How NFT Game Axie Infinity Exploited Filipinos In Poverty And Put Them In Debt

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6: axie.substack....
7: www.theverge.c...
8: www.wsj.com/ar...
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12: time.com/61993...
13: playercounter....
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[@YongYea]

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[@trooperstallion]

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[@sheevpalprotein9132]

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[@rabbittherabbit]

Aye yo

[@arandomcommenter412]

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[@thedudewhodoesthething]

Thank you YongYea, very cool

[@jarionscarlight]

Here in the Philippines, most of Filipinos see NFTs as a "business opportunity" rather than a ponzi scheme. It's mostly because of the lack of basic finance knowledge and how the entire NFT and crypto is marketed here in the country. It is basically being marketed as a way to escape poverty, that is why so many people fall for it.

[@littlebee7147]

It has nothing to do with lack of finance knowledge tbh. Many people just do not critically think about it, nor do they disseminate the information because they leverage the information to their advantage. It's no different from how no one really explains how and why being the first to recieve money in a paluwagan is advantageous - it would make people not join one if they did.

[@white0thunderwhite0thunder71]

Spread the knowledge good sir. You can save someone from destitution, if only your neighbor.

[@grandconqueror5712]

I can't stand comments in facebook ads like "Is it play to earn?" while sounding superior.

[@nobody8717]

Hmm... almost like gambling... and those lotteries... and those scratch cards...

[@cosmicegg1283]

More like lack of general education tbh.

[@Dj.MODÆO]

Situations like this are why NFTs, rug pulls, and investment scams are so disgusting. Desperation can blind the extremely poor, but those of us who knew better should have spoken out more about how horrible NFTs were as an investment.

[@white0thunderwhite0thunder71]

As long as people keep playing them, developers are gonna keep making them.

[@aj-taz_editing]

We need to speak out against this just like with loot boxes it should be illegal

[@MarkDeSade100]

I've been speaking out against monetization in games since Bethesda dropped that horse armor, people just don't listen.

[@bayabooz4855]

That’s what the fuck we been doing, not our fault stupid people continue to lose their shit, lol they’re on they own now.

[@crystalwings4520]

@@aj-taz_editing I am getting tired to see them finding every excuses to allowing play to earn games to be accepted by video game industry.

[@jonathantio7531]

NFT bros: "We want currency that is not controlled by governments!" Also NFT bros: "Our money got stolen! Where is the overseeing authority?"

[@3rdWorldGamer]

The currency is not controlled, but the crime can still be punished... Your argument is poor my dude, one thing is totally independent from the other.

[@SaraphDarklaw]

@@3rdWorldGamer He’s pointing out the hypocrisy.

[@pascalsimioli6777]

@@3rdWorldGamer How is that a crime if it's not regulated? There are now laws therefore you can't break any laws. Even if you could punish the crime it would just be revenge, not justice. That's something people confuse way too often.

[@jonathantio7531]

@@3rdWorldGamer but who is regulating it? If NFT is not regulated by the government, whats to say that taking your NFT is not a norm? I followed the rules, i bought your NFT, i have the receipt, its mine.

[@Tiananmen1989FreeTibetHK]

@@3rdWorldGamer nft bro spotted.

[@lacoust898]

I'm a Filipino and I have friends and family members that tried to get me into these NFT "Play to Earn" games, and I already saw some shady shit so I didnt dive into it. I said I don't want to play a "game" that's an obvious ponzi scheme and a scam that makes me a crypto farmer. But what happened instead is that I was shunned and ridiculed because their mindset is if you earn money playing a game, its easy money and anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot to them. Some guy really said this to me: "If you play a game and pay $60 for it, instead of playing a free game and earn money, you're just stupid." I'm glad you're covering this. The majority of people here in the Philippines which is also a third world country really are prey to these NFT games.

[@noblewolf8232]

They lost the meaning of playing games.

[@Aereto]

@@noblewolf8232 They are not gamers, they are gamblers. It takes ruin for them to learn their lesson, but by then, they are already in line for Reaper's Pruning, as though Death knew their souls are irredeemable.

[@RatedR03]

Not a third world country as that definition is outdated. Even the wealthy and well educated can get into scams

[@AndroidSamsung-qz9pl]

A game - a Squid game. And, likely borrowed money to get into the PYRAMID PONZI scheme too. Grabby zombies. Gimme gimme gimme.

[@EternalEdgeLord]

@@Aereto why did you make this sound so cool wtf

[@AGuywhohasGoodTaste]

"The monsters are NFTs." Damn, didn't know Axie Infinity was *this* realistic.

[@Ebani]

🤣

[@williamdrum9899]

I remember in high school joking about how Pokemon pros were secretly paying kids to hatch eggs for them... never would I have thought that would one day happen (but with a different game of course)

[@aceaids4000]

@@williamdrum9899 the difference is Pokemon is actually fun to play and egg hatching sounds more fun than the stress of axie

[@AlMeZero]

Filipino here. Nearly caved out of a strong want to raise money just to help my mom out if even just a bit, even had the launcher downloaded and all until ultimately deciding against it since I didn't really feel comfortable with it. Hope the ones who got fucked over by this recover and are able to deal with it. Keep up the coverage man!

[@Dominency]

Crypto currency is literally just another terrible bi product of capitalism. We have to create currency and artificially put value behind because our normal currency does not work as intended. As the central banks control literally every aspect of people's daily lives on this planet by manipulating currency values. The current historical economic system is not sustainable not just ecologically but financially. Not to mention that most NFT's were created as a way to continue wealth extraction from the poor.

