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NFTs can create scarcity and exclusion

When I started playing online, I did it with a pirate version of Diablo. With my 56k modem, I connected to the official server with a cheater character. Re_del_male was his name (King of Evil, in Italian). I joined the clan Apocalypse Knights. I spent hours playing with them, exploring dungeons and stuff.

Next online experience was an Italian shard for Ultima Online. I joined with real life friends, we were orcs. I learnt to use bots to farm and mine while chatting with my friends deciding what to raid next. Also there it was completely free, we just had to purchase the game.

All those experiences were about inclusion and lot of things to do. There were scarcity for some resources, and someone made friends with the game masters in order to get more things, such as land and castles. They had to demonstrate first to them that they were active players. The scarcity frustration was compensated by active participation and will to contribute to the game.

Nowadays, the most similar game to this concept is Minecraft. Mojang stated yesterday that they are not willing to include NFTs, because of the following reasons:

In our Minecraft Usage Guidelines, we outline how a server owner can charge for access, and that all players should have access to the same functionality. We have these rules to ensure that Minecraft remains a community where everyone has access to the same content. NFTs, however, can create models of scarcity and exclusion that conflict with our Guidelines and the spirit of Minecraft.

Published inGame Design

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