SteemUp #1 : Let the Games begin...
Back in the day, games were a big thing on Steem.
There were great hopes that Games would herald a new dawn and the masses would flock to the platform to play those games.
It didn't happen then. But could it happen now...
Games on Steem (2019)
Games reached their peak on Steem in 2019.
There were almost a dozen if the gambling / dice type games were included.
The best known was Splinterlands (formerly Steemmonsters), which along with the likes of DrugWars, Next Colony, Road of Rich and Rada Quest, provided a range of options for those who preferred to spend their time gaming rather than blogging.
I was never much involved in any of the games as a player but I kept a watchful eye as I could see the potential.
The games were covered regularly in Steem News and I also had a show briefly on MSP Waves called 'GAME' where I interviewed many of the game developers.
Alas none of the games (apart from Splinterlands) ever took off, and most had quite a short lifespan after the initial enthusiasm wore off.
The promise of games to bring new people and new money to the platform never really materialised.
Even for Splinterlands while it certainly brought new accounts to Steem, it is doubtful whether all the new players actually contributed that much of a net gain in investment in STEEM. (The game has had a more enhanced lifestory since it migrated to another platform).
For a list of all the games on Steem back in 2019 you can view the list I posted...
Could Games make a return to Steem?
Witness @Xpilar made a post recently asking whether bringing games back to Steem would attract new users, and more importantly new investors...
They might. But it is a longshot.
It would need to be a very, very, very good game.
It would need to be a game good enough firstly to attract sufficient interest from existing Steemians to build some initial critical mass. Then secondly it would need to be good enough to reach beyond the bounds of the Steem to attract in players from outside the platform.
Attracting players to any sort of 'Play to Earn' type game is potentially doable - just ask Axie.
But attracting (big) investors is a whole new ball game.
Gaming is big, big, big. Steem is small, small, small.
We would need some absolutely fantastical ideas to make a breakthrough. Anyone...
Who could build Games on Steem
The starting point must be the existing developers and witnesses on Steem.
Interestingly of the old games I mention above, the developers of three of them are still active on Steem. In fact they are all witnesses... @future.witness / @hightouch (DrugWars), @marcosdk (Rada Quest) and @roadofrich (Road of Rich).
Two of these are in the Top 20.
So we have game developers, even witness funded developers.
That looks like a good place to start.
And we have other developers too - many of who are also witnesses.
So without even having to look beyond the bounds of Steem we appear to have a readily available pool of developer talent.
Funding for Games on Steem
The two other primary resources we need to move forward are money and ideas.
Development of a good game is not cheap, not quick and not easy.
There are several potential sources of funding...
The Steem Proposal System (SteemDAO)
Direct funding from Steemit / Tron
Upvotes from @steemcurator01/02
All of these may be possible - although the SteemDAO is currently 'locked'.
But as an interesting observation, of all the games mentioned above in 'Old Steem' as far as I recall none of them ever received any funding from Steemit - either directly or through delegations.
Splinterlands, the most successful of the games, was primarily funded by @aggroed and @yabapmatt through their witness and other earnings.
This does flag up a very important point. A successful game also needs to be a successful business.
As well as considering game design, game mechanics and game economics, a game development team also needs to build a sustainable business plan.
Such a team could look to investors in the community to provide startup funding rather than looking to Steemit/Tron.
If we want to be decentralised, let the Community step up...
Ideas for Games on Steem
Coming up with a great game idea is likely to be harder than coming up with funding.
The game idea is going to need to be spectacularly good if it is going to be sustainable and attract sufficient players.
An original game concept is the starting point.
Copies or derivatives of other games are unlikely to survive beyond an initial burst of enthusiasm - and may just lead to legal issues.
The game would need to be simple and easy to play.
It would need to be acceptable and understandable across all cultures and languages.
The game also needs to be robust enough to not be exploited and abused.
And it needs to be buildable - in a relatively short timescale.
