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Companies from all over the world are launching projects one after another under the name ‘metaverse’, but the reality is a deserted digital space with virtually no players. Rather than creating such a thing, wouldn't it be more popular to ‘metaverse’ an online game that already has a large number of players?
We therefore asked writer A, who is familiar with games and Web 3.0, and game developer B to discuss the theme of ‘MMORPGs as a metaverse’.
Mr A: This time, we invited people involved in online game development to discuss what they would do if they were to actually create a metaverse. Mr B: Thank you very much for your time.
Mr B: Thank you very much.
Mr A: The word ‘metaverse’ is used in a variety of ways, but the common denominator is ‘a place where many people do something in an online 3D digital space’.
However, the reality is that if there is no purpose for what you are doing or why you are gathering, people will not gather in the metaverse and the space will have no meaning. Many projects that are currently considered to be metaverses are completely empty when you actually log in.
Even if they say it's cutting-edge technology or that Facebook is seriously working on it, that's not a reason for people to gather.
Mr B: If you could give people a reason to gather in a deserted digital space where they don't know what to do, it would still be games. In fact, even if they don't call themselves a metaverse, there are a large number of online games that have the characteristics mentioned by Mr A.
If you are going to create a new Metaverse in the future, I think it would be effective to first attract customers with games.
Mr A: MMORPGs that are played by many people include Final Fantasy 14 and Animal Crossing. Also, recently there have been a number of Metaverse-like MMORPGs in the top sales rankings for smartphone games.
Of course, these games do not have elements such as crypto assets or NFTs, but let's talk about what we could do if we were to add crypto assets and NFTs to these games. In other words, the project is called ‘What if we turn online games into a Web 3.0 metaverse’.
Mr B: Okay. When we plan games, we sometimes use existing hit titles as a basis. So this time, let's think in the form of adding Web 3.0-like elements to a game called ‘Albion Online’, which can be played on both PCs and smartphones.
Mr A: What kind of game is Albion Online?
Mr B: It is an orthodox type of MMORPG with weapons, items, PvP (elements where players fight one-on-one) and PvE (elements where a large number of players fight computer enemies). The so-called questing mechanism is almost non-existent, with a high degree of freedom for the user to choose all actions.
This game seems to be easy to metaverse as it is characterised by an in-game market economy.
Mr A: What do you mean by an in-game market economy?
Mr B: There is a market in the Albion Online game, where you can buy and sell items with other players.
In a normal RPG, for example, if you sell your ‘Iron Sword’ to a weapon shop, the price is fixed and the person you sell it to is an NPC (non-player character). In this game, however, you can sell each item to other players, and the price changes according to demand.
Also, you can not only buy items that have already been sold by someone else, but you can also say ‘I will buy this item if it is sold for less than 00 gold’.
Mr A: So you can do things like board trading.
Mr B: By the way, almost all equipment and items are manufactured by users. Players collect resources by killing monsters and cutting down trees to make items, which are then sold to earn silver, the in-game currency.
Mr A: It's not NFT, but it's a game where items are bought and sold as a matter of course, so the first point in creating a Web 3.0-like metaverse is ‘what to make NFT’. So please tell us about the elements that could be NFT-ised.
Mr B: So let's identify the elements that exist in the Albion Online world. First of all, there is the player's avatar, and there is the element of clothing to change their appearance. There is also equipment such as weapons and armour, and bags for carrying and storing items.
There are also a large number of consumable items, such as potions to restore your strength, and a large amount of food. There is also the element of horses, cows and other animals that you ride when you move around.
Mr A: There are quite a lot of different elements. I don't think it's a good idea to convert everything to NFT, because it would be a waste of gas money and time and effort to convert to NFT. Incidentally, which of these elements are so-called chargeable elements?
Mr B: The ones that can be purchased directly by paying are the ‘regular premiums’ that provide benefits such as increased experience and ‘gold’, which is the so-called charged currency. In addition, the only things you can buy with gold are the regular premiums and skins to change the appearance of the game. However, gold can be exchanged for silver, the in-game currency.
All the transactions in the marketplace I mentioned earlier are done with silver, which means that practically all items can be purchased by paying for them. It is difficult to decide what should be NFTed, but it is good to use it to add value to rarer items, such as ‘can be NFTed’ or ‘is NFT’.
In online games, the motivation for players is to see someone with a rare weapon and think ‘I envy them’ or ‘I want one too’. The NFT mechanism is used as an ‘element to be envied’ for this purpose.
Mr A: I see, so NFT items are treated like the highest rarity. Incidentally, in the Web 3.0 Metaverse project, land may be sold as NFT. Is there a concept of land in Albion Online?
