NFT's and Blockchain - Who Can You Trust? | MMONFT | MMORPG.com

System

NFT's and Blockchain - Who Can You Trust? | MMONFT | MMORPG.com

With new blockchain games materializing almost out of nowhere every week, and news outlets struggling to keep up with the emerging trends, there is a growing unsettling factor that needs to be addressed when it comes to how blockchain, and most especially games, are handled in the media. In the age of blockchain games, who can you really trust when popular opinion could directly correlate to personal wealth?

Read the full story here

Talmien

Listing your holdings, especially in respect to the game you're reporting on, is definitely admirable, and I think helps build trust for your readers.

Also I think its always better too list both the ups and downs of whatever game you're reporting on. A game is never perfect, nor is it completely flawed. There are always good and bad aspects, and including both in your report I think helps add weight to your opinion.

Scot

There is a reason that if you search for NFT's, blockchain games etc on You Tube you get tons of videos which are pro the whole idea and few that criticise any aspect. This is why I think Stephen is right about disclosure.

One thing about NFT's is I see it as entry level Cryptocurrency, even if the MMO does not have CC, you need blockchain. So loads of games are going to be made P2E ready under the guise of just bringing NFT's in.

olepi

I'll do like I always do. Wait for the game to release, read the reviews, watch some video or play a trial period. If I like the game and it is fun, I'll play it.

If it happens to also have NFT, I won't mind. If it doesn't have NFT, I won't mind that either.

Iselin

The promotion of this stuff (just do an innocuous google search for something like "NFTs and blockchains in gaming" and you'll get very few top results from internet sites you've ever heard about - 90% of it will be from sites promoting it with cult like vigor) is at a point where I would consider it unreasonable to give equal weight to articles and videos by proponents and detractors like would be a fair approach if you wanted to evaluate the pros and cons of a subject that is not being so heavily promoted and shopped.

You do what you want but my strategy at the moment is to discount everything from all of these dodgy pro sites and unknown streamers and stick to reading and watching sites and streamers I have some trust in. 

Also, beware anyone who refers to games without BC/NFT as "legacy games." They've already drunk gallons of the Koolaid,

Mendel

You really didn't hear this much hullabaloo about double-linked lists.  They were pretty innovative when first introduced, too.  You could go forward in the list and back up in the list (Next/Prior actions).

I really don't need people in my life to be praising blockchain as the end-all, be-all of data structures.  That's what seems to be happening at an abstract level.

Nilden

When it comes down to it NFT, blockchain and crypto is just a monetization scheme that does nothing for gameplay.

The only thing I trust is them milking people with a subpar game.

I can type in free horse racing game and get something on par with Zed run or search itch.io or any free game site and find something similar but free. Want to play Axie Infinity just play Super Auto Pets.

I don't envy what the staff here will have to play to review this garbage. I very much doubt you will be getting review copies and will have to buy in for hundreds of dollars. Then if you want to make any actual money you would need to treat the game like a job. That alone seems like a horrible setup to review these games. It's also a horrible premise to play these games.

I imagine how fun the game is will directly correlate to how much money one is making or losing. Not the actual gameplay.

 

DigDuggy

"Who can you trust?"  NOBODY! and not just NFT.  Graft in EVE, gank in Albion, Suddenly cancelled MMOs (Both existing and planned), and and and Non MMO related articles and reviews of MMORPG.com (I know, just having a bit of fun).  MMO is a cutthroat, not to be trusted Genre.

Vorthanion

I find the very idea of designing games around blockchains and NFT's to be utterly repulsive. If this is the future of gaming, then I'm glad I have other hobbies.

lahnmir

NFTs and monetizing can be linked, but don’t actually have to, same for blockchain. I find most of the reactions grossly oversimplifying the issue and possible implementation. I remember how F2P would ruin gaming, which came right after the whole ‘digital only’ drama which would absolutely destroy gaming as we knew it. Now its NFTs, whatever. A good game is good, F2P or not, only digital or not, and NFTs being implemented or not.

/Cheers,
Lahnmir

laserit

As in all things...

Trust in yourself.

Don't be lazy, do the research and do some serious thinking on it.

Nothing wrong with Poker either, unless it becomes a problem.

laserit

Vorthanion said:

I find the very idea of designing games around blockchains and NFT's to be utterly repulsive. If this is the future of gaming, then I'm glad I have other hobbies.

I'm more towards your side of the boat.

The thought of games being designed around it, has me utterly........

I don't even know what to say.

Anyone who tells us that the games are designed around fun first, is feeding us full of you know what.

The fact is that these games are designed around greed first.

laserit

This is the thing.

