X Space Review丨What is the hotly discussed ServerFi, and what opportunities are there in the new track?
What is ServerFi? What are the potential opportunities in this hotly debated new track?
On August 20, several well-known industry KOLs, senior Web3 players, and MetaCene, the first well-known game to implement the ServerFi model, visited Rhythm Space to talk about what ServerFi is and what potential opportunities are there in the hotly discussed new track. The following is a summary of the text of this Space.
BlockBeats: Hello everyone, today we are going to discuss a new track with great potential - ServerFi. What exactly is ServerFi? We are very honored to invite several senior Web3 players to discuss this topic with us. Please briefly introduce yourself and share your first impression of ServerFi.
Cookie: Hello everyone, I am Cookie, a researcher in the field of NFT and blockchain games.
BITWU.ETH: I am BITWU, an old leeks in the industry, my main job is to take care of children, I like to hoard coins, and I also study some new books on Crypto. I occasionally write some strange stories to entertain myself. I am a player who does not do my job properly. This topic is indeed quite in line with today's hot topics, so I came here to learn and discuss with you.
Strawberry Gummy:I am a GameFi player. In the game, I like to explore various types of projects, such as strategy, card, and metaverse. I focus on the playability and innovation of the game. I especially like those games that can combine DeFi functions. As a GameFi player, I also pay great attention to the communication and sharing of the community, so today I came to this space to discuss the game experience and market trends with you.
You Kexin Isadora:Good evening, everyone. I am You Kexin. I am very happy to participate in today's Space. I usually study various GameFi projects, starting with the earliest STEPN. I think the concept of ServerFi is very interesting and novel. Today's guests are also very powerful, so I am very happy to discuss with you teachers.
Current Status and Problems of GameFi
BlockBeats: Before ServerFi, GameFi had already made many attempts, such as Axie Infinity, STEPN, etc. However, these projects seem to face some common problems. What do you think is the main problem of GameFi at present? Why is it difficult for them to continue to succeed?
BITWU.ETH:The GameFi industry has been developing for several years, but I think there are many problems in it. Whether it is regulation, market competition, technical issues, or the user experience of the game itself, the biggest problem facing GameFi is the sustainability of its economic model. This is a topic that GameFi cannot avoid.
The market of GameFi is different from that of ordinary games. You can't just make games without involving currency issuance and finance. Therefore, GameFi needs to have the attribute of "Play to Earn", especially in our previous understanding of games, there must be a path for players to make money, otherwise no one will play.
At present, the gap between the games that can be run in the GameFi field and the "Black Myth: Wukong" that is popular on the entire network today is too big. Therefore, the GameFi project needs to have high volatility so that players can make money in it. Such attributes have attracted many speculators to enter this industry. After speculators enter, the project party needs to attract more users by pulling the market. When the project team thinks that the number of users is almost enough, they will raise the price, and then quickly dump the market to reap the profits, and a big negative line will fall directly. When players see the dumping, they will follow and leave, so it is difficult for the game to have long-term sustainability. Therefore, the economic model determines that it is difficult for GameFi to have sustainability at present. Whether it is the previous Axie Infinity or STEPN, the stability of the game has been affected by insufficient market power. I think a good GameFi project needs to find a good balance between gameplay and economic model, otherwise it will be difficult to develop sustainably.
Strawberry Gummy:GameFi has a very noteworthy problem that the life cycle of the project is too short. Everyone wants to make a short-term profit and has no long-term goals at all. Therefore, when designing the game, there is no intention to design a sustainable economic model. Therefore, when the second and third waves of players enter, they find that there is no money-making effect, new players will not come, and there is no innovation in the gameplay, so a death spiral begins. Therefore, there are no new players, and the spiral dumping leads to the collapse of the project.
