- cross-posted to:
- games@sh.itjust.works
- gaming@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- games@sh.itjust.works
- gaming@beehaw.org
Shuji Utsumi, Sega’s co-CEO, comments in a new statement that there is no point in implementing blockchain technology if it doesn’t make games ‘fun’.
You can actually own games by buying DRM-free. A DRM-free installer can be backed up and used forever, even offline, which is better than relying on blockchain verification.
Games are also better by having no microtransactions than by being able to resell some fictional sword from a lootbox. If I want to have the best weapons in Skyrim I can just cheat it instead of paying anyone for it. There is no point or benefit in attaching monetary value to individual instances of fictional digital game objects, because in the system of the game that’s just some bits flipped, there aren’t any production costs.
well one could argue that production costs aren’t necessarily reflected in the product’s final value, which is dictated by society (for its usefulness, desirability, status power, etc)
this is very evident precisely in fictional digital game objects, but in the online game context. a powerful item can give you advantages over other players and be very valuable but cost 0 to be created by the company. of course it’s just a flipped bit nevertheless, but there’s no way around to cheat and flip it at will
mmorpgs exist merely because of this concept. the whole level, skill, item grinding turns man-hours of work into bits in an authoritative server somewhere, and for that they have value. it’s an amazing thing to watch
Yeah I see how sociey goes and that’s all the more reason I have no interest in financial speculation within games. In what way does the market of CS:GO skin trading makes the experience of playing it better?
MMORPGs also show that whenever item acquisition is not carefully controlled, it ruins the whole designed experience. Many MMOs were ruined by game economies getting out of control. If anything that is an argument for, whenever trading needs to be part of a game, it needs to be controlled. Therefore, remaining centralized is better for the game.
You are not incorrect but that sentence gave me a gross shiver. LIke I was saying, I’m against games being treated as a job. This isn’t “amazing”, it’s exploitation worming its way into our entertainment (even more than it already is on the creators’ side).
oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m also all against the exchange of game items with real money (specially when it affects gameplay). in my view, you could only ever put 2 “real currencies” into a game: time or money. though everyone is roughly at the same playing field for time (I understand there’s a contrast between a well off kid vs a hard worker adult) people are born with absurd differences in wealth, so much that the game itself becomes meaningless when that factor is introduced (the so called p2w).
when I say “amazing” I am talking about non-p2w mmorpgs - otherwise is just plain old capitalism hehe. the concept of grinding can be very interesting in the sense that it adds risk to the gameplay, in this case the risk of wasting time. basically all non-p2w games implement this risk in different ways: if you die in Mario it’s the time to the start of the level/checkpoint (seconds), in WoW is time attributed to a few gold coins/respawn walk (minutes), in games like Tibia you lose 10% of all your progress (sometimes amounting to months/years). I’ve been a lifelong mmorpg player and one thing I realised is that the more you have to lose, the more thrilling the game becomes and the more immersive it gets (at a big cost, sometimes your own sanity).
I do agree with the things you and the Sega guys are bringing up. NFT and decentralisation of authority over game items allows that and doesn’t add anything nice. imo, the only viable and fair monetisation for any game is retail and subscription models
In my view if it is important to the game that the players dedicate time, then there shouldn’t be paid shortcuts. And if they want to give options to people who have less time, there’s still no reason to tie it to money, it doesn’t really help them. Any game that accepts real life money as a replacement for playtime is compromising its design for profit.
absolutely agreed