SvennoJ said:
JimmyFantasy said:
You have made several good points in your argumentation.
And in some ways you are right.
For example, I agree with you that selling (and buying) simple jpegs for hundred or thousand dollars is totally absurd!
However, I don't think we can consider a blockchain capabilities at the same level of a centralized company's account server. We all already have experience with peer-to-peer decentralized networks like bittorrent or emule, and we know they are here for years, and here to stay, because they have added a very useful service to the human community in sharing files across the globe. Blockchain is simply the next step, in my opinion.
About Earth and climate damage produced by networks of PCs, yeah that's a fact. But we have to consider that everything humans create or produce is harmful to the environment. Industrial activities, consumism/capitalism, deforestation etc. Blockchain networks adds in but it's a new tech that is in need of further development on this front. For example, the new "proof of stake" blockchains are 1000 times less energy hungry then the old "proof of work" chains. It's a matter of time, this important issue will be resolved.
Now, let me make an example applied to videogames companies where the use of NFTs could be a real win for players.
You surely remember the old Wii/3DS era where we did buy old roms for the Nintendo virtual console. We bought a catalog of games for it, then what happened? Nintendo shut down the service resulting in losing our paid collections of videogames. What if they were NFTs? If I had bought a copy of Super Mario Bros. for the NES, I would have granted a right on this copy, a digital copy of this particular NES game. In this scenario, even if Nintendo shut down the service, I would still be able to legally play my game on any other device (PC, consoles, smartphones etc, even next Nintendo console) running a NES emulator because I am legally a owner of the NES digital version of Super Mario Bros. Thinks about Sega, how many times they sold and resold their old MegaDrive library of games to us? Wouldn't be nicer to buy a digital copy of Sonic the Hedgehog once and be able to play it indefinitely, not depending on a single platform or service?
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Why do you think Steam won't stay and Blockchain will? And if Steam doesn't stay or the publisher of the game, you still have nothing even with blockchain. All you have is a 'receipt' saying you can use those cards in game. If the game no longer exists, your receipts are worthless. It's the same as having physical discs or DLC for an online only game that is no longer hosted.
Blockchain doesn't just add in, it far exceeds everything else in producing waste. One blockchain transaction is equivalent to 1.6 million Visa transactions. "Proof of stake" defeats the purpose of blockchain as it puts the power back into the hands of those who have the most funds to 'stake'. It's not a matter of time, the scalability problem is a tug of war between security, decentralization and efficiency. https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/blockchain-trilemma-decentralization-scalability-definition And for what? Tons of unneeded complexity because suddenly people don't trust banks anymore? Who are the people that don't trust banks anymore? Why don't they trust them? And how do they expect Blockchain to solve those trust issues?
Funny you mention bittorrent, one of the reasons we deal with worse and worse DRM all the time...
Your last paragraph, it doesn't matter whether those are NFTs or not. The only difference is where the receipt is stored. You have purchased it either way and its up to the publisher to condone the use of that content in an emulator. Copyright still applies regardless of where the receipt is stored. Your digital license is simply linked to an NFT instead of a VISA or other transaction record. Don't believe the bullshit. NFTs don't grant you magic rights. It's the equivalent of a printed receipt which you can wave around in court "I bought this digital content once, now I have the right to play it indefinitely on anything" Whether that holds up or not has nothing to do with NFTs. You still need to download an illegal ROM to play that content on an emulator...
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I understand your point of view, it's the opposite of mine but it doesn't matter because, at the moment, no one knows if blockchain tech will succed or not. Only time will tell, let's hope for the best, either way. :)
I too fear the videogame market will fill with a load of awful blockchain/play-to-earn games, both on mobile and PCs. However, it's not all bad because there will be also some good example of games that will work and fit well with this model, eSports games and several competitive multiplayer games like card/board games, from what I learned playing the aforementioned game..
For all the rest, I hope classic videogames (especially single player ones) we know and love will remain the same fully centralized on what is essential in games: pure fun.
Last edited by JimmyFantasy - on 18 January 2022
