NFT and the Future of Digital Content
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I promised myself that I would disengage from this conversation, but like so many of the promises I make to myself..
Personally I have two major reasons:
1. There is so many things currently broken that I can't swallow resources being diverted to a new venture. The website, the Quality issues, etc. etc.
2. DAZ has a history of failed projects that they appeared to go whole heartedly into, just to abandon a few months later. It's like an ebb and flow, once they pull the plug on this, we'll be in the ebb again with things even worse.
I believe it's more the platform as opposed to the principle itself, although there is plenty of issue with the principle of crypto and its inherent tie to NFTs. Crypto directly hurts the people that patronize Daz 3D. As an analogy, it's like walking into a Mom and Pop store, and having Walmart and Amazon adverts blasted, quite literally in your face. Only, you're the owner of that mom-and-pop store.
As to the platform, even that previous analogy would work, that more points to the direct pain and hardship that is derived by the existence of Walmat and Amazon to a smaller store, the smaller store can not compete with the larger wolves of the market place, and because of this are forced out. Because Daz Studio requires the use of GPUs which are next to nonexistent these days, due in large part to mining (i.e. Ethereum which is the basis of NFTs) we as the customer base of this market place are directly hurt by NFTs.
I think a better example of the platform being all wrong would be again illustrated well by the store analogy, only it would go more as such; You're a mechanic and you walk into a car parts store and all you see flashing in your face are adds for buying that shiny new car. "But I only need some brake rotors." You tell the clerk, who promptly replies "Brake rotors? Oh, you came to the parts store for car parts? Well, I suppose we have those somewhere on one of the back shelves, but hey, why build or fix your car, wouldn't you rather just buy this new Toyota? Oh you're working on a Chevy? Meh, Chevies are alright, we do sell parts for those, but the new model Kia for sale over here is better. We spent all this time working on getting the new car showroom in the building, you should take a look at the new cars we're selling. We kind of forgot to restock the parts section, hope you don't mind. We'll get to that when we're done selling new cars."
Long-winded analogies, sure, but I think you can catch my drift. Are these things related? Sure. Kinda, but so are cars and the parts that go into them. But you don't want to buy a new car from a parts store, and you definitely don't want them wasting time on endeavors when that time can be spent stocking the shelves and making sure people get the right part.
That's two pretty big knocks against what's going on here.
1> The very principle of NFTs directly hurt us, the customers of this store.
2> This is not the place to be vigorously and violently pushing things that we don't come here to buy, especially when the state of things that we do want is becoming more and more lackluster.
Naw, it's not what's being sold. The stuff is all fine. Yours, Daz's, Champion's. Nothing wrong with it.
It's the NFTs.
Thanks also for this, they're valid points. I don't have any control over these things, but I hope Daz don't hate me for saying I kind of agree with point 1. (I have told them myself haha).
The NFT IS the issue. It takes a ridiculous amount of energy just to bid on one:
"The culprit was Lemercier’s first blockchain “drop.” The event involved the sale of six so-called nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, which took the form of short videos inspired by the concept of platonic solids. In the clips, dark metallic polyhedrons rotate on loop and glisten—a reference to Lemercier’s installations in the physical world. The works were placed for auction on a website called Nifty Gateway, where they sold out in 10 seconds for thousands of dollars. The sale also consumed 8.7 megawatt-hours of energy, as he later learned from a website called Cryptoart.WTF. That figure was equivalent to two years of energy use in Lemercier’s studio. Since then, the art has been resold, requiring another year’s worth of energy." (https://www.wired.com/story/nfts-hot-effect-earth-climate/)
This guy sold only 6 tokens and it used up the same amount of energy that he spends over the course of two years. That is NOT eco-friendly. Add to that the problems with the links embedded in NFTs, and yes, NFTs are the problem.
Thank you Karuki for engaging with us on the forum. I for one greatly appreciate your interest to discuss the issues raised.
I believe these points are so valid. Actually number 2 is something I really want to help improve. I originally set out to create some cool and original content for the store and hopefully I can still do that.
I've honestly learned way more here, than all the super positive hype articles that praise NFT's.
When you sell NFTs, you are a part of this.
Personally, I don't have an issue with Shudu and the Digitals. I respect the fact that you have hired a black woman to be the voice and conscience of Shudu. I also admire your donating some of the proceeds to Black Girls Code, although more transparency about how much each purchase provides would be nice.
