A few days ago, after watching the Star Atlas trailer and while unstaking a few coins I held of other projects I am getting out of, I encountered on Discord a (actually very friendly) person that got me thinking.
He was getting his stake out too because he was unhappy of the platform (I won't name it but if I say ears and candles you should get it). We chatted a bit and he mentioned a few crypto-based games he was about to try. Without googling them I instinctively typed something like "Thanks, I am gonna take a look at them but I hope they won't be the same usual bad looking crypto games with rewards that I am seeing around because, despite understanding We are still pretty early, I really can't play a game which You would normally find on Google Play for free with an average of 2.4 rating". He then replied: "Yeaaaahhh but it's PlayToEarn!". To this I kinda fell silent (He mentioned a wife earlier on so I don't think he was a teenager trying to accumulate some cash on the side).
I probably speaking more as a gamer here rather than a crypto investor but...Is it about gaming or earning?
As a fairly seasoned gamer (gaming since the SNES era) I definitely look for overall quality if possible when I try games.
I really enjoyed watching the trailer of Star Atlas because well...every new interesting project on a valid platform is just a step further in the evolution of web 3.0, but I also really got skeptical because as far as I know (happy to be disproved, eventually), the game official announcement dates to not long ago (Sep 2020) with no real info on actual development time and as far as I've seen, in the team section of the official website, there's no real experienced AA or AAA videogame developer but they got instead very experienced (top notch for real) designers. Everyone is excited by this (real) PlayToEarn concept. Comparisons to EVE Online and Star Citizen have been flying around but we still have to grasp the actual quality of the game. Just time will tell the outcome. Also, Eve Online alone is enough to understand how long, grindy and steep the process can be (if that's how the game will really look like). So who's more into the thing now, the gamers or the investors? The game is not out but the marketplace is already open and you can already buy NFTs for the game. Sort of like when you can purchase packs on FIFA Ultimate Team Web App before the game is released.
Yes, let's take a game like FIFA for example. Which has been around since 2009. Normally on Fifa Ultimate Team Players like Ronaldo and Maradona are valued, depending on the time of the year you buy them, between 100 and 6000 dollars. A legendary spaceship on Star Atlas in the current DEX Marketplace is worth 38000 dollars. Sure, it's an NFT. First Series. Different concept. It's yours and it can be kept. But We know that sooner or later there will be a Ronaldo Fifa Ultimate Team NFT Card. How much will that card cost? How much will that card be worth to the players? Star Atlas is not even out yet while FIFA is at its 13th iteration.
An other example is WoW. Some of the items available for sale via third party sites go for even 1000 dollars.
And We're talking about historical IPs.
My point is...Actual value and perceived value. Is Star Atlas a game to look and wait for or is it more for speculation and market sales?
Don't get me wrong. I'm excited to try Star Atlas as a gamer and in the worst of the eventual scenarios...each era needs their pioneers so trust me... I am definitely not bashing on the project. But I believe hype is a bit getting the upper hand here.
The game is not out yet and I've already read several articles on how this can give future occupations. How this title will be a game-changer. But right now They sold us the game or the concept?
I take the chance then to mention Splinterlands, which in my opinion (and no, I am not talking about it just because We're on Hive) embodies what exactly the NFT Games/PlayToEarn can be (at least in the current status) at specific market levels. Organic growth with adoption by trial rather than by name/hype. It came out, with a price. People tried it. They liked it. They earned enough in proportion to the fun. And it boomed. That's how many a videogame title should win. That's how I expect new NFT games to take the market by storm. With real value (which can be higher or lower). Not perceived value.
Is Star Atlas a videogame with crypto functionalities or is it an edulcorated NFT-based cashed machine?
