Chaosium Suspends NFT Plans

After widespread backlash across social media, Chaosium has announced that it has suspended its plans for future NFT releases.

All of us at Chaosium are deeply concerned by the issues raised around the VeVe digital collectable releases from last July. We take these concerns very seriously—our fans and the communities built around Chaosium are our lifeblood. We go back a long way, and that means a lot to us. We want to make sure you are comfortable with the way we do business.

While we address the concerns of the tabletop gaming community we have halted our plans for future NFT releases.

Let’s go through what’s happened to date:

• In early 2019 we began discussions with VeVe. At the time NFTs and digital collectables were relatively unknown tech (at least in the TTRPG sphere).
• VeVe is managed by long-time fans and collectors, and we completed multiple rounds of due diligence before deciding to move forward and granting VeVe a license to sell digital collectables based on our IP. It is notable that VeVe’s other NFT licensors include Disney, Marvel, DC Comics, Warner Bros., Star Trek, Star Wars, Cartoon Network, Adventure Time, James Bond, GhostBusters, and many other leading popular culture brands. VeVe even has a license from the United States Postal Service.
• The environmental impact of VeVe's NFTs was crucial in our decision making. VeVe operates on a blockchain platform, (Immutable X), that is carbon neutral. The creation of VeVe NFTs, and their trading takes place “off-chain,” reducing the environmental footprint of VeVe NFTs by 99.9% when compared to those minted on Ethereum.
• Chaosium publicized VeVe’s initial offering (July 2021) across all of our social channels. Our announcements didn’t receive much attention from the gaming press or TTRPG community, but the release was successful and well received, demonstrating an enthusiastic and sizable community of Cthulhu fans on VeVe.
• With our licensee TYPE40, we built an NFT creation model that is protective and respectful of the artists involved—the digital collectables created for VeVe are all entirely new and original. The artists involved share fully in the proceeds of their sale.

However, we understand that a lot has changed since we started down this road in 2019. The issues relating to NFTs are increasingly complex and controversial. In recent months, the debate has become prominent and contentious. Bad actors in this sphere have received widespread coverage. Many people are justifiably baffled, incredulous, and deeply skeptical.

Based on both our research and experience with them, we believe that VeVe is an ethical company, pioneering a new digital community for collectors which uses this distributed ledger technology in a legitimate, meaningful, and environmentally responsible way.

We appreciate that many of our fans are angry and disappointed. We hear you. Your concerns must be listened to and addressed. That is why, in cooperation with TYPE40 and VeVe, we have made the decision outlined above. We do not have another scheduled release on VeVe or any other NFT marketplace. We will never require anyone to own an NFT/digital collectible to enjoy any Chaosium product or game.

Thank you for sharing your feedback. Thank you for patiently waiting for our reply. So much passion for what we do is a good thing. It’s been that way since 1975, and in this digital age we remain The Chaosium.

 

[Bohandas]

I get folks viewing NFTs as foolish, dangerous tech, unregulated, environmentally unsustainable, bad investments, and bad ideas. I agree with all of that. There are definitely a lot of bad actors in the NFT space, and a lot of foolish actors as well. But the step further than the entire NFT space is nothing but scams . . . that everyone involved is either the scammers or the scammed

The problem isn;t that it's all scams, the problem is that it's all nonsense, whether it's meant to decieve or said in good faith.

Don Quixote was honest, but Sancho Panza was still decieved by him. Do not be Sancho Panza.

 

[darjr]

May Chaos be kind to the fool who bought in honestly, thinking this was a good investment.

 

[Aldarc]

This thread makes feel confident of an inevitable NuTSR / NFT crossover scam involving digital art that is somehow at stab at @Morrus and ENWorld.

 

[Morrus]

This thread makes feel confident of an inevitable NuTSR / NFT crossover scam involving digital art that is somehow at stab at @Morrus and ENWorld.

We can only dream.

 

[macd21]

It's weird. Since this Chaosium thing hit the web I've read up on NFTs and I have a much better understanding of what they are and how they work. But I still don't understand why anyone would spend serious money on an NFT. And this isn't just me being old fashioned, I understand why people spend money on all sorts of things that I wouldn't spend my money on. I honestly don't get how anyone could look at an NFT and think, "Yeah, that's a good place to spend my $600." But then I would have felt the same way about tulips in the 17th century.

