Should Star Citizen consider NFT's for raising funds?
- Thread starter Montoya
- Start date
It's an interesting issue.
Having actual ownership of something you pay for doesn't sound that bad to me on its face.
Having actual ownership of something you pay for doesn't sound that bad to me on its face.
Indigo Bat
Captain
Its called a "Carrack with a Name Reservation" and already exists. No reason to have 3rd parties create a leech economy off of Star Citizen, especially not one as scummy as NFT companies that have already been gone after for copyright infringement, collusion, and removing data that the 'receipt' claims to own without recourse of the receipt holder. Heck, Gray Market sales are at least direct sales rather then through some 3rd party crypto wallet service. Less sticky fingers involved.
NFTs are trying to create artificial scarcity by transferring the value of art to a receipt of the art. Even art that has not been licensed to, or paid for, such a use. That 'transfer' devalues the original thing the receipt is supposed to be representing ownership of. It is not just a joke, but actively dangerous to anything involved in it.
Just make some Star Citizen fanart, turn that into a NFT, and leave the game out of it.
NFTs are trying to create artificial scarcity by transferring the value of art to a receipt of the art. Even art that has not been licensed to, or paid for, such a use. That 'transfer' devalues the original thing the receipt is supposed to be representing ownership of. It is not just a joke, but actively dangerous to anything involved in it.
Just make some Star Citizen fanart, turn that into a NFT, and leave the game out of it.
Gucci
Space Marshal
I am 100% down for this, and ill explain why:
Once the PU is open for business and no more "wipes" will occur, there will be many, many different things to do in game. Some will cost credits, some will make credits. Having NFTs means that the game itself can be configured to generate NFTs in some of the professions or utilize NFTs in some of the game loops:
- Rare artifact found while on expedition with your
- Some care bear finds a rare artifact while out in the wild and does not have the proper defenses or support to care for it. You as a Drake-loving pirate, relieve him of that artifact in-game, which transfers the NFT to you/your account. Sell it to some collector via in-game black market shop or real world cash.
I see these as another force keeping the game economy and motivations going round and round in the PU.
Honestly, being NFTs and accounted for on CIG servers, etc, what is a complaint that can be put against it that does not already exist with the greymarket/ebay sellers? At least in this way the assets are 100% verified.
Indigo Bat
Captain
This is false, the NFT does by itself, only give you a 'receipt of ownership' and does by itself, not confer actual ownership. They don't even contain the data that you supposedly 'own' as 'unique' - it contains a bit of information directing to a gallery that hosts the actual items and it is assumed (sometimes wrongly) that the gallery providing the NFT has the ability to license/ sell/ show the item in question. NFTs cannot function without a host of some kind to point towards.
It is not a contact for a license to the content. It is not a transfer of copyright. It is not a physical good that has a unique physical presence.
Its a receipt that provides access to a data location on someone else's server.
Current Grey Market doesn't prevent CIG from making balancing changes to your ships.
This would. Unless we want CIG to be just another shady NFT company selling fools gold and labeling it NFT ...
Indigo Bat
Captain
It is the opposite. Grey Market trades actual in game items.
NFTs are disconnected from what they represent - you are trading a receipt claiming to represent something. Remember, the NFT itself is just a small file containing a web address, and a key to its location and nothing more. A CCU on the other hand, is an account-tradeable item that can be used to upgrade a ship to another ship. A ship purchase is an account based item that confers access to utilize a ship in game. NFTs are neither, they are simply claiming to 'own' that thing, but are not the thing.
Gucci
Space Marshal
Hopefully NFTs wont affect ship, armor, player stats so no balancing is needed, just rarity/appearance/collect-ability etc.
Indigo Bat
Captain
Also false. The NFT contains no ship data.
If you look at NFT sales, the thing that the NFT points to 'owning' can be changed, or removed. See: Copyright takedown of NFT-sold artwork removing the artwork from the NFT wallet and yet... people still insist the NFT itself has the value. True fools gold.
Gucci
Space Marshal
It will still be a limited, tracked, item tradable in (and out )of game. What is the harm that does not exist now?
Wait ... You're telling me I'm wrong about an imaginary NFT that CIG has never sold?
NFTs are just digital assets blockchained for proof of ownership.
If one were to "NFT" an entire ship and sell it, then one would assume you are infact selling away the rights to that ship.
That's the function of a NFT.
Thus any replication or modification is illegal, as you are no longer the legal owner of the asset that was purchased.
How an NFT actually "works" in practice is entirely up to the rights distributor but ownership is a prerequisite when selling.
Otherwise you don't actually own the digital asset, despite your digital receipt. And thus, a scam and not a real NFT.
Basically I'm saying that if CIG did it the honest way ... They'd be hosing themselves with liabilities -or- seriously hampering the balance of the game.
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CIG could do something like, a special shirt with some interesting design that there are something like, only 100 of in the entire universe. The NFT itself would be a block chained datafile of the shirt you pop in a special NFT folder under SC, and it only works if blockchain recognizes you as the current owner of that specific shirt. Having that file in the NFT folder and the blockchain recognizing you as the owner would mean you get to wear the shirt in game.
BadaBing BadaBoom, CIG gets to sell some really exclusive items to the highest bidders in an auction, there are a lot of very wealthy fans who can have a bit of a bidding war and the bids can go higher as you actually own the thing and can even sell it for profit if you wish. Like collecting art, the price doesn't even have to make sense to a normal person.
