Bitcoin in MMOs (or other video games)

[smiles]

What do you think would happen if an upcoming MMO like Wildstar linked its in game economy to Bitcoin in some way?  How could the system leverage the in game effort of millions of people into a demand for bitcoin?

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[Maidak]

I've always had an idea of doing something like that on a private wow server in some way or another, I always liked the idea of putting bitcoins into some type of MMO game, but you are more then welcome to buy some diablo 3 gold or some of the other various MMO's I offer exchanges for.  

On the other hand though if anyone here is interested in doing a private wow server or some other popular MMO and implementing bitcoins in as a currency for the game don't hesitate to send me a private message!

[franky1]

online games can integrate it easy.

when a customer buys the game they get given a bitcoin address registered to their username. the server puts the public address into a config file, zips it up and allows the customer to download.

now that username is linked to a key that cant be keygened.

the server keeps the private keys , checks balances, etc. so that users are forced to pay into that public address to credit their accounts.

even if a user swaps out the public address in their download for another address.. because the server is only looking for the address linked to the privkey.. its useless to hack/mod the local download on customers machines

[pallokala]

Using cryptocurrencies as payment method in mmo games would be neat, but it might also make the in-game economy a rollercoaster ride if it would not consider the wildly changing value of cryptocurrencies. In the future when some cryptocurrency has been accepted as legitimate currency by goverments around the world, then it might make sense.

[franky1]

Using cryptocurrencies as payment method in mmo games would be neat, but it might also make the in-game economy a rollercoaster ride if it would not consider the wildly changing value of cryptocurrencies. In the future when some cryptocurrency has been accepted as legitimate currency by goverments around the world, then it might make sense.

your obviously new to the scene. when a crypto coin is accepted it can be converted to fiat at the time of acceptance, using the live pricing to minimise/avoid loss. either using API calls to exchanges or using payment gateways such as bitpay.

unlike paypal which takes business days/months to confirm the funds are risk free of refunds and take a few days to reach your bank.

in the UK the time from having bitcoin to getting FIAT in your bank is under 10 minutes (if you avoid american/non european banking systems)

so this can be a great benefit to UK/Euro game developers. instant cash (give or take less then an hour )

[Itcher]

I think so too ... we had the same topic in the economic section, and a lot of people like the idea https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=247744.msg2681062#msg2681062

Regarding your question, what would you think would happen:
- the sad thing: many users would refuse it. Someone here tried to move it in a gamers-forum and earned much disacceptance - look here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=249375.msg2652265#msg2652265
- But I think it would be great: there would be an enormous account of flowing btc, like it is through satoshi dice and so on, and the btc would stay in the system and not just sold against fiat and so be more than just a token. I think bringing btc to mmo would be a greater step than bringing it to online-shops, cause it would give btc it's own usage

[Elanthius]

If you want something trivial like buying in game currency with bitcoins then that can easily be done and would be quite boring lots of games already allow this in fiat like Eve. I imagine it would have no effect on the bitcoin economy. If you want something more exciting like using actual bitcoins for the in game currency (even if off the blockchain) and allowing withdrawals then you will quickly run into the usual problem with video game economies which is that they depend on constantly printing more and more money and inflating the cost of everything. This in itself is no big deal but if the in game currency is the same as a real world currency then the game makers need to keep putting real money into the game. i.e. by giving it to NPCs for when they are killed or as treasure that can be discovered - this is expensive and unlikely to happen.

There are games that have attempted this sort of thing (SecondLife, Entropia) but they are few and far between and it requires a completely new way of making a game fun that doesn't just involve throwing currency at the players so they can buy better and better stuff.

[favdesu]

someone should write to r/leagueoflegends and ask riot to add it - bitcoin would be mainstream then.

[No_2]

The Missing Ink (http://missing-ink.com) has been accepting BTC for some time now. They may start accepting LTC soon as well.

