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.

 

[eyeheartawk]

In short, I am pointing out that the example being offered is not proof. It is the transactionable nature of the $1 bill that is common to all $1 bills, and therefore, why such bills are fungible.

That just simply isn't true.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

The gentleman that did the l
“Line goes up” video wasn interviewed on NPR

The anti government and anti society ideology that drives this stuff is reflected in the nature of the whole technology and is the source of of much of the issues structurally build into crypto.

It would be my opinion that Anarcho-Capitalism has a failure mode of Oligarchical Tyranny, whose failure modes are well known.

 

[Mortus]

Why have a decentralized ledger? Couldn’t a company like WOTC create an official ledger for those that want digital collectibles?

 

[Jd Smith1]

That just simply isn't true.

View attachment 151825

Same quality, same time, same place. Exactly what I said in post #189 and numerous other posts.

 

[Cadence]

Why have a decentralized ledger? Couldn’t a company like WOTC create an official ledger for those that want digital collectibles?

There aren't nearly as many FOMO sales for something done the old fashioned way?

 

[darjr]

Why have a decentralized ledger? Couldn’t a company like WOTC create an official ledger for those that want digital collectibles?

Might as well be just a database then. Which when you realize that, you are close to realizing it’s kinda a pointless tech in search of a problem.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

How slow? The slowest thing about VISA IME is the cashier input and customer signature. And technology will certainly speed that along.

The cashier input and customer signature is immaterial to considerations here. This is about millions of customers at millions of counters entering VISA transactions, Credit card transaction in the US exceed 100 million per day and are cleared at the rate of about 1 or 2 per millisecond.
Crypto in total has never exceeded 10 million daily transactions, clears a transaction at the rate about 1 every 4 to 5 seconds and sometimes significantly longer. This is unlikely to increase significantly due to structural issues in the design of blockchains and their distributed nature.

On energy 100k VISA transactions takes about 150 Kwh where a single crypto transaction takes somewhere from 1000 to 2000 Kwh or energy.

Interesting point. But isn't that true of any new investment scheme?

Not really, most new investment schemes take place on financial markets where the regulators can keep an eye on it and if necessary spank the players if thing get out of hand. The do not always do this but in theory they have the power to do so.

However, even if every RPG maker bet the house on blockchains and crypto currency, and it tanked, the economy wouldn't even notice.

it is not the game company (even the Video game companies) that they are worried about.

I don't know about the UK or Europe, but in the USA, banning a particular investment scheme is a complex undertaking, and despite the fact that bitcoin has been around for quite a while, there doesn't appear to be any serious move to try to close it off. My white collar law is rusty and low-level, but the sellers are not being overtly deceptive about the product, so unless they are juggling the books (and said books are in US territory), the Federal Code doesn't seem to come into play.

At the moment it is still pretty small but if big players on Wall Street become involved there may be some action, then again their may not, US politics is kind of weird.

Why have a decentralized ledger? Couldn’t a company like WOTC create an official ledger for those that want digital collectibles?

They could and that is what they do with Magic Online cards and is the big question that a lot of people that are sceptical of the whole thing ask. The thing is, a lot of this is driven by Anarcho-Capitalist Utopianism.

 

[Jd Smith1]

The cashier input and customer signature is immaterial to considerations here. This is about millions of customers at millions of counters entering VISA transactions, Credit card transaction in the US exceed 100 million per day and are cleared at the rate of about 1 or 2 per millisecond.
Crypto in total has never exceeded 10 million daily transactions, clears a transaction at the rate about 1 every 4 to 5 seconds and sometimes significantly longer. This is unlikely to increase significantly due to structural issues in the design of blockchains and their distributed nature.

Doesn't sound long enough to be concerned about.

On energy 100k VISA transactions takes about 150 Kwh where a single crypto transaction takes somewhere from 1000 to 2000 Kwh or energy.

I don't see this being a issue.

At the moment it is still pretty small but if big players on Wall Street become involved there may be some action, then again their may not, US politics is kind of weird.

Only to an outsider. Of course, I still can't grasp how the UK changes governments, either.

 

[eyeheartawk]

Same quality, same time, same place. Exactly what I said in post #189 and numerous other posts.

Okay. So your contention is that a New Mexico Dollar is not substantially equivalent enough to a New York Dollar to be interchangeable, and thus, at any given point we have, what millions of different versions of a Dollar floating around and we just all never realized it until just now, in this thread? Even if that is your contention, I don't really see what really any of that has to do with why crypto and NFTs are bad. This is starting to read to me like a intentional thread derailment.

I don't see this being a issue.

Seriously? Is this performance art?

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I don't see this being a issue.

You do not see a 6 million fold increase in the energy cost per transaction as an issue?

Only to an outsider. Of course, I still can't grasp how the UK changes governments, either.

Not from the UK though, but when the UK first considered switching to Proportional Representation voting system one UK newspaper denounced the Single Transferable vote system, (which my country uses) as too complex for the average Englishman.