Ashes of Creation is an upcoming MMORPG that has gained immense support from fans of the genre for its innovative open-development approach and trailblazing systems that breathe new life into MMOs.
I like that you attempt to bridge gaming communities with the substack bubble and as such give a new perspective on projects like these.
Though i disagree a lot with the sentiment that web3 can bring value to this game.
Why? I´ll try to list 3 reasons.
The commodification of game/leisure time. This is a more of a generall issue i see with crypto games, as money gets involved with your play sessions, it ultimately creates new dynamics and incentives for gamers. Will you engage with gameplay loops that you find fun, or the ones that yield the most profit?
Does a demographic of players emerge that don´t care about the game, but care about yields and as such aggressvively pursue those with means that negatively impact the game population, like through botting, hacking and scamming?
The administration problem. This is sort intertwined with the first point. As soon as an nft is minted, intrepid studios has not authority over it. People aquiring nft through scummy means can not be moderated effectively and would effect the whole ecosystem negatively.
Pay 2 earn is against the game director´s core vision. From how i understand Steven wants to build a game where achievements are actually matter and ar earned by yourself engaging with the game. Implementing nfts would open up the possibility to pay 2 win, through using them as a exchange vehicle for anything that makes your character stronger.
Thank you for the kind words and we are glad you enjoyed the piece!
We think it’s important to penetrate the typical thought leadership bubble on gaming Substack and highlight some of the most exciting games & mechanics in development.
On web3, we very much agree with you. In many (most) cases, web3 does not offer any “unique” element to games. We cannot stress enough that play to earn hurts games more than it helps. Making a game centered around financialization will lead to not only the wrong player base but potentially drastic drops in the player base due to asset fluctuations. Where web3 helps is provenance and showing rich histories that cannot be augmented. This can be extremely helpful in user acquisition (e.g. identifying whales & player segmentations).
We agree with the approach Steven Sharif is taking with merit-based items within the game. We think this is what MMORPGs should focus on when creating a monetization strategy. Since all items in Ashes of Creation are cosmetic, there would not be pay to win mechanics even with open economic vehicles like NFTs.
Great read !!
sequel continues to pump out high quality content!
Nice article.
I like that you attempt to bridge gaming communities with the substack bubble and as such give a new perspective on projects like these.
Though i disagree a lot with the sentiment that web3 can bring value to this game.
Why? I´ll try to list 3 reasons.
The commodification of game/leisure time. This is a more of a generall issue i see with crypto games, as money gets involved with your play sessions, it ultimately creates new dynamics and incentives for gamers. Will you engage with gameplay loops that you find fun, or the ones that yield the most profit?
Does a demographic of players emerge that don´t care about the game, but care about yields and as such aggressvively pursue those with means that negatively impact the game population, like through botting, hacking and scamming?
The administration problem. This is sort intertwined with the first point. As soon as an nft is minted, intrepid studios has not authority over it. People aquiring nft through scummy means can not be moderated effectively and would effect the whole ecosystem negatively.
Pay 2 earn is against the game director´s core vision. From how i understand Steven wants to build a game where achievements are actually matter and ar earned by yourself engaging with the game. Implementing nfts would open up the possibility to pay 2 win, through using them as a exchange vehicle for anything that makes your character stronger.
Thank you for the kind words and we are glad you enjoyed the piece!
We think it’s important to penetrate the typical thought leadership bubble on gaming Substack and highlight some of the most exciting games & mechanics in development.
On web3, we very much agree with you. In many (most) cases, web3 does not offer any “unique” element to games. We cannot stress enough that play to earn hurts games more than it helps. Making a game centered around financialization will lead to not only the wrong player base but potentially drastic drops in the player base due to asset fluctuations. Where web3 helps is provenance and showing rich histories that cannot be augmented. This can be extremely helpful in user acquisition (e.g. identifying whales & player segmentations).
We agree with the approach Steven Sharif is taking with merit-based items within the game. We think this is what MMORPGs should focus on when creating a monetization strategy. Since all items in Ashes of Creation are cosmetic, there would not be pay to win mechanics even with open economic vehicles like NFTs.