[@devonmike7392]

the people endlessly encouraging something will never tell you the consequences , stand tall and proud for rejecting this nft dribble

[@Suksass]

Congrats on avoiding the scam. Hopefully more people will wake up and ignore this.

[@aresdonachelo5283]

Supposedly ita-try sana namin ng tropa ko yung Axie Infinity(because we're both unemployed) and we both know that a LOT of crypto games are becoming a hit in the country so we look for some crpyto games and one of it is Axie Inf.. Sobrang popular niya but I already suspect that na there's a "TRADE" in it. And so my friend did some research and he told me that it is pay-to-win/earn so it's a hard pass for us to play that stuff even though a lot of filipinos are playing that sh!t. We ended up on a game called Mir4 but the trade on that is, you don't have to pay BUT the process of doing something to earn is so for free is very difficult and I gotta tell you something while I'm playing it, the stench of greed is all around the game. In the end I stop playing it earning nothing while my friend who manage to get to higher levels have just earned 3.00$ his smartphone was turn on for 24/7 non-stop playing even also when he charges it at night.

[@ma.2089]

@@Suksass it’s sad when they take advantage of ppl’s desperation tho

[@rrramon]

Filipino here. Thanks for shining a light on this Yong. You made a great point, that Filipinos were playing the game not to get rich, but to make ends meet. Game companies that push predatory monetization of their games, that prey on the weak by promising a lucrative payday and a way out of poverty, absolutely deserve to fail.

[@Aereto]

And it's too late to save most people in there. When it must fail, sacrifices must be made. It's worse than Jehovah's Witnesses in terms of socially isolating pressures.

[@jochenkraus7016]

Just when I thought that lootboxes like Fifa are bad... First World problems. Still problems but the things in the video are worse in my opinion.

[@AndroidSamsung-qz9pl]

YES! That's soulless profiteering - happens not just in the West.

[@victoriagodinez79]

Welcome to the world of business. If you got scammed then it's your fault for being stupid.

[@sophiagonzales8974]

We still have a corrupt government hounding all the money doesn’t help, as much as people are desperate to escape government isn’t doing much like creating more job opportunities.

[@bobcatinsag739]

Filipino here and long time Yong Yea subscriber. This game got so popular here in our country that it was marketed as a way to escape poverty with the littlest of effort. They even have groups and recruitments happening everywhere. It also gained enough attention that a tv magazine show featured it in one of their segments showing how one player purchased a big house just by playing it. Nowadays those "potions" they farm for ain't worth shit as far as i know

[@herrkommandank675]

It was never marketed as a "escape poverty card," people like to have extra income, but just like in any part of the world, there will be people who would throw their life savings for some hunch that it double their current capital. Poverty isn't that rampant, it has also been decreasing for the past few years, where it was 23.5% during 2015, to 16.7% in 2018, only rising up to 18% during 2021, but is expected to continue declining. People always sensationalizing events here.

[@James-gj8rn]

I’m sorry, WHAT?! NFT games just can’t stop finding ways to land themselves in hot water and I’ve never been more glad about it, keep the NFT distain known guys

[@StormsparkPegasus]

It's not even a game. It's a scam designed to get money from gullible people.

[@reagandow850]

Only a complete nimrod would believe that playing a pay to play video gane would make them money!!! Just the latest Nigerian prince scheme.

[@disky01]

It's almost as if they're fundamentally a scam.

[@ricardohoang8452]

Ah Axie Infinity is bringing NFT bros to be poor and filthy again

[@akiranatsume3501]

Ah yes, another ploy by feminists and LGBT to make life miserable for everyone else (especially straight men and attractive women) through a smear campaign against NFTs (NFTs are the only way for straight men to be able to move out of their parents' homes before turning 30 years of age as full time jobs will not help anymore).

[@LlanHeinrich]

Square-Enix sees that: "Yep, we want to exploit people like that"

[@flimermithrandir]

It pains me to like this Comment…

[@williamdrum9899]

Remember when Square Enix was a beloved company? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

[@red_revenant770]

Ni no kuni cross worlds 🤣

[@pyroflare7774]

@@red_revenant770 that game SUCKS

[@andrzejkopalnia]

Ikr

[@ArcaneMaiden]

As a Filipino, the charm of 'easy ₱₱₱' is endemic to my fellow countrymen. ANY, form of easy ways of earning cash, mind you, in ANY social class. Rich, Mid-Tier, Poor. I warned my boss it's a Ponzi. He didn't listen, argued back it's not, proceeded to invest. He used to talk about Axie regularly, but he was quiet about it recently. I have a good guess what happened.

[@AnimatedAndrew]

Fuck, I feel really bad for the guy who was trying to provide for his mother. That situation is just heartbreaking to hear. Stories like this make me grateful for the fact that right from the start I saw people, especially in the art community, opposing NFTs and pointing out how scummy they are. I just wish that people like the ones in this story that were negatively affected, had seen the same warning signs.

[@itxl]

I remember my brother asking me if I wanted to play this game. I thought it sounded alright until he said that I'd have to invest money because a single axie costs 7,500php, i was like, wtf??? It's way more expensive than a AAA game. And this game being the way it is, I'd be too preoccupied trying to "earn" that money back instead of actually playing the game. Forget it. I'm glad I didn't get into it.

