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The fact that co-founder of Zynga and creative director of FarmVille 2 are behind this enterprise is extremely telling. A few thoughts: 1. There is a small-bu

The fact that co-founder of Zynga and creative director of FarmVille 2 are behind this enterprise is extremely telling. A few thoughts: 1. There is a small-but-non-trivial segment of gamers that are willing to spend huge amounts of money for in-game privileges. 2. There is a similar, somewhat-overlapping segment of gamers willing to spend huge amounts of time on a game, if that huge amount of time is rewarded with things that can't be accessed any other way (think grinding for top-tier rewards in a game like Path of Exile, some things just aren't accessible if you don't spend 1000+ hours) 3. Asia is driving the leading edge of game monetization now, and that leading edge is gacha games (lootbox mechanics/disguised digital slot machines). Looks like a couple of experts on extracting money from casual gamers have turned their attention to the whale/core gamers, and this attempt is blockchain-flavored. As a sibling comment (duskwuff) pointed out, blockchain is irrelevant to the actual value in-game of the item. The devs can change the game world to make your $1k sword irrelevant, and based on how these kinds of games usually go, they probably will - and the whale gamers will gladly open up their wallets to gamble on the latest and greatest. There is nothing innovative or exciting about Mirandus at all, unless you are looking for the fastest and most efficient way to fleece gamers - in fact, the Minecraft aesthetic feels like a little bit of a giveaway to the devs' real goals - lower the technical requirements to cast as wide a net as possible to pull in as many whales as possible. Maybe I'm wrong and this is the start of an Ethereum-powered future where digital goods are freed from platforms, but I doubt it. Most likely this is a digital cash grab that will launch to massive early-backer-funded fanfare, but will sink into the abyss of forgotten gacha games, once the devs have made their millions and start looking for a new target. Just like all the others.

drchopchop 6y ago
They'll run out of money before they attract enough whales to survive, because I don't see anything resembling a fun game here. It's like Minecraft, if you were farming for meaningless loot boxes all day. Just read some of these insane quotes: "The game will also have 1,000 farm bots which can mine a token, like a Bitcoin miner. You can buy a loot box, assemble the parts to make a farm bot, and set them loose mining. Or you can just buy a farm bot preassembled at an expensive price. Then you can mine the currency and provide them to other players in the game, either by giving it away or selling it. “It’s a way to compensate people who really believe in us in the beginning,” Schiermeyer said. “That’s how we’re structuring the blockchain. The people who were first to play it are going to get more than people who are last to play it. So, I mean, there’s definitely a reason to come in.” https://venturebeat.com/2020/03/10/zynga-cofounder-creates-blockchain-game-partners-for-decentralized-gaming/ https://venturebeat.com/2020/03/10/zynga-cofounder-creates-b...
- ljm 6y ago
  The last quote makes this entire thing look like a scam to fleece gamers/gambling addicts and then (probably) run away with the money. I mean, I will not at all be surprised if this is, at its core, an ICO-style con. It has blockchain, it has early 'investors' throwing money at it with the promise of exclusivity or scarcity, it's probably designed to reel in people hoping for the next Bitcoin, as if there ever would be one of those now. The main article is full of quotes about the scarcity of resources that will instantly get a lot of gullible people's attention. This report of someone spending 800k already might well even be part of the scam, the same way any con artist on the street will have stooges pretending to throw in cash in order to convince others that it's legit. The creators will roll along with the hype for a bit, and then take all that wonderful, liquid cash and ride off into the sunset, leaving everyone else's appendages (and useless digital 'assets') flapping in the breeze.
  - heptathorp 6y ago
    > This report of someone spending 800k already might well even be part of the scam, the same way any con artist on the street will have stooges pretending to throw in cash in order to convince others that it's legit. That's exactly what it is. This sale was to their "partner" company Polyient Games, and they're putting 10 more up for auction next week. This sale was to anchor the price.
- grawprog 6y ago
  >The game will also have 1,000 farm bots which can mine a token, like a Bitcoin miner. You can buy a loot box, assemble the parts to make a farm bot, and set them loose mining. Or you can just buy a farm bot preassembled at an expensive price. >The people who were first to play it are going to get more than people who are last to play it. So, I mean, there’s definitely a reason to come in.” So it's designed with pretty much the worst aspect of long running online games in mind and is pretty much a loot box farming game where you're mining for what is hopefully a chance at building something that might get you what essentially supposed to be a new digital currency? Sounds pretty awful to be honest.
  - deleted 6y ago
Supermancho 6y ago
> There is a small-but-non-trivial segment of gamers that are willing to spend huge amounts of money for in-game privileges. > There is a similar, somewhat-overlapping segment of gamers willing to spend huge amounts of time on a game These assertions come with a huge asterisk. The game isn't even released yet, which makes the behavior even more aberrant. > the upcoming fantasy MMORPG game Mirandus
chmod775 6y ago
> 3. Asia is driving the leading edge of game monetization now, and that leading edge is gacha games (lootbox mechanics/disguised digital slot machines). There's nothing leading edge about this. Both western and eastern video game companies have been doing this for more than a decade. An infamous example is EA, who have been sucking the fun out of their games with this for ages. Bonus points to them for slapping these mechanics on paid games which they sell en-masse by exploiting franchises popular with mass-market consumers, then extracting additional money using the sunk cost fallacy.

