Keep NFT out of FF14

[Kakure]

Let's take FFXIV. I know people that drop 100's of dollars on items in the mog store. They do not own these items. If you get your account removed or FFXIV shuts down then the items are gone. If we took everything that was in the MOG store right now and made it an NFT what would change? Would the EVIL NFT outfits ruin the game? no. In fact, it would be a benefit. You would own that item. You could decide to sell me an outfit that you purchased that you no longer need. Yes, SE would get a cut but so what? I got an item that I wanted and you sold an item that you did not. There is also the additional benefit that SE could decide to make that outfit give you a benefit in another game. Maybe you could import that NFT outfit and wear a similar one in a different sony game or break it down for another item. If SE decides to it could also allow integration with other companies so your NFT outfit had integrations there. Even if you were to be banned by SE they could not take the NFT outfit from you as you own it on the blockchain.

Those things are (a) utterly imaginary and in no way tethered to the reality of how this game works, and (b) not unique to NFTs.

Legal ownership: The EULA stipulates that everything in the game is the property of the company and that they can do pretty much whatever they want with it. We all trust that they will deal with us in good faith, but if they ban your account or they lose your character data or something you do not have any legal recourse. You signed it away.

Having an NFT associated with your item doesn't change any of that. You say "Even if you were banned by SE they could not take the NFT outfit from you as you own it on the blockchain." What exactly does that mean? Do you envision NFTs as permanent, reusable item codes you can redeem over and over? If I break the rules of the game and get myself banned, how exactly do you think that "owning it on the blockchain" would give me access to my banned character's item? Is someone going to force SE to give it to another character of my choice?

I doubt it's been litigated anywhere, but I would wager everything I possess that the first person to take SE to court arguing that their identifier in an NFT registry overrides the legal contract they signed is going to lose. Very badly.

More to the point, SE could give you legal ownership of your items at any time and without using NFTs. What you are describing isn't some special property of NFTs. It is a completely imaginary world totally divorced from the way the game currently works in which you are just waving away foundational design and legal principles... because NFTs!

Alienability: Again: NFTs don't magically change the way the game works. If SE wanted to make Mog Station items transferable, they could do it at any time. Without NFTs. Attaching an NFT to your whale mount or angel outfit is not a necessary step for SE to make them tradeable. This is not a benefit of adding NFTs to the game. It is just imagining new ways you would like the game to work. It is exactly as grounded as saying that SE should sell FFXIV-branded sake so we can get an in-game drunk mode.

So what about other games? The ones where you can freely trade items around? They all already have ways to trade items without NFTs. I've played at least a dozen online games over a couple decades and never once in all that time have I thought "you know, I don't really own the Iron Ore I'm buying from the auction house; it's too bad there isn't an external digital registry showing that I own it." Not once have I had trouble buying or selling an item or felt less secure in my claim to ownership over the gear I'm wearing or the stuff in my bags because it wasn't attached to an NFT. Barter, trading, and sales -- including real-money sales -- have existed in video games since the advent of online multiplayer games heretofore unimpeded by the absence of NFTs. So exactly what good are NFTs? In what way would item sales be better or more secure if we all had NFT items instead of what we have now?

Cross-game items: Setting aside the utterly fantastic and unrealistic nature of true cross-game items, where I could import my FFXIV outfit into TERA or WoW or something, there are already cross-game trade economies (d2jsp.org) and small-scale cross-promotions that have nothing to do with NFTs. In what way would these be improved if we all had NFTs attached to our items?

I would love to hear an actual benefit of NFTs in games, but it has to be something that you couldn't just do without NFTs. Because then it is not a benefit of NFTs: it is just an imaginary change you've come up with that shares some conceptual space with something related to the blockchain. Or something.

[ShadowedStranger]

I am confused.
Are they celebrating April Fools somewhere around xmas in Japan?

[Mysticp]

I'll be back in 5-10 years when 95% of people that invested money into NFTS get SCREWED ... the thing is if your smart enough you can scam anyone and convince them anything has value.

