In Neil Stephenson’s 2011 novel, Reamde, where a 3D fantasy game has been specifically developed with a play-to-earn economy in mind, the players earning are reminiscent of players in World of Warcraft who would grind to earn in-game currency to later sell for national currency. The reality that is unfurling within Axe Infinity is much more interesting.
The fundamental problem with gold farming as a play-to-earn model is that is doesn’t actually add much value to the game. It acts as a proof-of-work for a good, elevating the value of that good because of the consistent effort needed to obtain it. This effort ensures that a buyer understands they are actually buying time. They get access to upper level content and communities, but skip the grind.
Modern free-to-play games strive to avoid the pejorative, “play-to-win”, by selling content that enhances the player’s experience, but does not give them an undue advantage. Some, like Supercell’s Clash Royale, try to balance the game with a slow progression path that is accelerated for those who pay. They cap this system at a certain level, meaning that sufficiently experienced players are not handicapped by their lack of payment. In this way, the players who don’t pay are creating a rich field of competition for those who do, solving one of the hardest problems for real-time competitive games, time-to-match. Having someone to battle in under 5 seconds creates an addictive experience and keeps players coming back. Non-paying players can be thought of as athletes on a scholarship.
The experiences being created by players in Web 3 are much more varied. Farmers and scholarship holders still exist, but are now accompanied by collectors (of interesting content), managers (of scholarships), educators, creators (of new in-game content), and politicians (reminiscent of MMOs like eve). The common denominator between all of these roles is that they create experiences for other players.
The fundamental question is this:
Is the value of the experiences able to be created by one person >= the local currency equivalent of a living wage in a region with sufficient access to technology and low latency network
The left side of the equation is determined by:
- The tools that the studio gives players
- The value players place on specific experience
The first will increase exponentially in the next five years as studios take advantage of the vast investments going into game engines and other tools. The second will decrease as players search out new experiences. Winners this decade will ride the wave and come out the end owning a piece of the ‘verse.