The Paradox of Persistence: Why games need a secondary market
We all remember that bit of a kerfuffle, when everyone though Microsoft was going to eliminate game trading and secondhand games on Xbox. Sony quickly made fun of Microsoft, showing a physical disk changing hands in a tongue and cheek ad. It seem silly now, with the majority of purchases being made digitally, and even single player titles jumping onboard the in-app purchase bandwagon.
But what happened when the servers close, when a title gets sunset? What happens when players change interests, or life gets in the way? Is it really enough for game makers, like me, to say to them: “Thanks for all the money, you get to keep the friends and memories you made along the way!”
I honestly don’t think so. In the age of the Super Nintendo I bought and sold cartridges like a fiend. I rented the ones I was unsure of and traded up for the ones I was. And all the while, the games had persistence. I owned the media, in fact I still own that media, a cherished relic for my children, and hopefully, my grandchildren to enjoy.
But I cannot say the same for the 1000+ hours I’ve spend on The Elder Scrolls Online. Moreover, recently updates and changed to the title have rather taken things that I have held onto in the game since post-beta. This is compounded by the fact that account trading and secondary marketplace transactions are expressly forbidden by the terms of service for the title. When the twilight of Tamriel comes, the only thing I’ll be left with is the memory, and the friends I made along the way.
And the more I think about that, the more unacceptable that becomes. Now, more than ever, games, especially online games, especially games that have significant in-game transactions, must offer meaningful persistence, and should support and encourage secondary markets. This mean that loot boxes and gotchyas – the industries favorite way to monetize – need to change. This means that games and player inventories within need to have providence, otherwise the security implications are a nightmare.
The reality is that blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens can, and I hope will, solve these problems. Because games are not like services, or amusement parks, and those are terrible analogies to use. Games, being transitory media, need to offer more to players than a good time. They need to offer persistence.