The industry has taken everything that's good about gaming and financially weaponized it against us.

We the consumer must also accept our own culpability and responsibility on the matter.

We should all think on this.

Is this really what we want?

There are also good and bad actors in all industries.

Quizzical

Good article. Disclosing your financial position is a good ethical position to take--for the very reasons that a lot of shills won't.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that a majority of the successful MMOs that launch between 2025-2030 will use blockchain for something under the hood, but not mint any NFTs for their game. Many databases would benefit from using blockchain if not for the inherent inefficiency in both computations and size. I think that we'll eventually see CPUs implement a blockchain processing portion akin to what some are doing now with machine learning, and that will greatly reduce the intrinsic processing overhead of using blockchain.

laserit

Quizzical said:

Good article. Disclosing your financial position is a good ethical position to take--for the very reasons that a lot of shills won't.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that a majority of the successful MMOs that launch between 2025-2030 will use blockchain for something under the hood, but not mint any NFTs for their game. Many databases would benefit from using blockchain if not for the inherent inefficiency in both computations and size. I think that we'll eventually see CPUs implement a blockchain processing portion akin to what some are doing now with machine learning, and that will greatly reduce the intrinsic processing overhead of using blockchain.

That's the type of use, I've been dying to hear about.

That would make for a more cheery discussion  

Rungar

looks like another house of merchandise to me. Ill just get a new hobby.

Scot

Nilden said:

When it comes down to it NFT, blockchain and crypto is just a monetization scheme that does nothing for gameplay.

The only thing I trust is them milking people with a subpar game.

I can type in free horse racing game and get something on par with Zed run or search itch.io or any free game site and find something similar but free. Want to play Axie Infinity just play Super Auto Pets.

I don't envy what the staff here will have to play to review this garbage. I very much doubt you will be getting review copies and will have to buy in for hundreds of dollars. Then if you want to make any actual money you would need to treat the game like a job. That alone seems like a horrible setup to review these games. It's also a horrible premise to play these games.

I imagine how fun the game is will directly correlate to how much money one is making or losing. Not the actual gameplay.

Well here is one for you, gaming journalists will review these games and typically spend a few hours in them. What about as part of the review we are told how much Cryptocurrency they made and if they converted it to £$ how much they make? Will you have enough to even buy a coffee to pep you up, I doubt it, in fact you may have spent more than your lunch money "investing" in the game.

Mendel

laserit said:

Vorthanion said:

I find the very idea of designing games around blockchains and NFT's to be utterly repulsive. If this is the future of gaming, then I'm glad I have other hobbies.

I'm more towards your side of the boat.

The thought of games being designed around it, has me utterly........

I don't even know what to say.

Anyone who tells us that the games are designed around fun first, is feeding us full of you know what.

The fact is that these games are designed around greed first.

This NFT/Blockchain technology being applied to games seems to be very much like when the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems begin to look like nails.

If the game functions require a specific technology to implement, use that technology.  It seems to me that it is less the game's functionality, but rather the game's monetization strategy that is driving this technology.

Mendel

Scot said:

Nilden said:

When it comes down to it NFT, blockchain and crypto is just a monetization scheme that does nothing for gameplay.

The only thing I trust is them milking people with a subpar game.

I can type in free horse racing game and get something on par with Zed run or search itch.io or any free game site and find something similar but free. Want to play Axie Infinity just play Super Auto Pets.

I don't envy what the staff here will have to play to review this garbage. I very much doubt you will be getting review copies and will have to buy in for hundreds of dollars. Then if you want to make any actual money you would need to treat the game like a job. That alone seems like a horrible setup to review these games. It's also a horrible premise to play these games.

I imagine how fun the game is will directly correlate to how much money one is making or losing. Not the actual gameplay.

Well here is one for you, gaming journalists will review these games and typically spend a few hours in them. What about as part of the review we are told how much Cryptocurrency they made and if they converted it to £$ how much they make? Will you have enough to even buy a coffee to pep you up, I doubt it, in fact you may have spent more than your lunch money "investing" in the game.

Great idea.   And don't forget to disclose cost of entry.

maskedweasel

Damn. I'm incredibly impressed with this thread. This community has come a long way. 

cheyane

Rungar said:

looks like another house of merchandise to me. Ill just get a new hobby.

When I was a younger after I gave birth I took up rollerblading to slim down. I had a bad spill and I started playing console games. I changed my hobby then to gaming, do you think at 65+ I can go back to rollerblading?  

laserit

Torval said:

laserit said:

Quizzical said:

Good article. Disclosing your financial position is a good ethical position to take--for the very reasons that a lot of shills won't.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that a majority of the successful MMOs that launch between 2025-2030 will use blockchain for something under the hood, but not mint any NFTs for their game. Many databases would benefit from using blockchain if not for the inherent inefficiency in both computations and size. I think that we'll eventually see CPUs implement a blockchain processing portion akin to what some are doing now with machine learning, and that will greatly reduce the intrinsic processing overhead of using blockchain.

