Hey everyone.
As you can see, I am NOT Dan.
I'm not even a Dan, actually.
So allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Matt and it is my honor to be Extra Credits new showrunner and lectern wrangler.
Oh, and this is my cat Zoey. I'm sure she'll be stopping in to pester us all from time to time.
We'll all have time over the next few months to get to know each other better,
but I really wanted to take a moment to let everyone know how much of a huge fan
I've been of this channel since way before the Escapists days.
I promise I'll do my absolute best to continue the stellar work done by everyone before my arrival.
I've got some big shoes to fill but I also can't wait to get started.
So with that in mind, we'll roll that opening slate!
Song: Penguin Cap - CarboHydroM
Blockchain, blockchain, blockchain.
I haven't heard a word more buzz-worthy in games since microtransactions,
and just like microtransactions, we're already using it wrong.
Blockchain is a fascinating technology. Most of us know about it from crypto-currencies,
but basically, its distributed database that is increasingly hard to tamper with.
For the record, I think it's very cool for games.
Because there's a ton that blockchain allows us to do from a design perspective,
and even a monetization perspective that we just couldn't do before.
But sadly, as an industry, we're pretty much not using it for any of those things.
Instead, we're just kind of using them to sell people's crypto-currencies.
Now. What do we mean by that?
Well, in the last eight months or so, a bunch of companies that we'd never even heard of
appeared on the fringes of the gaming industry offering blockchain games.
When James started to look into this, he found that many of them were just veiled attempts to get people to spend
crypto-currency or were basically crypto-currencies themselves.
Sometimes, it was incredibly blatant.
With the game requiring you to purchase things with Aetherium or some other crypto-currency to be able to even play.
But more often than not, it was less direct--through the use of something called crypto-collectibles.
So before we talk about although legitimately cool things games can do with blockchain,
we've got to talk about this stuff.
Crypto-collectables are simply in game objects that use blockchain for three things--
To ensure that the player rather than the game company owns the object,
to guarantee the rarity of the object,
and to assure the player that the object is unique and non-duplicatable.
So, with that, let's talk about CryptoKiddies, perhaps the premier crypto game right now.
In it, you pay Aetherium to buy what is essentially a picture of a cat.
Thank You, Zoey.
These cats are crypto-collectibles, owned solely by the player.
Each is unique and has different traits that makes them more or less rare,
like a fluffy tail or a silly moustache.
The underlying thought being, that the value of the rare or discontinued traits will go up over time.
Now, at this point you might be asking: what can I actually do with my newly minted one-of-a-kind crypto cat friend?
Well, you've got two options: sell it or breed it.
If you choose to sell it, you put it up for auction for a price in Aetherium.
And when it sells, CryptoKitties will take a cut.
If you choose to breed it though,
you still pay Cryptokitties a small amount of Aetherium upfront for the privilege.
Because and their FAQ actually says this:
The birthing fee is paid to the programmer who calls the function to give birth.
Which personally just makes me think of programmers running around calling out functions,
but ignoring that ridiculousness.
Once you pay to breed your kitty, the traits of the two cats you're breeding or randomly rolled together,
and out pops a new cat with some combination of those traits.
Cats with rare traits have a higher chance of creating new cats with rare traits, and their quote genetic lineage is preserved.
So, if a cat comes from a long line of felines with desirable traits,
it's much more likely to impart those traits into its crypto kittens.
But at the end of the day, you can probably see through this:
Literally all you can do with these crypto kitties is sell them or create more.
There really isn't a game here,
But rather something very similar to a cryptocurrency,
where the participants pay for the privilege of having the company that created this pseudo cryptocurrency,
control the only exchange for it.
This really isn't how we should be using blockchain for games.
Instead, creating things like real player ownership or true scarcity in an online game,
opens up a ton of super fun possibilities.
One prospect that James thinks is incredibly exciting comes from the fact that
Blockchain serves as sort of a shared ledger.
But instead of a ledger for money, it can serve as a ledger for events.
Imagine an MMORPG whereas sword gains power not by some mechanistic and shippment system,
but rather by the heroic events, it was involved.
Okay, picture this:
You start a game using a simple iron sword, you progress and level,
and eventually use it to slay a boss named "Grillmig The Orc".
Suddenly your simple iron sword becomes "Grillmig's bane",
and with the name changed, it gains some extra stats.
Eventually, like all gear, you'll outgrow it and decide to sell it.
Some upcoming player buys it and as they level they farm a ton of ghouls.
And now it becomes: "Ghoul Slayer, the bane of Grill Mig".
It gains more stats, but eventually this player too out grows it.
The weapon passes from player to player each time accruing new heroic associated with it,
or unlocking achievements that no single player could ever do alone.
Eventually, it becomes one of the most coveted swords in the game because its unique.
And any player who examines it can see the name of all the players who ever wielded it and what deeds they did.
And if the designers were really clever,
the sword would also benefit from having been used by characters that later did heroic deeds.
So when your character slays that final raid boss god dragon of nightmares,
all of the sudden your first training sword no matter who currently has it,
levels up and becomes the heirloom of the Great "insert your character name here".
That's wesome, and it's something that blockchain lets us easily do.
These design possibilities inherent and using blockchain is what we as an industry should be thinking of,
rather than some way to sell people slightly worse crypto coins.
Because even if we're only concerned with monetization, blockchain offers us better possibilities there as well.
Imagine I made a great judi game and gave it away completely for free--
no micro transactions, no endgame purchases, no loot boxes. Nothing.
The only catch was that while you were playing, the game would borrow your GPU to mine Bitcoin.
Now, I know that for most crypto-mining ASIC rigs are way more efficient than anything else.
But for those crypto enthusiasts out there, just run with me on this hypothetical and assume that we're mining a new ASIC resistant coin.
If that was done, and the game caught on, getting hundreds of thousands or even millions of users,
you could fund development simply by players playing.
You could create true free-to-play.
The promise of blockchain is vast and the possibilities it brings to games incredible.
The only question is: Will we use it well,
or will we burn players out on cash crabs that just include the word--Blockchain.
Only time will tell. See you next week!
♪ "RushRushRush ft. Pixel8ter" by RoBkta ♪
