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+title = "Blockchain, the metaverse and gaming’s blind spot"
+date = "2021-09-24T13:39:46+02:00"
+tags = ["metaverse"]
+categories = ["metaverse"]
+banner = "https://img.chainnews.com/upload/cover/24d7b20ad76c5943a615c075a623cf19_pxGkAHe.png-large"
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+The speed at which gaming has proliferated is matched only by the pace of new buzzwords inundating the ecosystem. Marketers and decision-makers, already suffering from FOMO about opportunities within gaming, have latched onto buzzy trends like the applications of blockchain in gaming and the “metaverse” in an effort to get ahead of the trend rather than constantly play catch-up.
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+The allure is obvious, as the relationship between the blockchain, metaverse and gaming makes sense. Gaming has always been on the forefront of digital ownership (one can credit gaming platform Steam for normalizing the concept for games, and arguably other media such as movies), and most agreed upon visions of the metaverse rely upon virtual environments common in games with decentralized digital ownership.
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+Whatever your opinion of either, I believe they both have an interrelated future in gaming. However, the success or relevance of either of these buzzy topics is dependent upon a crucial step that is being skipped at this point.
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+Let’s start with the example of blockchain and, more specifically, NFTs. Collecting items of varying rarities and often random distribution form some of the core “loops” in many games (e.g., kill monster, get better weapon, kill tougher monster, get even better weapon, etc.), and collecting “skins” (i.e., different outfits/permutation of game character) is one of the most embraced paradigms of microtransactions in games.
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+> The way NFTs are currently being discussed in relation to gaming are very much in danger of falling into this very trap: Killing the core gameplay loop via a financial fast track.
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+Now, NFTs are positioned to be a natural fit with various rare items having permanent, trackable and open value. [Recent releases](https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/03/loot-games-the-crypto-world/) such as [“Loot (for Adventurers)”](https://decrypt.co/80108/what-is-loot-ethereum-nft-role-playing-phenonemon) have introduced a novel approach wherein the NFTs are simply descriptions of fantasy-inspired gear and offered in a way that [other creators can use them as tools to build worlds around](https://www.lootproject.com/resources). It’s not hard to imagine a game built around NFT items, à la Loot.
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+But that’s been done before … kind of. Developers of games with a “loot loop” like the one described above have long had a problem with “farmers,” who acquire game currencies and items to sell to players for real money, against the terms of service of the game. The solution was to implement in-game “auction houses” where players could instead use real money to purchase items from one another.
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+Unfortunately, this had an unwanted side effect. As noted by renowned game psychologist Jamie Madigan, our brains are evolved to pay special attention to rewards that are both unexpected and beneficial. When much of the joy in some games comes from an unexpected or randomized reward, being able to easily acquire a known reward with real money robbed the game of what made it fun.
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+The way NFTs are currently being discussed in relation to gaming are very much in danger of falling into this very trap: Killing the core gameplay loop via a financial fast track. The most extreme examples of this phenomena commit the biggest cardinal sin in gaming — a game that is “pay to win,” where a player with a big bankroll can acquire a material advantage in a competitive game.
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+Blockchain games such as [Axie Infinity](https://axieinfinity.com/) have rapidly increased enthusiasm around the concept of “play to earn,” where players can potentially earn money by selling tokenized resources or characters earned within a blockchain game environment. If this sounds like a scenario that can come dangerously close to “pay to win,” that’s because it is.
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+What is less clear is whether it matters in this context. Does anyone care enough about the core game itself rather than the potential market value of NFTs or earning potential through playing? More fundamentally, if real-world earnings are the point, is it truly a game or just a gamified micro-economy, where “farming” as described above is not an illicit activity, but rather the core game mechanic?
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+The technology culture around blockchain has elevated solving for very hard problems that very few people care about. The solution (like many problems in tech) involves reevaluation from a more humanist approach. In the case of gaming, there are some fundamental gameplay and game psychology issues to be tackled before these technologies can gain mainstream traction.
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+We can turn to the metaverse for a related example. Even if you aren’t particularly interested in gaming, you’ve almost certainly heard of the concept after [Mark Zuckerberg staked the future of Facebook upon it](https://www.theverge.com/22588022/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-ceo-metaverse-interview). For all the excitement, the fundamental issue is that it simply doesn’t exist, and the closest analogs are massive digital game spaces (such as Fortnite) or sandboxes (such as Roblox). Yet, many brands and marketers who haven’t really done the work to understand gaming are trying to fast-track to an opportunity that isn’t likely to materialize for a long time.
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+Gaming can be seen as the training wheels for the metaverse — the ways we communicate within, navigate and think about virtual spaces are all based upon mechanics and systems with foundations in gaming. I’d go so far as to predict the first adopters of any “metaverse” will indeed be gamers who have honed these skills and find themselves comfortable within virtual environments.
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+By now, you might be seeing a pattern: We’re far more interested in the “future” applications of gaming without having much of a perspective on the “now” of gaming. Game scholarship has proliferated since the early aughts due to a recognition of how games were influencing thought in fields ranging from sociology to medicine, and yet the business world hasn’t paid it much attention until recently.
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+The result is that marketers and decision-makers are doing what they do best (chasing the next big thing) without the usual history of why said thing should be big, or what to do with it when they get there. The growth of gaming has yielded an immense opportunity, but the sophistication of the conversations around these possibilities remains stunted, due in part to our misdirected attention.
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+There is no “pay to win” fast track out of this blind spot. We have to put in the work to win.

