Topic: For the win. (Read 2262 times)

There is already one game where it is possible to buy in-game items using Bitcoin, Minecraft, though this is done with an external mod which the player has to install.

The mod doesn't seem to be up to date, but I think it's fairly easy to write a mod which incorporates Bitcoin into the in-game economy.
An example of this can be found here:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/announce-minecoin-minecraft-based-bitcoin-mining-tournaments-239332

Yeah having escrow built into the protocol would be amazing. What you suggested sound like it should work.

Yep, that's called black market. There's now a number of currencies, like "forumgold" which serve as a medium of exchange for virtual goods; bitcoin would definitely replace these. It would be amazing if escrow contracts would be built-in the protocol, so they could be done without a need for a third party. Easy - seller sends 0.001 coin, buyer sends 0.1 coin (whatever the price is), if both participants don't agree on the outcome, the money are gone (to the miners), so it becomes economically unprofitable to cheat, both for the seller and the buyer (who gets 0.001 back when the deal closes successfully).

There is a website called ogrr.com (haven't checked it in a long time) which facilitates this. Administrators there will provide escrow.

Can't people just use BTC in games without it having to be built in?

'I'll sell you this sword for 0.1 BTC'

'Okay what address do I pay to'

There's still a huge need for a good and reliable escrow service. Why hasn't it been done yet?

Sorry op, although I believe that online gaming would indeed be a catalyst together with all other digital goods markets, using BTC as an in-game is quite a silly idea which will not be widespread.

Games have much lower level of security than needed to operate with real money. So the only way to not go broke is to completely control the emission of in-game currency and manually process withdrawals - so it does not matter whether you are withdrawing fiat or btc, as in-game currency would be controlled by game operator.

The idea of having a real-money items market, as the one that Blizzard toyed with for a while, was a disaster. Maybe it could be implemented well, maybe not, but for Blizzard it was more headache than profit.

The one thing I see happening in MMOs, is the black market  for gold and items switching over to bitcoins. That is a sure thing.

Peter just read the forums a bit more; this is a well trodden path.  The is a great idea on the surface, but fundamentally when you grind a dungeon (loot monsters, etc) you are not contributing anything valuable.  Its supposed to be "fun" to play a game, so why would the company pay you for it in real money?  In other words, you will never loot monsters for btc.

OTOH, BTC works well for in-game purchases and players-2-player sales of virtual goods.   These (and other all-digital) transactions are plagued by CC fraud because there is no home address the physical goods get sent to where the cops can go knocking.  So you steal a CC, buy a virtual item, transfer it to another account and sell it for cash or simply use it in the game.  When the inevitable chargeback hits the original purchaser and the virtual item are long gone.  The company gets hit with the bill.  This is a big reason why these goods were universally banned from ebay AFAIK. 

BTC is the perfect solution to digital good purchases because it cannot be charged back.  So the person who loses the money is the person who lost the BTC in the first place.  The pain goes to the person who needs an injection of responsibility.  And of course its much harder to steal BTC as compared to a credit card... you can't crack a sales exec's laptop (or target) and get 1 million card numbers...

Another great post Rival. I think you are a visionary who can more clearly see the bigger picture developing.  So many exciting possibilities here...

Richard Garriott, creator of the Ultima series, on Bitcoin:

https://twitter.com/RichardGarriott/status/421162228088590336

This isn't crazy at all.  Picture a popular MMORPG where the only official in-game currency is Bitcoin.  People subscribe by paying monthly fees in BTC.  Those BTC are put into circulation either directly by players or through some sort of central issuing authority that skims the top to pay for infrastructure expenses.  If it really takes off, people could literally make a living off of an in-game business directly in BTC.

This is already done and implemented by Blizzard in Diablo 3 for the PC (Real Money Auction House). They're removing it though because of player feedback, so I doubt this will be a huge success in other games.

Game creators can build in a fee and grab a percentage of all stuff bought ingame and implement deposit and withdrawl fees.
I can see this happening .... even in game gambling can then be more "realistic".
Is this ethical ... good question

I believe you're referring to microtransactions which have become a prevailing trend in gaming (I'm referring to video games) much to the chagrin of gamers (but that's a whole other topic). And yes, the concept would mesh extremely well with bitcoin IMO and it seems Zynga agrees.

They monetize their game (provided for free) with Bitcoin. They sell virtual items directly to the player for bitcoin. They attract players by offering the possibility to "earn" money by searching for various virtual items. Of course, the majority are going to simply pay to win (this assumption is drawn from years of gaming experience). It basically functions like a casino where the house always has the advantage and the player feels like they can win money by playing.

A lot of popular games have gone down this route (free games monetized through in game purchases). It's a nice system. It also happens to mesh with Bitcoin quite well.

Sorry this will not happen.

This makes for a completely different game, the entire game economy has to be based on the fact that it's real money. Hence there is only two games with a real cash economy that I am aware of, the most popular being Entropia Universe, neither of which has a very large player base. Why? Well, people need to lose money for the game to go around, hence the incentive to actually play is alot harder to create. In Entropia the principal is pretty much if you get ahead of everyone else, you can make a small profit. Giving people virtual gold is not costing the company anything, giving out more bitcoins then they take in can't be done. Which is why games like WoW will remain dominant for a long long time.

Markets for virtual game currencies to btc convertions however will become more and more popular, and already exists.

The distinction dg2010 is trying to make is that contrary to what the OP suggested, BTC is unlikely to be an in-game currency as developers are not incentivized to incorporate it with the current system in place. Whether or not you turn fiat or btc into in-game currency is a different issue and beside the point in this case.

You could. But why bother? Is there something wrong with the way things are now? People would have to convert fiat to bitcoin when they can skip that step completely and just purchase with fiat using a cc or a debit card. You would create an unnecessary step. 

aka take your money (bitcoin) and convert it into their own in-game 'currency', what's the difference?

Why would a company want to integrate BTC to their game when they can just use their own currency?

Xbox Points, Fifa Coins, WoW GOLD etc... They take your money and convert it into a currency which you can NEVER SPEND ANYWHERE ELSE. That is the most important factor. They don't want you spending that money anywhere else. Using BTC would be the exact opposite of what they are trying to achieve. If you think any company is gonna allow you to withdraw in-game currency to pay for your car you are mad. That is exactly what they fight against.

Now 'Gaming' on the other hand (I mean gambling), Yes BTC could be huge.  Right now many companies are struggling with anti-gambling regulation around the world. Using Bitcoin they can subvert that process.

I think many people already realize that online gaming is going to be a giant catalyst for bitcoin adoption, especially as an MMO in-game currency. It is only a matter of time before you buy your armor and weapons with btc, loot monsters for btc, and can cash out your btc. Imagine the day when you battle another player, loot his armor, sell it, withdraw, and make your car payment.

I project that in a few years btc use in virtual economies will surpass btc use in the "real" economy. If there is anything btc would excel at, it would be for in-game currency. Adoption in virtual worlds could take bitcoins to an entirely different level. Odd that no one is even talking much about this.