[@crystalwings4520]

Glad you managed to dodge those bullets. Those play to earn games are nothing but a rigged casino on Ponzi's pyramid.

[@mrluthfians01]

so it's pay to have the opportunity to earn literally a scam.

[@n1vrame]

Glad you didn't get into it. I wonder what happened to your brother though...

[@speedeespeedboi9527]

Oh my cousin told me it's 50,000

[@yukarinclips]

Same here, my relatives wanted me to play this but seeing NFTs being a whole damn circus of scams I pretty much did not delve into the game itself.

[@derpmaycry2885]

As a Filipino, I'm thankful to you for covering this. This trend cannot die sooner.

[@rdu239]

Filipinos should be ashamed of themselves

[@caramelpr1nce]

I remember my brothers getting addicted to Axie Infinity. They even tried to convince me and my parents to join in on them, become their "scholar" or some other term. Good thing I learned about NFTs before they got to me and was too stubborn to be convinced. Meanwhile, my parents just couldn't be bothered to get involved. They have long stopped playing the game, at least, even before the hacking happened.

[@Jigglexphysics]

just out of curiosity, what do they say about it now? Sorry if that’s a weird question. In the states, people will still double down on things like this because it’s easier than admitting they were wrong from the start.

[@caramelpr1nce]

@@Jigglexphysics The last time I asked them about the game, they told me that it just doesn't benefit them anymore, became too stale and too grindy for them to put more attention to it and instead started their own separate business.

[@hippopotatomoose]

I was asked to loan someone a huge amount of money so they can "invest" in Axie. I did a few minutes of due diligence and my conclusions about this "game" was it wasn't sustainable and the NFTs were worthless outside of the platform. The model didn't make sense as to how individual Axie were valued, and the red flag was learning that the company had full control over the values. To me, it seemed like a Ponzi scheme. And throughout the year I saw how my hunch was correct. Players were robbing Peter to pay Paul. New player's "investments" were being funneled up to players that got in at the start. It was a never ending cycle. The company needed new recruits to sustain the system as more players at the top started to cash out. This whole NFT gaming or play to earn needs to burn to the ground.

[@Aereto]

And bring down the people in it as well. They brought this to themselves, and likely to backstab you for trying to help.

[@vetreas366]

The problem kinda is that it's not a neverending cycle, it's a VERY ending cycle. You can only go through a few iterations of "get more people to play the game and pay you money" before you either start working at a loss or you run out of people. On the planet.

[@ZyxieRumor]

I have some cousins back in the Philippines that posted on Facebook that they invest in NFTs. Once, I have seen that, I alerted the whole family to convince them to pull out while they can. We managed to get one of them to get their lifesavings out of there, but the rest of my cousins...well...my family members are doing their best to get them back at their feet. The cousin that pulled out couldn't thank me enough for what would've happened.

[@donnyguntmash605]

I made 5k off an nft game.. it's not that bad 😂 your cousin's a smooth brain if he put his life savings into nfts lmao

[@wombot2188]

@@donnyguntmash605 "hehe if ur not profit from crypto like me then ur just bad, I got money totally not because of pure luck btw" every crypto/nft bro ever

[@ChimmneyMan]

@@donnyguntmash605 “I am definitely not delusional”

[@donnyguntmash605]

@@ChimmneyMan im delusional cause I made money off an nft scam, right 😂

[@bored_boar]

@@donnyguntmash605 Nah, I think you just had enough common sense to pull out early. Most of the people who sunk money into Axie/or any NFT ever just were in too deep to realize that they were gambling their money away. They were all looking forward to that giant payoff that never really came.

[@trancendency_]

Pinoy/Filipino here, I was there at its highest as a "scholar". Aside from how shady this game was, I really hated the culture it created among Filipinos. There were so many players who are in reality just clueless people playing a scam. Almost everyone playing it, especially the "scholars" suddenly turned into pretentious "investors" who look down on regular working folk just because these scholars were earning from a mobile game. There were even players who turned this into a full time job, playing on multiple accounts and sinking so much money on other aspects of the game (there was a whole Axie "breeding" mechanic that uses Ethereum).

[@lorenzolyleabadia1669]

Reminds of the times where I get invited to a lot of networking opportunities (Pyramid schemes) where their speech would always boils down to mocking people working 9-5 jobs because they have it "better" than them.

[@bimajuantara]

@@lorenzolyleabadia1669 yea, that is classic. These scumbags trying to lure poor, stupid, unfortunate people by stroking their ego, giving false hope, and image. Disgusting manipulator.

[@lajeandom]

So a lot of people were actually making good money with this game...? Doesn't sound like a scam to me?

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

@@lajeandom Its like a pyramid scheme or Ponzi scheme; The first few people who join will make big profit, at the expense of the later investors it's part of the scam, make the early adopters earn money, so that they spread the word and get other suckers to join 5% will profit 15% will break even the rest Will loose more than invested

[@DamnedSilly]

@@lajeandom No, there were a lot of people who _thought_ they were making a bunch of money. Then the bubble popped and all that digital wealth turned to dust and a few people ran off with all the _real_ money.

[@grymkryzel2691]

There's a lot of Drama from KZbin Philippines, regarding Axie. Where a Lawyer declares that Axie is a Ponzi Scheme when Axie is in it's Hype. It's quite a long battle, and he make a lot of enemies because of it, he even have a disagreement with one of his Acquaintance/Friend, and one of his enemies used Personal Attacks againts him, but he never stop fighting, despite a lot of Axienatics Mass Reporting, his Channel, and Videos, and in the end, he is indeed right.

