(A new NFT thread... just because finding the old one from months ago
was such a chore.)

And yeah, I know I said something about taking a few weeks before
commenting on NFTs again. But this story combines NFTs /and/ the Epic
Games store - my two favorite whipping boys! - so I can hardly be
expected to resist commenting.

Yeah, Epic has embraced NFTs. Okay, that's a bit hyperbolic, even for
me. But they've allowed an NFT-encumbered game ("Blankos Block Party")
onto their storefront. Want to buy a $900USD skin for a game?
"Blankos" is the game for you. Why pay $900 for a skin? Because...
erm... we'll get back to you on that.

In fairness, Epic has little to do with this beyond serving as a sales
forum for the game. Still, other storefronts (most notably Steam) have adamantly refused any games that use NFT/Web3/blockchain technology,
and have largely met with acclaim in doing so. Epic's decision can be
seen as being hands-off when it comes to developer choices... but
those choices don't exist in a vacuum. Epic CEO Sweeney might argue
that "developers should be free to decide how to build their games,
and you are free to decide whether to play them" but when those
choices involve environmental waste and fraud, maybe a bit less
leniency might be called for.

(Besides I doubt Epic is really as hands-off as they claim.He might
claim "[Epic] definitely won't... interfere by forcing their views
onto others" but I bet there are some games he'd draw the line at.
Certainly Epic has made some of its politics clear by banning Russian
players from Fortnite tournaments; how can they square their purported political agnosticism with that action?)

In the end, it's hard to understand Epic's intentions when the vast
majority of gamers have indicated unhappiness with Web3 tech infecting
their favorite hobby. Well, unless it's purely because Epic is happy
to sell anything that might bring in more dollars. They can claim all
they want that they're just a common storefront that refuses to
editorialize its content, but this latest move makes me think it's
more about greed.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 27/09/2022 01:26, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

(Besides I doubt Epic is really as hands-off as they claim.He might
claim "[Epic] definitely won't... interfere by forcing their views
onto others" but I bet there are some games he'd draw the line at.
Certainly Epic has made some of its politics clear by banning Russian
players from Fortnite tournaments; how can they square their purported political agnosticism with that action?)

In general I think statements from companies about not wanting
'censorship' are really just a way of saying we don't have a problem
with this but we realise it doesn't sound good if we say that. The flip
side is companies doing things because they think they have to and the
Queen's funeral in the UK was a great example of that. Pretty much the
whole country closed down for the down except the pubs. Fortunately
that's all died down now and we've gone back to our government solving
the cost of living crisis by giving tax cuts to the very rich, which is
nice.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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