People could set up 3rd party auth systems and eliminate the need for mojang
You can already do that and some do. Mojang, for some incomprehensible reason, even lets you disable auth in the official server's settings (`online-mode=false`).
It's not incomprehensible. It enabled LAN games without outside internet access.
Maybe, but the "paying" is load-bearing, because you need to prevent banned people from just creating new accounts.
Sure a different approach might be possible, but would likely also hinder adoption of such a 3rd party account system.
That already exists, but people still buy the game
You can already do that and some do. Mojang, for some incomprehensible reason, even lets you disable auth in the official server's settings (`online-mode=false`).
It's not incomprehensible. It enabled LAN games without outside internet access.
Maybe, but the "paying" is load-bearing, because you need to prevent banned people from just creating new accounts.
Sure a different approach might be possible, but would likely also hinder adoption of such a 3rd party account system.
That already exists, but people still buy the game