I'm glad Chaosium decided to drop their NFT project (for now at least). The venerable company has been around for more than 40 years and during that time I haven't really seen a lot of negativity thrown their way until the last few days. It kind of sucked seeing them dragged through the mud like that. Though I gotta hold them responsible for getting on their bellies themselves.

The answer to “why would anyone spend money on NFTs” is “because they were scammed”.

It’s basically a variation on the “pump and dump”, as someone mentioned above, combined with a pyramid scheme. You hype up a worthless product, sell it at an inflated price, then get out before the market crashes.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Chaosium should offer NFTs because they are obviously creations of Elder Gods....

Yeah! meaningless numbers written on ephemera that will drive the world insane

 

[Jer]

Heh . . . I like Funko Pops about as much as I like NFTs . . .

If I purchased a digital Cthulhu statue from the Chaosium/VeVe partnership (I think they did sell some before pulling the plug?) . . . I would be purchasing a license, a token, for a digital statue of Cthulhu that I can display through the VeVe app. There were some augmented reality capabilities of the app as well, so I could display my statue on my front lawn . . . digitally . . .

Here's the thing that makes this a scam rather than an actual product - you can do the above without an NFT. There's a centralized authority that is in control of the digital trophy - VeVe. There is no technical reason that they can't just have a database of people who own the rights to have that image through their app. In fact they DO have a database of people who have the rights to own that image through their app because they have to have some method of connecting your login on their app to your tokens that are on the blockchain.

The value you are getting is NOT coming from the NFT - it's coming from the VeVe app setup. Which has to be able to be independent of the blockchain because blockchain only stores token information. So you are getting no value from the fact that this is an NFT in your formulation.

So why put it out as an NFT? Because being an NFT allows you to RESELL your trophy to other people. With the promise/assumption/wink-wink that these "limited edition trophies" will rise in value from what you paid for them originally. That's the only thing that can't be done with the app setup off the blockchain. And they could set up a shop to do that in their app BUT crucially it would flop hard because it doesn't have the hype of being an "NFT" around it.

ALL of these NFTs are the same "limited edition collector's edition" scam. But when they're done you don't even have the Funko pop to put on your desk anymore because the company will have packed up their money and left so you won't even have your virtual trophy to enjoy anymore.

 

[Jer]

This thread makes feel confident of an inevitable NuTSR / NFT crossover scam involving digital art that is somehow at stab at @Morrus and ENWorld.

NuFTSR?

 

[MGibster]

Remember those commercials in the 1980s for collector plates from the Franklin Mint? You could get plates depicting scenes from Gone with the Wind, Star Trek, John Wayne, Princess Di, the Three Stooges, etc., etc. I saw some old Trek plates for sale at a flea market the other week. NFTs remind me of those. Except, you know, you actually own something if you have the plate.

 

[Jer]

Remember those commercials in the 1980s for collector plates from the Franklin Mint? You could get plates depicting scenes from Gone with the Wind, Star Trek, John Wayne, Princess Di, the Three Stooges, etc., etc. I saw some old Trek plates for sale at a flea market the other week. NFTs remind me of those. Except, you know, you actually own something if you have the plate.

I often refer to NFTs as "digital pogs" to my friends. Has the Simpson's done an "Alf is back in NFT form" joke yet?

But yes - NFTs are 100% an attempt to create a digital collectible market. And the Franklin Mint stuff was an attempt to create a collectible market from scratch as well it's a pretty good analogy in my mind.

True collectible markets depend on having a group of people who want the collectible for its own sake - the fact that a Beanie Baby or a Funko Pop has intrinsic value for a group of people and they want to own multiples of them creates the market for them and opens up space for speculators who want to profit from being the middleman in those purchases. That's why the NFTs are being pushed so hard in fan spaces - in the hopes that they can get enough fans who have to have everything from their favorite fandom to create a pool of collectors that speculators can profit off of.