Good Day Manager! Exploring Social Relationships in NFT-based Play-to-Earn Games

R.L. Parayno; J.A. Deja; T.J. Sta. Maria; B.P.V. Samson

doi:10.1145/3544548.3580713

Good Day Manager! Exploring Social Relationships in NFT-based Play-to-Earn Games

R.L. Parayno
, J.A. Deja
, T.J. Sta. Maria
, B.P.V. Samson

Creative Technologies

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

Play-to-Earn (P2E) crypto-games recently emerged as a gig opportunity despite the absence of regulations. As these platforms continue to grow, there is a need to understand the interactions involved to protect vulnerable stakeholders. This paper describes how an unintended social dynamic became a strategy guiding players to navigate an unregulated space. First, we inquired through surveys (N = 69) and interviews (N = 9) to understand stakeholder motivations and practices in this space. Second, we analyzed data and then conceptualized eight themes (e.g., Management, Social, Gaming). Then, we uncovered four types of relationships (e.g., Manager-Scholar, Manager-Investor-Scholar, Coach-Mentee, Scholar-Turned-Manager) that shaped the behaviours of the different users on the platform. Lastly, we present design implications and recommendations to guide the design of P2E crypto games and the gig-focused communities that thrive around them. Our results contribute to ongoing discussions in designing digital gig economies and crypto-based games. © 2023 Owner/Author.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Print)	978-1-4503-9421-5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580713
Publication status	Published - 19 Apr 2023
Event	2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2023 - , Germany Duration: 23 Apr 2023 → 28 Apr 2023 https://chi2023.acm.org/

Conference

Conference	2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2023
Abbreviated title	CHI 2023
Country/Territory	Germany
Period	23/04/23 → 28/04/23
Internet address	https://chi2023.acm.org/

Keywords

Axie
cryptocurrency
NFT
perceptions
wallets
Design implications
Design recommendations
Social dynamics
Social gaming
Social relationships
Wallet
Electronic money

Access to Document

10.1145/3544548.3580713

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85160019738&doi=10.1145%2f3544548.3580713&partnerID=40&md5=32e7515a2fccce8967b7f00e34530335

Cite this

@inproceedings{275c05faba4a4a3ea264bb73b7eb64d6,

title = "Good Day Manager! Exploring Social Relationships in NFT-based Play-to-Earn Games",

abstract = "Play-to-Earn (P2E) crypto-games recently emerged as a gig opportunity despite the absence of regulations. As these platforms continue to grow, there is a need to understand the interactions involved to protect vulnerable stakeholders. This paper describes how an unintended social dynamic became a strategy guiding players to navigate an unregulated space. First, we inquired through surveys (N = 69) and interviews (N = 9) to understand stakeholder motivations and practices in this space. Second, we analyzed data and then conceptualized eight themes (e.g., Management, Social, Gaming). Then, we uncovered four types of relationships (e.g., Manager-Scholar, Manager-Investor-Scholar, Coach-Mentee, Scholar-Turned-Manager) that shaped the behaviours of the different users on the platform. Lastly, we present design implications and recommendations to guide the design of P2E crypto games and the gig-focused communities that thrive around them. Our results contribute to ongoing discussions in designing digital gig economies and crypto-based games. {\textcopyright} 2023 Owner/Author.",

keywords = "Axie, cryptocurrency, NFT, perceptions, wallets, Design implications, Design recommendations, Social dynamics, Social gaming, Social relationships, Wallet, Electronic money",

author = "R.L. Parayno and J.A. Deja and \{Sta. Maria\}, T.J. and B.P.V. Samson",