[@RegalPixelKing]

When hearing the story of Orias, it really was heartbreaking. He joined this game and wasted his time on it, not because he was addicted to it, but because he was in desperate need of money. Normally when I hear people wasting endless money on stuff like loot boxes or NFTs, I don't feel all that bad for them; unless it's a parent of a stupid kid. Generally speaking whales that spend that much are just being REALLY stupid with their money. I still hate loot boxes, and I wish the best for these people, but you can't protect stupid people because these people will always be stupid.

[@Aereto]

Stupid can't be saved from themselves, and that's a cruel fact. We can stop a dog trying to cross a street as much as we want, but there will be time the dog crosses without our watch and gets flatcaked by car. There is no point nor meaning to mourn when they brought this to themselves. NFTs prove that a lot of people do not know how to climb their way insurmountable odds with the wits they have.

[@iqbaalannaafi761]

I really wish this story is fake. This Orias person; didn't he have to worry about food or mortgages? Please don't tell me he had to sell his own house to keep playing.

[@michaeldelcastillo7211]

As a Filipino, this makes me sad. Life is so hard in the Philippines that people will do anything to try to get themselves out of poverty and end up in worse state because they end up falling for the latest scam.

[@CapucineNighly]

Well.... There are a lot of pyramid schemes here and a lot fall for it. It's sad tbh, especially during a recession, depression, inflation...

[@SkylineGuy]

Filipino here. If our people STILL fall for immigration scams, I'm worried what NFTs will do to our country.

[@Underb00t]

Ive seen enough crypto scams to know where this is going. I told some of my friends not to touch this but didnt listen to me

[@michaeldelcastillo7211]

@@SkylineGuy exactly

[@ShiroEvergarden]

no surprise tbh, they fell for the biggest scam and heist and elected a guy with a history of graft and corruption and a family history known for robbing the entire country and getting away with it.

[@pangcodashop4571]

Our country unfortunately doesnt have any warnings against this kind of stuff, our country doesnt even have a proper cyber security and just management on our internet in general. So thank you Mr. Yong for spreading the risk of play-to-earn and blockchain games in general, not even our news report this kind of stuff.

[@aSSGoblin1488]

though it certainly prosecutes alleged cyber libel and slander

[@Measos77]

Technically there are advisories on some potential scams. However I encountered being in heated arguments with people who already knows about the potential scam advisory. Didn't listen and only to cry later that they lost money.

[@skybattler2624]

@@aSSGoblin1488 TBH, Cyber Libel and Slander was much easier to think about in a country already filled with print libel and slander, than a crypto game the political boomer are not familiar except by shopping. Heck, they mention trying to find ways to tax Cryptocurrency, which I say, good luck.

[@thortor5201]

There is one person advocating that this game is a ponzie and that is Atty. Libayan, they tried to mass report his channel. He clash to some axie shillers in the Philippines but what does the majority of the filipino do? They believe the shillers.

[@powershot9933]

@@thortor5201 tbh that attorney doesn’t even know what he’s talking about. His content is solely for the purpose of entertainment and not for educational purposes. He’s a clown on his field.

[@lizplayspapagames]

right under Philippines is my country, Venezuela. and it's heartbreaking to see that because we live in such an extreme state of poverty so anyone promoting crypto and nfts to desperate people deserves to be in the hottest place of hell. people already struggle to put food in their tables but im convinced people investing in crypto here are the rich and powerful trying to rope in the poor and vulnerable. great video btw!

[@herrkommandank675]

The difference between PH and Venezuela is that Venezuela is in a state of death spiral, the PH on the other hand has been economically growing 6%

[@lizplayspapagames]

@@herrkommandank675 cool didnt ask tho

[@herrkommandank675]

@@lizplayspapagames Didn't aimed for you, its for the other people to see

[@lanceg6197]

As a filipino its great to see this story getting more traction, i remember my father recommending me this game last year as a part time summer job but I turned it down due to its shady system and commitment.

[@perceivedvelocity9914]

Keep raising awareness about NFT's Yong! Somebody needs to push back against this unethical Pyramid scheme.

[@yrazu05]

He's not the only one that has posted about the evils of NFTs lol. Even before the 2020/2021 boom many people, channels, and news articles posted on the scam it was all about. You just didn't care until something personally happened to you or someone you know.

[@buckbreaker5185]

NFTs are the future. Scams work. Cope

[@keiganblaise9878]

@@buckbreaker5185 I personally don't give a fuck if you think it "works". Guess what. If it doesn't work good, then it doesn't work. So... No? They don't? I don't know why people even try to defend this shit. If something is evil, it's evil. Stop defending it. Period.

[@Ebani]

@@buckbreaker5185 So you admit NFTs are scams and that you're a scammer, good to have it on paper.

[@TheDragon975]

@@buckbreaker5185 E.S.A.D, NFT BRO.

[@Jarem24]

Appreciate you covering this topic. Filipinos work hard to survive but these NFT’s are just terrible for everyone.

[@bard1847]

This may sound opportunistic but whenever I see a new and upcoming NFT type of game or fitness app with potential, I try and grab a small bag but never use the app. Just banking on the thought of making money over the potential influx of NFT fanatics and enthusiasts increasing the volume and consequently the value. I bought a bag of Axie when it was sub Php1,000 (USD20) per token and sold when it hit 10x. I basically made a bit of money over someone else's losses.

