4 ms·

How’s it a Ponzi scheme? I’m playing a video game I enjoy and would maybe spend money on anyway. Just so happens I can buy cards directly from people like an IR

by exdsq 4y ago

How’s it a Ponzi scheme? I’m playing a video game I enjoy and would maybe spend money on anyway. Just so happens I can buy cards directly from people like an IRL trading card game, and microtransactions feel slightly less wasteful than in other games where you can only sell them back to the game for dust when you can sell them for cash to others. Yes if no one plays the game the value of cards would crash, just like in real life with YuGiOh. Would you call that a ponzi scheme?

viccuad 4y ago
In physical card games you can use proxies (fake or invented cards). And if they stop selling the game, you own a physical object so you can keep teaching friends and playing with them like any other tabletop game.
- exdsq 4y ago
  Sure! So if this was a regular digital game you'd be screwed because the assets are tied to the game. As an NFT they're tied to the account, so you could actually make your own game use those assets and keep playing with them :) So that's closer to a physical card than an online-only game like MTG or Hearthstone?
  - easrng 4y ago
    NFTs don't actually give you a license to use the assets unless the person who made them licensed them that way which AFAIK is quite uncommon.
    - mattdesl 4y ago
      Same with physical trading cards; buying a MtG card does not give you license to copy the card and redistribute it or repurpose it for your own MtG game business (it will count as copyright infringement, even if the publisher has shut the original game down, they still own the intellectual property). Physical trading cards and NFTs both follow a similar pattern of use, see First-Sale Doctrine[1]. After purchase, you are free to sell, lease, dispose, trade, gift, etc the object (which represents the IP) without having to first gain a license to do so from the copyright holder. With books, trading cards and other physical objects this is written into law. With NFTs there is no law specifying this; but it seems to be the general understanding (and would likely hold up OK in court, based on how these assets are being sold and consumed by the public). [1] https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1854-copyright-infringement-first-sale-doctrine https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual...
- t_mann 4y ago
  Well, on-chain games might not get us back to this as much as people think, but they're definitely closer to it than 'normal' online games.
paxys 4y ago
Anything related to finance (whether legitimate or not) that people don't understand is either money laundering or a ponzi scheme. There should really be an internet rule which formalizes this.
- t_mann 4y ago
  Wish I could downvote this. How many people even understand how compound interest on their bank account works? A conservative way of investing offered by mom & pop banks where I come from is through funds with capital guarantees (get the return of this portfolio, but at least 95% of what you put in). These are usually created and priced by people with math-heavy PhDs, that's how hard they are to understand. It's safe to say that >99% of investors don't understand them (especially what the exact price for the guarantee is), but they're legitimate regulated products.
  - mardifoufs 4y ago
    You misread their comment. I think he's saying that people are quick to call anything new that they don't understand, related to finance, a ponzi/pyramid scheme. They aren't arguing that everything in finance is a scam
- exdsq 4y ago
  I am still totally lost to how what I said could constitute a Ponzi scheme

by exdsq 4y ago

viccuad 4y ago

In physical card games you can use proxies (fake or invented cards). And if they stop selling the game, you own a physical object so you can keep teaching friends and playing with them like any other tabletop game.

exdsq 4y ago
Sure! So if this was a regular digital game you'd be screwed because the assets are tied to the game. As an NFT they're tied to the account, so you could actually make your own game use those assets and keep playing with them :) So that's closer to a physical card than an online-only game like MTG or Hearthstone?
- easrng 4y ago
  NFTs don't actually give you a license to use the assets unless the person who made them licensed them that way which AFAIK is quite uncommon.
  - mattdesl 4y ago
    Same with physical trading cards; buying a MtG card does not give you license to copy the card and redistribute it or repurpose it for your own MtG game business (it will count as copyright infringement, even if the publisher has shut the original game down, they still own the intellectual property). Physical trading cards and NFTs both follow a similar pattern of use, see First-Sale Doctrine[1]. After purchase, you are free to sell, lease, dispose, trade, gift, etc the object (which represents the IP) without having to first gain a license to do so from the copyright holder. With books, trading cards and other physical objects this is written into law. With NFTs there is no law specifying this; but it seems to be the general understanding (and would likely hold up OK in court, based on how these assets are being sold and consumed by the public). [1] https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1854-copyright-infringement-first-sale-doctrine https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual...
t_mann 4y ago
Well, on-chain games might not get us back to this as much as people think, but they're definitely closer to it than 'normal' online games.

paxys 4y ago

Anything related to finance (whether legitimate or not) that people don't understand is either money laundering or a ponzi scheme. There should really be an internet rule which formalizes this.

t_mann 4y ago
Wish I could downvote this. How many people even understand how compound interest on their bank account works? A conservative way of investing offered by mom & pop banks where I come from is through funds with capital guarantees (get the return of this portfolio, but at least 95% of what you put in). These are usually created and priced by people with math-heavy PhDs, that's how hard they are to understand. It's safe to say that >99% of investors don't understand them (especially what the exact price for the guarantee is), but they're legitimate regulated products.
- mardifoufs 4y ago
  You misread their comment. I think he's saying that people are quick to call anything new that they don't understand, related to finance, a ponzi/pyramid scheme. They aren't arguing that everything in finance is a scam
exdsq 4y ago
I am still totally lost to how what I said could constitute a Ponzi scheme