I'm perfectly fine with that, I wouldn't be interested in owning one myself, but I'm fine with there being a few ultra rich SC backers who can afford paying absurd amounts for an item like that. Just like I'm fine with people owning F8C Lightning Executive Editions and Sabre Ravens.
BadaBing BadaBoom, CIG gets to sell some really exclusive items to the highest bidders in an auction, there are a lot of very wealthy fans who can have a bit of a bidding war and the bids can go higher as you actually own the thing and can even sell it for profit if you wish. Like collecting art, the price doesn't even have to make sense to a normal person.
I'm perfectly fine with that, I wouldn't be interested in owning one myself, but I'm fine with there being a few ultra rich SC backers who can afford paying absurd amounts for an item like that. Just like I'm fine with people owning F8C Lightning Executive Editions and Sabre Ravens.
Han Burgundy
Space Marshal
I don't like it. I don't need to further complicate what should be an easy system of items appended to an Account. I don't want SC to turn into some tryhard farmer-fest-for-profit operation. Any time a single cent can be made off of "exclusive items" on the player's side of things, opportunists will create pressure that will boil the gameplay down to a soulless slog. No thanks
Indigo Bat
Captain
Ownership is not a pre-requisite to selling. How do I know? There is no actual 'requirement' to fulfil it to sell something as an NFT, and NFTs do not have any kind of protection against this. You 100% have to trust the gallery that 'hosts' the NFT. Did you know an NFT may not even confer the copyright to the thing you now 'own'? Because you own a 'receipt' of sale, and that's all the NFT is.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/VJ4QKVTUCVKMRIHF7LI3LB2RGY.jpg)
What are the copyright implications of NFTs?
Gregory J. Chinlund and Kelley S. Gordon of Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP examine copyright issues when Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are created for digital assets in creative works.
www.reuters.com
No, NFTs aren’t copyrights | TechCrunch
When artists sell their digitally minted artwork as a non-fungible token, they usually aren’t selling the underlying copyright — but there are overlaps.
techcrunch.com
Here is some food for thought, as well...
Currently, when you purchase a ship, it has a unique hull number. This hull number is replaced when you make an insurance claim. The "Reserved Ship Names" are unique as they are tied to a purchase of a ship type, but not to a specific instance of the ship. For those claiming that 'it would be a unique ship' then you're talking about a specific hull number instance of a ship... which means you could totally destroy the attached version of that NFT in game - CIG isn't going to make your hull immortal and break the rules of the game for having a NFT, that would break the in game immersion for a simple money grab. However, if you claim that it would be a 'unique ship name', if you ever rename the ship and that name reservation is picked up by someone else, your NFT no longer is connected to what it is a receipt for which means... you can never ever change your name reservations or it could break NFTs, too.
Honestly, NFTs are only good for one thing: Scamming for capital investments and kicking the investments down hill with a hype train until someone is left holding the bag at the end of the day. On the plus side, it can and will make some people a LOT of money. It is predatory in nature, and has no business being in a game unless it is to scam money out of the game players into the NFT market with no real benefit to the players or the company over what is already in place.
Copyright and ownership are two different things.
If I buy an Aurora NFT ... I own that specific digital asset.
I don't have the right to replicate the asset and resell it as my own.
Photo studios are the same way ... You own the copies you buy, but not the copyright to the pictures. They're YOUR pictures ... you own them ... but the photography studio owns the copyright and can use them for their own gain.
CIG selling you a NFT doesn't make their copyrights and trademarks go away. You own that specific asset, not the keys to the castle.
That's the very thing NFTs are SUPPOSE to prevent. A secure and recorded chain of custody for digital assets is the whole point ...
If I buy an Aurora NFT ... I own that specific digital asset.
I don't have the right to replicate the asset and resell it as my own.
Photo studios are the same way ... You own the copies you buy, but not the copyright to the pictures. They're YOUR pictures ... you own them ... but the photography studio owns the copyright and can use them for their own gain.
CIG selling you a NFT doesn't make their copyrights and trademarks go away. You own that specific asset, not the keys to the castle.
That's the very thing NFTs are SUPPOSE to prevent. A secure and recorded chain of custody for digital assets is the whole point ...
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Indigo Bat
Captain
If I purchase a photo from a photo studio, I am licensing the copyright of that photo so that I can use it for specific purposes such as reprinting or display, or I am purchasing a physical good that confers to me certain usage rights. That's how it works. Stock photo purchases are the same - you purchase the license, it is not an exclusive license in most cases, but it can be. That is the value in art, the license to utilize the work. Physical art confers the right to control access to viewing the art, you can make it more exclusive that way, its a very powerful right to have over artwork.
NFTs are a receipt saying you own something, but without any rights to it.
Speaking of, I do have 10 acres of prime real estate on the Moon I could sell you, that is WAY more unique then any NFT you may be able to purchase, and for less then $60 million US if you're interested? It is visible via telescope and I promise you that it will be far more of a long term investment given the uptick in space interest.
Does said 10 acres come with the title of Lord or Lady?
Right now I can buy a few sq ft in Scotland to achieve my goal of superiority.
You DO have rights though. Because the item can only be modified and transferred by you.
If the artist decides to change their asset .. it doesn't matter for you. They can't change YOURS ... they no longer own it.
Ownership is the only right that matters on the consumer level. Worrying about copyrights are for producers.
It's mine ... You can't touch it without my permission. Ownership is the only right you need. Buying a product and having the "right" to copy it and resell is inconsequential to me.
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