A game designer from Destiny 2, Max Nichols, is dealing with the topic of “NFT”: The technology became a trend topic in gaming in 2021. Nichols explains why this technology has no place in gaming. It brings no advantages and only disadvantages.
What is this new gaming trend?
- The NFT technology allows the creation of unique digital objects via the blockchain, which possess a sort of serial number and can be freely traded. The idea is that these items cannot be copied at will, thus are limited, which makes them “authentic” and gives them the value that buyers assign to them. This value can become very high – a pixel yacht recently sold for €572,000.
- In gaming, some publishers see the opportunity to develop new models via NFTs, through which players can specifically buy and sell digital items – for example, through auctions. Investors see in NFTs an opportunity to generate a lot of money. We’re talking billions of US dollars.
- Currently, new companies are developing games around this technology. But established publishers like Ubisoft are also toying with the idea of integrating the technology into their existing games and releasing “cosmetic items with serial numbers.” The reaction of players to these items is generally quite negative.
Game designer explains, NFTs have only disadvantages in gaming, no advantages
This is how Bungie reacts to the trend: At Bungie, chief developer Joe Blackburn posted a picture of which NFT he loves: New Fights against Tanks.
A reference to the raid “Wrath of the Machine,” which he created for Destiny 1. There, the Guardians fought against the cyborg tank Aksis.
This rejection of NFTs seems to be rooted at Bungie. Game designer Max Nichols already dealt extensively with NFTs back in October and states that they have no place in gaming.
Nichols even says that NFTs are harmful to gaming. They are environmentally damaging, lend themselves to fraud and enrich scammers. Even if all this is disregarded and one focuses only on the perspective of a gameplay designer, NFTs are harmful to gaming.
He explains:
All supposed advantages of NFTs, creating a unique item and allowing players to earn money, are nothing for which NFTs are needed. Players have been making money through gaming for decades by selling trading cards on Steam or accounts on eBay. “Unique items” are linked to the code of games, for this there is no need for NFTs or energy-hungry technologies like blockchain.
As a drawback of NFTs, Nichols sees that they bring an “extrinsic motivation” into the game:
- People actually play to have fun – an intrinsic motivation, they play for the sake of the game itself.
- With NFTs, they would also play to earn something – an extrinsic motivation, they play to achieve something that has nothing to do with the actual activity.
Research shows that such “extrinsic” elements diminish the satisfaction of an action.
Nichols asks: Who do you think has more fun in WoW? A player or a gold seller?
Business interests clash with “Let’s make the best possible game”
From the perspective of the gameplay designer, NFTs lead to a constant conflict. With every decision, one has to consider: How do I get people to buy something? The priority of “I want to make the best possible game” conflicts with a second, equally important goal.
With every model, this idea is repeatedly influenced and compromised by business interests. Every payment model has an impact:
- In subscription MMOs, content must be stretched.
- In arcade games, there always need to be points where players fail hard.
- In full-price titles, players have exact expectations regarding the length of the game or the graphics.
But back in the 90s, when gameplay designers developed full-price titles, everything centered around the question: “How do I make the game as good as possible?” If NFTs continue to strengthen the business interests of game developers, Nichols sees the danger that the focus will increasingly shift away from “Let’s make the game as good as possible.”
Nichols is therefore not a fan of NFTs at all as a gameplay designer. And this opinion seems to be shared at Bungie.
How do others see this?? A picture is emerging that gameplay designers who are close to the fans have a low opinion of NFTs. The head of the popular “Path of Exile” is said to have commented on the idea of NFTs: They should just go away.
Why NFTs are still a topic that will concern us in 2022 is evident from other reports in the multiplayer gaming sector:
New multiplayer game offers NFT land for 800,000 euros, is being sold immediately
