Jan 17th - 23rd, 2022
You can't avoid the NFT conversation if you're paying attention to game devs on Twitter these days.
I took the bait and did some cursory research, and WOW they look like a scam. I saw some dude on TikTok talk about how he creates a set of NFT’s and hypes them up only to abandon the project once he makes his money. And what for? A “license” to a digital something?
So how the hell do they fit into games? Do they even fit into games or the merch surrounding games?
Konami jumped on that second train.
It almost seems like a fun challenge to design a reason to have NFT’s in a game.
I hope it stays far away from card games. Imagine Wizards of the Coast minting a handful of Black Lotus cards that could be used in MtG Arena?
Hard pass until someone can convince me otherwise. /rant
I am very optimistic about this.
When I joined Microsoft three years ago, I expected to see it for what it really was: A massive corporation that doesn’t care about its employees and glosses over its negative impact on the world. My experience was quite the opposite, and I was blown away by that. “Growth Mindset” is almost a meme within the company. The culture trickles down from the CEO to my division lead to my direct manager. Satya and Phil said they understand how toxic Blizzard’s company culture has been and want to tackle it head-on. I believe them.
Imagine a future where the entire blizzard library is included in Game Pass. Game Pass Ultimate is looking better and better each month. The amount of value the consumer gets out of Game Pass Ultimate is staggering. Hell, I played Gears Tactics with mediocre service while at the airport in Mexico. Technology is awesome.
One of the first things I noticed being unique to Halo Infinite was these ammo crates. This is something most people gloss over, but this fascinated me. Why do these exist?
How does it add to the player experience?
The short answer is player freedom. The devs clearly wanted players to use their favorite weapons throughout the whole game. And for that, it works.
How does it take away from the player experience?
Flavor (or resonance). Thematically, it makes zero sense that aliens would have containers lying around to give their enemies ammo. Aliens don’t even use human weapons. So what are these crates doing everywhere?
I don't like that they exist, but I understand why they exist. As the game progresses, I'm curious to see how these crates are used. I can see a potential risk/reward trying to keep your favorite weapon, unsure if you'll find an ammo crate for it anytime soon.
If you haven't already seen it, check out my UE4 update in video format. Not sure where this video stuff is going but I'm having fun with it.
The plan for next week is UE4 and smoothing out how I work.
Have a good one 🍩