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“Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

paulbutler.org

131–140 of 700 posts

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#131
> Web Two was don’t be evil. Web Three is can’t be evil. You bake it into the code that you can’t be evil.

Yikes. That's a philosophy that really misses the nature of evil. In fact, I think we're doing ourselves up for colossal failure if we assume we can create an unexploitable algorithm that we then cannot modify that can be crafted to be evil-proof.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there a there there without an underlying token that's gone up XX% in the last N months and everyone hopes will still go up XX% in the next N months? Alternatively, even simpler: where is the money coming from ? A bunch of people playing a game are a closed system, and no value is created by playing the game. If the only reason why players are earning money from this game is because more people are continually b…

This is what people don't seem to understand about BitCoin. It is cashflow negative, Money has to keep coming in to keep the price up due to paying miners. It is totally fine if you think BTC is better than the USD or Gold for whatever reason. But Bitcoin is still cashflow negative. You have to keep pumping money into it to keep up its value. Where is that money going to come from? Is it coming from Tether? Is it com…

This negates the idea that bitcoin or it's ilk could replace USD.

Crypto technologies are interesting to me because of their great potential for good (defi) and bad (dystopian black mirror gold farms, dyson sphere fueling crpto mine, etc).

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there a there there without an underlying token that's gone up XX% in the last N months and everyone hopes will still go up XX% in the next N months? Alternatively, even simpler: where is the money coming from ? A bunch of people playing a game are a closed system, and no value is created by playing the game. If the only reason why players are earning money from this game is because more people are continually b…

This is what people don't seem to understand about BitCoin. It is cashflow negative, Money has to keep coming in to keep the price up due to paying miners. It is totally fine if you think BTC is better than the USD or Gold for whatever reason. But Bitcoin is still cashflow negative. You have to keep pumping money into it to keep up its value. Where is that money going to come from? Is it coming from Tether? Is it com…

> This is what people don't seem to understand about BitCoin. It is cashflow negative, Money has to keep coming in

Pretty sure a sizable portion of Bitcoin holders understand and know that. They don't hold Bitcoin as a form of bespoke investment to be exchanged for money at some point in the future. They hold it because they believe it is sound and incorruptible money.

And as long as they (not any additional people!) continue to believe that, it will hold value.

It is to be seen if they are right or wrong, but they know how cash flow works.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#134
post #38

A thought exercise you should undertake if you're thinking about / talking about crypto/NFT/web3-related projects: If the financial instrument that underlies the project were to stop going up in value XX% per month, would you still be interested in the project? I do this a lot because I've made the conscious (and perhaps financially foolish) choice to stay away from everything crypto/blockchain related (for now, at l…

> Is there a there there without an underlying token that's gone up XX% in the last N months and everyone hopes will still go up XX% in the next N months? Alternatively, even simpler: where is the money coming from ? A bunch of people playing a game are a closed system, and no value is created by playing the game. If the only reason why players are earning money from this game is because more people are continually b…

There are no closed systems, and players playing a game does create value. It's almost the only important aspect of software's value - users. Anyone can write some garbage software, or hire people to do it, not anyone can make things people will want to use.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#135
post #6

Sorry to get a bit off track: So is web3 just “ blockchain related things “ ? I feel like web3 as a term usage has exploded to the point that I’m not sure what people are talking about when they say “web3”.

I feel like maybe people watched a little too much Silicon Valley and similar shows and some wires got crossed to make people think this is actually a workable mass market idea. IMHO.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The in-game currency's purpose is to breed new Axies though. If there wasn't increasing demand for Axies, SLP would be worthless.

Is that the only use of the currency or just one possible use?

I have not played Axie Infinity, but to the best of my knowledge that is the only use of Smooth Love Potions.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#137
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you provide an example of a bullshit job?

The wikipedia article has examples from David Graeber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs

Some examples: receptionists, administrative assistances, quality control officers, compliance officers, and maintainers of bloated legacy software systems.

I disagree that any of these jobs are “bullshit”. I think the most bullshit of all the jobs on that page is that author’s, who wastes society’s time listening to him complain about things he has no experience with.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#138
post #14

How is this not a Ponzi scheme?

It probably is, but it's a Ponzi scheme with a potentially addictive lower layer in the form of a game, which is going to make previous ponzi scheme architects jealous.

Me giving money to Bernie Madoff via wire transfer hoping for gains isn't really addictive. The graphics and gameplay of a game might be. If you happen to build a ponzi scheme into that game, you benefit from its addictive qualities.

Keeping a healthy population of the lower levels of a ponzi scheme is key to keeping it going.

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#139
post #32

In the late 2000s, as a teenager, I was gifted a Runescape account. This account had level 80+ woodcutting, allowing one to chop magic trees - which would produce the most expensive lumber in the game. It took a staggering number of real hours to achieve this skill level, we're talking several hundred hours minimum. At some point I had realized that there were different sketchy websites that would buy and sell the in…

I wonder if we’ll have politicians and political philosophers in the near future who will credit MMO games for awakening their keen eye on societal issues.

MMO worlds and their economies taught many how the basics of our economy works. As a kid you got exposed to virtual versions of negative aspects of free markets that went against the meritocratic ethos of the game. (Especially if you were one of the kids not permitted to use money to buy virtual currency.)

Re: “Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

#140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine there’s a multi-billion dollar industry where some people record sound waves made with their vocal cords, and other people pay _real money_ monthly to have a chance to replay those waves for entertainment only.

Do you not understand that people find it pleasurable to listen to music, or what?

And, inexplicably, people find pleasure (or are merely addicted to) in digital coins in a game too.
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