I just wanted to drop in and say that everyone here is awesome!
I was a plugin developer for bukkit about 5 years ago. I learned Java from the growing and exciting community it had at the time. (Spoiler: This eventually got me my first job after school!) When it seemed like bukkit and minecraft would always be soulmates, Mojang started talking again about the mythical modding API, started adding tons of features for map makers, and became very uncooperative with the bukkit community. I got a little discouraged and very busy with my final years of school, so I wandered off for a while.
Once things settled down I started to miss making fun stuff for other people to play with. I finished up a project that I had abandoned the year before and released a beta version. Someone had already taken my idea and run with it, but I didn’t mind. I congratulated him on a job well done and offered to collaborate.
About a week later, the big implosion happened. Someone made a vague reference to something someone said that might mean everyone’s given up on bukkit.
I thought, “You’re just a cynical neckbeard, right? Right?!”
I remember reading every forum thread I could find (which was a whopping total of 2), trying to figure out what was going on. All speculation. Some “this guy said that.” It might mean something, it might not. Not really sure what’s happening. Then I found the IRC chat.
“This crap is ridiculous.”
“So is this the end of plugins?”
“Well, there’s spout.”
“No, bukkit’s not going anywhere. This sucks, but it can’t die.”
“It looks dead. I poked it. It’s dead.”
“Isn’t spout based on bukkit or something?”
“Spout hasn’t really caught on, but maybe it’s the only option.”
…
…
…
“This is stupid.”
“Hey guys… um, what’s going on?”
“Someone should start a new one, without all the licensing issues.”
“Open source. I can’t believe there isn’t already an open source one, really.”
…
I just watched the discussion roll on for a bit. It was a cool idea, but how would we ever manage to actually build an entirely new solution and attract a community big enough to keep it going and do it fast enough to get people invested. I mean, that guy was right. Spout didn’t really take over bukkit.
I logged off. I had things to do.
The next day or so (I’m fuzzy on the details), I got bored with facebook and decided to hop back on IRC.
“I made a spreadsheet! Checkout the progress on the API here http://somethingsomething.somewhere/stuff/sponge/api.thing”
“I sent a message to so-and-so. His experience could really help.”
“That’s cool! I work out the blahblahblahblah…”
“This cat approves http://thing.stuff/doofus.gif :)”
“I’m chatting with so-and-so. He said he’s interested.”
O.O
That just happened. Like. Right there. Out of nowhere. The sponge plugin API was conceived.
I checked back in. They had a website. There wasn’t really anything there. Hm.
I check in again.
Nothing there. Oh, wait. There’s a description and how to get involved. I don’t have enough experience to help with something like this. That, or not enough dedication. … or time! I’ve got work in 30 minutes!
Taking jobs at weird hours turned into a regular job (with java, as mentioned). There was a lot of nostalgia during my first few weeks as I was working in Eclipse again. Sometimes I daydreamed about browsing the forums on bukkit, testing out fun new game mechanics, and trying to convince my friends to “use the d*** /help command.” I figured I’d soon find my next big thing. And I did. But that’s another story.
Most software projects don’t make it all the way to maturity. That doesn’t mean they aren’t worth pursuing. It just means they aren’t worth betting on. They are worth pursuing because better ideas, experiences, and other ripple effects come from the act of pursuing great ideas. I occasionally thought of sponge, but not very often. It was a cool idea, and I was impressed. However, I figured that such a rebuilding project --if it made it to a stable release-- would probably be mature about the time minecraft’s popularity began to wane.
It’s been 5 years -ish.
Randomly:
“I wonder if sponge is still around”
*click* tappa tappa tappa tap tappa … *click*
O.O
“Wow!”
You are all here. Many, many more of you! And you have stuff. Lots and lots of stuff!
I’m amazed. You’ve got a site. You’ve got forums. You’ve got plugins. You’re organized. It looks like you’re in a regular maintenance cycle. What’s this “State of the Sponge” thing? Haha. I love it!
You’ve built a new, better community! It looks at least as big as bukkit was. This is fantastic! I remember the founders had some great ideas on how the API should be different, so I’m sure you have an excellent product here. I may check it out soon.
Great job, everyone! You’re awesome!