[@ricardohoang8452]

@@bard1847 Seth Green with his $300,000 NFTs is a sign!

[@DJ_POOP_IT_OUT_FEAT_LIL_WiiWii]

fifiliputo

[@LLawliet04]

@@bard1847 Yup I do the same too. It's all about the right time to pull out and earn money. But for now I play F2P Crypto games and I earn a small bit without spending anything. It's all about how look at it I guess.

[@victoriagodinez79]

It's their fault for being stupid.

[@Vipera217]

Axie is a bad experience, personally as an artist. I had to constantly meet quota, raise rank not for the fun of it but to raise my chance of earning. It ate up a lot of my time and distracted me from my workflow. Anxiety and stress is real. Hearing a distant sfx of it pisses me off.

[@vurteildopiinil]

I'm a filipino and I have a brother in law who is currently very invested in this sad excuse of a game. I once asked him what the game is about and he didn't even say anything gameplay wise, he just said, by accident, "Earn to Play" then quickly corrected his sentence to "play to earn". I hope he wasnt one of those people who are in debt rn. I was going to tell him that games like that always have something shady to the side but I didn't have the guts to tell him because it looks like it genuinely works for them. I didn't want to crush him even more since hes already really struggling to earn money along with my sister.

[@mt_baldwin]

Once your hobby becomes your job, you've lost your hobby. That's just the way reality works. I used to want to be a video game reviewer but I love video games too much for that, imo they are the best hobby in the world and I'd never want to sacrifice it just for a job. The latest game to really hammer this home was Elden Ring, watching so many reviewers on KZbin rush through to get the review out, then speed on from it because the next game needed reviewing. While I got to savor it for hundreds of hours, take my time and explore it and really get to know it from top to bottom.

[@TwoWayOrbitalStation]

You can still be a reviewer that plays the hundreds of hours, just gotta build up a youtube channel. You can go more indepth and show bits of the games that most reviewers could never show. You wouldn't get your video out within the first week, but you could find a niche audience that wants a more indepth look and longer video etc.

[@monarchsub8884]

@@TwoWayOrbitalStation those kinds of viewer's never stick around long enough 4 that 2 work that's y soo many tubers stopped doing them and moved to shorter vids

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

To Filipinos, this is never a hobby...

[@user-pn4py6vr4n]

@@monarchsub8884 Short videos are definitely where it's at. I barely watch anything over 30 minutes, even if it's from a creator I know and like.

[@hieunguyenrileygekko]

@@TwoWayOrbitalStation being reviewer or youtuber can be a hobby too the problem is when you rely on it as your main job

[@Wesker236]

Let's also talk about how news sites didn't help any of these people because they made it worse by making articles on how people were "getting rich by playing a game" but didn't explain that to get rich you'll need the best monsters in game wich only whales got access to

[@nazeersadek6705]

I genuinely shed a tear at the end of this story. The poor guy may his mom RIP 😢 we really shouldn’t let NFTs and crypto to be normalized

[@rdu239]

I believe Lyka has been successfully banned in the Philippines,

[@r3zaful]

Crypto is needed, hacking industry is massive

[@haruhilover25]

