I would consider myself heavily involved with the NFT scene including the blockchain game space. Many pros and cons exist, however many of the most vocal opponents to the technology perpetuate gross untruths about the NFT's, especially in the gaming scene.

Much of the negative sentiment is warranted. I feel the next “scam” lurking behind the next contract interaction, the next “Collaboration”, the next fraudulent twitter account, the next discord interaction…

This post was intended for Reddit’s r/gaming. I have a bad habit of typing away for 30minutes only to see my post removed for violating a rule on the server.

After making my case for the promise of “Play to Earn” (p2e) I wasn’t immediately surprised by its removal. “I’ll just make adjustments to the content”. However, the reason for its removal caught me by surprise.

r/gaming explicitly bans any mention of crypto or NFT’s and by convention, any discussion about p2e what-so-ever.

Following its removal, I messaged a moderator in the hopes I might clear up some confusion. The entire purpose of the post was to both educate, but lend an ear to the gaming community about their concerns.

No response as of the time of this post.

I do not believe r/gaming is demonstrating any “Bad Intent”. Why would they? I recognize their primary motivation is the safety of their community. After all, we can all agree web3 can be a financially dangerous place.

Nonetheless, I do believe the ban and instant removal of NFT/crypto content is likely to include certain falsehoods and misunderstandings, and ensures communication between the p2e and traditional gaming communities remains unproductive.

All said, I’ve included the text from the original post here in the hopes it contributes to productive conversation. (Including my opinions from the game developers perspective)

original post on r/gaming 8/14/2022

Hello all! Life-long gamer, and NFT collector here. The potential that this post is immediately down-voted to oblivion at the mere mention of "NFT" is not lost on me. I can only hope that the information I add here receives due consideration, and its message is given fair distribution.

As alluded, my primary concern is to address the apparent visceral distrust amongst gamers to blockchain gaming or "P2E" (play to earn). Many voice valid concerns and frankly, many more confidently demonstrate a lack of understanding. First, more about myself and my background in the NFT space. I am a nurse practitioner by training with 10 years experience in emergency medicine. My schedule has granted a great deal of free time to explore other interests, namely the NFT scene. I'm married with two dogs.

I'm a PERSON, not a robot. Also yes this is my account I have contributed to for over a decade. I do not work for any blockchain gaming companies, and this post is on my own personal volition with no motivation other than my own curiosity.

1: What is a "Non-fungible-token" (NFT)? If I were typing this post in a Microsoft Word document, I may send the document to a friend. Now, I have the document, and my friend has the document. If instead, the document was an NFT (instead of .doc or .pdf), I send the document to a friend and she now has the document and I do not because I sent it to her. This is essentially what an NFT is. It is a discrete digital item that exists on the blockchain, cannot be replicated, and may only exist in one location at a time. The blockchain is simply a ledger that keeps up with were the item is, and where it goes when it moves.

2: Are NFT's a scam? This is where many of the most vocal opponents of NFT's flex their inner "Dunning Kruger". The statement, "NFT's are scams" is very similar to "Websites are scams". It misses the point entirely. Do scammers use websites to scam people? Yes they do. Do scammers use NFT's to scam people? Yes they do. But neither of these instances are a commentary on the technology itself, which is agnostic and lacks free will. Anyone who tells you "NFT's are a scam" is confidently demonstrating a lack of understanding of the technology.

3: Do I "Own" the NFT's in my wallet? Simply put, in many cases the jury is out on this one. However, many of the most successful examples of NFT projects including "Bored Ape Yacht Club", "Gutter Cat Gang", "Doodles", "CloneX", "CryptoMories" ect have made every effort to communicate that indeed, whomever possesses the NFT is the owner outright including worldwide commercial use licensing (This is actually a very innovative feature). Most others however like the recent Nickelodeon drop of "Rug Rats" and "Hey Arnold" firmly retain IP rights associated with the project, but possessing one is no different from "Owning" a RugRats toy (which most toy owners would consider as "owning" the toy).

4: What is Blockchain (p2e,NFT gaming)? Many of you are familiar with CSGO and the "Skins" market. Skins usable in the game are bought and sold on an open market in $USD. Similar trading of digital items has existed other platforms like Runescape, Eve online, World of Warcraft.

The trouble is, the trade of items or accounts is explicitly forbidden in the terms and conditions of these titles, and if caught, players face a lifetime ban from the game. The other issue faced by those trading digital assets is a matter of "Trust". Buyer and seller must each trust that the other will deliver exactly what they promise. Buyer may send cash, and seller never sends the account. Seller may send the account, but buyer never sends the cash.