drchopchop 6y ago

They'll run out of money before they attract enough whales to survive, because I don't see anything resembling a fun game here. It's like Minecraft, if you were farming for meaningless loot boxes all day. Just read some of these insane quotes: "The game will also have 1,000 farm bots which can mine a token, like a Bitcoin miner. You can buy a loot box, assemble the parts to make a farm bot, and set them loose mining. Or you can just buy a farm bot preassembled at an expensive price. Then you can mine the currency and provide them to other players in the game, either by giving it away or selling it. “It’s a way to compensate people who really believe in us in the beginning,” Schiermeyer said. “That’s how we’re structuring the blockchain. The people who were first to play it are going to get more than people who are last to play it. So, I mean, there’s definitely a reason to come in.” https://venturebeat.com/2020/03/10/zynga-cofounder-creates-blockchain-game-partners-for-decentralized-gaming/ https://venturebeat.com/2020/03/10/zynga-cofounder-creates-b...

ljm 6y ago
The last quote makes this entire thing look like a scam to fleece gamers/gambling addicts and then (probably) run away with the money. I mean, I will not at all be surprised if this is, at its core, an ICO-style con. It has blockchain, it has early 'investors' throwing money at it with the promise of exclusivity or scarcity, it's probably designed to reel in people hoping for the next Bitcoin, as if there ever would be one of those now. The main article is full of quotes about the scarcity of resources that will instantly get a lot of gullible people's attention. This report of someone spending 800k already might well even be part of the scam, the same way any con artist on the street will have stooges pretending to throw in cash in order to convince others that it's legit. The creators will roll along with the hype for a bit, and then take all that wonderful, liquid cash and ride off into the sunset, leaving everyone else's appendages (and useless digital 'assets') flapping in the breeze.
- heptathorp 6y ago
  > This report of someone spending 800k already might well even be part of the scam, the same way any con artist on the street will have stooges pretending to throw in cash in order to convince others that it's legit. That's exactly what it is. This sale was to their "partner" company Polyient Games, and they're putting 10 more up for auction next week. This sale was to anchor the price.
grawprog 6y ago
>The game will also have 1,000 farm bots which can mine a token, like a Bitcoin miner. You can buy a loot box, assemble the parts to make a farm bot, and set them loose mining. Or you can just buy a farm bot preassembled at an expensive price. >The people who were first to play it are going to get more than people who are last to play it. So, I mean, there’s definitely a reason to come in.” So it's designed with pretty much the worst aspect of long running online games in mind and is pretty much a loot box farming game where you're mining for what is hopefully a chance at building something that might get you what essentially supposed to be a new digital currency? Sounds pretty awful to be honest.
- deleted 6y ago

Supermancho 6y ago

> There is a small-but-non-trivial segment of gamers that are willing to spend huge amounts of money for in-game privileges. > There is a similar, somewhat-overlapping segment of gamers willing to spend huge amounts of time on a game These assertions come with a huge asterisk. The game isn't even released yet, which makes the behavior even more aberrant. > the upcoming fantasy MMORPG game Mirandus

chmod775 6y ago

> 3. Asia is driving the leading edge of game monetization now, and that leading edge is gacha games (lootbox mechanics/disguised digital slot machines). There's nothing leading edge about this. Both western and eastern video game companies have been doing this for more than a decade. An infamous example is EA, who have been sucking the fun out of their games with this for ages. Bonus points to them for slapping these mechanics on paid games which they sell en-masse by exploiting franchises popular with mass-market consumers, then extracting additional money using the sunk cost fallacy.