On April 11, 2019, Tencent's first AR mobile game using blockchain technology "Let's Catch Monsters" was officially launched for public beta testing. It topped the AppStore free list within 4 hours of the first day of launch, and the WeChat index instantly surpassed "Glory of the King" "!
A well-made blockchain game that is popular when it goes online, backed by a powerful giant Tencent, naturally caused a lot of trouble in the blockchain circle;
In addition to lamenting the entry of giants, what inspiration can we get from this Tencent game?
image description
secondary title
Game + Blockchain
Different from the highly speculative gambling games on the major public chains, the blockchain game "Catch the Monster Together" is a game with high playability, which is more entertaining and has a higher degree of self-completion;
image description
《Pokemon GO》
The part of the game that is applied to the blockchain is the player's exclusive cat system:
In the game "Let's Catch Monsters Together", the operator will successively release 640,000 "generation 0 cats", each of which has unique attributes and appearance.
Players can obtain exclusive cats through four channels: summoning game items, purchasing from the market (other players), breeding, and operating activities.
Two cats that meet the game conditions (non-close relatives, breeding status) can be paired and bred to produce a new generation of cats, and there is a certain probability of inheriting the characteristics of their parents.
The birth information, transaction information, and breeding information of each cat will be recorded in the blockchain ledger as a "cat's life", so as to realize the transparency and traceability of each cat.
……
Does it feel more familiar the more you read it?
image description
《Cryptokitties》
The slight difference is that the cats in Cryptokitties can only be obtained through the two channels of "purchase + breeding"; "Let's Catch Monsters" additionally added two channels of "game item summoning" + "participation in activities" for "Satisfy" the player's "krypton gold" + "krypton liver" needs, leaving ample room for preparation.
It is worth mentioning that the exclusive cat gameplay is not a simple plug-in in the game, but a multi-dimensional integration with the game itself, such as:
When a player has an exclusive cat, it can be set as an accompanying pet, displayed in the game, visible to all players, and becomes the unique identity of the player;
In the avatar mode, players can change their character image into their own exclusive cat image, and use this image as an Avatar to show others;
In the magic mode, if the player chooses to transform into the exclusive cat image, the game resources (spiritual power) required for game operations will be reduced by 5%;
In the team mode, if a player joins with an exclusive cat, all members will get bonuses of certain attributes;
These combinations not only encourage players to participate in exclusive cat gameplay,And it pulled us out of the idea that "blockchain assets can only be used for transactions",Provide some advantages to blockchain game designers, such as using blockchain assets for image display, improving/changing the status of other resources in the game, etc.;
Perhaps there can be a deeper integration of the game and the blockchain, such as tokenizing all pets, introducing more blockchain assets, etc., and more interesting ways to play, but at the current stage of exploration, " "Let's Catch Monsters Together" still provides us with a good reference example, and also sets a good benchmark for traditional game manufacturers to carry out "game chain reform".
The popularity of "Let's Catch Monsters" is naturally due to the huge traffic of Tencent's father, but it is because of its strong entertainment and playability that players can continue to play;
From the perspective of blockchain games, "Let's Catch Monsters" is first of all a fun game, and then it incorporates and applies blockchain technology starting from the playability and functionality of the game; The gameplay is a bonus item to improve the game experience - it is said that "there is a game first, and then the blockchain is applied".
Assets on the chain
Assets on the chain
Considering the performance of the current blockchain and the necessity of the game, "Let's Catch Monsters" does not put all the game content on the chain, but adopts the combination of "on-chain + off-chain", which is what we often say " Assets on the chain".
The blockchain asset on the chain in "Let's Catch Monsters Together", that is, the exclusive cat, we call it "NFT asset" (Non-Fungible Token Asset), that is, "non-fungible token asset".
What if you understand?