From a perspective of a FILIPINO who has played many console and pc games (from NES, SEGA Saturn... all the way to PS4) I just want to give a REVIEW of this game. I haven’t played Axie myself but have talked to many people about the GAME MECHANICS since at times of gatherings, axie would be the topic of conversation. I would go as far as observe them play and have them explain the mechanics to me. (I’ll disclaim that I may simplify certain aspects but I’ll do my best to explain as a gaming enthusiast) You cannot start the game unless you have a full team of three monsters. There’s a single player and pvp multiplayer mode. For a long time you can earn currency through SINGLEPLAYER alone. Lets say a limit of 100 SLP from just grinding out adventure mode. To make things time efficient you can just fight the harder encounters (if they are at leveled high enough) to get your daily 100 in Less than 30 minutes. And then do daily challenges for more currency on the first level like (win 20 single player encounters). MULTIPLAYER is obviously you versus another human player. You will be randomly matched based on your MMR. Also the incentive to be a higher rank is to earn more SLP per PVP win. But if you lose. You get nothing and your rank is subtracted. It’s possible to be ranked so low that any win in PVP will not gain any SLP. (It’s probably to prevent bots or something but we can talk about bots later). Again CURRENCY cannot be gained in PVP unless you win. And combine that with the fact that people can be scholars to managers with meta teams (BASICALLY PAID META) can cause stress to the player especially when money is on the line. Again you cannot “play to earn” if you lose every match. I forgot to mention there’s a limit to the amount of multiplayer matches you can play a day. Depending on your team. You only have 20 multiplayer matches. Some get 40 and above for more expensive accounts. Similar to those FREE TO PLAY games like Ace Combat with that Gas limit or whatever that number how mych you can play. This adds to the stress that every match counts. Out of 20 matches you need to win enough to meet your managers daily SLP quota that was agreed upon. THE ACTUAL IN-GAME BATTLE MECHANICS. Each monster has at least 4 unchangeable moves (everyone uses pokemon as comparison *eyeroll* but you cant use TM/HM). That adds to 12 moves for the whole team. YOU ALSO CAN VIEW YOUR OPPONENTS 12 AVAILABLE MOVES. Battle flow: I think it’s 4-6 cards for a starting hand and every turn you draw two. (It’s been a while since i seen the game) . I’ll have to oversimplify this part... you can use cards based on a team-stamina management system. Each card uses a different amount of stamina and you gain stamina after every round. So sometimes you’ll need to save cards to combo later while also charging stamina. You can guess what your opponent will and will not do based on his stamina and what cards are available to him. (Example: he hasnt used the card that attacks your monsters in the back of your teams’ formation so he might try to stack them to target and kill it in one round. Or he used too many debuff moves that theres a low chance he has any more copies next turn). Both players technically go at the same time per round. And actions are done in order of the monsters speed. So you’ll need to predict the order events could happen. You can use up stamina on a monster that dies before even using its moves leaving the surviving members of your team with barely any stamina to use next round. ( One would think stamina is deducted when moves are made when actually its deducted after finalizing your choice of cards to use in the round.) TL;DR TO BATTLEFLOW is that it’s a hybrid of pokemon with stamina and card-based battles that progress depending on team placement (front, middle, back) & speed. So you really have to pay attention if you want to win. Getting sweaty yet? You can only do 20 of these a day with a daily quota for currency on your mind unless you are the manager playing. 2-3 hours a day per account is generally needed. (Actually an incentive for some FILIPINOS leaving their minimum wage jobs I’ve sadly observed). Bans are given to people playing multiple accounts on a single device. So i’ve seen people with multiple phones and getting laptops. High earnings are not guaranteed unless you are consistent in your matches like 50% win percentage. The guaranteed singleplayer SLP had gradually reduced in a number of updates to the game until they removed “free” SLP entirely. This was due to bots I believe. The levels you grinded to do singleplayer endgame became useless since levels dont carry over to multiplayer for obvious balance issues. So now you have this account that only earns you currency if you defeat another human player who also just wants money in real life. Essentially people fighting for money in a pokemon-esque stamina-card based game with a META that’s pay to win. If this was merely a game that didnt involve earning money it seems alright. 6/10 maybe. Of course it gets boring if you make it your job though. One that requires you actually be good at card games competitively. What a headache of a livelihood. Managers are scammed in investing. Scholars are scammed into spending hours on playing. Sometimes losing sleep playing multiple accounts until morning. (But at least they dont have worrying of losing money like a manager could). My thoughts: People told me to try it out since I play videogames a lot and i could just sneak it into my schedule like play during my breaks at work. But I never wanted to play the game because playing games as a job would ruin games for me especially when I have a backlog of stuff to finish in my free time. Besides those who are in poverty. There is also the class above with a somewhat okay stable income I want to mention. At a certain time in the Philippines many foolish people looked down those with honest jobs here. Some even left their jobs because it wasnt worth it, seeing the amount they make on Axie just by being a scholar. But they’ll be playing multiple accounts which ends up totaling the hours of a real job anyways. Surpassing that even. Which also reminds me that the time spent couldve been used improving oneself by building a resume for example by working. The trend was that: The value always spiked when an influencer covers the game. It spiked also when it hit mainstream tv news i believe. Add that to the way people here like to gossip and have others join things out of hype was shocking. It spread like wildfire. And I remember while it was nice back then seeing people excited to earn extra money, the growing attitude of glorifying how great Axie was really made it seem like a cult to me. If I didnt have a nice job that I enjoy, I wouldve fallen for it too perhaps. It’s, to be honest, kind of embarrassing how many people it fooled in this country. I’m glad Yongyea is discussing this since coverage of Axie within the Philippines can get so twisted and biased.

[@williamdrum9899]

Now I'm curious if you and somebody else could "trade wins," (i.e. take turns losing on purpose) to gain ez moneys.

[@haruhilover25]

@@williamdrum9899 about as easy as trying to trade wins in tekken 7 ranked matches with someone you know 😅

[@Dracobyte]

This comment should be pinned and have more likes!

[@AGuywhohasGoodTaste]

NFT, debt, and poverty go hand in hand!

[@BananaMana69]

My buddy lost like $1500 on this game.. Bought these "powerful" monsters and then they just changed all the stats and they were crap after that.

[@zanwrightmfwr756]

I feel very sorry for your buddy. Usually I support a company changing stats of character as a game balance, but spending $1500 for a character seemed like a rip off.

[@charliepea]

Barely knew of this Axie game, though I do heard it's an NFT game filled with cute characters. That being an NFT is a huge red flag to me and it's sad that people fall to schemes like these because they're too good to be true. Also, loot boxes sure will never be gone, and companies like EA will always take advantage of their consumers' obliviousness.

[@elknolasshrineofraja3966]

🌸😹It is quite impressive the degrees to which those behind NFT shall go to ensure the success of their pyramid schemes.😹🌸

[@hazelnuth2028]

Filipino speaking. I remember one of my co-workers who kept promoting this game and how much he was making playing and that he's already bought a car and other stuff from earning. That was months ago and I still see no new cars from him or anything remotely expensive. The promise of these "games" giving you money for free is nothing more to me but the modern equivalent of snake oil selling.

[@iqbaalannaafi4944]

Not just selling snake oil, but also copyright theft! NFT crypto bros are nothing but con men, swindling money from their victims with sweet promises.

[@hazelnuth2028]

@@iqbaalannaafi4944 Yeah. They constantly pepper my FB account with ads about these shitty crypto assholes. No matter how many times I report the ads they just keep coming back like flies.