Buying Items on Mogstation that sit on SE servers - all good
Buy items on Mogstation that sit on blockchain - in 5-10 years 95% of people will be screwed!

Makes no sense really. Anybody can get screwed on any item that has value. This will always be the case if demand crashes.

[dapperfaffer]

Where do I even start? Most people know NFT's as digital goods but in actuality they can do more than that. They can also be use to store information digitally. This could include things like identity documentation, digital art, proof of ownership documents etc. Think of an NFT as a digital container. saying it has no value makes zero sense. It's value is determined by what you decide to keep in the container. Your identity documents are valuable to you but I would assign no value to them myself. What most people think NFTs are is just digital art and that's because that is what is big right now. So how does this fit into gaming?

Let's take FFXIV. I know people that drop 100's of dollars on items in the mog store. They do not own these items. If you get your account removed or FFXIV shuts down then the items are gone. If we took everything that was in the MOG store right now and made it an NFT what would change? Would the EVIL NFT outfits ruin the game? no. In fact, it would be a benefit. You would own that item. You could decide to sell me an outfit that you purchased that you no longer need. Yes, SE would get a cut but so what? I got an item that I wanted and you sold an item that you did not. There is also the additional benefit that SE could decide to make that outfit give you a benefit in another game. Maybe you could import that NFT outfit and wear a similar one in a different sony game or break it down for another item. If SE decides to it could also allow integration with other companies so your NFT outfit had integrations there. Even if you were to be banned by SE they could not take the NFT outfit from you as you own it on the blockchain.

SE isn't going to release copy right. All you can get is a license to use an item which you already have when you buy from the mog store, or buy an expansion or game, or pay your sub fee.

[VerdeLuck]

How are they going to have a blockchain-based system when any likely implementation would need Square to be the central authority on ownership? That seems to violate the core idea of a blockchain.

[Mysticp]

Those things are (a) utterly imaginary and in no way tethered to the reality of how this game works, and (b) not unique to NFTs.

Legal ownership:
Alienability:
Cross-game items:

Legal Ownership: You are correct regarding the current EULA. This would be changed to incorporate NFT's if SE went this route. Once again, NFT's do not exist on SE servers. There is also a monetary incentive for SE here so this would be done in partnership with them if this was something they wanted to do.

Alienability: I agree with you here. You do not need NFT's to have transferable items. SE could indeed do this with regular mogstation items if they wanted to. However in making them NFT's they gain from it from a business point of view. They would gain a percentage of the sale and in demand items either user created or SE created may go for above the normal selling price if demand dictates it. If you could work on a clothing item in the mog store and have it approved by Sony for NFT creation and then you as the creator make money on the sale then they also claim a percentage of that sale and get creatives to work on bringing unique creations to the store.

Cross-game items: You could do a basic cross game item without NFT's but true cross game items would require them. SE could implement a way for you to break down an item for items in a different game or to outright equip it. Maybe owning the NFT gives you an item in one game and a title in another. Advanced integrations like this would require an NFT.

[Mysticp]

SE isn't going to release copy right. All you can get is a license to use an item which you already have when you buy from the mog store, or buy an expansion or game, or pay your sub fee.

SE is not releasing the copyright. They are selling you an item. If I buy magic cards I can sell those magic cards to anyone I want. I don't own the copyright for Magic. I just own an item I can sell.

[Oichi]

Can someone explain what a nft is? Or how they would put them in the game.

https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nf...crypto-art-faq

[Chilliwack]

I'd like to think Yoshi-P would not support this. But who knows what the suits up top might force him to do.

I love this game. I love the characters, the story, the setting, the visuals. But even so, I absolutely will not continue to play FF XIV if Square Enix forces NFT technology on it. I've already beaten Endwalker, I don't NEED to stick around for the ending anymore.

[Myrany]

I actually had to look up what an NFT was. LMAO