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Indie store itch.io comes out swinging against NFTs

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Not only has Valve banned NFT games from Steam but another store has come out clearly against them, with the official itch.io Twitter account releasing a very clear statement.

In their short thread on Twitter, the itch team said:

A few have asked about our stance on NFTs: NFTs are a scam. If you think they are legitimately useful for anything other than the exploitation of creators, financial scams, and the destruction of the planet the we ask that please reevaluate your life choices. Peace

Also f̸̗̎ú̴̩c̷̖͌ḳ̵̀ any company that says they support creators and also endorses NFTs in any way. They only care about their own profit and the opportunity for wealth above anyone else. Especially given the now easily available discourse concerning the problems of NFTs.

Interestingly enough, the itch store does have a bunch of "games" tagged with NFT, although they largely seem to be jokes and parodies. The store isn't exactly known for its quality control, so hopefully they're keeping a closer eye on this given their clear stance against the tech.

What are NFTs? Short for "non-fungible token", they can be pretty much anything digital - supposedly as a form of ownership but you don't really end up actually owning anything. It's pretty ridiculous when you look into it more. Unfortunately, they've been used in a lot of scams, with original artists being ripped off constantly and there's a huge amount of evidence everywhere on how problematic NFTs have become. Want to know more? Here's a good video on it:

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BlackBloodRum Feb 7, 2022
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Well this is the first time I've heard about NFT, but from what I very briefly read it's putting cryptocurrency exchanges/wallets into video games?

Yeah that's a stupid, dangerous and bad idea whichevr way you spin it.

If you're gonna do crypto.. get it from proper places intended for it, and keep a real crypto wallet, that's not tied to an exchange (or game? wtf?).
mphuZ Feb 7, 2022
QuoteNot only has Valve banned NFT games from Steam...

But at the same time they themselves support a third-party NFT platform: https://dmarket.com

That's convenient, isn't it?
Xpander Feb 7, 2022
Quoting: mphuZ
QuoteNot only has Valve banned NFT games from Steam...

But at the same time they themselves support a third-party NFT platform: https://dmarket.com

That's convenient, isn't it?

that has nothing to do with valve.
mphuZ Feb 7, 2022
Has the most direct relation.

They turn a blind eye to the fact that Steam items can be resold on third-party sites + use them as an NFT/Blockchain.

https://www.blockchaingamer.biz/news/1537/dmarket-adds-steam/
https://www.golem.de/news/virtuelle-realitaet-skin-handel-auf-basis-von-blockchain-1809-136218.html

I love Valve myself, but you don't have to think that they are perfect in everything. They also get a share from the sale of items on this platform.

We need to go all the way: not only to ban NFT on our site, but also to stop supporting others who sell NFT items.
lionblaze55 Feb 7, 2022
Quoting: mphuZ
QuoteNot only has Valve banned NFT games from Steam...

But at the same time they themselves support a third-party NFT platform: https://dmarket.com

That's convenient, isn't it?

"DMarket is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve Corporation."
mphuZ Feb 7, 2022
Quoting: lionblaze55"DMarket is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve Corporation."

What's the use? The money goes into their pocket anyway.
jrt Feb 7, 2022
Quoting: mphuZ
QuoteNot only has Valve banned NFT games from Steam...

But at the same time they themselves support a third-party NFT platform: https://dmarket.com

That's convenient, isn't it?

They are not affiliated with valve. External steam trading sites have existed for a long time.
The only difference seems to be that they have choosen a payment method that burns the planet.

Valve does not make money by trading items outside of the steam market.
Nezchan Feb 7, 2022
This doesn't surprise me, since there are likely a lot of two-bit con artists looking to use them as a host for their knockoff NFT "games".

I saw it put well recently: "What you'll be seeing for the next period of time is very desperate promotion of NFTs and Crypto to wider and wider audiences, because now it's a race: Finding marks before the marks hear that NFTs and Crypto are scammed up garbage selling bridges and swamp land as get-rich."
akselmo Feb 7, 2022
I've found out that whenever game has NFT's tied to it, the companys CEO has been scammed into the ponzi scheme and now needs to make money.
const Feb 7, 2022
I've seen that video just a few days ago and can highly recommend it. Also itch, brilliant statement.
ertuqueque Feb 7, 2022
At the risk of being boring or even worse, making people angry, I'll try to give my take on NFTs, what they are and how they have been exploited for bad things today…

I see NFTs as kitchen knifes, they can be pretty useful and a necessity in the kitchen, but they can be used as weapons and murder tools… Today's use of the NFT concept is being used only for bad and scammy things, but just like with cryptocurrencies, there are legitimate and useful things NTFs can serve for. I see it mainly as a "certificate of ownership", but this NFT must be in a reliable and secure blockchain (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin...). Creating videogame characters as NFTs is next to useless and is just a cash grab and scammy tactic under today's NFTs incarnation.

