Drug Wars is a game. It's no different than Steem Monsters or any other blockchain based game. At least Drug Wars give out rewards in the form of Steem and not some junk worthless token you can't exchange for anything.
At no point has Drug Wars ever promised to make people rich or pay you what you've invested. The rewards are a nice bonus.
Like any pay to play game, you spend money. If you don't like it, don't play. Going as far as calling a game a ponzi scheme, it makes you sound bitter. You say you wanted to create the same game and never did, would you have done it differently?
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I am not bitter at all, but I think people should be aware of it. I believe many people are playing purely for ROI and judging by the chatter I hear that seems to be confirmed. I don't think it was intentionally made as a Ponzi scheme, I believe it was in fact made as a game but because making money was strapped on it turned into a Ponzi scheme. I honestly don't believe there was any malicious intent in volved.
I am not calling it one, it is one. In its current form, it fits all the criteria that distinguish one. So it's not an insult, just an observation.
I tend to make posts like this when I feel people may not properly understand things. It's purely to create some transparency.
I have put over 3,000 Steem into Drug Wars, and I'm pretty confident I will get that back and then some because I was lucky to be an early bird. So I really have no reason to be upset.
I spent a bit of time deciding about making this post because I expected a reaction such as yours.
Good question and was one of the reasons it wasn't done yet. I couldn't figure out how to solve this problem myself.
In my vision, there was going to be consumables and some monetization but no payouts. This means this problem wouldn't have existed, but the volume would be much much lower and far less profitable but more of a game than an "investment".
The average person might spend 5-50 tops over the life of the game, not 500-10000 steem. Surely this way is more profitable and exciting but creates the dilution problem.
That's good @themarkymark - sorry if I was overly brash in my choice of words. Sometimes, I can be a little too forward and honest. I very much love engaging in discussion and debate about these things and I respect you as a Steemian. I appreciate you took the time to reply.
My original point in response was, people are making Drug Wars out to be something it's not. At the end of the day, it's a pay-to-play game with an economy component that incentivises users to spend money, but how is it any different than tonnes of other games out there?
World of Warcraft, Eve Online and other games with monthly subscriptions force the user to continuously spend money, but they don't allow you to get paid for playing. Mobile games (especially those promoting gambling like slots and poker) have in-app purchases where you can pay to buy magic gems and credits to keep playing (once again, no financial reward).
The reality is, any dApp on the Steem blockchain is always going to have a pay-to-play mechanic to it. Steem Monsters is the exact same, now with tournaments (some with paid entry), it makes it even more pay-to-play. Those with more money than others can afford to drop thousands of Steem on card packs.
People should be aware of the risks playing Drug Wars, but we shouldn't single this one game out. If we are being fair, where are the other posts calling out other games on Steem? The gambling apps. What about bid bots, are they not pay to play?
At the end of the day, more dApps on Steem is beneficial to us all. The popularity and usage of games like Drug Wars benefit anyone with a Steem account financially, because it's adoption and that drives the value of STEEM and SBD. Bring on more dApps like Drug Wars.
Doing the standard social bullshit, with the app set as a beneficiary, would increase the reward pool and make it slightly less of a ponzi. So, when you upgrade your Pantheon to level 256 you can brag to all your friends and it would put a few extra Steem into the pool. Then players would be regularly adding a few extra steem, whether they were buying anything or not.
You could also come up with a ton of extra things to buy to entice players, lowering their chances for ROI possibly, but putting more Steem into the pool. If it's built as an actual game though, that's fun to play, the people buying such things won't care so much about ROI.
You could also add adverts, putting a bit more into the pool.
Dunno how many advertisers would be keen on getting in on a game that's kinda a ponzi scheme though.
Most of all though, never advertise it as a way to make money.
They need to update profiles for each player. Add cosmetics that can be purchased with steem. So if you want that cool looking hoody on your profile, you must sped 3 steem, or you want that golden gun on your guy, 10 steem. Then make it possible for gang members to view enemy profiles and guild members to share and trade items with eachother. there are so many ways to make money with this, DW just needs a strong marketing person cough cough
Um...the logo actually says "Get Paid To Rule Your World". It's advertised as a game where you can profit. If you don't invest any money, or only a small amount, of just really intelligently, then you can get "paid" a few cents per hour. I'd get paid more filling in captchas.
Now, it didn't say that it would get you rich...but the logo is at the very least somewhat misleading, and with it's current model, is kind of a ponzi, because it is advertised as a way to make money. Of course, the more accurate "Possibly earn back what you have to spend to even compete." isn't quite as catchy. But, if you play it as just a game, it's fine. You might even maybe earn back what you put in, if you do so wisely. It will never be a money making machine though, unless you bot a ton of accounts.
It says get paid to rule your world. I didn't see the word "profit" mentioned anywhere on the site. Anyone who assumes otherwise, that's on them.
You're missing the point of Drug Wars, it's a game with an economy component. Sure, you need to spend money to make anything in the game, but if you're having fun, then you're probably more focused on moving up the leaderboard than using it as a bank.
Even if you're only being paid "cents", the logo is not lying, right? You're still getting paid. If the logo said, "Get paid hundreds in Steem, guaranteed" then fair enough.
I think people need to calm down. Paying to play is not unique to Drug Wars, World of Warcraft and a plethora of other games with subscriptions, you get nothing for playing and paying with real money. At least Drug Wars gives you something back. What about mobile in-app purchases in games for imaginary non-redeemable credits?
Keep calm and have fun. I am loving Drug Wars.