Key to Success - Fair Gameplay
In our previous blog post titled "Fair Gameplay in Web3 Gaming - Part One," we discussed the notion of "Fair Gameplay" and attempted to define its significance to players and the broader gaming environment. We also highlighted how crucial Fair Gameplay is to the entire gaming world and how esports embraced Fair Gameplay design, becoming the pinnacle of its implementation.
In the following article, we will delve even deeper and explore the connection between Fair Gameplay design and the First Wave of on-chain gaming—or the lack thereof. Continuing this line of thought, we will then envision how Fair Gameplay design could and should be incorporated into future games utilizing blockchain technology.
If you haven’t read the previous blogpost, you can find it by clicking the link below:
Fair Gameplay in Web3 Gaming - Part One
TL;DR
- Absence of Fair Gameplay in web3 gaming and its results
- How Fair Gameplay should be incorporated into web3 gaming
- Building foundations of Fair Gameplay
(Un)Fair Gameplay in Early Web3 Gaming
One question that needs addressing before delving into the following paragraph is whether the First Wave of web3 gaming genuinely incorporated Fair Gameplay design into their titles. In our opinion, the only answer that can be given is a negative one. Now, let's discuss why this is the case.
Upon dissecting various games from the period of increased market attention to web3 gaming, specifically in the years 2020-2021, we can identify numerous similarities in the way games were constructed from the ground up and the mechanisms added on top of them.
The first noteworthy point is that the vast majority of games were built using widely known and easily accessible blocks in the world of cryptocurrencies. A prime example is the introduction of in-game currency in the form of inflationary tokens, akin to soft currency widely known in the web2 gaming world. However, the stark difference between in-game tokens and in-game currency from the web2 world lies in the initial distribution and secondary market, where tokens can be sold, introducing speculation into the equation and attracting individuals driven by financial promises rather than in-game competition. This influx of mercenary capital focused on extracting value from the game economy, making it extremely unfair to an average player who enjoyed the game.
Even if the player was not concerned about the financial aspect, the entire community and player base were affected by the actions of mercenary capital.
Another issue is closely connected to the first one, as the capital advantage built over time provided immense leverage to those who joined early or invested large sums of capital. Consequently, players who joined at later stages were put at a significant disadvantage that could not be overcome by skill alone; the only possibility was the injection of capital, turning the game akin to Pay-to-Win mechanisms despite being called Play-to-Earn. This was another aspect that moved web3 games away from being perceived as fair.
The last issue worth mentioning here is not related to fairness per se but rather to the overall security players feel while engaging with a given title. Due to the financial speculation aspect, many developers focused on rushing the game's release to monetize the emotional hype around web3 gaming. This, in turn, led to numerous games being exploited via in-game mechanisms or straightforwardly hacked due to security reasons. The haste fueled by time-restricted mania created a situation where players did not feel safe at any point while interacting with the game, as something might have gone wrong at any stage—funds could have been stolen, accounts hacked, or malicious links forwarded by other players.
Now, after a period of extended emotional cool-off, web3 gaming is ready to come back and show the world what it means to learn from past mistakes.
The Future of Fair Web3 Gaming
Now, after observing how far from being fair the First Wave of on-chain gaming was, let's attempt to paint a picture of how the intersection of web3 gaming and Fair Gameplay design should look.
To begin with, it's worth encapsulating in one sentence what Fair Gameplay is and what it is not. In essence, designing a game with the Fair Gameplay concept ensures that players feel and are safe within the in-game environment, protected from all sorts of malicious behaviors that can alter the final result or affect the in-game balance of economy and skill levels.
As we've discussed in previous blog posts, web3 gaming should not attempt to reinvent the wheel but rather iterate on the successes of its predecessors from the traditional gaming world. Looking at the prime example of fair gameplay implementation, we can see the simplicity of chess matches, designed to be simple in nature, leaving little room for numerous ways to cheat and focusing on preventing them. Platforms like chess.com or lichess.org are known for their quality anti-cheating measures. Building upon this example, web3 games should strive for the simplicity of rules, narrowing the possibilities of cheating and improving the detection of any malicious acts. The concept we have previously discussed - "Easy to learn, hard to master" - should be the end goal for most web3 games striving for success and mainstream adoption.
Another example can be found in the rapidly growing realm of traditional gaming - esports. Here, the principle is similar to chess; mechanics are simple, yet mastering the title requires an incredible amount of time and effort. The key rule here is that neither time nor effort can be replaced by financial input, as the only way players can spend money in the game is by purchasing items that change the external appearance of in-game items or characters without altering skills. Therefore, if players wish to personalize their characters, they are free to do so, but it has nothing to do with game mastery. In this way, early adopters of the game have only the advantage of time, which they may or may not have used to develop their skill set, and new players can easily outperform veterans if their dedication pushes them to do so. This is a stark contrast to the situation we discussed earlier, where early joiners were put in a favorable position compared to those who joined the game later on.
Introducing Fair Gameplay
Having explored the challenges faced by the First Wave of on-chain gaming due to the absence of Fair Gameplay integration and outlined the desired trajectory for the future of web3 gaming, let's pivot from the theoretical to the practical.
When considering the integration of blockchain into the gaming landscape, it's often perceived as a binary situation—a game is either on-chain or off-chain. However, this perspective overlooks the malleability of blockchain technology, which can be implemented at varying degrees, serving a myriad of purposes. Blockchain can function as an additional data storage solution or facilitate the verification of real-time gameplays through Oracles. The possibilities for adopting blockchain technology are extensive.
Elympics is actively engaged in building an infrastructure hub, turning the process of creating games into a puzzle-like endeavor. From tooling and SDKs to libraries, everything is at your disposal from day one. This is what sets Elympics apart—Fair Gameplay design is ingrained in all the components used to construct your game.
In essence, Fair Gameplay design becomes an integral aspect of the infrastructure employed for game development. Consequently, there's no need to grapple with implementing Fair Gameplay rules; this integration ensures that players feel secure when logging into the next session.
A cornerstone of Fair Gameplay involves ensuring that everyone adheres to the rules without attempting to gain an unfair advantage. In addressing this, Elympics introduces a solution in the form of Server Authority design. This design prevents players from altering session data in any way that could affect the final result, a drawback experienced in some games from well-known web3 brands. Moreover, players are under the vigilant oversight of the Oracle, ensuring that every input aligns with the game rules and remains unaltered. Delving further into the realm of identifying and prohibiting malicious behavior, Oracles are often paired with various AI algorithms. These algorithms offer invaluable insights into players' actions, adeptly detecting abnormalities in behavior caused by cheating through automation mechanisms.
We could share much more about the techniques and mechanisms we use to provide players with the most secure and fair environments, but to remain effective, we have to keep it a secret.
