Playing and gaming Steem for immortality

It is often enough said that it isn't worth posting considering the value of the payout but, if one believes Steem has a future and isn't willing to actually put some money in, posting is a decent option. Whatever the decision though, whoever is here on Steem is part of the Steem game so, why not put in some effort into playing.

Speaking of playing, you know what would be funny? A whole lot of DIY posts detailing how to build a meth lab or produce drugs for Drugwars and see if it gets some attention. A Terrorist game would be great for attention too.

I am pretty happy with the success of first @Steemmonsters over the last year and then @drugwars in the last week or so, because even though engagement has somewhat dropped off as people are playing there, it speaks well of future possibilities and how sticky some of the applications could get. The power of the blockchain-ed games is not their quality, but the financial factor that makes people really think through their strategy as there is both a cost and reward to do so. The cost is a larger driver of thought than the reward.

When I was at university in Australia, we played an airline simulator for one of our management courses where each week we had to decide on the strategic moves of our airline like what planes to buy, routes to fly and prices to charge. While it was limited and the simulation was text only, each week everyone in the class was pretty keen to see how their group was doing and, the strategy meetings we held were quite complex. It was a hell of a lot of fun.

These days a lot of the games have added complexity and much higher graphic levels but, they are often lacking something, perhaps that something is a cost involved to play that goes beyond the purchase price of the game. As we can see from @drugwars, it doesn't have to be a high cost (although some have added a fair amount) for people to enjoy the strategy of it and, because of the direct financial element, people are really getting into the mechanics of how it works, and it is actually a relatively simple game.

In time, I can see these games becoming mini-ecosystems in themselves and because they are all on the one chain, there is likely to be some interesting opportunities for developers. One thing that would be interesting is a meeting of worlds where different games have crossover elements introduced where an object from one environment can be pulled into another. Obviously, a bit of thought would have to go into that as well as collaboration.

Essentially though, these gaming worlds could become much more integrated into the other aspects of the blockchain in time and because of the financial crossover inherent, they will definitely have an impact on the economics. One hit game could change everything and in time, I see it becoming much more normalized to pay for gaming components (now) but have much higher chances of getting something out of the games also. Just think how much money there is in E-sports now and how many gamers don't currently earn at all. Essentially, everyone will be able to get something out or, have the possibility.

Then, there are going to be the professional gaming companies that are going to leverage the blockchains and want to integrate them into the mechanisms because being able to do so means that while the players will buy the games, they will keep playing the games longer and be more willing to buy upgrades. Rather than a credit card, the gamers will be spending their tokens earned in-game that just so happen to have real world value on exchanges. That is a pretty sweet deal for the game developers.

While I do think gaming is going to be one of the major drivers of blockchain and most likely Steem into the mainstream eyes, I myself am not overly interested in it as a player. What I am interested in more at the moment is the Steem game as in many ways it is much like that airline business simulation I played 20+ years ago, except much more complex, more transparent, more interesting and a hell of a lot more potential to create value. While not a game that everyone enjoys, this is another beauty of Steem.

While someone is working out whether building a Meth lab or taking part in a heist is the best way to earn some Steem, another person can battle and trade some cards, post a Vlog on @dtube, a photo through @appics or write a story about flowers on @partiko. Everyone is playing the sTeem game and while some play for the fun of it alone, others take it as an opportunity to earn Steem and perhaps more. There are so many ways to play the Steem game and each day there are more arriving. That is pretty awesome isn't it?

In time, no matter what your interest area or possibility or willingness to spend on Steem, there are going to be various options and gateways into play on the blockchain. Yes, some might be more expensive and potentially out of reach than others but, there are going to be all levels available. In time, more and more value will hook into the chain from the other economies and, more Steem and other cryptos will head out to affect those economies too. The lines will eventually blur, just as they have done through internet usage between the digital and analogue world.

This overlap is going to drive all kinds of users with all kinds of motivations to develop all kinds of solutions to satisfy their needs by catering to sections of the community. It becomes a supply and demand economy that will continually become more stable through decentralization of all components, thought, word and of course, action.

While it seems a long way off when we look at the immediate situation now, things can change incredibly quickly and with the pace of change of technology combined with the rate at which the economies are degrading, crypto is in for a very explosive future I predict. Playing the game now puts one on the cusp of the wave that eventually is going to create a flood.

Rather than drown, learn to surf. Instead of complaining about the current situation, work out ways that help you play the game and build a position for a future on Steem and in so doing, everyone benefits. Sure, not everything is going to succeed but, does it have to? At least, unless you sell, your wallet doesn't disappear which means, you can respawn. This is the immutable blockchain, no matter how you play the game, everyone lives forever on Steem.

Perhaps it should be labelled, The immortal blockchain instead.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

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