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A centralized organization like EA, you mean? That is what parent is pointing out: you don’t own the assets under license. If you want to see an example of dec

A centralized organization like EA, you mean? That is what parent is pointing out: you don’t own the assets under license. If you want to see an example of decentralization in the context of a game, look at Dark Forest. https://www.designboom.com/technology/dark-forest-one-of-a-kind-sci-fi-blockchain-game-cutting-edge-cryptography-brian-gu-gubsheep-11-15-2022/ https://www.designboom.com/technology/dark-forest-one-of-a-k...

itishappy 4y ago
Neat game and tech, but I'm still left wondering what benefit blockchain actually offers here. This looks like a run-of-the-mill Facebook/Zynga space exploration game from 15 years ago. Now, I'm no fan of either of those companies, but to my knowledge a lack of trust in the centralized server was never an issue. What benefit justifies the drastically increased costs and reduced speeds from moving this on-chain?
- mattdesl 4y ago
  Benefits: decentralized, censorship resistant, permissionless. Can’t have your account suspended, assets censored, or API key revoked by the game publisher. Can decide to build competing clients on top of the same shared structure. Whether it’s “worth it” depends on your view. Dark Forest and L2 blockchains are much, much less expensive than a lot of modern games. The graphics are not impressive, but it’s not really relevant—anybody could build a better client; and many games can succeed despite limited graphics, such as Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft.
BoiledCabbage 4y ago
> A centralized organization like EA, you mean? Not like EA because that wouldn't be a separate organization / 3rd party. The only interesting thing OP is asking for is someone other than the game company to maintain digital title tracking. That is a reasonable request. The same way your city might have a database of who owns title's for our house. A centralized database owned by a 3rd party. But none of that has anything to do with a blockchain or being distributed. Continuously people keep mixing up having 3rd party ownership (which sometimes does help solve problems) with a blockchain (which 99 time out of 100 adds tons of complexity and usually zero or negative value). That's the key distinction being made here.
- mattdesl 4y ago
  Shifting the burden from the game developer to a walled garden store with digital assets (like Apple or Steam) has also not proven ideal.

itishappy 4y ago

Neat game and tech, but I'm still left wondering what benefit blockchain actually offers here. This looks like a run-of-the-mill Facebook/Zynga space exploration game from 15 years ago. Now, I'm no fan of either of those companies, but to my knowledge a lack of trust in the centralized server was never an issue. What benefit justifies the drastically increased costs and reduced speeds from moving this on-chain?

mattdesl 4y ago
Benefits: decentralized, censorship resistant, permissionless. Can’t have your account suspended, assets censored, or API key revoked by the game publisher. Can decide to build competing clients on top of the same shared structure. Whether it’s “worth it” depends on your view. Dark Forest and L2 blockchains are much, much less expensive than a lot of modern games. The graphics are not impressive, but it’s not really relevant—anybody could build a better client; and many games can succeed despite limited graphics, such as Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft.

BoiledCabbage 4y ago

> A centralized organization like EA, you mean? Not like EA because that wouldn't be a separate organization / 3rd party. The only interesting thing OP is asking for is someone other than the game company to maintain digital title tracking. That is a reasonable request. The same way your city might have a database of who owns title's for our house. A centralized database owned by a 3rd party. But none of that has anything to do with a blockchain or being distributed. Continuously people keep mixing up having 3rd party ownership (which sometimes does help solve problems) with a blockchain (which 99 time out of 100 adds tons of complexity and usually zero or negative value). That's the key distinction being made here.

mattdesl 4y ago
Shifting the burden from the game developer to a walled garden store with digital assets (like Apple or Steam) has also not proven ideal.