> Minecraft worlds aren't static. Will you be billed to download updated chunks too?

There are two hard problems in computer science - caching, naming things, and off-by-one errors.

Yes, I can imagine multiple choices.

1) When you're downloading a chunk, always download the newest version of it.

2) When you're downloading a chunk, download it as it existed at the moment of a snapshot. Heavier burden on the server, to keep multiple snapshots. Perhaps some servers only keep one snapshot. Perhaps some keep one snapshot every 24 hours, but only for 4 days. You only have to keep multiple copies of chunks that actually got modified. And in fact, if a chunk never got modified, you only download a flag that says to let it get generated by the seed.

3) You periodically ask to download chunks, to keep relatively up-to-date. Maybe every hour. Maybe you only stream chunks from the backing server, if you haven't modified them locally. Maybe you choose that locally-modified chunks win. Maybe there's a way in-game to say you want this chunk (and its neighborhood) to update from the backing server. Commands, command-blocks, etc.

> Also what happens if you don't put money into your Minecraft account? Can you still play with others?

I'm not proposing to change anything about how Minecraft currently works. I'm proposing adding something new. Whatever ways you currently play with your friends, you can continue to do that.

But yes, if you stand up a server that streams from my server, and you run out of money, you could get notified you're out of money, and then as you continue to explore, I guess the thing that makes the most sense is that you just use the original seed to generate more terrain.

> On paper, sure. In reality there are only going to be relatively few maps people might actually want to explore.

Okay. Right now, you can visit the Marketplace to pay Minecoins to download maps others have made. If you look at the prices, they're absurdly inflated.

I'm proposing a way more organic and cheaper marketplace. I think a "reddit of cool places to visit" that you just click a link, and you're in someone else's map for as long as you want to be, could be really nice.

Add ways in-game to make a portal to someone else's server... and you're making something really neat.