Need your opinion, guys, could you please share.
I’ve launched a platform for gamers. It works in prototype mode with 20 000 registered users. Basically, it’s a platform for community management, where anyone can easily create a community with all essentials inside (forum, chat, voice, all that stuff).
While working on the project, I found that game developers (especially indie) desperately need exactly the same thing for their games – a place for their community to grow.
Developers need a community for the game, which grows along with the game, providing feedback, receiving support, discussing ideas.
At the same time, although indie developers are more or less good at programming, they do not know how, where and when to establish communication with the audience. Marketing is a huge headache for them.
It turns out that gamers need a place where to discuss games, find friends to play with. While game developers need a place where their gamers can find each other and discuss their games.
Obviously, good idea is to sell games right in the place where people talk about them. It’s also a right place where the next steps of game development can be crowdfunded.
Also, it would be great to create a more democratic and even more forgiving analog of the Steam’s Greenlight. (Sad but true, some developers dream and at the same time afraid to get there. They dream to receive the Greenlignt users’ approval, because today it’s practically the only way for indie devs to go public and to reach wide audience, and to receive some money to continue development. On the other hand, they afraid to fail Greenlight, because once it’s failed – there will be no second chance. It’s extremely crucial for a project)
Financial assistance is not the only thing gamedevs need. A support of enthusiasts from the community is very helpful and inspiring. Filling out the game wiki (allows attracting new users through Google search), or help with the translations – such kind of tasks could be done with the help of community. If gamedevs could encourage those who help somehow – that would be awesome.
Gamers need a place for their communities and to discuss games, gamedevs need a place where gamers could discuss their games. They need the same thing!
All these thoughts evolved into a single system in my head.
They both need a place where they can discuss games, buy games, support games, etc.
Such a platform, with internal currency, can give all parties the opportunity to earn money and create a self-regulating system that develops and supports itself. After all, tokens of this site can be in a variety of ways:
- to buy games and additional gaming content;
- to encourage enthusiasts;
- to trade;
and so on.
In the same time, I see no reason to limit people to use fiat money on the platform. Of course, all game developers dream of getting rich, and the gaming market is now estimated over $100 bn of only fiat dollars, so why ignore it?
Idea is to allow games and all sorts of additional gaming content being sold for both fiat and the main crypts.
The purpose of internal currency is to encourage users without limiting them with items/bonuses/stuff in a single game. And I think it is a good idea not to limit users in ability to interact and exchange their property. Because if it is possible to transfer property from one account to another – it means it is possible for a user to sell it. Inside or outside of the platform. Possible. That is the fact. So the only smart move is to allow users to freely do that and make it convenient for them.
There are two ways to do that. 1. Reinvent the wheel and create the API and apps and maintain all that stuff while trying to keep it modern and secure. Or. 2. Use open source solutions, created, maintained and used with multiple coders all across the world.
I think that realization of my plan with blockchain is the best way. Blockchain infrastructure is a ready to use open source solution, supported by a large number of programmers and has a fully developed and dynamically developing natural infrastructure that meets the needs of a huge number of people.
Another question in my mind is an internal currency emission. An excessive emission of internal currency into the market is dangerous. I want to avoid this by introducing a coin slowly with the growth of audience. At the same time, fiat money will still be widely used in purchase of games and gaming goods.
What do you think?