note = "Conference code: 188036 Export Date: 14 December 2023 References: (2022) Life-changing. or scam. Axie Infnity helps Philippines' poor earn, , https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220215-life-changing-or-scamaxie-infnity-helps-philippines-poor-earn; Balaram, B., Warden, J., Wallace-Stephens, F., Good Gigs: A fairer future for the UK's gig economy (2017) London: RSA, 1 (1), pp. 1-64. , 2017; Baughan, A., Petelka, J., Yoo, C.J., Lo, J., Wang, S., Paramasivam, A., Zhou, A., Hiniker, A., Someone IsWrong on the Internet: Having Hard Conversations in Online Spaces (2021) Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5, CSCW1, pp. 1-22. , 2021; Cai, W., Chen, M., Leung, V.C.M., Toward gaming as a service (2014) IEEE Internet Computing, 18 (3), pp. 12-18. , 2014; Callon-Butler, L., (2020) The NFT Game That Makes Cents for Filipinos During COVID, , https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2020/08/26/the-nft-game-thatmakes-cents-for-flipinos-during-covid/; Chow, A., De Guzman, C., A Crypto Game Promised to Lift Filipinos Out of Poverty (2022) Here's What Happened Instead, , https://time.com/6199385/axie-infnity-crypto-game-philippines-debt/; Chun, S., Choi, D., Han, J., Kim, H.K., Kwon, T., Unveiling a socio-economic system in a virtual world: A case study of an MMORPG (2018) Proceedings of the 2018 World Wide Web Conference. ACM Press, Lyon, France, pp. 1929-1938; Clark, O., Games as a service: How free to play design can make better games (2014) Routledge, , New York; (2022), https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/gaming; (2022) National Wages Productivity Commission, , https://nwpc.dole.gov.ph/regionandwages/national-capital-region, National Wages Productivity Commission Accessed: 2022-9-8; Cumming, D.J., Johan, S., Pant, A., Regulation of the crypto-economy: Managing risks, challenges, and regulatory uncertainty (2019) Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 12 (3), p. 126. , 2019; (2022), https://dappradar.com/ronin/games/axie-infnity; Edwards, F.R., Hanley, K., Litan, R., Weil, R.L., Crypto assets require better regulation: Statement of the fnancial economists roundtable on crypto assets (2019) Financial Analysts Journal, 75 (2), pp. 14-19. , 2019; Elsden, C., Manohar, A., Briggs, J., Harding, M., Speed, C., Vines, J., Making Sense of Blockchain Applications: A Typology for HCI (2018) Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1-14. , https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174032, Montreal QC, Canada) (CHI '18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA; Fairfeld, J.A.T., Tokenized: The law of non-fungible tokens and unique digital property (2022) Ind. LJ, 97, p. 1261. , 2022; Fowler, A., Pirker, J., Tokenfcation-The Potential of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) for Game Development (2021) Extended Abstracts of the 2021 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp. 152-157. , https://doi.org/10.1145/3450337.3483501, Virtual Event, Austria) (CHI PLAY '21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA; Fowler, A., Pirker, J., Tokenfcation-The Potential of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) for Game Development (2021) Extended Abstracts of the 2021 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp. 152-157. , https://doi.org/10.1145/3450337.3483501, Virtual Event, Austria) (CHI PLAY '21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA; Frauenberger, C., Entanglement HCI the next wave (2019) ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 27 (1), pp. 1-27. , 2019; Gola, Y., (2022) Axie Infnity is painting a giant bearish pattern-will AXS price crash another 95, , https://cointelegraph.com/news/axie-infnity-is-painting-agiant-bearish-pattern-will-axs-price-crash-another-95; Golumbia, D., Games without Play (2009) New Literary History, 40 (1), pp. 179-204. , 2009; Green, D.D., Fueling the gig economy: A case study evaluation of Upwork (2018) com. Manag Econ Res J, 4 (2018), p. 3399. , 2018; Hacker, P., Thomale, C., Crypto-securities regulation: ICOs, token sales and cryptocurrencies under EU fnancial law (2018) European Company and Financial Law Review, 15 (4), pp. 645-696. , 2018; Heeks, R., Current Analysis and Future Research Agenda on Gold Farming{"}: Real-World Production in Developing Countries for the Virtual Economies of Online Games (2008) SSRN Electronic Journal, 32 (32), pp. 1-80. , https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3477387, 2008; Heeks, R., Understanding{"} Gold Farming{"} and Real-Money Trading as the Intersection of Real and Virtual Economies (2010) Journal For Virtual Worlds Research, 2 (4), pp. 1-27. , https://doi.org/10.4101/jvwr.v2i4.868, Feb 2010; (2022) Axie Infnity: Origin Is Live In Early Access!, , https://axie.substack.com/p/axieorigin, Axie