S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 - No NFT Plans Anymore

Wccf Tech reports that GSC Game World backed down after the bad reception of their announcement about NFTs in STALKER 2.

STALKER 2 Won't Have Blockchain/NFTs Anymore After Massive Backlash

TALKER 2 developer GSC Game World quickly backtracked on its plans to create a STALKER Metaverse where users would purchase rights to unique items in the game as part of blockchain/NFT transactions. Those items would then be tradeable on DMarket's platform.

The news came only two days ago, but the massive backlash from the whole gaming community already forced the Ukrainian studio to reconsider. A few hours ago, the official STALKER 2 Twitter account posted the following brief message:

Dear stalkers, we hear you.

Based on the feedback we received, we've made a decision to cancel anything NFT-related in STALKER 2.

The interests of our fans and players are the top priority for the team. We're making this game for you to enjoy - whatever the cost is. If you care, we care too.

With love, GSC Game World team.

[…]

More information.

Good to see that despite lacking some common sense, at least they are listening to their fans.

Yay! I am really sick of hearing about NFT this and that (even though I have hypocritically bought into some of it - but eyes very wide open). And the metaverse is a horrible dystopian idea - we already have a generation glued to 2D devices/screens, now you want them to spend more time with a VR headset on being even less connected to the real world? No, I don't need to see your avatar in some VE. All so they can be monetized. William Gibson, here we come. I feel like a prophet of doom sometimes but I don't think hiding in the metaverse is good for anyone's mental health, except those making money off it. e.g. Meta aka Facebook

My problem with it is not so much the metaverse nonsense but the fact they're based on a blockchain architecture. The resource usage and power consumption it entails should be enough to shut down the idea right away, yet it seems to become more widely accepted every day (including the cryptocurrency).

No NFT Plans Anymore = Good riddance!

What the real interest in NFT? I just can't understand why would people spend money on NFTs. Maybe money laundering…

That was fast. They couldn't see this coming? After the response to Kickstarter's plans, for example?

The real interest is that people are lazy and hop on bandwagons, rather than lifting a finger and thinking/doing for themselves. NFT stands for Not For Thisguy!

Originally Posted by Redglyph
My problem with it is not so much the metaverse nonsense but the fact they're based on a blockchain architecture. The resource usage and power consumption it entails should be enough to shut down the idea right away, yet it seems to become more widely accepted every day (including the cryptocurrency).

Actually, the power consumption argument is less persuasive now - the switch to 'proof of stake' and other low-power block validation schemes means that vastly less power will be used in the future. There is some much clevr stuff happening in bloock chain research… my issue with the metaverse is (a) why do we need it? (we don't), (b) the morality of it.

Nft? Nfw.

NFT is just a fancy way of saying digital microtransactions when it comes to gaming.

I will boycott any games with NFT in them.

Originally Posted by booboo
Actually, the power consumption argument is less persuasive now - the switch to 'proof of stake' and other low-power block validation schemes means that vastly less power will be used in the future. There is some much clevr stuff happening in bloock chain research… my issue with the metaverse is (a) why do we need it? (we don't), (b) the morality of it.

That's good to know. I should check the crypto behind it, but I can hardly get interested enough to get past the basics for this technology.

That seems to be in the future and when it's adopted though, from what I understand. Even so, it's good they improve it but NFTs are simply not necessary in games so it's still a waste of resource allocation and energy. In games that are sold by the thousands or the millions, it's concerning.

It's not to say I don't care about the other considerations, for example I already find the Steam badges ridiculous and frankly annoying because we get non-maskable notifications every time when playing a game that implements them (another reason why I prefer GOG). Then it's an almost hidden way to secure customers within the Steam universe.

I agree with you about the morality issue too, my secret hope is that the younger generations are better educated now against online nonsense, but I'm probably a bit optimistic. Censure should always exist as a protection no matter what.

"(another reason why I prefer GOG)."

GOG Galaxy has a security issue with windows user account rights elevation exploit.

CDPR argument "your PC needs to be hacked first" is lame. Exploit is there, in their store client. And they refuse to fix it because "it's too much work".

Yeah I've heard about the galaxy issue with great old games, it's why I still use their older way of downloading products. I really enjoy GoG, they are still tops on my list, yet that issue is blatant and should be resolved, like soon.

It should be a priority IMO.

They have become very very slow at resolving anything since last year, it's really a shame. I wonder how the situation will evolve after the decision to focus on core titles.

Originally Posted by booboo
Actually, the power consumption argument is less persuasive now - the switch to 'proof of stake' and other low-power block validation schemes means that vastly less power will be used in the future. There is some much clevr stuff happening in bloock chain research… my issue with the metaverse is (a) why do we need it? (we don't), (b) the morality of it.

With all due respect, they have been saying they are going to move to PoS for many years and it keeps getting pushed back. There are just too many vested interests in keeping it the way it is.

Also, when you say vastly less power - it won't even have much of an impact. Many other large cryptos are not switching. Overall they will still be using vastly more power than the entire grid of the country where I live

NFT's are quite common on the asian markets these days, but not only do they have a different view on sustainability like we westerners do, they also pay way more per person for cosmetic microtransactions each month.
Blockschains are a bad idea as long as they need that much energy to generate and maintain them, and no Publisher with 2 braincells should promote something like that at all!

Crypto? No. If I want to engage in any sort of 'mining', I'll go dig for Opals in Australia or gold in the Rocky Mountains.
I can't believe that electro-snakeoil took on such a life and so many people have fallen for it. And no; I'm not some sort of latter day Luddite.

I agree that NFTs are bullshit, and the metaverse is bullshit, but I also think they'll both wither and die on their own. Nothing worth getting excited about.
(of course I also said this about Twitter 🙄)

Boring. The bickering had barely even started…