That's the type of use, I've been dying to hear about.

That would make for a more cheery discussion  

Databases already have the ability to use unique keys. What blockchain ledger tokens could provide is more reliability ensuring those aren't fudged or fooled with or that in a distributed production environment, data migration, or replicated environment that those don't get mangled in any way. They also add a layer of reliability with regards to uniqueness.

However, that all comes as a performance cost, not just with calculating and validating the blockchain itself, but with the application moving data between servers and clients, or clients and clients, or some mix and match of the above.

Blockchains are reliable, but not designed to be performant compared to their peer technologies. Validating a chain can be especially arduous which is one large reason Bitcoin transactions are so slow and not suited for real time currency. Clearing houses and services that provide fast bitcoin transactions act as an intermediary while the Bitcoin ledger itself gets updates. In an MMO this sort of inherent slog can be a real problem say when trading or buying/selling on an auction house. I think this we be yet another factor in overall performance and latency that will plague developers and players. There are ways around this, like clearinghouses, that fudge the system, but that is a problem weak spot in itself.

As always with new technology and game studio promises, we'll see. It certainly isn't the easy plug and play panacea it's currently being billed as. It will take work and iteration.

I wish I could give you an awesome and an informative at the same time

So if we try to bring it down to simple terms.

Are we trying to cut out the middle man?

Are we trying to eliminate errors and corruption?

Are we trying to do both?

Are we trying to do neither?

Are we just winging it?

Rungar

cheyane said:

Rungar said:

looks like another house of merchandise to me. Ill just get a new hobby.

When I was a younger after I gave birth I took up rollerblading to slim down. I had a bad spill and I started playing console games. I changed my hobby then to gaming, do you think at 65+ I can go back to rollerblading?  

lol. i wouldnt. I have alot of hobbies though so if one fails me the others can pick up the slack.

i just dont see me interested in a hobby that is primarily centered around milking me for money. Im ok with subs and even optinal cash shops but this is a bridge too far for me i think.

this focus will destroy whats left of gaming.

BruceYee

Well done MMORPG. Worthy of an Emmy IMO.

1. Emmy for script writing

1. Emmy for acting

1. Emmy for editing

How to effectively teach people about something they hate 101. It gave me a headache because of the simplicity but I understand why you HAD to say everything the way you did and I'm sure @bcbully does too where ever he is atm.

"Write in the comments below how you think we should cover nft games?" Exactly the way you did. It obviously worked seeing as people in this thread magically forgot what they wrote in other threads just 2 days ago.

I'm hoping AAA Companies are able to come up with the ideas needed to successfully transition their players that doesn't take years the same way that video seemed to break down the barriers of even the most "hesitant" on this site in just a few minutes... Unfortunately AAA are lame so expect more of like what Konami did @Nilden except with things like nft art that can be earned through events and/or in-game challenges/give-aways etc.

Talmien

Stizzled said:

BruceYee said:

Well done MMORPG. Worthy of an Emmy IMO.

1. Emmy for script writing

1. Emmy for acting

1. Emmy for editing

How to effectively teach people about something they hate 101. It gave me a headache because of the simplicity but I understand why you HAD to say everything the way you did and I'm sure @bcbully does too where ever he is atm.

"Write in the comments below how you think we should cover nft games?" Exactly the way you did. It obviously worked seeing as people in this thread magically forgot what they wrote in other threads just 2 days ago.

I'm hoping AAA Companies are able to come up with the ideas needed to successfully transition their players that doesn't take years the same way that video seemed to break down the barriers of even the most "hesitant" on this site in just a few minutes... Unfortunately AAA are lame so expect more of like what Konami did @Nilden except with things like nft art that can be earned through events and/or in-game challenges/give-aways etc.

My feelings on the subject haven't changed in the slightest, in fact, I'll admit I haven't even read the article. Just responded to a comment I agreed with.

Civil and interesting discussions are great. Spam threads for terrible looking "games" and claims about ending poverty are not.

Agreed. The article was about "Who you can Trust?" and how trust can be earned when reviewing these types of games. I tend to agree with the author on that topic.

If instead it was "Do NFT, or P2E, games have a bright future?" my response would have been more in line with my thoughts in previous threads.

unfilteredJW

Easy question to answer.

If someone is trying to get you involved with the block chain or NFTs, they are trying to scam you.