Infnity; Kinder, E., Jarrahi, M.H., Sutherland, W., Gig platforms, tensions, alliances and ecosystems: An actor-network perspective (2019) Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 3, CSCW, pp. 1-26. , 2019; Koumenta, M., Williams, M., An anatomy of zero-hour contracts in the UK (2019) Industrial Relations Journal, 50 (1), pp. 20-40. , 2019; Kuckartz, U., R{\"a}diker, S., (2019) Analyzing qualitative data with MAXQDA, , Springer International Publishing, Cham; Kugler, L., Non-fungible tokens and the future of art (2021) Commun. ACM, 64 (9), pp. 19-20. , 2021; Laycock, R., (2022) NFT gaming statistics, , https://www.fnder.com/nftgames-statistics, [Accessed 13-Sep-2022]; Mavis, S., (2021) Axie Infnity Whitepaper, , https://whitepaper.axieinfnity.com/; Mavis, S., (2022), https://whitepaper.axieinfnity.com/gameplay/breeding; Murdoch, J., The spaces of actor-network theory (1998) Geoforum, 29 (4), pp. 357-374. , 1998; Narain, A., Moretti, M., (2022) Regulating Crypto, , https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2022/09/Regulating-crypto-Narain-Moretti; Park, A., Kietzmann, J., Pitt, L., Dabirian, A., The Evolution of Nonfungible Tokens: Complexity and Novelty of NFT Use-Cases (2022) IT Professional, 24 (1), pp. 9-14. , https://doi.org/10.1109/MITP.2021.3136055, Jan 2022; Prinz, W., Blockchain and CSCW-Shall we care (2018) Proceedings of 16th European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work-Exploratory Papers. European Society for Socially Embedded Technologies, pp. 1-8. , EUSSET), Nancy, France; Raval, S., (2016) Decentralized applications: Harnessing Bitcoin's blockchain technology, , O'Reilly Media, Inc. Sebastopol, CA; Regner, F., Schweizer, A., Urbach, N., NFTs in Practice-Non-Fungible Tokens as Core Component of a Blockchain-based Event Ticketing Application (2019) International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), 1 (1), pp. 1-17. , 2019; Roy, G., Shrivastava, A.K., Future of gig economy: Opportunities and challenges (2020) IMI Konnect, 9 (1), pp. 14-27. , 2020; Russell, J., (2021) Axie Infnity's all work, all play model to rewrite gig work in SE Asia-the-ken. com, , https://the-ken.com/sea/story/axie-infnitys-all-workall-play-model-to-rewrite-gig-work-in-se-asia/, [Accessed 13-Sep-2022]; Scholten, O.J., Hughes, N.G.J., Deterding, S., Drachen, A., Walker, J.A., Zendle, D., Ethereum Crypto-Games: Mechanics, Prevalence, and Gambling Similarities (2019) Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp. 379-389. , https://doi.org/10.1145/3311350.3347178, ACM, Barcelona Spain; Sharma, T., Zhou, Z., Huang, Y., Wang, Y., (2022) It's A Blessing and A Curse{"}: Unpacking Creators' Practices with Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Their Communities; Shrivastava, A., (2022), https://fnance.yahoo.com/news/623m-hackaxie-infnity-discord-123415870.html; (2022), https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1303532/southeast-asianumber-of-mobile-gamers-segment-revenue-by-country; Steinkuehler, C., The Mangle of Play (2006) Games and Culture, 1 (3), pp. 199-213. , https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412006290440, Jul 2006; Tai, Z., Hu, F., Play between love and labor: The practice of gold farming in China (2018) New Media \& Society, 20 (7), pp. 2370-2390. , https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444817717326, Jul 2018; Taylor, T.L., Does WoW Change Everything : How a PvP Server, Multinational Player Base, and Surveillance Mod Scene Caused Me Pause (2006) Games and Culture, 1 (4), pp. 318-337. , https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412006292615, Oct 2006; Tus, J., (2022) Play-to-earn: A qualitative analysis of the experiences and challenges faced by Axie Infnity online gamers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic; Vallas, S., Schor, J.B., What do platforms do (2020) Understanding the gig economy. Annual Review of Sociology, 46 (1), pp. 273-294. , 2020; Vidal-Tom{\'a}s, D., The new crypto niche: NFTs, play-to-earn, and metaverse tokens (2022) Finance Research Letters, 47, p. 102742. , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2022.102742, june 2022; Wang, Q., Li, R., Wang, Q., Chen, S., (2021) Non-Fungible Token (NFT): Overview, Evaluation, Opportunities and Challenges, , https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.07447, arXiv; Yan, Z., Holtmanns, S., Trust modeling and management: From social trust to digital trust (2008) Computer security, privacy and politics: Current issues, challenges and solutions, pp. 290-323. , IGI Global, Hershey, PA; Yu, H., Shen, Z., Leung, C., Miao, C., Lesser, V.R., A survey of multi-agent trust management systems (2013) IEEE Access, 1, pp. 35-50. , 2013; 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2023, CHI 2023 ; Conference date: 23-04-2023 Through 28-04-2023",

