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In the rumour mill this week was word that Microsoft is close to purchasing Mojang for $2 billion in a deal that could be announced as early as Monday. I'm assuming most people have already read all the articles, so I'll just jump to the questions...how might this impact Minecraft and the people who use it? Is it ruin for the game as some people fear, or is there a silver lining here? And why can't one good thing in the tech field be developed without it being gobbled up by some huge company that only cares about money?

I don't play Minecraft, but isn't finished by now? I don't see how this would affect an already finished game.

It's an ever growing product. They're always adding new stuff.

Indeed, Mojang still develops Minecraft and releases updates for free to people that have already bought the game, which is one reason the game is still so popular in spite of being around for over five years. One has to wonder if that practice would continue under Microsoft, or if they would make a switch to a DLC model where people pay a few dollars for each update.

I don't think Microsoft would do something as stupid as making the updates DLC... Optimally they just... Wouldn't touch things...
From past experience however Microsoft often sticks their grubby little hands into stuff in a gross way... Sometimes by monetizing update, like you mentioned... But let's not forget how bad Windows Live for Games was... Or the several other make an account with us and log in with us technology was... And they're attachment to forcing you to have an Internet connection to play single player games...

The problem is that at the rate Mojang is making profits, it would take over a decade for Microsoft to make a $2 billion investment back, so there would be huge pressure on them to quickly find ways to further monetize their acquisition, especially after their rather stupid $7 billion purchase of Nokia's mobile division. And that assumes that Minecraft will continue to be a money-maker...considering it's now over five years old and has already been bought over 50 million times, I'm not sure that's a safe assumption. Considering that rumour has it that Notch made the move to initiate the negotiations, and that he would leave the company after a transitition periods, I have to wonder if he hasn't concluded that as well and simply wants to take the money and run while he still can.

There are several ways Microsoft could get a faster return on their investment. One is by adopting a DLC model which would be quick and easy to do...another would be by developing a sequel and charging $50 or so for it. It would take more time to go that route, but not only would they make more money, they could more easily take control of the eco-system. For instance they could go official only and do away with private servers, or they could start an official Minecraft store and charge modders to put their mods in the store...and then possibly charge users to install those mods.

This sounds obviously stupid to is, but this is the company that brought us Windows 8. I wouldn't trust them to have their finger on the pulse of what the users want.

This news has been officially confirmed...Microsoft will purchase Mojang for $2.5 billion, and Notch and several others will leave after the process is complete.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/09/15/mojang-confirm-sale-to-microsoft-for-2-5-billion-notch-and-other-founders-to-leave/
http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/09/15/notch-on-leaving-mojang-im-not-a-ceo-im-a-nerdy-computer-programmer-who-likes-to-have-opinions-on-twitter/

What a horribly overpriced purchase...Mojang isn't worth more than $750 million in my opinion. Expect everyone to have a massive hangover when reality sets in and Microsoft realizes everything I stated in my last post.

https://mojang.com/2014/09/yes-were-being-bought-by-microsoft/

http://forums.technicpack.net/topic/72959-minecraft-sold-to-microsoft/#entry534867

Also worth noting a couple molders and important people in the modding community have quit. Notch has quit as well.