On Tue, 17 May 2022 07:27:10 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
<
justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
Before I go on, I just want it noted that for once I didn't start an
NFT thread. I mean, I may be continuing it, but I didn't /start/ it
this time ;-)
https://www.polygon.com/22709126/ethereum-creator-world-of-warcraft-nerf-nft-vitalik-buterin
So you don't have to read the stupid page, the relevant quotes:
I happily played World of Warcraft during 2007-2010, but one
day Blizzard removed the damage component from my beloved
warlocks Siphon Life spell... I cried myself to sleep, and on that
day I realized what horrors centralized services can bring."
I have no idea how NFTs would prevent this by the way.
They can't... but then I don't think that was his intent. It was just
a motivator: "Something I didn't like happened because it was
centralized, ergo centralized services are evil, ergo I should create
something non-centralized." Or something along those lines. I suspect.
What is particularly amusing is that Ethereum and the like are
becoming increasingly non-centralized, even if not in their core
technology, but rather through the use of exchanges. Nominally, if
everyone ran their own exchanges this wouldn't be a problem, but
almost nobody wants to do that - and in the case of people using
mobile devices to access their wallets, they CAN'T do that - so
instead they go through a centralized exchange.
Exchanges run the servers that directly interface with the ethereum
nodes and then pass the info back to the clients. But if these
exchanges - for one reason or another - decide not to display parts of
the blockchain - they more or less cease to exist. Oh sure, those
tokens are still out there on the blockchain and if you access the
nodes directly you can see them... but unless you get anyone else to
use your server rather than a validated exchange, good luck doing
anything with them beyond looking at them.
(I'm not sure if this has ever happened with actual coins... but some
NFTs have been removed from exchanges, leaving them orphaned)
Not to mention that blockchain validity is determined by the majority,
so if 51% of the blockchain says a token belongs to user X, it belongs
to user X (either that or the blockchain can split). There are
suggestions that the Chinese government is - or was - hoarding tokens
just to gain this sort of dominance over the blockchain.
And even beyond that, there's the 'real' financial institutions that
still maintain a good deal of control. Because, after all, bitcoins
and ethereum and NFTs themselves are valueless, being nothing more
than a string of electrical impulses, and unless you can tie them to
something of real-world value, you can't DO anything with them. And increasingly, that 'tying to something of value' is coming under the
control of banks and governments. It isn't a watertight grip (yet) but
it is already under enough scrutiny to make its founding 'ideals' of
an unregulated currency nonsense, at least for the majority of users
who might want to use it for something other than buying other
crypto-coins or NFTs.
Long story short: his attempt to disprove the value of centralized
services by creating Ethereum only resulted in creating a
resource-hungry technology behind which new and old power blocks still
control things. But, of course, ultimately that's the unspoken goal of
modern crypto-currencies. For all their bemoaning about fiat
currencies and centralized banking systems and how they want to bring
freedom to the masses, ultimately its really about their not being the
ones at top. Crypto is merely a method by which they hope to become
the top-dogs, the guys with the power and the cash, even if it means dismantling any and all financial and legal protections and cheating
the less fortunate to get there.
Also for us D&D aficionados, the NFT (Non Fungible Trident): >https://external-preview.redd.it/hrgSP1rL2COo31tVU1CNZSIZKdKdJZfbQUfAydO91d0.jpg?auto=webp&s=bbc281a631fc2c6055b94704695d7cb2af700139
Needs the following information added:
Purchase value: 100,000 gp
Resell value: 30cp
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