"Homogeneous" means that items are not different from each other and are interchangeable;
"Non-homogeneous" means that the item is unique and unique;
To give an example that is not accurate but easy to understand, we went to the store together and bought the same brand of basketball, ignoring small production factors such as texture, there is no difference between your basketball and mine, and they are interchangeable, "basketball" For us, they are all "homogeneous assets";
And if I sign my name on a basketball, as long as I never sign another basketball, then this "basketball with my signature" is unique in the world, and it becomes a "non-homogeneous asset" ;
Let's abstract the concept and put it on the blockchain——
At present, the vast majority of Tokens on the blockchain belong to "Fungible Tokens", such as BTC, NEO and GAS; that is to say, the NEO in your wallet and the NEO in my wallet are essentially the same. The difference is that they can be replaced with each other, they are all "homogeneous token assets";
The exclusive cats in the game "Let's Catch Monsters" are unique, and each one is a "non-homogeneous token", so they are all "non-homogeneous token assets" (NFT assets).
Due to the uniqueness of "non-homogeneous token assets", assets have collection attributes, so assets with different meanings/attributes have different values;
Just imagine, the only "basketball with Kobe's signature" in the world and the only "basketball with my signature" in the world, their values are naturally very different;
Similarly, the exclusive cats in the game also have different values due to their different attributes;
So, here comes the problem——
How can we ensure that the "non-homogeneous token assets" we see are really unique? What if the issuer secretly sends out an identical asset?
So we need an open and unified NFT asset issuance standard.
asset transaction
asset transaction
Compared with assets in traditional games, blockchain assets are owned by individuals and not controlled by the issuer. The biggest feature is that they can be "freely traded" by users.
The exclusive cats in "Let's Hunt Monsters" also claim to be "freely traded" by players, but in my opinion, this kind of freedom is completely "freedom in an iron cage".
Considering the legality and compliance of the game, there are very conspicuous and clear regulations in the game "Let's Catch Monsters":
The acquisition of blockchain props in the game is obtained through game activity or in-game tokens; while game tokens can be obtained through activity or purchase, but after purchase, they cannot be reversed into legal tender.
That is to say, for ordinary players, this is a blockchain game in which funds can only be entered but not withdrawn, a blockchain game with limited transaction space. (The situation of off-site OTC is not considered here, because that is also directly prohibited by the game.)
Even in the game alone, players cannot "trade freely" completely, and are also limited by the trading time——
When players want to sell their exclusive cats, they need to put the cats on the shelves first, publicize them for 2 hours, and then trade them;
During the period from 0:00 to 6:00 every morning, the time of the publicity area of the game trading market will be locked. That is to say, the cats that the player puts on the shelves after 22:00 will not be unlocked until 6:00 the next day, and can enter the tradable state.
This transaction mode that limits both space and time deviates from the spirit of blockchain free transactions, but it is also a compromise that Tencent, as an Internet giant, has to make to the status quo.
secondary title
More possibilities?
The free trading of assets has been heavily hindered in Tencent's blockchain games;
For other blockchain games built on the public chain, there is no such restriction of "trading iron cage"——
Players can purchase/obtain NFT assets through game tokens, or sell NFT assets to other players/NPCs in exchange for game tokens, which is a two-way funding channel;
Game tokens can be traded, or exchanged with NEO/GAS, so as to realize the connection between NFT assets and the assets of the entire blockchain world.
As mentioned earlier, NEO has its own NFT standard - NEP-11, so all blockchain games developed based on NEO will use the same set of standards to create NFT assets;
In other words, even two different in-game NFT assets can be traded directly!
In the future, NFT asset exchanges may also appear in the ecosystem, allowing players to directly trade NFT assets in various games, further improving the liquidity of game NFT assets.
Is maximizing the trading freedom of game assets the whole possibility of blockchain games?
No, what gives people more room for imagination is the linkage of games on the platform!
image description
Hearthstone
Two completely independent games, because my behavior in one game affects my state in the other game!
This kind of cross-game linkage that breaks through the dimensional wall is entirely because they are all games under Blizzard's father.
Just imagine, when I complete the task in game A, I get additional exclusive assets in game B;
Or when I hold a certain NFT asset in game A, some of my attributes in game C are strengthened;
All these inter-game linkages can happen entirely because they are all blockchain games based on the same underlying chain!
Based on the possibility of linkage between the same developed game and the game, combined with the maximization of the free transaction of assets in the game, there are countless ways to play blockchain games waiting to be discovered, and blockchain games are still full of infinite possibilities!
Author: Zeng Cheng, head of NEO community operations