We just need another Wordle...
In Conclusion
Everyone loves a good game.
Could games give Steem a much needed boost?
Maybe.
But we will need a great idea that will attract many players who want to invest in the game.
Any game will need to show a net gain to STEEM. If it just attracts 'play to earners' who continually cash out their winnings there will be no lasting benefit to the platform. We have plenty of that already.
This really is a time for the Community, and the Witnesses, to step up.
We need ideas. We need implementation.
Pennsif
[ graphics by @pennsif ]
PS @hightouch - is DrugWars still up and running? Is it time for a revival?
I agree with you, it has to be something new, it can't be any copies of other games. it must be both fun and exciting for players. I hope that more witnesses will come and give their opinion about such a game and what we can do next, for example funding for it
I am hopeful something new will pop up on the platform soon.
A few years ago I wrote about two of my ideas for games on Steem, but the one that's theoretically within the realm of possibility for me to do as a solo project (a digital adaptation of my Four Panels drawing game) is perpetually backburnered due having a hard time convincing myself that it's worth the effort to actually do it.
Personally I think any blockchain-based game needs to be extremely careful about looking scammy. There's a lot of skepticism of crypto in the normie world, including among gamers and game developers.
Interesting to read about your game ideas. Converting Four Panels to a digital form would presumably be quite challenging.
Coming up with a game that is original (ideally), easy to play, fun ... and not scammy is a big task !
This will need some hard core brainstorming.
Not exactly challenging, but annoying and frustrating. I had a basic prototype of a client-side MSPaint-style drawing interface, but when it came to figuring out the multiplayer parts it's hard to play around with prototypes cheaply. On one hand my inclination would be to think you could do it directly through the chain since it's essentially a big database for coordinating transaction information, but getting info out of the chain always seems to be a bigger headache than I expect. So that suggests figuring out the basic functionality and then integrating the chain later. But the alternatives aren't easy to work with either, the free services like Heroku all tend to have weird restrictions, like never storing anything to a disk, so you have to architect around them, but carefully architecting a solution is not a good fit for a quick-and-dirty prototype. So, since I don't want to invest any resources up front, I get stuck trying to find the least bad options, and that is motivation-draining.
Maybe we need some free Steemit development space.
What minimum spec and what facilities would that need...?
Personally I don't know. Configuring things, comparing specs, finding services, etc., is what I hate most about tech stuff.
I am not a techie, but I know some people who are...
Not games but definitely a good game could bring a huge change to this ecosystem. There's a whole ocean of ideas in this niche and I believe if the developers and the witnesses step up it's very doable. Maybe develop a game which includes sports or maybe an adventurous games with quests. There's a lot to discuss in this...
Coming up with one solid game concept that is programmable in a short enough timescale to retain community interest will be the challenge.
Soy relativamente nueva , 16 meses en la plataforma y no llegué a conocer estos juegos que haces referencia. Ciertamente se necesita un gran impulso muy creativo e interesante para revitalizar la plataforma. Saludos y mil gracias por tu apoyo, lo aprecio mucho.
Hopefully some good games will return to Steem again soon for you to try.
Ansío ese momento. Confío en la plataforma. Saludos
The platform must not stand still. The classic perception of steemit has been duplicated many times by other platforms. And if steemit wants to retain the right to be a legislator of the brand, then any innovations must be tried to be introduced. The unnecessary is eliminated, the useful remains. Change is intriguing, it is alarming and mobilizing, this is life with its uncertainty and intrigue.
The platform definitely needs some new momentum.
Bank, casino, smart storage, scientific research platform, etc., I don't know, there are many options
Hopefully some of these ideas will come to fruition soon.
Splinterlands is just... Pure Dope!😍
It certainly is the only major success story of Steem / Hive in the gaming area.
I still have a few cards but never really got in to it much.
The Shopping Game was my fav😅
I wonder if that one will ever come back ? !
me either!
game harus bangkit
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