[@BrokenNoah]

"...one of my co-workers who kept promoting this game and how much he was making playing and that he's already bought a car and other stuff from earning" This reminded me of FB posts from acquaintances that advertise -pyramid schemes- networking/MLMs where they would show how much money they are making lol

[@hazelnuth2028]

@@BrokenNoah Yeah I think he wanted to recruit me into his group or something but I remained adamant that I was not interested because I knew it was a waste of time and money.

[@BrokenNoah]

@@hazelnuth2028 I make it a point to attend recruitment drives where they would invite potential recruits to restaurants (from my experience, it's usually Max's for some reason) where they would make their pitch. I'm just there for the free food lol.

[@silverdamascus2023]

Axie Infinity was the only NFT game that actually worked, at least for a while. NFT games are never going to work in the long term if people playing them don't actually want the NFTs to keep forever, if people are only in there for the money, but there are no people who play the game for love, no people who spend money on it to keep the valuable collectibles for themselves, then it's a bigger fool scheme, a bubble that will eventually burst. Same for any NFTs, it doesn't matter how much money you earned with them, who actually wants those NFTs as the final customer, keeping them forever?

[@goblincomic4522]

NFT game that work are CS go . The skin is rare and lot of people want to keep the rare skin so there market for it . The point of In game item is people must want to keep it not just sell it the moment it acquired

[@silverdamascus2023]

@@goblincomic4522 Plus, there's no need for NFT technology for people to earn money playing videogames.

[@MisterVercetti]

"Eventually burst"? It's bursting as we speak.

[@Ebani]

@@silverdamascus2023 This is the weakest point of NFTs and why they're completely worthless

[@mrbuttocks6772]

@@goblincomic4522 Technically the skins are 'fungible' as there is ALWAYS more of them, its only the low drop chances that keep the numbers down. In theory one could invest in a 'bot farm' and just farm those expensive skins.

[@sird135]

I was skeptical the first time that it boomed because it is easy money. I knew a lot of people doing this. I have a rule that says "easy money is not safe money". Turns out, this rule still holds to this day.

[@Justin-ee1mv]

I still remember learning about this game back in 2021 when my cousins were playing it when I was at there place… Oh the horror and the plague it has spread in my country and the region of South east Asia, Disgusting, moral abhorrent behavior on the people’s life and the gaming industry As well

[@kosmikaonebladeshy]

to my fellow Filipinos, ask your legislators to investigate and make laws against this.

[@lestercruz118]

thats kind a hard for us cause we have noob celebrities legislators and plunderers and a thief president

[@williamdrum9899]

Can relate

[@Mogmogs]

@@lestercruz118 that and pinoy crypto bro and sis will be angry haha

[@darnoskisecond323]

@@lestercruz118 Senator number 1 who cant understand english in the senate.

[@TheEmeraldboy100]

@@lestercruz118 You can bribe them with child prostitutes.

[@kyoai]

Games that are Play-To-Earn inevitably and always result in tedious, boring game play that feels like work, because the more people earn, the less valuable it becomes, and either the player base interested in earning money will optimize the fun out of the game to earn as much as possible, or the developer will do the same in or order to exploit the player base as much as possible before the inevitable shutdown of the game, or a flood of bots will make it so no human player can compete with the ever-dropping market value of the currency.

[@williamdrum9899]

Yeah I quit playing Pokemon because I spent many many hours of my life biking back and forth hatching eggs. Now, if I was getting PAID to do that... nah, it would still be poopoo. But I may have regretted it a tiny bit less. Not by much though

[@skybattler2624]

@@williamdrum9899 Go to the Pokemon VGC Competitive community. You'll be surprise that VGC players pay breeders for the perfect Pokemon.

[@joshjuntilla]

Filipino here. Yeah, this Axie Infnity became somewhat a crazy thing at one point here but I never jump in the bandwagon cause I know there's something about it that isn't right and generally speaking, anything that is crypto-related is a no no for me. I feel sorry for my fellow Filipino's especially to those who genuinely trying to work hard but just got scammed.

[@altrogeruvah]

I started feeling nauseous during the managers-scholars part. Like, we all play video games that help us temporarily escape the woes of real-life economy and its struggles, not games that perpetuate all the negative aspects of modern society. What's next, Cubical Simulator? Stress Simulator? Low-Wage Simulator?

[@kolacao8134]

There are old games with simulated economies...or even stock markets

[@Destroyer4700]

Seriously, why did people think that NFTs were a good idea.

[@Blballerboy]

I assume they were hoping it have a similar trajectory to bit coin and desperately tried to be big early adopters.

[@nivlheim09c97]

unfortunately, these are uneducated people about NFT. Y'know, when you earn barely enough for a day, you'll just grab anything that says "earn this amount while playing."

[@Dj.MODÆO]

Greed, that’s why. And if we were being honest with ourselves crypto is almost as bad of an investment as NFTs.

[@Marky-Mark1337]

Look at bitcoin BEFORE the spike. People thought you can cash in that. And people thought it would be the next big thing, thanks to influencers. I was instantly turned off after seeing so many influencers pushed it, citing a crash.

[@Verxx-sc2tl]

That's because they don't think much

[@stargamer64123]

Bring articles like this right in the faces of the gaming industry. I don’t care what they think, the sooner they see the horrors that NFTs can inflict on a person and their well-being, the better.

[@iqbaalannaafi4944]

People gotta realize ASAP that NFT crypto bros are nothing but stupid ponzi schemers doing copyright thefts.

