TTRPGS, Blockchains, and NFTs

When Kickstarter announced recently that it would be investing in blockchain-based infrastructure, there was widespread backlash. Blockchain technology is environmentally damaging and is of limited use. Creators such as Possum Creek Games (Wanderhome) announced their intentions to move off Kickstarter, while companies such as Chaosium and Wizards of the Coast continue to express interested in non-fungible tokens, digital items which exist on a blockchain.

While I'm writing this article, I do need to point out that I'm not a great person to do so; my understanding of blockchains, NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and related technologies is very, very limited and my attempts to get a handle on the subject have not been entirely successful. I'm sure more informed people will post in the comments.

What the heck is an NFT (& what does it mean for digital artists)

What is a non-fungible token (NFT)? In this graphic designer's guide to NFTs, we explore how Non-Fungible Tokens work in the context of digital art and how you can start turning your digital creations into sought-after NFTs.

dribbble.com

Kickstarter is not the only tabletop roleplaying game adjacent company delving into such technologies. Call of Cthulhu publisher Chaosium announced in July 2021 that it was working with an NFT company to bring their Mythos content to a digitally collectible market, with specific plans to sell two different models -- the Necromonicon and a bust of Cthulhu -- from the Cthulhu Mythos; and while things went quiet for a while, last week the company tweeted that 'We have more - lots more -- to drop... when the Stars are Right." A Facebook statement from Chaosium's CEO appeared on Twitter talking more about the decision.

D&D producer Wizards of the Coast said in April 2021 that it was considering NFTs for Magic: The Gathering. More recently, an email from WotC's legal representatives to a company planning to use NFT technology in conjunction with M:tG cards, alleging unlawful infringement of its IP, indicated that WotC was "currently evaluating its future plans regarding NFTs and the MAGIC: THE GATHERING cards" but that "no decision has been made at this time."

On Twitter, ErikTheBearik compiled Hasbro/WotC's involvement with NFTs so far.

Gripnr is a '5e based TTRPG NFT protocol' with Stephen Radney-MacFarland (D&D, Star Wars Saga Edition, Pathfinder) as its lead game designer. OK, so that's about as much of that as I understand!

Some company in the TTRPG sphere have taken a stand. DriveThruRPG stated that "In regard to NFTs – We see no use for this technology in our business ever." Itch.io was a bit more emphatic:

A few have asked about our stance on NFTs: NFTs are a scam. If you think they are legitimately useful for anything other than the exploitation of creators, financial scams, and the destruction of the planet the [sic] we ask that [you] please reevaluate your life choices. Peace. [an emoji of a hand making the “Peace” symbol]

Also [expletive deleted] any company that says they support creators and also endorses NFTs in any way. They only care about their own profit and the opportunity for wealth above anyone else. Especially given the now easily available discourse concerning the problems of NFTs.

How can you be so dense?

NFTs -- non-fungible tokens -- and blockchains have been dominating the news recently, and with individuals and companies taking strong stances against them, it's fair to ask why. The environmental impact of the technology has been widely documented - it's inefficient, and the need for blockchains -- a sort of decentralized ledger -- to have multiple users validate and record transactions makes it very energy intensive. In an era when climate change is having more and more devastating effects around the world, use of such technologies attracts considerable backlash.

Other ethical concerns regarding NFTs specifically is that the purchaser of an NFT is not actually purchasing anything, and the value for the digital 'token' they've purchased is speculative. When you buy the NFT of a piece of art (for example) you don't own the art itself; you only own a digital token associated with the art. The whole concept is likened to a 'house of cards' or a 'scam' by its critics.

 

[Umbran]

No. It represents a tiny fraction of the power used by social media.

I'm sorry, but you are incorrect.

Current estimates have Facebook using about 509 million kwh of electricity a year. That's about half of a Twh (Terawatt hour).

Cryptocurrency mining? About 64 Terawatt hours.

So, no, cryptocurrency is no longer a fraction of the power used by social media.

Bitcoin Uses More Electricity Than Many Countries. How Is That Possible? (Published 2021)

The most popular cryptocurrency wastes energy by design. Why is that, and could it ever be greener?

www.nytimes.com

 

[Umbran]

As to why society should condone this? In a free country, it is no one's business what a given customer does with the electricity they purchase.

It is no business of others, if your use is private and impacts nobody else. What you do within your own home or business is your business so long as it doesn't spill out and become my business.

Like, say... noise. Or pollution. Or brownouts in the local power grid. Or volatility in stock markets that muck with other people's financial security...

