Thoughts On NFTs, Axies & Similar "Games"

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Avatar for Pantera
3 years ago (Last updated: 9 months ago)

In 2021, I had the pleasure to be able to sell NFTs that I was holding for years. Most of them were handed out for participating in events of the communities or as airdrops during the initial phases of these projects.

I sold those I found to have very little use case, like non-game NFTs, and also sold some of them when the price rose at ridiculous levels as we see with Axies today.

While I find NFTs to be a promising technology, I still think that right now, this market is in an enormous bubble. Of course, anyone that can take advantage of it should do so, but there will also be a risk of increasing fees of the Ethereum blockchain, and a decline in interest that would send prices plummeting.

But this doesn’t negate the fact that there will be NFTs that will become highly valued collectibles and some that already have a strong use case.

In this article, I will present a few of my remaining NFTs that I don’t plan to sell right now, but hold.

My top-3 NFT's

  1. Decentraland Wearables - Decentraland Launch T-shirt

I met Decentraland in 2017, right after I first joined Binance. It had just twenty cryptocurrencies listed initially, and $MANA instantly caught my attention.

I am following Decentraland ever since, but I have to begin by explaining that I still don’t think it will become a huge success unless there are certain steps made to modernize it, create a faster and more smooth experience, and perhaps move off the Ethereum blockchain that has buried this progress with the extreme fees.

Some exceptional people are working to create a pleasant environment, but Decentraland has still not reached 1% of its targets.

I was rewarded with this NFT when the platform was officially released in January 2020 and I am proud of holding it. Once in a while, I will enter the Decentraland World and browse around, until I notice I am getting nausea by the constant lag, the endless loading of graphics, and the not-so-smooth movement.

This was the reason that I also sold my investment in Decentraland in 2021. I was expecting improvement in these fields, and it is a good reason gamers and any other internet user don’t join Decentraland.

They massively advertised it in the CryptoVerse as an exciting platform, but probably those that recommend it for a long-term investment haven’t used the platform for more than a couple of minutes. I don’t have a high-end desktop to run perfectly every new game out there, even so, I was playing recent shooter games with no issues. I don’t think I will have a problem playing Minecraft and Decentraland is mostly compared with this type of virtual world.

I can’t deny the fact that Decentraland was the first-ever virtual platform that offered real ownership of land as a virtual asset. It has some fun graphics that are simple, but still look pretty. It had a few successful events, but the crypto community did not embrace it heavily. Probably because of the efficiency issues.

Anyway, this is the top remaining NFT I haven’t sold yet. I hold it for almost two years and I’m sure I will sell it if I list it at ~$250. However, because of its importance, I will hold it for longer. Especially since there is no better similar virtual world. It is very lame and very uninteresting, but changes could happen and maybe one day the user base will increase.

  1. Oindrasdain

This one has lovely artwork. I love melee weapons and while this is part of a collection called The Multiverse, I don't know a lot more about it. I think that I got it from Enjin by scanning one of the QR-Code promos they had running since 2017. I own it for three years and after watching market activity in the Enjin marketplace, it is sold easily at a price of 25 ENJ (~$50). This is not a price I am willing to sell, and frankly, the cost of moving ETH and tokens between wallets prohibits any trading. For the time being its value is zero, as with almost all the rest Ethereum NFTs I have left.

Moreover, this NFT has 10 Enjin Reserve Value, meaning you can burn it and receive instantly 10 ENJ in your wallet.

I sold around 30 since the beginning of the year, including 2 Axies and in total, I think I must have profited by ~$1,000 just from these two sales.

Is it a mistake to sell? Maybe, but I can't say that I was using NFTs at all. They were just handed to me for being part of their communities. I lost interest in most of these projects after doing research on them. Mostly it was the non-existent use case that made me consider their real value. We can define art in various ways, but I was hoping for more from this field.

  1. Polygon T-Shirt

I don't know how I got this one. Probably it is some airdrop to those that already held some Decentraland NFTs. It is on the Polygon chain, meaning fees will be way less if I try to sell.

I'm not into Polygon either. I know it is some kind of sidechain to Ethereum, but haven't fully explored this yet. I will hold this NFT though, since it is also wearable on Decentraland and my avatar looks great with it on. As I said before, I don't believe in Decentraland odds to become a great success, but you never know. Prices of assets as these have to do with popularity of the platform. If for some reason I am wrong (which happens quite often) then I wouldn't want to be kicking my luck for $60 profit.

My view on Axie Infinity

Now, I hold a bunch of Wax NFTs, some of them are lovely, others are just junk. I traded some, but the Wax marketplace doesn't have so much interest yet like OpenSea. Honestly, I don't think that Axies is any kind of great game either. If we can call all of these games, then they have the least addicting gameplay. It is just the promise of earning that attracts users at Axie, and there is a huge catch too.