Eric Isadora: I just listened to the previous guest's speech and I think it makes a lot of sense. I would like to add a few points. Regarding the topic of GameFi, everyone's overall impression of it was not very good at the beginning. There is a stereotype that it is a Ponzi scheme. Because only the first wave of people can make money, the second wave of people may also make a little, but the third wave of people cannot make money. STEPN, which was just mentioned, is a "Play to Earn" concept. Many people don't really want to play this game. They just use this game to make money. Even if it is a simple game, such as connect the dots, if it can make money, people will play it.
So GameFi games themselves cannot attract traditional game enthusiasts. Games like World of Warcraft, Fantasy Westward Journey, and League of Legends are very interesting, so they can attract users who really want to play games. These games are relatively classic, so people still play them after so many years. In contrast, if a game has the nature of a Ponzi scheme, the first wave of people will not continue to play after making money, and the second wave of people will leave when they find that the first wave of people have left. The survival cycle of such games is usually very short.
Cookie: In fact, many articles have been published before, discussing previous GameFi projects, such as Wolf Game and STEPN. We also joked that these games are not really games. They are just DeFi with a layer of shell superimposed on them, like after DeFi is hyped to a critical point, it looks for new variants and then puts on the shell of the game.
People have discussed these projects a lot before, such as how to get out of the death spiral. In essence, we still think about these issues around the life logic of DeFi. After more than two years, we have seen blockchain games that can cause a response in the market this year. Compared with the playability of traditional games, there is still a big gap. But since this year, the projects that have caused a response in the market have at least produced demos that can be counted as games. For example, Parallel, a card game on Base, or Pirate Nation, these projects have been built for a long time, proving that the project parties have been working on things and that they are not short of resources.
In addition, compared with previous DeFi projects, the token issuance of current game projects is more about using games as a means of Airdrop. The most typical example is Pirate Nation. The project party asked everyone to spend a long time playing the game first, and then issued a small portion of the tokens in the first quarter airdrop event, so that the liquidity disk was very small at the beginning, and then the token was reasonably regulated. Overall, these projects have performed very well in the market. I think the development of the entire market has raised the standard for GameFi projects to stand out. In the past, many games did not even need to produce something playable, and only a PPT was needed to get it done. But now we really need to show the market something convincing enough, which is a bit like returning to the stage of airdropping projects. I call this gamification of airdropping, which is the biggest difference between the current stage and the old GameFi.
BlockBeats: If you go back to the time when GameFi just emerged, what aspects of this industry or track do you most want to change or transform?
Eric Isadora: I don't want to change anything, because there is nothing perfect in this world. However, if the concept of ServerFi had appeared earlier, people might not have such a strong resistance to GameFi. Now when people mention GameFi, they will think of Ponzi schemes and passing the parcel. Why do I hope not to change? Because only after GameFi, there will be a comparison, and people will pay attention to the concept of ServerFi and think it has certain value. In this way, some people may think that the emergence of this concept may subvert the overall concept of existing games.
BITWU.ETH:If you look at it from a modern perspective, there are indeed many things that need to be changed. For example, the playability of this game, lowering the entry threshold, and community governance, I think some changes can be made. However, if it was three years ago, no one might have thought of so many problems. At that time, we thought that GameFi should be like this. We came here mainly to make money. So at that stage, it might not be possible to foresee these areas that need improvement.
Cookie:I agree with the views of the previous guests. I don't think anything needs to be changed. Because the formation of market trends is determined by the market environment at the time. Although in hindsight, these phenomena seem to be short-lived, like a meteor-like Ponzi scheme, it is these Ponzi schemes that have driven the market forward. Without these batches of plates, the market would not have the improvement in the quality of these new content projects today. I think everything should be left to time.
ServerFi's core design and concept
BlockBeats: So, how did ServerFi propose to solve these problems? What is its core design and concept? Why does it contrast sharply with the current GameFi?
