty much an image sowed by himself. he wants to be seen as this slightly stupid dude driving around in old rusty cars oblivious about the money he has on his bank account. the reality is that he lives in a luxurious mansion in Switzerland going through all kinds of hoops to avoid paying taxes.

A huge difference between the two is also that it took decades for kamprad to build the success of ikea, and the company grew to a huge organization with thousands of employees. that adds a completely different layer of responsibility. notch's insane success is more akin to winning a lottery than nurturing a business to success.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Why does everyone at Mojang hate him all of a sudden?

 

[GSG Flash]

Based on his previous tweets from the past couple of years, he's a bit of a primadonna, so I wouldn't worry about him, but his close friends should keep a close eye on him just in case...

 

[BigDes]

Is he complaining that other people have to work so he can't hang out with them until they have time off?

No, he's complaining that he is lonely and doesn't know what to do

Stop trying to make people out to be the bad guy all the time, this is a dude who is unhappy with his life and your first thought it to make him look like an asshole.

A little bit of basic empathy, please.

 

[the_batman]

i just hope he wont use drugs or something like that to get away the depression

speaking of which, who or what would get all his money if/when he dies?

 

[ZanDatsu]

I understand how Notch feels. I sometimes think when a certain game comes out it will make me happy, but it doesn't. The game wasn't good enough to cure me. Hope Notch finds a game to cure him, like MGSV.

 

[Coolluck]

He should seek help. Luckily, he has the money and the time to do so.

 

[BigDes]

Why does everyone at Mojang hate him all of a sudden?

He gave them all some money when the deal with Microsoft went through.

I think they feel it wasn't enough, (it probably wasn't to be fair but hey ho) when compared with how much he had made.

 

[blastprocessor]

What is this "good life" you speak of?

If he's not enjoying the so called "good life" is it still the good life?

I'm sure anyone who's suffered depression will tell you there are ups and downs. A few tweets don't necessarily mean he's having a bad life, just a down moment.

 

[Metaphor for Giant Robot]

It's hard to ask for sympathy for someone who says "fuck you so hard" to coworkers that he sold out to for fortune. Nah, probably a lot easier to just say "u salty cuz you ain't rich LOLOLOL"

 

[Robaperas]

Maybe he was suffering from depression even before selling his company, and all that has happened to him just accentuated the symptoms. I don't think I should worry about him, but his close friends/family should. I did suffer from depression, had suicidal thoughts and all that, but it was solved with money so it's kinda hard to relate.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

He's probably the most unfortunate and needy person on the planet. I can't stop crying for him.

He doesn't want to use his position to help other people because he would have to deal with too many assholes? I sympathise, I guess, but I don't really find it easier to feel that people are interesting or more worthy of empathy just because they have money or are famous.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I feel bad for the guy, but he has limitless means so if he's unhappy with his lifestyle all he has to do is change it. Set up a foundation for indie devs, a charity for disabled kids, go travelling, visit the 50 most remarkable landmarks in the world, found a new indie dev with a focus on completely unique experiences, buy a Triple-A developer and try to make an epic Mass Effect-style space opera, reestablish an old defunct developer and a classic franchise he's fond of, set up a society for Swedish filmmaking, donate most of the money to charity and just leave a decent amount of money to live comfortably, and so on. I mean, having this kind of money doesn't have to be the end of a happy lifestyle if he uses it sensibly.

But then, I know it's easy to write all this on a forum, and these aren't decisions I'll ever have to make. Hope he sorts himself out.

 

[7DollarHagane]

It's a socialist idea and not a good one.

It was just a joke.

Even a billion dollars and you'd only be able to do that for about 20 thousand families.

 

[StrongBlackVine]

This thread makes me angry.

Some of you are straight out assholes.

The last topic I read about Notch shows just how jealous so many people are of him. Not sure why because he is just another rich guy that just so happened to make his fortune from a videogame. Instead of inspiration he seems to generate envy.

 

[ClosingADoor]

It's a bit hard to feel sorry for him, but I can understand the reasons he feels this way. He is used to a simpler life and now suddenly is one of the richest people in the world. The thing is, he has all the options to do something about it.

If he feels abandoned by his friends, show up there instead of waiting for them. If you feel alone partying in Ibiza, don't go to those things. You saw it, it isn't for you, move on.

And close of your social media accounts, it does no good reading a ton of hateful comments.

 

[John Kowalski]

This is magical.

 

[oti]

Notch should become a video game fairy. Granting wishes of gamers who want to see a sequel of their favourite game or fund crazy ideas no publisher would fund.

Anyway, would you please make Top Spin 5 a reality Mr. Notch? Please?