My opinion is that, all in all, everything is still pretty "raw". We're early (even though everything moves quick). Many gamers don't know crypto well yet and the crypto enthusiast understandably take every chance/new product as something epochal and life-changing. While I think that the truth is that these are just the first steps which will lead NFT to be a normal component of videogames in the future. I am confident Star Atlas can have its own potential and develop its own market (exactly like EVE Online did) but I am also pretty sure We all will get to reconsider the NFT Gaming space and each product will get its real market value. And the heaviest adoption phase will be when a current big dog in videogames titles will implement crypto functionalities (it'll happen with store payments first and then later with actual gaming components). Oh and...yeah...I can't wait for that to happen!
What do you guys think about it? :)
I get it, I really do.
I couldn't get into dCity because to me it wasn't a game. I didn't care that I could earn from it. I wanted to play an actual game! I tried, but it just wasn't for me.
I have a friend who is always getting into these new play-to-earn games, but I just don't find them appealing. They're not games to me. Most of them look like browser based things from the late 90s and have no real playability. I think Splinterlands is the one and only exception. It actually has PLAY value.
Personally, I haven't really looked at Star Atlas yet so have no real opinion on it. 😅
There was a game I saw on Kickstarter recently that is basically a Pokemon clone, but it's a full proper game, and an MMO. And while it's play-to-earn they're not focusing on that, they focus on "game first, crypto second." -- and I might actually play it if it goes well and gets released!! I like pokemon, I like MMOs, the graphics so far look nice, it looks like an actual -game!!- and the play-to-earn seems to be just some icing on the cake. 😅
Yeah, I looked at dCity and just was confused. Where is the game? What do I have to do?
I really enjoy games where the devs more or less developed a fun game and the crypto part is a positive side effect. But that is rare!
Do you remember the name of the game? :) I'd love to take a look at it.
Yeah I did like trying these new games but most of the times it was let down 🤣
Like. It feels almost sad how basic some of them are 🤣
Like you said, 90s browser games.
Have you ever tried Alien Worlds? It looks like Ogame from like 1998 or so. 🤣
I do remember! I've been keeping my eye on it, debating whether or not I want to help fund it. 😅 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/untamedisles/untamed-isles ~ Untamed Isles!
I've stopped getting excited whenever I see a new crypto-game, because it's pretty much guaranteed to not actually be a game. I have absolutely no problem with browser based games, I used to live on Neopets, and Utopia, and Kings of Chaos, and some tile RPG Adventure game I can't remember the name of... but at least with those you actually did something. 😅
This does look good at least! It's an actual game! 🤣 I'm gonna keep an eye on it as well.
I've never funded any game on kickstarter as a few friends had a weird issue..they did fund an mmorpg but when it got released they were pretty much the only ones online lol
I can't remember the name but the news got viral in Italy
and yeah I understand what you mean.
I am always really curious and excited to see where the road will lead and I like trying games.. But I don't see myself forcing into anything which is clearly subpar.
ahah the only browser game I remember playing actively a little was Mafia City (or something like that). an app on facebook.
Totally agree with the crypto games. I saw so many new crappy crypto games in the last 2 years. There were some which were promising but still not really fun from a gamer perspective and I kicked most of them and sold the NFTs after a while.
Blochchain games still have a long way to go before they'll attract a bigger audience. I hope Guild of Guardians can do some of that. That project is looking quite good.
Also, I see you've posted this twice to two different communities. That means you're earning double up for this post which is something people often downvote. Just a heads up. Cross-posting would be the way to go.
Another title I have to look up at!
Among my friends the biggest skepticism I've seen so far is the staking/resources part. They don't really get how it works and most of them naturally assume (understandably) that they have to pay. That they "lose" that money. Heck it has been a mess for me as well to get power ups and power downs after being in Crypto for roughly 6 months. So I definitely get that we still have a long way to go.
Ok thanks, is it possible to cross post more than once? Let's say write one article and cross post it to two more communities (in this specific case Videogames, LeoFinance and OCD).
What you say is true and it's also where HIVE is shining. One wallet with a simple address (your username) and not a gibberish string of words. I get the confusion about staking though. Many of the blockchains and projects doesn't make it at all easy.
Yes, I think there's a timer of 5 minutes between every crosspost you can do but as far as I know there's no limit to the number of times you can do it.