Hello,

I have been researching about blockchains and stuff and it all seems like a big scam. It’s not sustainable and can be replaced by a simple database.

is there any legitimate use cases of blockchains or it is all just a big scam?

  • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    No way. There are many ways to introduce artificial scarcity to digital goods, and no it is not a new or good use of the tech… Artificial scarcity is a huge part of all of the world’s problems.

    • papertowels@mander.xyz
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      12 days ago

      Before we start blaming a digital trading card game for the sins of capitalism, let’s both acknowledge that “artificial scarcity” is built into games. Mario suffered “artificial scarcity” when he didn’t have a red mushroom at the ready. Anything that requires “unlocking” can be argued to be artifical scarcity. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter because these are aspects of a game and not real world resources.

      Every digital TCG - Hearthstone, mtg arena, etc. all already have artificial scarcity.

      This is just allowing for you, as a player, to actually have a semblance of ownership over the digital goods you obtain, independent of the company you purchased it from, which is far more than any other digital platform will allow for.

      • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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        11 days ago

        Just because the artificial scarcity is digital doesn’t magically make it different. If the intent is to get more money, it is exactly the same. No wait, it’s even more despicable because there’s no reason for actual digital scarcity.

        Just like most games that were designed to eat quarters in arcade machines do not receive any honor after their time, these decisions invariably go down in history as just greedy fucks being greedy fucks.

        • papertowels@mander.xyz
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          11 days ago

          It sounds like your issues are with that of games in general, which is outside of the scope of this discussion, so I don’t have much to say in response. Hope you have a good day!

          • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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            11 days ago

            No, you’re just proving to be too dumb to understand the nuance I’m aiming for.

            Do you think there would be dozens of versions of Mortal Kombat if it stayed as the arcade machine? Or did removing the monetization when they released it on consoles allow far more people to truly engage and fall in love with it?

            I’m sorry you’re too dumb to understand the problems of rent seeking from modern corporations, but denying them won’t fix anything.

              • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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                10 days ago

                You realize making an arcade game that eats quarters for breakfast is a monetization scheme… Don’t you? You realize Mortal Kombat and many, many older games started in arcades, right?

                How can you be so dense as to fail to realize the similarities between microtransactions and arcade games eating quarters? Except microtransactions are much worse because they do not enable a secondary economy like arcades did.

                Again, artificial scarcity is bullshit. It was BS back then, and it’s WAY more BS these days. It is not something to celebrate, unless you’re a piece of shit that wants to leverage things against other human beings for profit unnecessarily.

                • papertowels@mander.xyz
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                  10 days ago

                  And is “releasing it on consoles” not a monetization scheme? If they didn’t give it away from free, they…sold it for money, which means it’s a monetization scheme.

                  What’s worse is that on consoles it’s simply a digital copy of a file being made - at least arcades needed maintenance, justifying an ongoing cost. Arguably your example of games being released on consoles is an even worse example of artificial scarcity - why should they charge for a digital copy of a game that costs them nothing to copy? Is that not a textbook example of “artificial scarcity”?

                  Except microtransactions are much worse because they do not enable a secondary economy like arcades did.

                  Are we in agreement that digital cards as NFTs does enable a secondary market, especially when compared to digital cards not associated with NFTs?

                  • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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                    10 days ago

                    No, it artificially creates a psudo-second market by introducing scarcity. Why is this concept so fucking difficult for you?