year = "2023",

month = apr,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1145/3544548.3580713",

language = "English",

isbn = "978-1-4503-9421-5",

booktitle = "CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery",

address = "United States",

url = "https://chi2023.acm.org/",

}

Parayno, RL, Deja, JA, Sta. Maria, TJ & Samson, BPV 2023, Good Day Manager! Exploring Social Relationships in NFT-based Play-to-Earn Games. in CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2023, Hamburg, Germany, 23/04/23. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580713

TY - GEN

T1 - Good Day Manager! Exploring Social Relationships in NFT-based Play-to-Earn Games

AU - Parayno, R.L.

AU - Deja, J.A.

AU - Sta. Maria, T.J.

AU - Samson, B.P.V.

N1 - Conference code: 188036 Export Date: 14 December 2023 References: (2022) Life-changing. or scam. Axie Infnity helps Philippines' poor earn, , https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220215-life-changing-or-scamaxie-infnity-helps-philippines-poor-earn; Balaram, B., Warden, J., Wallace-Stephens, F., Good Gigs: A fairer future for the UK's gig economy (2017) London: RSA, 1 (1), pp. 1-64. , 2017; Baughan, A., Petelka, J., Yoo, C.J., Lo, J., Wang, S., Paramasivam, A., Zhou, A., Hiniker, A., Someone IsWrong on the Internet: Having Hard Conversations in Online Spaces (2021) Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5, CSCW1, pp. 1-22. , 2021; Cai, W., Chen, M., Leung, V.C.M., Toward gaming as a service (2014) IEEE Internet Computing, 18 (3), pp. 12-18. , 2014; Callon-Butler, L., (2020) The NFT Game That Makes Cents for Filipinos During COVID, , https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2020/08/26/the-nft-game-thatmakes-cents-for-flipinos-during-covid/; Chow, A., De Guzman, C., A Crypto Game Promised to Lift Filipinos Out of Poverty (2022) Here's What Happened Instead, , https://time.com/6199385/axie-infnity-crypto-game-philippines-debt/; Chun, S., Choi, D., Han, J., Kim, H.K., Kwon, T., Unveiling a socio-economic system in a virtual world: A case study of an MMORPG (2018) Proceedings of the 2018 World Wide Web Conference. ACM Press, Lyon, France, pp. 1929-1938; Clark, O., Games as a service: How free to play design can make better games (2014) Routledge, , New York; (2022), https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/gaming; (2022) National Wages Productivity Commission, , https://nwpc.dole.gov.ph/regionandwages/national-capital-region, National Wages Productivity Commission Accessed: 2022-9-8; Cumming, D.J., Johan, S., Pant, A., Regulation of the crypto-economy: Managing risks, challenges, and regulatory uncertainty (2019) Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 12 (3), p. 126. , 2019; (2022), https://dappradar.com/ronin/games/axie-infnity; Edwards, F.R., Hanley, K., Litan, R., Weil, R.L., Crypto assets require better regulation: Statement of the fnancial economists roundtable on crypto assets (2019) Financial Analysts Journal, 75 (2), pp. 14-19. , 2019; Elsden, C., Manohar, A., Briggs, J., Harding, M., Speed, C., Vines, J., Making Sense of Blockchain Applications: A Typology for HCI (2018) Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1-14. , https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174032, Montreal QC, Canada) (CHI '18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA; Fairfeld, J.A.T., Tokenized: The law of non-fungible tokens and unique digital property (2022) Ind. LJ, 97, p. 1261. , 2022; Fowler, A., Pirker, J., Tokenfcation-The Potential of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) for Game Development (2021) Extended Abstracts of the 2021 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp. 152-157. , https://doi.org/10.1145/3450337.3483501, Virtual Event, Austria) (CHI PLAY '21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA; Fowler, A., Pirker, J., Tokenfcation-The Potential of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) for Game Development (2021) Extended Abstracts of the 2021 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp. 152-157. , https://doi.org/10.1145/3450337.3483501, Virtual Event, Austria) (CHI PLAY '21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA; Frauenberger, C., Entanglement HCI the next wave (2019) ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 27 (1), pp. 1-27. , 2019; Gola, Y., (2022) Axie Infnity is painting a giant bearish pattern-will AXS price crash another 95, , https://cointelegraph.com/news/axie-infnity-is-painting-agiant-bearish-pattern-will-axs-price-crash-another-95; Golumbia, D., Games without Play (2009) New Literary History, 40 (1), pp. 179-204. , 2009; Green, D.D., Fueling the gig economy: A case study evaluation of Upwork (2018) com. Manag Econ Res J, 4 (2018), p. 3399. , 2018; Hacker, P., Thomale, C., Crypto-securities regulation: ICOs, token sales and cryptocurrencies under EU fnancial law (2018) European Company and Financial Law Review, 15 (4), pp. 645-696. , 2018; Heeks, R., Current Analysis and Future Research Agenda on Gold Farming": Real-World Production in Developing Countries for the Virtual Economies of Online Games (2008) SSRN