BITWU.ETH:ServerFi is actually a newly proposed concept. I think it is very interesting. However, it does need to go through a period of market testing and proof before everyone can better understand and accept it. Because for many people, this concept is still vague and unreal at present. I think it may play an important role in the future. Compared with the previous GameFi, I feel that this concept is more sublimated. The previous games may be at one level, and now it is at another level. As a player, you can become a co-owner of the server, and in this process, your behavioral decisions can affect the game. This mechanism will make you feel more involved. The reason why people find games fun now is mainly because of this high sense of participation and immersion. So for some game enthusiasts, this concept is very attractive.
Strawberry Gummy:I just heard the guest mention the issue of market fluctuations. The player profit logic in the ServerFi design is very good, and it is no longer dependent on market fluctuations like traditional games. Players can participate deeply and make contributions, while also excluding speculators and attracting players who are really willing to invest time and energy. This model can effectively avoid the common "death spiral" phenomenon, and will not collapse due to the withdrawal of speculative players and the inability of new players to enter.
You Kexin Isadora:Why can ServerFi form a very sharp contrast with the current GameFi? In fact, you can review the previous question. A few years ago, GameFi was created. After ServerFi appeared, everyone was very shocked and found that GameFi could be played like this.
Traditional GameFi is now considered to be just a tool for making money. Many people who want to play games may not choose this game. But now the ServerFi project combines some traditional Web2 elements, allowing Web2 players to participate in it. Web3 players can synthesize NFTs, obtain a portion of the server's shares, and obtain certain income through the server, so I think the gameplay is still very interesting. Traditional Web2 game players often spend a lot of money to play games, such as "World of Warcraft" and "King of Glory". They will recharge to buy virtual items such as skins. So this project not only retains some of the characteristics of Web2, but also does not need to make a profit or spend money, but just thinks the game is fun. At the same time, it also combines the concept of Web3, so that Web3 players can get income. The control of the server is in the hands of the players. Web3 players have a sense of participation and decision-making power, and can even influence or even manage the direction of the game. Therefore, Web3 players may be more willing to play this game, which also avoids Ponzi schemes and drum-beating and passing the flower, allowing the game to develop better and longer.
I understand that the profit model of this game is mainly through Web2 tasks, and then these profits are sent to Web3 players who have servers. So I think the design of this economic model is very good, which can better transform GameFi into ServerFi mode. In the past, GameFi's idea was a bit off, attracting Web2 players to Web3. The core idea of ServerFi is to allow Web2 and Web3 users to coexist, which can not only allow the game to develop in the long run, but also attract Web2 people to enter Web3 without the need to make money, they just come to play games. So I think this model is very interesting.
Wang Duanniao:Hello everyone, I am a Twitter blogger. I have played some GameFi games before. For this new concept ServerFi, my opinion is that its overall idea and design route are more practical and can be implemented. Traditional GameFi games focus on Fi. Most players are for making money. There is a lack of real game players. Many people just come to play gold. But if a game wants to continue to develop, it must attract players to really want to play and bring pleasure through the game itself. Just like some online games and stand-alone games now, such as "Black Myth: Wukong" and "League of Legends", these games are willing to be played by everyone.
However, traditional games also have problems. The data in the game is not owned by themselves. If the game mechanism is changed, the player's equipment or skill book may change or disappear. If the equipment in the game is made into NFT, this problem may be solved. For example, in the current ServerFi, players can obtain some assets in the game, including NFT, and players can share the revenue generated by the game equally, which is equivalent to becoming "shareholders" in the game. This is a bit like the design in the movie "Ready Player One". Just like POS (Proof of Stake) mining, users get tokens by staking, not by POW computing power. Some people worry that if someone holds more than 50% of the tokens, they can tamper with the data on the chain at will. But in fact, if they hold more than 50% of the tokens, they will not do so because it will damage their own value. The concept of this game design is a bit similar to these.
Cookie: I think it is better to let the player's acquisition cycle be slightly longer. In my opinion, GameFi and blockchain games are two separate tracks. Although many people are very skeptical about blockchain games at present and feel that the model has been proven to be unworkable. But I don't think so. There is a game called "Banana", which is still played by about 410,000 people. The mechanism of this game is very simple, which is to catch bananas on the go and then sell them on the market. From this perspective, the difficulty for GameFi to break out of the circle is that the public's attitude towards cryptocurrency is relatively negative. Many people are afraid when they hear about cryptocurrency, and they dare not try to play similar games. Therefore, the prejudice against cryptocurrency or the high learning threshold prevents many people from coming in to play.