What I have an issue with is NFTs. I really dislike the impact they have on the environment, especially since it is mostly to make speculators wealthier. I also dislike the sleazy uses and purposes of cryptocurrency in general. I don't believe the limited good you have done with your art and donations has offset the harm you are doing by promoting NFTs and crytptocurrencies.
Agreed. I wish Daz could/would do the same.
Woah. That's a lot of energy.
Hmmm... thanks for sharing this.
Alot of people have already vented here and on other threads.Some posts have been removed, but as you've discovered, there are at least 2 threads still active here with posts from artists that are very passionate about what they do. There are also posts from budding artists that have shared other concerns.
I'll address mine.
First.
Daz Studio uses Nvidia's iray render engine.It utilizes Nvidia's GPUs ( graphics cards) for faster results.The only other option is to use the CPU fall back feature.This increases render times exponentially. A moderen RTX GPU can render the same image in minutes that takes hours on CPU.
Because NFTs and the crypto currency they are purchased with require the same GPUs, we artisits have been pitted against crypto-miners and scalpers trying top obtain the cards we need.Because the mines and scalpers use bots to buy hundereds at a time they've simply become unavailable to us.
as I've posted before
Me:"I can't get the GPUs I need for iray renders because of the crypto-miners."
Daz:"Would you like to buy some crypto-tokens with some crypto-currency?"
Me:"No thank you.I don't think we are communicating effectively."
It's more than a little tone deaf to think I want to give the miners or the scalpers another reason to bot the cards I need.
Second.
NFTs simply can't be secured.Anyone can slap one on any of my work and I would literally have no recourse of any kind.The blockchain is annonomus.There is no possible way to verifiable ID anyone.
Thanks.
This message will probably get deleted but... This whole thing seems like the passion project of a CEO.
I've been involved with so many of those professional. Amost none of them worked out well for anyone involved.
The only people who they did work out for were the CEOs / Execs that knew to get out while the project was on the upswing. Leaving the building just before it went right off a cliff.
I understand and I'm learning.
I will also get clarification on whether I can share what percentage is going to Black Girls Code, I'm sorry if I can't personally say, it depends on the contract. I'll do my best :)
clarity and transparency is always best!
I have no problem with you, your art, or what you're trying to do, and have the utmost respect for you coming here to talk with us. That took guts for sure, and so far in the last 10 minutes or so you're engaged with us more than the actual paid staff of Daz (love you, Richard, not knocking on you brother!). Again, as I said, I think it's more the platform and how hard Daz dove into it where the problem lies. The other issues are still there, but I think if Daz was a bit less heavy-handed in the way they engaged in this it may have gone over better.
I personally don't really have any problem with crypto or NFTs, aside from the fact I'd like to get my hands on a new card, but hell, even 2x4 lumber is super expensive and can be hard to get now-a-days. This time last year a 2x4 was $2.49. Today it's $7.69. The world has gone crazy and gotten turned upside down, I don't fault anyone for making a living.
Case in point, I was getting pretty hyped with that fancy big full-screen countdown to what you guys had cooking. I was like "Awesome! Some great new content is coming our way. Will it be a new character? Or some beautiful new clothes?" And then came the reveal......... NFTs. I wasn't so much upset personally, but I did kind of giggle a bit. To me, it was the proverbial LOL moment. Not because of your work or NFTs in general, but because of the way it was hyped up and then rammed down our....err....faces.
That's just me though, I personally didn't much think of the environmental issues, didn't really know about them till this thread, so I've learned a bit myself with all this. I knew what NFTs were, and even thought about making some myself, but never really took the dive.
Others have mostly already said this, but the core issues I have:
- Each transaction on the Ethereum network is estimated to consume 68 kWh of power and create 32 kg of CO2 emissions. This is equivalent to 2-3 weeks of an EU citizen's typical power consumption. Comparatively, a single VISA transaction consumes less than a single watt-hour. Note that for those not already involved in Ethereum, an NFT purchase requires at least two transactions - one to buy Ethereum, and another to purchase the NFT.
- Adding value to a cryptocurrency network drives up the price of the currency, increasing the number of people attempting to mine it. Hence why all the above consumption figures have roughly doubled since the start of 2021, and are continuing to climb.
