What Is a Game Economist and Why Now?
There’s been recent enthusiasm about the need for “Game Economists.” I guess good things come in packages!
Games are cool. Economics is cool. Game Economics is just beginning.
Sense & Nonsense in Blockchain Gaming: Is “True Ownership” Actually True?
Take a stroll through a blockchain game website – they are all lovely; remember that’s their UA funnel! – and a standard set of phrases appear: “ownership,” “true ownership,” “truly owning.” But blockchain warps the traditional meaning of ownership into a ship of Theseus problem; each blockchain-based game can define ownership in its context. Suddenly,…
Sense & Non-sense in Blockchain Gaming: A Series
Sorry readers, I caught the blockchain bug. When 30-person firms get $4.5B valuations, it’s time to pay attention, regardless of one’s priors. Everyone seems to have a Blockchain hot-take, but I’ve found most to fall short of ruthlessly integrating the implications and design space of the technology. Blockchain players (who are also, by definition, investors)…
The Church of FOMO: Can It Stand?
A good deal of odd and folk-lore design priors float around gaming; my two favorites are free hard currency and time-limited cosmetics predicated on FOMO or fear of missing out. The FOMO model suggests developers ought to stuff their game with time-limited content, once the timer is expired the content is gone forever (or for…
