Dr Disrespect announced in March that his upcoming game ‘Project Moon’ from Midnight Society would feature NFT features and, as expected, was met with vitriol from critics who simply didn’t understand what was happening. But the Doc is actually providing an NFT offering that will benefit players — and more importantly, one that they don’t even need to opt in to.
NFTs have become a hugely divisive subject over the past 12 months. Their ascent in the online world from a niche community to items worth millions has been tracked by believers and critics alike, spawning intense debate on either side of the spectrum.
One group that has been consistently anti-NFT has been the gaming community. They’ve pleaded for NFTs to stay out of gaming, for blockchain games to be nothing more than a bubble to burst. And, for the most part, they got their wish. Game developers have made NFT announcements and quickly backtracked when the backlash poured in, dialing down their Web3 plans.
Not Dr Disrespect, though. He announced the NFT inclusion in his games and, despite the immediate backlash, spoke out about how exactly Project Moon will incorporate NFTs — and whether they realize it yet or not – has left critics little to complain about.
Entirely optional NFTs
The first, and perhaps most important point, is that this is not a blockchain-based game. As such, engagement with any blockchain or NFT-based assets is entirely optional.
This is also the first mistake that many critics have made. They see the term ‘NFT’ and automatically assume they’ll be forced to buy NFTs and spend a bunch of money to be able to play the game or engage with it properly — a perfectly valid criticism of many blockchain-based games.
As The Doc explained himself,
“you don’t have to have NFTs to play the game. It doesn’t change your experience of the game once it releases and it will continue to be free-to-play. You can’t buy your way to win.”