Mr B: Individuals and guilds can buy unique islands and build and farm whatever they want. Of course, islands can be purchased with in-game currency, but if, for example, islands where special substances are calculated could be sold as NFTs, many users would probably want to buy them.
Mr A: Basically, it seems like a good idea to think in the direction of turning scarce objects into NFTs. So what would be the best way to incorporate crypto-assets into games?
Mr B: It would be natural to use gold, the currency used to pay for the game, as a crypto asset. In Albion Online, the conversion rate between gold and silver, the in-game currency, is fixed, but it also fluctuates according to supply and demand.
If a mechanism could be introduced to change the conversion rate between gold and silver in line with the price of the crypto asset gold, it would be possible to do so without destroying the in-game economy.
An interesting point is that you can not only pay gold to earn silver, but you can also convert silver into gold. So if you are patient, you can accumulate silver, convert it to gold and buy regular premiums without paying. Well, it is very inefficient as it takes a great deal of time.
Mr A: I see. If you turn gold into a crypto asset, for example, you can make it tradable on an external exchange, so that even if you don't pay, you can eventually make money. It's more of a blockchain game idea than a metaverse, but that's what the mechanism called ‘Play to Earn’ is for.
Mr B: Yes. However, as a game developer, I have a lot of doubts about the money earning mechanism. When it comes to blockchain games, I often hear people say things like ‘it's great that you can earn money from playing games’, but is that really great?
Mr A: What do you mean?
Mr B: I think that the element of earning real money detracts from the fun of the game. In general games, for example, you get a great sense of achievement when you join forces with your friends to defeat a powerful boss. And as a reward for defeating the boss, you get a rare weapon.
Essentially, the fun of the game is this sense of achievement. However, when in-game assets can be exchanged for cash, the emphasis is on the ‘how much can I sell this item I got for defeating the boss’ aspect.
I feel that the amount of money is directly linked to the joy of the game, rather than the sense of accomplishment of having completed the game. As a game developer, I don't mind the presence of cryptographic assets and NFT, but I don't think you can attract players if the only reason for their existence is ‘because they can be converted into money’.
Mr A: Indeed, blockchain games that only promote ‘making money’ have all been short-lived. In order to have a metaverse that continuously attracts players, it would probably be better if there were no ‘money-making’ elements.
Mr B: I think it would be fine if, for example, long-time players could retire and give away their valuable NFT items they have collected to others and get a little bit of money. At the very least, we want to make sure that the kind of profit calculation that is common in blockchain games, such as ‘if you play for 10 days, you can earn about a thousand yen an hour’, does not apply.
Being able to exchange money is a secondary element, and unless there are things in the game that players want to get even if they have to pay for them, and unless there is motivation for players to be willing to pay for those things, I feel that long-term management will be difficult.
Mr A: Having heard all this, I'm starting to think that maybe there isn't much point in adding an element of NFT or crypto assets to MMORPGs, as the in-game market economy is already established without NFT or crypto assets.
Mr B: I think people have different opinions on this, but at the moment I don't think there are many advantages to introducing this just in-game.
This is because the MMORPG genre is already mature and the system is close to completion. However, there is a good chance that the introduction of NFTs and crypto assets will bring benefits outside of the game.
Mr A: When you say outside the game?
Mr B: This may sound a bit graphic, but keywords such as ‘metaverse’, ‘crypto assets’ and ‘NFT’ have a huge promotional effect by themselves.
Games are being created one after another, so introducing these elements is not a waste of time in terms of differentiating yourself from other titles, even if only a little. There is also the aspect that crypto assets and NFTs can be used to finance development.
Crowdfunding for game development has been common in recent years, but it seems likely that crypto asset and NFT sales could become a popular alternative to crowdfunding. This would be particularly attractive for companies that find it difficult to prepare ample funds.
Mr A: It is said that one of the inventions of Web 3.0 is that anyone can freely issue tokens (crypto-assets and NFTs) and raise funds. So we are taking advantage of that to raise funds for game development.’
Mr B: Other uses can also be envisaged, such as transferring NFTs between multiple games. For example, a major game company may be able to use NFTs for items that can be used commonly across all of its services, thereby retaining players.
Mr A: So you don't just think about it within the game, but as a business that includes outside the game, using NFTs and crypto assets?
Mr B: I think that is realistic at the moment. However, this is only based on the current MMORPG, so there is a great possibility that new inventions using NFT will be created in the future.
For example, users may be able to create their own NFT items and control their distribution.
◉Mr A.
Formerly a game writer for a game company, he is interested in the Web 3.0 industry, blockchain games and the metaverse, but feels that they are not as attractive as traditional games.
◉ Mr B.
Director and planner at a major gaming company, involved in MMORPG development and management for a long time.
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