You will need to spend money first and I don't see this as not a very honest approach. Real gamers won't ever join this "game" for the entertainment value which is probably zero.

Moreover, Axie Infinity has paid countless crypto news to publish articles that promote this platform and is always promoted as a way to make money. Even if someone is making money from Axies, don't expect this to last. If you plan to spend $500 for Axies (or thousands as some have already done) and waste so much time to try and learn the stats, then besides the $500 you will also have a huge opportunity cost if you are not able to make this much back immediately.

Conclusion

Image from Unsplash

In case a game or platform is free to use and gives the potential to the user to earn from the time put into it, then I'll consider signing up.

Games that require no gaming skills but are static and just marketed for the monetization are worth nothing. In fact, with all the millions the Vietnamese developers made from Axies (as they claim) I would have expected the game to have developed into something fantastic already. But there is nothing in it, no development, just milking the same cow for as long as this lasts.

A terrible way to treat everybody included. Users, Gamers, Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are all caught in trying to extract financial gains from something that can barely be called a game, yet it is represented as such.

Hopes, are that NFTs will have a use-case later on. There are some interesting features that could be used in many financial fields, since it includes ownership rights, and this is where I see NFTs growing later.

For the time being, I am supporting the NFT scene, but also try to explain my frustrations and how much better the blockchain universe would be if developers tried to create better and more modern platforms/games/virtual worlds.

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3 years ago (Last updated: 9 months ago)

Comments

I really wanted to play axie infinity but cant afford the game. So many scholarship offered in fb but most of them are scam. I hope one day i found a manager who can help me with finances in playing the game. Coz a gamer and if i want the game i played very serious. And i will work double. Coz im short financially because of the pandemic.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Axie Infinity, the famous name of the NFT-game world, has been the center of attention and many crypto-media lately due to its magic unicorn growth. With its friendly graphics and easy-to-understand navigators, it's a cherry on top that Axie offers you chances to earn profit just from playing games.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

I've read that before more times than you can imagine. And my question is always this: Have you profited from playing Axie infinity? Sadly, I've never received a response yet, so I'm hoping you could tell me for how long you have been "playing" Axies and how much it has profited you.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

OMG until now I don't understand this NFT lol🤣

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Lol....I am not keen to play too much games but nephew always keep asking me about different games as he is mad to play.Today I gained so much about NFT games,which I am going to share with him.

$ 0.05
3 years ago

Which NFT games you were using and forgive me for asking but if possible give a number too. I mean especially with the case of Axies, I keep reading in news about Philipinos making more than an average wage with it, however, I've never met a single one telling me that he makes a living for so long as these publications claim.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

I downloaded a recent book explaining NFTs but have yet to delve deeper into the topic.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

If you plan to create NFTs then probably a book will help. Otherwise if you plan to invest it is not required. At least this is my take on this matter. Perhaps the book will give some secrets that insiders only know.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

I find the most attractive game atm is splinterlands, no doubt that with a growth of 12000 daily accouns, theres no easy argument to refute that is maybe the best game of the moment. F2P and P2W at the same time, with BIG EARNINGS and a bright future. Also staking SPS is a MONSTER plus. Just saying that imo, is the most profitable/fun game atm.

$ 0.05
3 years ago

I want to test splinterlands, but I've been told to wait for a new upgrade with new cards set first. By the way, is this on the Ethereum chain or another blockchain? If it is on Ethereum then the fees will be terrifying.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

You can link your eth wallet on splinter directly. But the fees of eth are horrible.

BTW i am earning aprox 5$ daily just for renting my own cards to other people, plus the benefits of playing(i use a bot service that automated play and is admited to use, validated for the developers/team of splinterlands), so in total is near 7$ daily just on this source of passive income.

The new presale card will be released for sure at OCT 15, and new rewards card will be dropped between 5 to 15 days from now (official info from splinterlands team discord).

So i suggest you to join brother, now is the time, plus the SPS rewards are just awesome, every day i earn 1.4$ on sps rewards plus the 7$ extras on the game for rent and playing, so in total is 8.4$ daily on passive income for me. Bigger stakeholders earn much more than me, i am just a little fish on splinterlands.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Do you have a wax wallet? If yes I will send you some of @ArtistByron NFTs

$ 0.05
3 years ago

WAX wallet: 1fmpi.wam

$ 0.00
3 years ago

And some of my ones

$ 0.10
3 years ago

Sent you a bunch of NFTs from @ArtistByron ...

$ 0.10
3 years ago

Oh wow! Thanks, these are really awesome! Will hodl and support. Also following ArtistByron since a couple of days ago on read.cash.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

He is a top guy... Happy I managed to bring him to the BCH community and introduce him to read and noise

$ 0.10
3 years ago

I am totally a nob about NFTS and really wanna go to in the world of them. Would be getting myself into it and then will see the games

$ 0.00
3 years ago

buy what you like then to start my only advice

$ 0.05
3 years ago