What do you guys think about the new ICO coin that is a ERC-20 token supported by a powerful framework of open source smart contracts and software development kits. (SDK’s) It is a decentralized platform to trade items and transfer virtual ownership between players.
I just had a conversation with the CTO Witek Radomski about the Unity3d 2017 plug ins for easy integration into games.
I think this will be fantastic for game developers and anyone who is offering virtual items, especially for the customers who have to rely on the company when purchasing virtual goods. I am not a programmer or a coder so I am not 100% on how feasible this technology is but it does look like something that is going to help the gaming community. What are your thoughts?
Google Play doesn’t allow you to offer other currencies for in game items etc, and so I asked him the question in which he answered
"
we’ll have to fight the fight to get crypto working on mobile platforms - in a way this could be used purely as the game item system
tech wise there will be 2 ways in - integration with the SDK directly, or via an API which is 1 extra degree of separation
but licensing wise we’ll have to fight for the ability to use these tools on mobile platforms
eventually we believe anyone trying to prevent blockchain on their platforms will become obsolete
if you think about it as a game item database then it doesn’t really conflict with the license terms that I’m aware of "
Edit :
Here is a list of solutions they plan on creating
Sure. I’ve hear the arguments for using crypto payment systems. And even if I personally disagree with them, I do get them.
But that doesn’t explain why I should integrate it directly ini my game. Why not just wait until the tech catches on enough for the major payment providers to do the work.
This sounds a lot like a promotion of a new cryptocurrency.
Either way. I think integrating a crypto with actual monetary value into a game is a great way to end up in a situation where you SUDDENLY have to deal with either banking and gambling regulations of your country and possibly laws related to money laundering.
On a practical side…
I checked their site, and I dislike it.
Everything is a marketing spiel with a little meat. There is no technical information about integrating it into a game. No information about storage/memory/cpu footprint. Unity SDK isn’t there.
Github code seems to be geared towards … NodeJS? Seriously?
Overall impression is negative, and the whole thing looks like one more team trying to get rich by riding cryptocurrency train.
Yeah I mean I personally think it is a good idea, but integrating it in mobile games will be very tough. GooglePlay/Apple wouldn’t allow something like this since it would kill their profits.
It seems like a really good idea, however the technology side of it doesn’t even seem feasible right now with the current state of crypto currency .
Thank you for reopening, I would like to discuss more about this. Is anyone interested in it? Would you implement the SDK’s in your game when they are implemented within the Enjin gaming communities?
All of the benefits crypto currency brings to you. +
.
Under there Unity3d section they list
Unity is a popular cross-platform game engine used by over a million developers. The Unity C# SDK will allow creation of transaction requests, reading account balances, creation of subscriptions, and querying toplists.
Normally when someone makes a payment via your in game items, the processor who could be google play or whatever you use, will take 30% of the revenue. With this system it will only take a very small % considering everything is executed in a decentralized system.
They plan on fixing a lot of issues like
Trading items outside of the game environment is cumbersome and difficult. If a player gets banned, they can lose all of their items and currency.
Here is a extended list of solutions that they have :
Now just wait a minute. If it still takes a “very small %”, it is not so different from any normal processor.
Being decentralized means you and your game has limited control, which is not a good thing.
Being cryptocurrency means that in order to get something, people will have to convert their cash into “banana money”, and most likely will not be able to withdraw it back easily.
And in case they are able to withdraw it, then you may be hit by banking/gabling regulations in your country.
But when banned player loses their items, it is the right approach. For the developer.
Also, why should trading outside of game environment be allowed by the developer?
Most of the list is either highly dubious or require no cryptocurrency to be normally implemented. A portion of items listed attempt to tie in the developers into enjin coin services.
Now. What unique benefits does the coin in question bring?Aside from merely being a cryptocurrency.
Fraud: You can still be scammed and in this case you won’t have a mechanism for getting the cash back.
Lower Fees: This is lies. Bitcoin fee can be as high as $4 or $5 per transaction.
Immediate settlement: This is a great way to get tax collection agency greatly interested in you.
Decentralization/Recognition: Would mean that the system will be used for money laundering and then might be shut down at government level.
“Being decentralized means you and your game has limited control, which is not a good thing.” Explain
“Being cryptocurrency means that in order to get something, people will have to convert their cash into “banana money”, and most likely will not be able to withdraw it back easily.” This is simply untrue.
“And in case they are able to withdraw it, then you may be hit by banking/gabling regulations in your country.” It isnt classified as a currency, I hope you know this. Also, yes different governments have different regulations as with anything. Most likely you will pay capital gains, but it wouldn’t “penalize” you for using crypto.
“But when banned player loses their items, it is the right approach. For the developer.” The player shouldn’t lose all of there money just because a developer banned them. Also, not every player gets banned fairly. So this protects the players
“Also, why should trading outside of game environment be allowed by the developer?” This certainly isnt for every single game developer to implement. Just like how, not every game developer sells in game items.
“Most of the list is either highly dubious or require no cryptocurrency to be normally implemented.” This is also very untrue. Their goal is to have an entire ecosystem of P2P transfers, currency settlements, item transfers, plugins, an exchange, and more to integrate ENJ for a streamlined experience. They teamed up with Bancor aswell. What people don’t understand is that token transfers will largely remain on the backend and not much will change for the end users. Think about the coin Ripple, XRP, and their RTS system but replace businesses with games. Similar concept
This is unlike bitcoin, that article is for main crypto currency. It is on the ether network, and you can literally send a $.10 gas fee. This is why it works better as a ERC20 token.
Money laundering happens with fiat currency every single day. There will be no difference.
As a developer you ideally should retain control to whatever happens in your community and player’s items. Decentralization means that for example, there might be an equivalent of chinese warcraft gold miners, or sites that will take your player base and profit from it by selling them items from your game, except you’ll get nothing from it. That means a risk. Likewise, if the developer is stupid enough to allow player-made items to be distributed this way, this can tilt age ratings a LOT.
No, they should lose their items. The job of the developer is to produce good environment for other players. Risk of losing all your stuff is the primary reason for the people to play nice with others. So, when somebody doesn’t play nice, they are penalized for it. That’s the point of banning and losing the account. If you take this risk away, you’ll create more toxic environment. Which is a bad idea.
Another problem is that having online account is actually an anti-piracy measure. So in a game with a strong online component a normal idea would be to tie everything to an account you have a control over. Blockchain, however, especially in a situation where player-owned servers are allowed could create situation similar to abuse of steam card system. Where serverse are made for one day, used to mine up some items, which could then end up being sold to your official instances, greatly altering balance of local economy. Preventing that would require extra work.
So, the long story short, decentralization is not a good thing.
I’m not seeing it. I see an attempt to start another payment provider and profit from people utilizing their services + maybe an attempt to profit from initial gold rush of a new cryptocurrency. Also, how would you know what their goal is?