 

[doctorhook]

For about the 20th time: no.

Well you’ve got a pretty incredible answer for it, so you might have to keep answering it until you say something believable.

As to why society should condone this? In a free country, it is no one's business what a given customer does with the electricity they purchase. So I suppose it depends on where you live.

Umbran nicely calculated it out for you: if crypto were used as much as credit cards, the energy costs of that system would be ten times the available energy generating capacity of the USA—(ignoring every other use of power) only 1 out every 10 financial transactions would be able to be completed due to power constraints. The cost of transacting would become astronomical (people bidding on electricity to complete transactions) and the system would grind to a halt. That’s assuming crypto became as widespread as credit cards.

No reasonable society should ever allow itself to become so broken in pursuit of “personal liberty to spend money uninhibited”.

Do a lot of children invest in securities these days?

Well when you start selling NFTs featuring characters from children’s games, it’s gonna happen. The real question is whether it should be allowed to. I vote No.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

snip ....

some good stuff.

Then there's the basic coding problems. The game would need to be updated to authenticate NFTs. And it would need to perform these authentication requests constantly. Otherwise, what's stopping me from equipping my NFT gear on my character (with the game checking that I have the NFT in question first), then selling that NFT while I'm still logged into the game? How will the game know I no longer own this NFT? And what happens when the player I sold it to logs in and equips the same NFT item I sold them? These are all coding problems that will have to be solved requiring I can't even guess how large of a team working for I can't even guess how long to implement and test it all (because the last thing you want in a situation like this is a duping bug), both of which means spending a massive amount of money.

snip

From my brief look at what NFT's can contain, I do not see anything that stops an NFT from returning some executable code, so any game that would accept NFT would have to screen from code injection attacks to the running game engine and to the underlying databases, not to mention any zero day exploits in the libraries used by the game devs.

 

[Justice and Rule]

some good stuff.

From my brief look at what NFT's can contain, I do not see anything that stops an NFT from returning some executable code, so any game that would accept NFT would have to screen from code injection attacks to the running game engine and to the underlying databases, not to mention any zero day exploits in the libraries used by the game devs.

I believe this is a huge problem with NFT theft and such: in trying to inspect an NFT you can open yourself up to all sorts of things. Olson discusses it in the video, but this has been one way people steal NFTs.

 

[Parmandur]

But here's an example of a pair of independent artists who created their own NFTs and saved their home. Is this a scam? Were these two artists scammed (by themselves), are they scamming their patrons? Or are they foolishly engaging in something that will come back to bite them?

CNBC.com - Dastardly Ducks

NFTs can and are being used for evil. Can they also be used for good? Or, just a neutral way to share digital art?

Yes, they are scamming their patrons, either consciously or because they were sold on the idea by someone taking advantage their desperate situation. That part of how pyramid scheme work, taking advantage a ge of desperate and hardworking people in the middle of the pyramid, often to their advantage.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I believe this is a huge problem with NFT theft and such: in trying to inspect an NFT you can open yourself up to all sorts of things. Olson discusses it in the video, but this has been one way people steal NFTs.

Hmmm... I wonder, while I have read of reports of people that received a mystery NFT in their wallet, which when they try to sell they then find that all other NFTs in their wallet has walked off with it.
I suppose that this could be achieved by executing some code from the NFT being sold that scans the wallet and add all found NFT to the transaction. By the time the transaction is completed it is too late. Remember, "No take Backsies" is built into the system (it is append only).
I could see that as working,

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Yes, they are scamming their patrons, either consciously or because they were sold on the idea by someone taking advantage their desperate situation. That part of how pyramid scheme work, taking advantage a ge of desperate and hardworking people in the middle of the pyramid, often to their advantage.

I would add that just because the overall thing is a scam, does not mean that, people that have been taken in cannot make money on it by getting in and out before it all blows up. People that know it is a scam, can also make money on it, if brave enough, or they can take the loss.

 

[Parmandur]

Most won't boycott WotC - various reasons - and it would take a huge or a very visible boycott to get them to notice. And they're considered pretty evil by many already.

I mean...not really? WotC not only isn't involved with any pyramid schemes, they print their products in the USA, which alone makes them the ethical leaders in the RPG industry.

 

[Umbran]

I mean...not really? WotC not only isn't involved with any pyramid schemes, they print their products in the USA, which alone makes them the ethical leaders in the RPG industry.

So, you live on a planet of some seven billion people. They all gotta eat, so they all need jobs. Even if they live in China.