Unproven Speculation -- But If True, Could Be The End of the Video-Game Industry

As Brian Tuohy says, "There are no coincidences."

I wish to stress openly:  I cannot, at this point, confirm any of this.  The timing, as has been pointed out by another reader of the blog as that person has seen some other podcasters slam the company involved for the company's new stand on NFT's, seems too uncanny.

Let's go back about six weeks.  Early Access hits for the long-awaited Final Fantasy XIV expansion Endwalker.

One of the many problems obscured by the massive queues of players wanting to play the final chapter of the first ten-year storyline of XIV was that certain people were encountering serious sound-stuttering and computer-crash issues while attempting to play any of the game after the expansion was released.

Much, though not all, of the problem appeared to surround AMD processors, and at least what would appear to be an incompatibility with a subscription sound system the game is implementing in the expansion from Immersive Corporation.

(So much so, they're doubling down on it, announcing a Panasonic headset compatible and branded with the game and the sound system.)

That's bad enough.  There have now been two major mid-patches since the expansion, and not only has nothing been done to address the issue, it appears as if the lockout which was at least partial in the main expansion was made total in the first mid-patch -- with no relief in sight.

THAT'S bad enough.  But then this:

There is now serious discussion as to Square-Enix using NFT's as a means of "Earn while you play" in the game.  This has apparently come up in corporate discussions made public in the last week or two.

They were confirmed when Square-Enix' president, Yosuke Matsuda, announced in his New Year's Letter that his company was taking active roles in "blockchain games", to focus more on "players who contribute" to the excitement of the game, rather than players simply "playing to have fun".

Translated:  The BluGartr/RMT types are more important to the game than those of us who are playing just to have fun and kill time and that kind of shit.

In this context, the reader of the blog points out (and correctly -- this person knows computers) that a sound issue causing sound stuttering and that should not be compromising the processor level of usage...

Unless that usage is either so badly coded, it's completely barfed, or...

This blockchain/cloud effect of Square-Enix is creating a situation where the code of the expansion is actually being used as a FARMING DEVICE to remote-farm cryptocurrency, etc. as a function of making Square-Enix money!

None of this can be confirmed (and even most of the people having enough of the problem of this to unsubscribe like I am as of tomorrow). but SE is already taking serious heat on just the NFT angle.  And why would they want us to play, especially if the official position of the company for such a long time was not to have people play so long as to compromise lives, work, etc.

Stay tuned on this one.  This could get BAD.  And bad in a hurry.