I think that when the next bull market comes, more young people will definitely enter this field. In the field of GameFi, creating interesting games through better economic models is not a shameful thing, nor is it a hopeless thing. New exploration is always good. ServerFi proposes not only new game mechanisms, but also has a popular game support. I think the exploration of the combination of the two may bring different surprises.
BlockBeats: If you can control a ServerFi server, what "unique feature" do you most want to add?
BITWU.ETH:A dynamic event system is added on the native basis of GameFi because the community and players of the game are an important system, and this system needs to be built well. So this dynamic event system is a good choice, which allows contributors to be seen in the game and motivates everyone to participate in the game better. When you log in to the game, you can see your real-time information and ranking in the entire server. I think this is a very good feature.
Strawberry Gummy:I hope to add an ecological balance system, which is to automatically adjust the allocation of resources according to activity and contribution, to ensure that every player has a harmonious distribution of income, which is actually like a social governance, which can effectively avoid the gap between the rich and the poor and allow everyone to participate equally.
You Kexin Isadora: BITWU.ETH just mentioned the dynamic event reminder function, which I think is a good function. Based on this function, I suggest adding a contribution ranking list. Because of the event reminder, if there are some players who have participated for a long time and made great contributions, they can get some rewards and honors, so we can add a contribution ranking function to the system. This function can be combined with dynamic event reminders, and some players on the leaderboard can appear in the dynamic reminder, so that other players can also see their contributions.
Some reward mechanisms can also be added, such as unique NFTs or customized game content. I think the concept of ServerFi is very good. It can not only subvert some GameFi things, but also make up for the shortcomings of GameFi. If these functions can be added to the game, the game will become better. Because this game has a very good function, which is the server controlled by the players, which can enhance the overall interactivity between the players and the project.
Wang Duanniao:I will add a voting function. If there are updates, I will ask for players' opinions and let them vote. In addition, I would like to add puzzle or direct PK elements. If a player completes a specific task, he can replace me and gain my authority. Or through PK, if his equipment is good enough and he can defeat me, he can also gain control. This may stimulate the interest of players and make them more engaged.
Cookie: I have the same view as Shortbird. I would like to see more governance rights in the game. For example, if you play many games, such as World of Warcraft, these games not only have national servers, but also servers in other regions. If the national server is not operating well, players can choose other servers. Although the recharged props cannot be taken away, at least they can be transferred to a better environment, such as the US server or the Korean server. In the currency circle, if we can make a breakthrough in the governance level, such as ServerFi, it is not just about controlling the economic system, but forming a game between the project party, large investors and ordinary retail investors. It cannot be like the previous games, where large investors can dominate the game at will, and the economy will be unbalanced later, and data will also be lost. The traditional solution may be to open a new server.
Consensus is very important in blockchain games. If ordinary players are not satisfied with the existing servers, they can choose to fork a new server with the community. If players can have such rights, in this case, the project party needs to communicate more with ordinary players during the regulation process to prevent player loss, otherwise the investment of large investors will also depreciate. This mechanism will form another layer of interpersonal game outside the game, increasing the depth of the game and the interaction between players.
Advantages and Challenges of ServerFi
BlockBeats: ServerFi sounds promising. What do you think are the main advantages of ServerFi? What practical challenges does it face?
BITWU.ETH:The advantages of ServerFi are very obvious. In terms of the economic system, it has a lot of evolution, which can solve the common "death spiral" problem in GameFi. ServerFi reduces its dependence on user funds, which is one of its main advantages. In addition, ServerFi can lower the entry threshold for new users. We just talked about full-chain games. Whether it is the previous Play-to-Earn that requires money to enter the market, or you need to understand some on-chain knowledge to enter the market, the threshold is relatively high. ServerFi can theoretically lower the entry threshold for players, making it easier to expand the game ecosystem. These are its two biggest advantages.