Electronic Journal, 32 (32), pp. 1-80. , https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3477387, 2008; Heeks, R., Understanding" Gold Farming" and Real-Money Trading as the Intersection of Real and Virtual Economies (2010) Journal For Virtual Worlds Research, 2 (4), pp. 1-27. , https://doi.org/10.4101/jvwr.v2i4.868, Feb 2010; (2022) Axie Infnity: Origin Is Live In Early Access!, , https://axie.substack.com/p/axieorigin, Axie Infnity; Kinder, E., Jarrahi, M.H., Sutherland, W., Gig platforms, tensions, alliances and ecosystems: An actor-network perspective (2019) Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 3, CSCW, pp. 1-26. , 2019; Koumenta, M., Williams, M., An anatomy of zero-hour contracts in the UK (2019) Industrial Relations Journal, 50 (1), pp. 20-40. , 2019; Kuckartz, U., Rädiker, S., (2019) Analyzing qualitative data with MAXQDA, , Springer International Publishing, Cham; Kugler, L., Non-fungible tokens and the future of art (2021) Commun. ACM, 64 (9), pp. 19-20. , 2021; Laycock, R., (2022) NFT gaming statistics, , https://www.fnder.com/nftgames-statistics, [Accessed 13-Sep-2022]; Mavis, S., (2021) Axie Infnity Whitepaper, , https://whitepaper.axieinfnity.com/; Mavis, S., (2022), https://whitepaper.axieinfnity.com/gameplay/breeding; Murdoch, J., The spaces of actor-network theory (1998) Geoforum, 29 (4), pp. 357-374. , 1998; Narain, A., Moretti, M., (2022) Regulating Crypto, , https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2022/09/Regulating-crypto-Narain-Moretti; Park, A., Kietzmann, J., Pitt, L., Dabirian, A., The Evolution of Nonfungible Tokens: Complexity and Novelty of NFT Use-Cases (2022) IT Professional, 24 (1), pp. 9-14. , https://doi.org/10.1109/MITP.2021.3136055, Jan 2022; Prinz, W., Blockchain and CSCW-Shall we care (2018) Proceedings of 16th European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work-Exploratory Papers. European Society for Socially Embedded Technologies, pp. 1-8. , EUSSET), Nancy, France; Raval, S., (2016) Decentralized applications: Harnessing Bitcoin's blockchain technology, , O'Reilly Media, Inc. Sebastopol, CA; Regner, F., Schweizer, A., Urbach, N., NFTs in Practice-Non-Fungible Tokens as Core Component of a Blockchain-based Event Ticketing Application (2019) International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), 1 (1), pp. 1-17. , 2019; Roy, G., Shrivastava, A.K., Future of gig economy: Opportunities and challenges (2020) IMI Konnect, 9 (1), pp. 14-27. , 2020; Russell, J., (2021) Axie Infnity's all work, all play model to rewrite gig work in SE Asia-the-ken. com, , https://the-ken.com/sea/story/axie-infnitys-all-workall-play-model-to-rewrite-gig-work-in-se-asia/, [Accessed 13-Sep-2022]; Scholten, O.J., Hughes, N.G.J., Deterding, S., Drachen, A., Walker, J.A., Zendle, D., Ethereum Crypto-Games: Mechanics, Prevalence, and Gambling Similarities (2019) Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp. 379-389. , https://doi.org/10.1145/3311350.3347178, ACM, Barcelona Spain; Sharma, T., Zhou, Z., Huang, Y., Wang, Y., (2022) It's A Blessing and A Curse": Unpacking Creators' Practices with Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Their Communities; Shrivastava, A., (2022), https://fnance.yahoo.com/news/623m-hackaxie-infnity-discord-123415870.html; (2022), https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1303532/southeast-asianumber-of-mobile-gamers-segment-revenue-by-country; Steinkuehler, C., The Mangle of Play (2006) Games and Culture, 1 (3), pp. 199-213. , https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412006290440, Jul 2006; Tai, Z., Hu, F., Play between love and labor: The practice of gold farming in China (2018) New Media & Society, 20 (7), pp. 2370-2390. , https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444817717326, Jul 2018; Taylor, T.L., Does WoW Change Everything : How a PvP Server, Multinational Player Base, and Surveillance Mod Scene Caused Me Pause (2006) Games and Culture, 1 (4), pp. 318-337. , https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412006292615, Oct 2006; Tus, J., (2022) Play-to-earn: A qualitative analysis of the experiences and challenges faced by Axie Infnity online gamers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic; Vallas, S., Schor, J.B., What do platforms do (2020) Understanding the gig economy. Annual Review of Sociology, 46 (1), pp. 273-294. , 2020; Vidal-Tomás, D., The new crypto niche: NFTs, play-to-earn, and metaverse tokens (2022) Finance Research Letters, 47, p. 102742. , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2022.102742, june 2022; Wang, Q., Li, R., Wang, Q., Chen, S., (2021) Non-Fungible Token (NFT): Overview, Evaluation, Opportunities and Challenges, , https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.07447, arXiv; Yan, Z., Holtmanns, S., Trust modeling and management: From social trust to digital trust (2008) Computer security, privacy and politics: Current issues, challenges and solutions, pp. 290-323. , IGI Global, Hershey, PA; Yu, H., Shen, Z., Leung, C., Miao, C., Lesser, V.R., A survey of multi-agent trust management systems (2013) IEEE Access, 1, pp. 35-50. , 2013