- The market is unregulated at the moment, and anything that drives the hype over NFTs encourages unscrupulous individuals to profit by minting other people's work, or carrying out scams.
- Crypto-mining is a major contributing factor to the scarcity of the hardware that Daz Studio users need.
- And while I can definitely appreciate the quality of your work, Daz customers don't really come to the store to purchase completed artworks, but to purchase the raw assets. That's less to do with the NFT concept in general though, more the way in which Daz is trying to market this concept to their existing userbase.
I completely understand this now, I realise that as a company I'm in a very priveledged position regarding the equipment I use and can purchase in comparison to many other hobbyist and small business owners.
I spent a small fortune on the cards I use and realise that for this to remain accessible to as many people as possible, helping to inflate the prices of these cards is not good.
Thanks again for these important takeaways.
I am sorry, but I have to disagree. It would be very nice if he was actually concerned and wanted an actual dialogue, however it sounds to me like he is just trying to smooth talk us. He keeps saying he agrees with what people post, or he didn't know about the impact and he will look into it. If he didn't know about the impact NFTs and cryptocurrency mining had, why didn't he do some basic research before he got involved in investing and promoting it? If he agrees with the points raised, how can he continue to promote NFTs?
I believe he is just trying to blow smoke up our backsides. I would love to be proven wrong, but doubt I will be.
I often consult for other companies and I'll be talking with quite a few over the next coming months about entering the NFT space. Many of them are extremely keen and excited to get involved in this 'new' and exciting market.
Aside from straight up telling them 'No! Don't do it!', do you think there are anyways of doing this responsible right now? Is this a straight up case of everyone should be actively avoiding this?
Is there anyone on this thread with any positive NFT comments haha
No.
Yes.
Very few.
I agree with you.
Yeah I guess it might seem that way, just so you know there's no guarantee I'll continue to promote NFT's. I'm taking this opportunity to learn and take in what's being said and will be looking at how I want to proceed.
I do have an agreement with Daz regarding this collection of NFTs which I would still love to honour, but like I said I'm taking it all in
Regarding why I didn't do my research, I take ownership of that. Outside of this community a lot of what I've seen is really positive, really hyped up. Several other digital artists I look up to are also selling NFTs so I guess I just got caught out. So yeah, that's on me.
Like I said above, I do also consult on these kinds of things so my experience here will impact many other companies moving into this space.
You have to give people a chance or they won't have a lot of motivation to try to change. I didn't know about the environmental impact of NFTs either and at first, I didn't see the problem with them. What you find regarding information on the internet has a lot to do with what you're looking for, so I think it's possible he simply may have missed the facts we're giving him now. I for one am glad Karuki came to talk to us. Communication is better than the alternative. I will, of course, be looking for actions to back up words.
Karuki: Thank you for coming to talk to us. I hope you can take our opinions and these facts to heart and use this new information to inform your decisions moving forward.
Unless you move to one of the few and probably less popular marketplaces that uses Proof of Stake, no. There is no current environmentally friendly place to sell NFTs.
https://memoakten.medium.com/the-unreasonable-ecological-cost-of-cryptoart-2221d3eb2053
https://joanielemercier.com/the-problem-of-cryptoart/ ;
I'm glad you're talking with us and learning (as many of us are) about NFTs, but I do agree that all of this seems very rushed and I wonder if anyone involved knew much about NFTs before rushing them to market.
Also, the retro graphic NFTs you have up are actually in an 8-bit style, not 32-bit. You may want to edit those descriptions.
edit: Sorry for coming across a bit too hard in this and the previous discussion. I edited both posts and apologize.
Obviously, you can't break contracts, although if you and DAZ both agree it was a bad idea, you should be able to renegotiate. The biggest thing will be to see what you do in the future. If you continue to create NFTs, that will be all the answer we need.
That may very well be, but I'm always willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt until I don't see any action on their part. Know what I mean? I have to take what they say at face value until I discover otherwise.
This ^ Well said.
I do believe in giving people a second chance, if they really are trying their best to set things right. As I mentioned in another post, he can't back out of contracts he has with DAZ and other businesses, so we will have to see what his future actions are. I was trying to keep him accountable, because it sounded to me like he was trying to weasel his way out of trouble. I thought I should call him ouut on it. If I was wrong I will be very happy and apologize. If I was right, I hope he rethinks his actions and words.