The challenge facing ServerFi is first of all the issue of market acceptance. ServerFi is a new concept, which requires time and actual verification of its actual effect to verify its actual role in the game. Market acceptance is also a relatively big point. In addition to new users of the game, game creators will also face this problem. Although ServerFi can solve the economic model problem of GameFi, it is still a challenge to design an economic model that can attract players and maintain the long-term value of the game. It is not to say that the emergence of the concept of ServerFi can change this. The main challenge still lies in supervision and compliance. Blockchain games have always had major problems in this regard, and ServerFi will also involve various aspects of asset ownership and economic model regulation.
Strawberry Gummy:Let's talk about the advantages of ServerFi first. I think its biggest advantage is that players have direct control over the server. Players can make timely suggestions on the operation and management of the server and even participate in decision-making. They can also adjust the gameplay of the game at any time according to their needs. This can not only greatly maintain the freshness of the game and the satisfaction of the players, but also help the game remain competitive in the highly competitive market.
ServerFi also faces many challenges. Because ServerFi is a very new concept, there is not much experience to learn from. So I think the biggest challenge lies in the complexity of its technical implementation. It requires a very stable and efficient decentralized network to support the transfer of ownership between players, the management of servers and other issues. For developers, this is indeed a big challenge. They must not only ensure the security and user experience of the system, but also maintain the decentralized characteristics.
You Kexin Isadora:I would like to continue the discussion based on the topic of teacher BITWU.ETH. Teacher BITWU.ETH mentioned a very serious challenge, which is how to maintain the long-term value of the game. I think this ServerFi has some very outstanding design features. Previous GameFi projects all had a serious bug: there was a conflict of interest between players and developers. The game setting of ServerFi is quite interesting. Players own game servers, so they are one, and they all hope that the game can develop healthily in the long run.
The server here is a bit like a mining machine. Players own servers. If the game develops well, the server owner can continue to earn income, which solves the conflict of interest between players and developers very well. This model establishes a healthy relationship because the developer's income is directly linked to the player who holds the server. If you just play games, developers and players are likely to be in opposition. But in this model, players are also one of the creators of the game and own servers, which makes both parties a community. The previous GameFi project had many speculators who pursued short-term profits. The design of ServerFi can filter out some speculators, and everyone hopes that the game can develop in the long run. I think this concept is very novel. Although it faces many challenges, it has a lot of room for development at this stage. After all, it solves some of the drawbacks of the traditional model.
Wang Duanniao:I think the main challenges lie in the game mechanics, story background and game graphics. It is not like traditional games that attract players through a strong wealth-making effect. Without these rewards, it is like an ordinary online game that must attract players through "fun". Therefore, I think the challenges are mainly concentrated in these aspects.
Cookie:I think it may be a bit too early to talk about challenges now, because when this game is really released, I will definitely try it. After all, this is a new trend. We can wait and see what problems this game will have in the operation process. As for opportunities, this is undoubtedly a new narrative, not only for the project party, but also for ordinary players. There are always new trends in this circle. We can't fall into the trap of old leeks, but we still have to try and explore. If I must give some suggestions, I think we can refer to some popular and exquisite projects in operation.
ServerFi Future Outlook and Conclusion
BlockBeats: Let's start with the overall situation to discuss the future of ServerFi. Do you think ServerFi has the potential to become the mainstream model of the future game industry?
BITWU.ETH:ServerFi is an emerging game economic model system and also a new thing. I think it has the potential to become a mainstream model, but it will take time and market validation. Ultimately, its success or failure depends on its application and performance in actual games. At present, what we are discussing is still theoretical, so I think we can continue to observe its subsequent development.