webSite/content/blog/metaverse_inpending.md

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+title = "The future of Metaverse"
+date = "2021-09-24T13:39:46+02:00"
+tags = ["metaverse"]
+categories = ["metaverse"]
+banner = "https://img.chainnews.com/upload/cover/24d7b20ad76c5943a615c075a623cf19_pxGkAHe.png-large"
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+Will we know the future when we see it? Venture Capitalist and elite media analyst Matthew Ball posits that the future is already here. Advancements in personal computing, technology, new media, and gaming lend themselves to the first signs of what is referred to as the “Metaverse”, an often imagined but rarely well-defined ideal of a technological future that will do for society what the internet did for the 21st century. And while something that sounds straight out of science fiction may leave you thinking that it has no bearing on today’s world, think again. Companies like Facebook, Google, and Epic Games are already competing to edge each other out in a race to be first to the Metaverse mountaintop. 
+
+![Glasses](https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F5fe10c187d003118155fdb9b%2FGlasses%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale)
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+ISTOCKPHOTO
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+Ball recently sat down for a [conversation with Zefr and Brand Storytelling](https://youtu.be/Cc78f4V0XEA "https://youtu.be/Cc78f4V0XEA") where he expounded on his knowledge, research, and insight into the Metaverse and its many implications for brands and advertisers. Here’s a look at Ball’s musings on what the Metaverse really is, why it matters, what it’s going to take to build, who’s trying to build it, and what that means for your business.
+
+**Where Are We Right Now?** 
+
+We have seen our lives go heavily “online” in the many months since the global pandemic rocked our world and the way it traditionally works. As such, lines are being blurred between our virtual experiences and what we do in those experiences. Concerts have gone digital with virtual reproduction. Meetings are taking place in online spaces. Politicians are communicating their message within video games. COVID-19 has forced an audience with no previous connection to these practices to engage with them, which is destigmatizing a “virtual existence”. Although these disparate things alone do not add up to what we might eventually call the Metaverse, ultimately these forced forays into virtual experiences are sowing the seeds for a world more accepting of taking business and social experiences out of the physical world and into a digital one. Because this is where we’re headed, we’re understanding the value of it and what those kinds of experiences can do for our lives.
+
+**What is the Metaverse?** 
+
+What is the internet? It’s a difficult question to answer. The same can be said for defining the Metaverse. It is difficult to pin down a conceptual potentiality in one tidy definition. A simpler way to think about it is to think about HTML - the building blocks that make the internet do what we understand it to do. Interoperability is at its core. The Metaverse wants to take that interoperability to an entirely new and enhanced level. It will expand to spatial computing, AR wearables, and other devices that will enable a level of creativity and interconnectivity that we’ve never seen before. The expressions that will come out of the capabilities we are headed toward are unknown and exciting. Our ability to interconnect more in the digital world will create a whole new market that we may be on the cusp of understanding but cannot yet predict.
+
+**The Metaverse Beyond Gaming**
+
+Gaming has gotten to such an advanced level when it comes to simulation and visualization that it is paving the way for the Metaverse. Companies are already using game engine software to do things like produce film and television, design airports and plan commercial infrastructure. If other companies follow suit, they will collectively help create the possibility for interconnectivity amongst all things. Big brands are entering categories that would have been unimaginable 10 years ago - developing products that nobody could have predicted. Many of these companies are scaling to great heights, meaning that nothing is precluding their advancement. As these large companies continue to scale, go digital, and integrate into greater technology and introduce social commerce functions, there’s more opportunity for major interconnectivity and interoperability. That is what the Metaverse looks like beyond gaming.
+
+**Brands and the Metaverse**
+
+Companies at the forefront of the Metaverse (virtual immersive experiences with a wide base of creation) want funding to produce native advertising. If brands fund good content and people watch it, or sponsor the funding of content by creators, brands stand the best chance of benefiting from inbound marketing and brand lift. It is important to remember that the Metaverse is not static, and that getting involved may present some fear and/or challenges. It is important to remember that those same fears were held about running ads on Facebook, streaming, and virtually anything that makes up the reality we’re experiencing in 2020. These problems get solved naturally over time or diffuse, so the focus for brands should be to recognize that today’s “growth hack” will be tomorrow’s mainstream competition.  
+
+**Identity in the Metaverse**
+
+While science fiction may have us inclined to assume that one dominant company will usher us all into the Metaverse, that's not likely, as it is not the way we operate today. Individuals currently have multiple identity profiles online, between Google, Apple, Facebook, and more. It may very well be similar in the Metaverse, although one of the theories on the Metaverse is that there will be a unified identity, which is why companies like Apple and Epic Games are fighting for control of being the de facto identity federator. The Metaverse will likely find and change the leading identity providers at a flash point in time.
+
+**Who Are the Early Leaders?** 
+
+The Metaverse by premise expects and requires multiple winners. Those who have the greatest reach and participation right now are leading the way to a future in which they will have a large share in the Metaverse. Apple, Google, Epic Games, and Unity are leading in different components or what will ultimately culminate in the Metaverse. This is why there’s an intrinsic issue with Apple’s pursued acquisition of Epic Games technology, where Epic argues that because Apple is so large, it will become a natural monopoly and effectively stop the Metaverse dead in its tracks. This is compounded by Apple refusing to allow service bundles, which will be essential to the existence of the Metaverse.
+
+**The Metaverse Is on Its Way**
+
+The seeds of the future are being sown today. Experiences we’ve been collectively launched into as a circumstance of the global pandemic – zoom meetings, virtual concerts, shopping through Instagram, and more – are, disparate as they seem, moving on a path towards one another. Fear and trepidation over making the leap as a business into precursors of the Metaverse will eventually give way to practices that will dictate the new normal. Reframing your view of today’s landscape now and recognizing these disparate forays into new tech-driven experiences not as disparate, but as ingredients on a collision course to the birth of the Metaverse, may be the very thing that will position you and your business to be prepared for it when it comes. Because there’s one thing that can be said for sure about the future: it’s on its way.