[Rygon]

As mentioned, this topic has been brought up many times before. There's a lot of merit to the idea. Certainly, if I were a small-time MMO developer, I would certainly consider using an in-game currency that is immediately convertible to BTC on the blockchain. But only if I could bring in more BTC than I had to pay out. But only if there would be more profit than traditional payment systems. That depends a lot on whether or not gamers decide it's easier to do trading and buy in-game items under that system. Certainly there's less processing fees for the developer to absorb, which encourages micro-transactions.

[Snail2]

This happening right now, but they using an altcoin instead of bitcoin. Take a look at CraftCoin:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=250343.0

IMO bitcoin is not the best choice as it's (not now, but usually) too expensive, slow, and micro transactions are less and less welcomed.

[KeyserSoze]

IMO bitcoin is not the best choice as it's (not now, but usually) too expensive, slow, and micro transactions are less and less welcomed.

Everything in your last sentence is the opposite of truth however I would assume you know that and simply have an agenda.

[dirtscience]

Theres not much out now, in the future there will be some pretty cool stuff!!

[Snail2]

IMO bitcoin is not the best choice as it's (not now, but usually) too expensive, slow, and micro transactions are less and less welcomed.

Everything in your last sentence is the opposite of truth however I would assume you know that and simply have an agenda.

Two weeks ago 1 btc was around $120 two month ago it was around $250... I think only the real nerds would be happy to pay let's say 0.1 btc for the green potion, 0.15 for the red one and 3 BTC for God's Very Own gold plated sword .

Last time when I sent funds to btc-e it took more than 40 minutes getting all confirmations. I can imagine as with my friends we hammering the enemy stronghold but we are short on both ammo and BTC and we suddenly need more funds...

Since 0.8.2 there are lots of talks about blocking or "taxing" micro transactions.

So which one is "the opposite of truth"?

[KeyserSoze]

I had a feeling you were going to need to have this explained to you...

IMO bitcoin is ... too expensive...

"Too expensive" simply doesn't apply. One USD worth of BTC bought $1 worth of stuff when you bought it. If you didn't spend it immediately then it was your loss/gain for holding the BTC.

If the price goes up 10X then you only need to buy one tenth of a BTC to get the same amount of stuff. If it goes down 10X then you need 10 times the number.

"Too expensive" is your personal psychological barrier for the need to buy/hold/trade a full "bitcoin". While many others may share this barrier, it is only a psychological issue and not reality.

The various exchanges charge maybe 1% per transaction; compared to a bank, how much are checking fees including the cost to buy checks? How much are wire transfer fees? The BTC client requests @7 cents USD for a transaction, not even a requirement.

IMO bitcoin is ... too slow....

Slow is waiting for a wire transfer from a bank. Try weeks, not minutes. Slow is waiting 3-7 days for a check to clear your bank. You're crying because you had to wait 40 minutes? I can't imagine you're an adult as most would be too embarrassed to admit such a thing.

Try Coinbase, your funds will be available with 0-1 confirmations, but then you'll complain about the cost. Time is money. So make a decision as to what is important to you and quit bitching like a 7 year old girl. I can tell your parents were one of the kind that let you have gum while waiting in the supermarket checkout line because you cried until they gave in.

Shop at places who use BitPay, who will immediately transfer the BTC into other currency. No waiting for confirmations as BitPay takes that risk for you. As more and more exchanges and businesses come on board they will require less and less confirmations as a benefit to put them ahead of their competition. Soon enough most businesses, especially for smaller purchases, will not require any confirmation but will process the sale as soon as payment hits the network, meaning nearly immediately.

IMO bitcoin ...micro transactions are less and less welcomed.

While there may be "talk" of taxing micro transactions, in reality transaction fees were lowered in the last release (a benefit to micro transactions) and may be lowered again in the future.

Micro payment channels are being implemented:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=244656.0

Micro tipping service Flattr adds bitcoin support:
http://www.coindesk.com/micropayment-tipping-system-flattr-adds-bitcoin-support/

[jasperIL2267]

MMO's suck ass bro

[Lethn]

Clearly you never played Star Wars Galaxies before it was ruined before World of Warcraft came along MMO's were actually going places.