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The Unlimited Transmedia Potential of Ashfall | Sacred Symbols+ Episode 205

When Ashfall was announced, many potential players were deeply concerned. After all, the announcement seemed to emphasize its 'web3' connectivity and transmedia potential above all else, and before long, most chatter surrounding the game was about NFTs. But is that fair? Well, I'll let the creators speak for themselves. Please welcome Liithos' CEO Michael Mumbauer and the studio's creative lead John Garvin to +. In our extensive, ~100 minute conversation, we delve deep into the team's maiden voyage, a 'post-apocalyptic' title set in the Pacific Northwest in the aftermath of the Earth's destruction at the hands of out-of-control global warming and unprecedented volcanic activity. Yes: John and Michael have a deep history with PlayStation, leading two internal teams for many years each. And their new project seems to be at least partially inspired by the deep pride Sony takes in single-player story-driven adventures. The trouble, for some, comes with the notion of transmedia and the potential implementation of blockchain or hashgraph technologies. The question then becomes: Are we prejudging something we don't quite understand? By the end of our conversation, you'll likely be able to answer that inquiry for yourself.

Comments

Jacob Alexander Irvine

There is obviously some serious talent and passion behind this project, although it's probably equal to the ambition on display, to put it nicely. As always I'll believe it when I see it.

Jake Z

It would be nice if my digital Playstation games were NFTs so I could resell them, but Sony would never allow that.

LastStandMedia

Never say never. I'm sure they're looking into the possibilities, just like everyone else.

Anonymous

This ranks among my favorite pieces you’ve done. The back and forth was master class and it’s true, you know what questions to ask. I loved feeling a part of the thought experiments, even though I wasn’t.

Anonymous

This was a great episode, Finally someone on who can give a bit of insight onto what the blockchain can do for industries. Obviously they didn't go into specifics, but i think they painted a bit of a picture for people who just think NFTs are jpegs, and aren't thinking about what the TECH of NFTs can do.

Anonymous

Loved this episode guys! What a great conversation. I found myself understanding their concepts where NFTs may be involved way more than I had before. I have to say, I’m looking forward to seeing what Ashfall does and how it’s covered in a few years on release. Thanks for another awesome interview, Colin and Dustin.

Anonymous

If I ever get out of gaming it will be because of games like this

Bono Silva

A thoroughly enjoyable listen. Thanks guys!

Andrew Christensen

Oh no... I gotta be honest, I have never had less faith in a game than I do in this one. And that conversation honestly only cemented my feelings

Kaz Redclaw

The bit on the end about getting a trophy for watching a movie outside of the system... Sony currently won't allow this because you can't have trophies in the platinum that require DLCs or purchases outside of the game itself, that's why the platinum trophy in the original Skylanders can be done with just the 3 characters that were included in the box. If a platinum trophy required me to go watch a movie, I would skip that platinum I think. I play the game once through without even looking at the trophy list, then I look at the trophies I haven't gotten to determine if I want to bother with the platinum. To me, the platinum is just a way to extend a game that I'm enjoying though. If a trophy would be a detriment to continuing to enjoy the game, I probably shouldn't even bother. There's potential in NFTs, but every example I've seen so far that exists has been a bad implementation of it. The picture ones aren't even pictures on the blockchain, but just URLs. If the movie studios, for instance, would sign a certificate that permitted you to put a clip of the movie in your youtube video, and then Youtube would check that certificate against the private key of the studio before doing a content ID Match, that might be a good use of that technology.

TheAlpineTreeline

Michael acted like he came to sell his game, like he needs investors but doesn't really believe in it himself.

superbadisfunny .

Remember horse armor happened. Now we have people buying 100 dollar skins. This is next whether it sucks or not. Smh

Joban

The more I listened to them talk about this game, the more gross it felt. Everything Michael said to justify the blockchain and NFT-esqe aspects was either ignoring the systems already in place that provide the same functionality or complete false equivalencies like comparing physical collector's editions to digital assets in the scarcity conversation. And they were allowed to state those false equivalencies multiple times with no pushback from Colin or Dustin, which was surprising. I was only slightly interested before this interview, but I'm completely out now. Furthering the NFT bullshit hype train in any way is an unequivocal nonstarter for me.