Strawberry Gummy:The change in the rules ensures that the interests of players are linked to the long-term development of the game, and completely changes the short-term profit orientation. Now let me talk about the experience. I think the change in the player experience of ServerFi is mainly reflected in the great improvement of the player's sense of participation and autonomy, because ServerFi transfers the ownership of the server to the player, which is equivalent to giving them the opportunity to participate in management and decision-making. This change can greatly promote the development of the game industry in a more decentralized and community-driven direction.
You Kexin Isadora:I think this new concept has changed the existing rules of the game from the moment it appeared. In our previous discussion, we also mentioned its innovation in GameFi. We can observe the overall experience of Web2 and Web3 players in the game. The traditional GameFi game model has been replaced, and the ownership of the server has been transferred to the hands of Web3 players. The moment players participate in this game, they must abide by the new rule system. More importantly, this new rule system establishes a more balanced and long-term economic system, reduces speculation, and ensures that the interests of players are linked to the long-term development of the game. I think it has changed the defects of the existing GameFi and transformed the rule orientation of short-term profit.
Wang Duanniao:I think if this model can work, it is not only the future of GameFi, but also the future of the entire online game. Now, many online games are facing similar problems. We should not look at Web2 games and Web3 games separately, and they will definitely merge together in the end. This is also a direction for the development of the currency circle.
Cookie:I think it is a good thing to have new innovations, and I also hope that this concept can lead a new wave of enthusiasm in the market.
BlockBeats: Finally, everyone knows that in traditional GameFi, token price fluctuations are a big problem. Do you think ServerFi's design can better support and stabilize token prices?
BITWU.ETH:This function is very useful because ServerFi is essentially designed to improve and maintain the stability of token prices to a certain extent. Players need to invest in the system for a long time, not for short-term arbitrage. The design of ServerFi gives players higher rewards, and they cannot get profits in the short term. Therefore, players cannot get returns by quickly entering and exiting the market, so there should not be the phenomenon of skyrocketing and plummeting in traditional game finance (GameFi), and the economic system is healthier. In addition, the liquidity of the community and some fragmented and synthetic reward mechanisms mentioned by ServerFi are long-term effects. Therefore, I think this has played a relatively large role in the stability and support of the token.
Strawberry Gummy:I think the design of ServerFi is actually very good, avoiding the market crash, because its design can make Web2 and Web3 players have no conflict of interest, so its token price can be better supported.
You Kexin Isadora:There is another disadvantage of why the traditional GameFi currency price cannot be supported. Traditional GameFi is similar to passing the flower by beating the drum, everyone wants to make money, but in the end it may cause the players behind to be smashed and face greater risks. However, our gameplay solves this problem. The game combines the characteristics of traditional Web2 industries, where players are willing to spend money, while Web3 players make money by owning servers. This design avoids the risk of large fluctuations and market crashes of tokens, because the interests of players are closely linked to the long-term health of the server. In this way, all players have the motivation to support and maintain the overall stability of the system. Therefore, I think this design can well maintain the long-term stable development of tokens. Web2 players are willing to spend money, and Web3 players make money through servers, which achieves a good balance.
Wang Duanniao:I think it is like the game coins in some online games we have played before. When playing games, we will also buy and sell these game coins. Generally, on platforms such as 5173, this just puts the buying and selling game tokens on the chain, so its output is not very high. If you want to brush these tokens, you have to pay a lot of energy. This kind of game token is really in demand, because when people play games, including buying equipment or strengthening, they will consume these tokens.
Cookie:I think the new projects now are definitely much more stable than the tokens of previous projects. We can see that there are two main paths for current projects. The first is to make the price of their own tokens more stable, such as reducing the circulation in the early stage, and output as soon as you play. In this circle, we are very clear about making games. The user group is mainly for making money. Players will calculate what cost to enter the market and how to make a profit. This is one of the paths. I think the design idea of the game ServerFi has also made great improvements in this regard as much as possible. Another path is: there must be player participation, and the playability of the game must meet the needs of players. Therefore, considering these two aspects, I am still very confident about the future of ServerFi.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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