PY - 2023/4/19

Y1 - 2023/4/19

N2 - Play-to-Earn (P2E) crypto-games recently emerged as a gig opportunity despite the absence of regulations. As these platforms continue to grow, there is a need to understand the interactions involved to protect vulnerable stakeholders. This paper describes how an unintended social dynamic became a strategy guiding players to navigate an unregulated space. First, we inquired through surveys (N = 69) and interviews (N = 9) to understand stakeholder motivations and practices in this space. Second, we analyzed data and then conceptualized eight themes (e.g., Management, Social, Gaming). Then, we uncovered four types of relationships (e.g., Manager-Scholar, Manager-Investor-Scholar, Coach-Mentee, Scholar-Turned-Manager) that shaped the behaviours of the different users on the platform. Lastly, we present design implications and recommendations to guide the design of P2E crypto games and the gig-focused communities that thrive around them. Our results contribute to ongoing discussions in designing digital gig economies and crypto-based games. © 2023 Owner/Author.

AB - Play-to-Earn (P2E) crypto-games recently emerged as a gig opportunity despite the absence of regulations. As these platforms continue to grow, there is a need to understand the interactions involved to protect vulnerable stakeholders. This paper describes how an unintended social dynamic became a strategy guiding players to navigate an unregulated space. First, we inquired through surveys (N = 69) and interviews (N = 9) to understand stakeholder motivations and practices in this space. Second, we analyzed data and then conceptualized eight themes (e.g., Management, Social, Gaming). Then, we uncovered four types of relationships (e.g., Manager-Scholar, Manager-Investor-Scholar, Coach-Mentee, Scholar-Turned-Manager) that shaped the behaviours of the different users on the platform. Lastly, we present design implications and recommendations to guide the design of P2E crypto games and the gig-focused communities that thrive around them. Our results contribute to ongoing discussions in designing digital gig economies and crypto-based games. © 2023 Owner/Author.

KW - Axie

KW - cryptocurrency

KW - NFT

KW - perceptions

KW - wallets

KW - Design implications

KW - Design recommendations

KW - Social dynamics

KW - Social gaming

KW - Social relationships

KW - Wallet

KW - Electronic money

U2 - 10.1145/3544548.3580713

DO - 10.1145/3544548.3580713

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 978-1-4503-9421-5

BT - CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

PB - Association for Computing Machinery

T2 - 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2023

Y2 - 23 April 2023 through 28 April 2023

ER -

Good Day Manager! Exploring Social Relationships in NFT-based Play-to-Earn Games

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