Just like when Bitcoin came out, a few years later, hundreds of scammy cryptocurrencies came out and very few were honest attempts to improve upon Bitcoin, over time, most of those scams died and the ecosystem evolved to weed out the bad apples… Of course, every few years a new trend becomes popular and a new wave of scams take advantage of it and we have to wait for those scams to die and led the ecosystem evolve (and the mainstream media and people get more familiar with how these things really work)… In 5 or 10 years, we'll have real and useful cases for NFTs just like today we have real and useful cases for cryptocurrencies (despite the misguided opinion of some people who get carried away by the compelling but wrong idea that cryptocurrencies are "scorching the planet".
slapin Feb 7, 2022
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It is good that somebody sane arises and reminds that there is real life and these NFT people are crooks.

In this new world of "truth is subjective, science is subjective, world is subjective" stuff nobody
it is so easy to completely disconnect with reality and live your fantasies and become
a good food source for crooks who understand what people are driven by, so from manipulative schemes
which are limited by payment systems so became pushed to the limits they added NFTs and cryptocurrency
in games to create much better criminal schemes and have zero control over them because "you got what you paid for".

And people are more than happy to accept new money losing tech as previous schemes made them comfortable.

When I was warning people about crooks over one of ads for NFT mobile game lots of people were angry
and aggressive that I badmouth a good game and you don't have to donate or buy NFT stuff. So people want that
and so they get that. So I'm just looking forward what will happen in the future.
slapin Feb 7, 2022
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Quoting: ertuquequeAt the risk of being boring or even worse, making people angry, I'll try to give my take on NFTs, what they are and how they have been exploited for bad things today…

I see NFTs as kitchen knifes, they can be pretty useful and a necessity in the kitchen, but they can be used as weapons and murder tools… Today's use of the NFT concept is being used only for bad and scammy things, but just like with cryptocurrencies, there are legitimate and useful things NTFs can serve for. I see it mainly as a "certificate of ownership", but this NFT must be in a reliable and secure blockchain (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin...). Creating videogame characters as NFTs is next to useless and is just a cash grab and scammy tactic under today's NFTs incarnation.

Just like when Bitcoin came out, a few years later, hundreds of scammy cryptocurrencies came out and very few were honest attempts to improve upon Bitcoin, over time, most of those scams died and the ecosystem evolved to weed out the bad apples… Of course, every few years a new trend becomes popular and a new wave of scams take advantage of it and we have to wait for those scams to die and led the ecosystem evolve (and the mainstream media and people get more familiar with how these things really work)… In 5 or 10 years, we'll have real and useful cases for NFTs just like today we have real and useful cases for cryptocurrencies (despite the misguided opinion of some people who get carried away by the compelling but wrong idea that cryptocurrencies are "scorching the planet".

NFTs are either just useless stuff which does not have any useful purpose or it is just a buzzword to attract victims to other criminal scheme. The problem is there is no reliable way to proof NFTs or no guarantees over their value. The only thing they do is register a record somewhere in the world in some blockchain which in itself is not useful in any way.
Unless there will be actual real purpose in NFTs, I'd avoid that completely for foreseable future.
whizse Feb 7, 2022
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I'm still not clear on NFTs.

Monkeys are involved at some level, that's clear. Going by the name, non-fungi, mushrooms are however not. Very confusing.

I guess I could watch the video, but then again, maybe that's exactly how they spread?
PublicNuisance Feb 7, 2022
I still have no idea what NFT's really are but if they're causing stupid people and their money to be parted then they're ok in my book.
const Feb 7, 2022
Quoting: PublicNuisanceI still have no idea what NFT's really are but if they're causing stupid people and their money to be parted then they're ok in my book.
If it was just about stupid, they could be ignored, but they are highly unethical for various reasons. Enabling fraud on top of ponzi - hurting people believing in it, destroying the environment while abusing and possibly hurting artists that aren't even actively participating. They can also make stupid people rich, depending on luck and timing, if that helps with your decision.


Last edited by const on 7 February 2022 at 4:44 pm UTC
Pendragon Feb 7, 2022
Quoting: ertuquequeAt the risk of being boring or even worse, making people angry, I'll try to give my take on NFTs, what they are and how they have been exploited for bad things today…

^^This... using tokens on a cryptographic block chain has a use.. .just not a scammy money-making scheme that it seems to be used as these days.
NFTs seem to me like someone said "you know how artists can thank their Patreon/Kickstarter backers? Let's do that but in a way that is less environmentally friendly and more confusing for non tech people!"
Zlopez Feb 7, 2022
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I must say that the video showed me some of the flaws of crypto I wasn't aware of. But as he said on the beginning of the video the bank funds and bonds are scam as well. Thanks for sharing the info and video.
slapin Feb 7, 2022
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Well, this "thanks to patreons" scheme looks not much different to classic money laundering scheme to me in one aspect and as useless stuff in another as NFTs are not supported by any credible entity so they basically cost nothing. So however you look at it it does not look good.
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