Hello!

Hey everyone. Welcome to the first Jaunty update on the new, shiny mailing list. I appreciate you all signing up, this will hopefully make it much easier to communicate with the community at large, rather than sending 14 different Discord messages. Just to reiterate, this is the only place you will receive Jaunty updates going forward; the exception of course is when we’re all in the Discord together.

Making a Plan

Before we can really make any concrete plans, there is a decision we need to make. As everyone knows, Israel is and has been committing genocide in Gaza. This is not a new issue, but it certainly has come into the limelight in the last year or so. The reason I bring this up is because Microsoft, the owner of Minecraft, is complicit in Israel’s genocide and has been providing resources to the illegitimate state. Because of this, the BDS Movement has called for a boycott of Microsoft, specifically its gaming products, including Minecraft.

Whether or not you agree with this does not matter, what matters is how we navigate the issue. It goes without saying that the most important aspect of all this are the lives affected by Israel’s genocide; which is to say, if we need to skip Jaunty this year we will, but I don’t think it needs to come to that just yet. After talking to a number of folks, here is what I’m thinking:

Jaunty goes on as planned, but to gain access this year, players will need to donate to a vetted organization providing Palestinian relief and show proof of this before being whitelisted. Beyond that, we continue complying with the boycott as much as possible, meaning…

1. Don’t purchase anything from Microsoft or Mojang, including but not limited to Minecraft itself.
2. Refrain from using any official launchers or platforms. Use an alternative like Prism.

That all said, I want to hear from you! Jaunty is nothing without the people and I want to make sure we’re all comfortable. If we are unable to come to a consensus, or agree this is the best option, we can and will skip this year. But I don’t want to do that, and neither do the people I’ve spoken with about the issue. So we need to take a poll, please click here and vote on the matter. The poll will close after a week, so please don’t forget to cast your vote!! If you have thoughts or other ideas you’d like to share with me, please feel free to reach out at jaunty@jaunty.fun or on Discord @holedaemon.

Thanks everyone!!