The transaction creates a prisoner's dilemma of who sends first. (I recommend everyone follow the terms and conditions provided with any game you play and only intend to illustrate the shortcomings of trading digital assets.) Back to CSGO. The buying and selling of skins take place on a dedicated market place that brokers the deal between buyer and seller using cash. and is a great example of how digital items may migrate from one account to another with no blockchain needed. However, these items remain locked within STEAMS ecosystem.

They maintain a monopoly over any fees they may choose to levy. They my discontinue the item and remove it. They may halt the trading of skins entirely. (In fact, VALVE have famously rejected the integration of blockchain gaming outright). Yes there are "Trading sites" for skins that seem to exist independent from STEAM, but this is an illusion.

Blockchain gaming at its very core is essentially the same, only these assets are not locked within a specific platform and are free to be traded on any marketplace that operates using the same underlying chain that the NFT's metadata is located on. No one is in control of the movement of this asset. The market is orders of magnitude greater in size and the entire trading history of the item is available to anyone.

5: Why is the blockchain better than trading skins on STEAM? This is where I throw a curve-ball. The difference between CSGO skins trading and the same trading on blockchain is subtle however, the implications of tokenized game items NOT locked in the game’s ecosystem are enormous, and stand to challenge what it means to be "Money".

The promise of blockchain gaming is much less about "NFT's" as "In game economies". It would be simple for me to run off on the numerous legal complexities involving securities, taxable income ect related to blockchain games but, I'll start by saying "It's complicated".

Players of Skyrim, WoW, Eve online ect. are familiar with grinding for "Gold", "Credits" ect. in game that may then be used to buy in game items. Imagine if you will a gaming world where the in game currency isn't locked on the game but instead is located in your Meta-Mask crypto wallet?

Lets go a step farther. Let’s say you operate a mining rig in Eve online. You spend hours occasionally moving from one Asteroid to the next busting them up and transporting them back to base in your Orca. What if instead of the materials you mined in game weren't locked within the ecosystem, but instead in your possession even if the game isn't running?

Remember the "Account" trading we talked about? The "Items" trading? Blockchain gaming companies ARE NOT encouraging nor endorsing the trade of in game blockchain back items in their games for cash, but if you do, that's a decision the player is making and the game company can't stop them.

It all boils down to shifting the onus of control and responsibility of the movement of in game digital assets to players, and if a buzzing secondary market for in game items spins up, the game developers didn't do it, the players chose to do it, and Blockchain makes it possible.

Passing the buck? I do not personally view it this way, and here's why: What must be understood is the REASON those terms and conditions that have always prevented the open buying and selling of accounts, or items pinned to those accounts. The reason is largely related to the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as Banking regulations.

In what I believe to be an overreach, game developers enforce a ban on trading of accounts on secondary markets so as to eliminate any and all consideration by these regulatory committees that accounts and in game items are behaving like SECURITIES being traded "Peer to peer" (player to player) in a fashion resembling the "Stock Market" WITH A FLOW OF CASH.

The “Cash” part is important because this is the feature that distinguishes the items from the "Auction Houses" that exist backed by "Worthless" in game currencies.

The application of Blockchain tech has the effect of shifting the onus of responsibility for buying and selling in game items off game and on third party exchanges or directly peer to peer to the players. Game developers deny monetary value of these items, including the currencies in game, and utilize blockchain as a means of tokenizing collectables, decentralizing the data, automating the flow of in game inventories and allowing peer to peer exchange of items if wanted....

If the players run off and create cash backed economies with the items, "That’s on them not us".

The regulatory situation changes. Players pay their taxes on money they earn Operating their guild, pay their taxes and the game developers never condone the practice.

Final thought: What I described above is massively simplified. The truth is, there are numerous unknowns in how this will all play out, numerous future regulations that may affect how it all works, numerous questions pertaining to IP and Securities. 5: Does this mean the games are Pay to win?.... Some I'm sure. But I find it unlikely that game devs aren't aware of the death blow to their title should that become apparent. It's a game-to-game specific question and most blockchain games on the horizon have not yet released. So that's my take on p2e gaming. Lots of pros, lots of cons, but the most important thing I hope to communicate is there is a potential to create a new age of "Pro Gaming", and "NFT's are a scam" is an inherently poor take on what's actually going on.