[@nathanielchieffallo4273]

Not gonna lie, stories like this make a capitalist mouth water. Heavily exploiting thousands of people, fooling them to give up their money for zero product? That's a dream to companies like EA

[@EliteCasualGamer07]

Let's be realistic there is no such companies that will give money by simply playing a game.

[@side7oldtype298]

I remember when they started posting "wanted scholars" in social media, I laughed hysterically 'cause I know it's already a buzzword for a pyramid scheme.

[@jeizi6806]

I'm one of those doing the "Gruntwork". Working with 2 accounts. Stopped around December when the price of SLP was no longer worth the daily stress. Axie never actually made me more money than my previous Job. But it did give me free time that having my previous job didn't give. But yeah I had no idea it had this much impact to alot of people. Thanks for the video!

[@heartend4388]

Filipino here. I never really trusted Axie when it first started trending here, I didn't really like how the "scholarships" are basically free labor for the "manager" who bought the NFT's. Really hope that my fellow countrymen can get out of Axie while they still can. Thank you, Yong, for making this video!

[@qrs1989]

what do you mean "free labour"??? The scholars are the ones that benefitted by far the most of anyone involved in axie.. $0 investment and a ton of money withdrawn.. free labour my ass lol

[@ryduann]

It makes me sad to think that my uncle got so much of his wealth through being a founding investor for so many of these companies, nfts really shouldnt have a future in gaming or investing.

[@xxCrimsonSpiritxx]

Excellent journalistic skills as usual Yong, I've been speaking up about how exploitable NFT based games really are and their potential dangers to people that just don't believe it or in denial of it, your explanations help deter so many victims from falling into these traps Keep doing what you're doing man..

[@Uldihaa]

Game companies want what those that create these NTF "collections" want: a trading market that they get a transaction fee for. The real money in crypto isn't in the value of the digital "goods", it's in the fees collected for each transaction.

[@novalinnhe]

Bingo!

[@dragonloli7938]

Filipino here... One reason why there are so many Filipino playing it is because many Filipinos are jobless and they're usual hobby is mobile gaming. Great video as always Yongyea ! Rest in peace to the guys mother.

[@CapucineNighly]

Well with the current situation of things, ya a lot are playing this game after investing in it. You really can't say it's a f2p when it's p2w. So the Filipinos who have no cash for the p2w, won't be able to play the game. Unless they became scholars for someone who has money. Here in Philippines there's a reason why the job area went into total decline, it's with cough a certain mandate. Ofc that's one of the many reasons.

[@donelkingii3738]

So evil. Scammers make me so mad. Then they prey on the poorest people. 😢

[@Endemule]

The only people who were victim by these where they end up getting more debts and became bankrupt are those who did not thoroughly study and research crypto and were blinded by money.

[@rafaelcalmon2858]

*I had a friend try to sell me on the concept of the game.* Of course I wouldn't engage it, as I have no interest in the play-to-earn model, but as a friend and a videogame enthusiast that likes to analyze game design I did my best to at least hear them out. While most of it sounded like bs, he did suggest there was an interesting mechanic in having a competitive monster battler in which the in-game market affects the meta, keeping it from stagnating. It does sound like something that could work (in fact, it doesn't need NFTs to), so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. At the very least, the game seems to have more work put into it than the vast majority of NFT-based games. I figured you could maybe play it like some played Dota 2, in which you invest some real money (buying the battle pass) and then grind through hours and hours of gameplay, essentially paying it back and earning a bit extra by selling the items in the Steam marketplace. Unfortunately, it seems it's nothing like that. I'd expect it to at least be fun to play, but I suppose it's hard to have fun when you're bleeding out real money while spending an entire day trying to grind it back. And on top of that, I've checked stuff about quite a few NFT games in order to have a better grasp on my thoughts about it rather than just trust whatever people throw my way blindly. And the conclusion I came to is that the only one I found that even remotely resembled an actual game was Axie. The fact that it is not even a decent game immediately wipes out the last semblance of value I could see in the current state of NFT gaming (which wasn't much). Like it was pointed out before, the current model is just unfit for games. I feel that, unless a completely new kind implementation appears, there's just no merit to it.

[@williamdrum9899]

Yeah it seems like the worst parts of Pokemon pretty much. No thanks

[@Toberumono]

If it helps, from a programming perspective, NFT games are already as good as they’re gonna get. They are fundamentally run on an append-only ledger, which is something that we’ve had for years. So, if you want to improve NFT games, just run them on a better ledger. Thing is, we already do that - it’s called a log. So… yeah. There is no way to make a better implementation of NFTs except just making the Steam marketplace (it uses a mostly append-only log for recording transactions of scarce items). But, because the Steam marketplace already exists, nobody will bother remaking it… they’ll just use it. Ergo, NFT games are as good as they’re gonna get because the better version already exists and doesn’t use NFTs. (Note: the above only applies to games - there are a whole host of technical reasons for why NFTs suck in general from a programming perspective, but their problem in gaming is that the better version of them already exists… and predates them)

[@jirehtheprovider]

yeah. sadly, doing my due diligence really helped. Because when I looked at it late into it's life cycle,... "one piece of a base Axie Affinity monster is the equivalent of a Full Nintendo Switch and an extra game or two?!" As someone who leans more into Nintendo's gaming IPs on both consoles and Mobile gaming IPs, I say that these nfts just kicked me out of the nft model. No steam market option or Nintendo Amino approach? But for me, the fact that there is no In-game free to play system that lets you earn in game currency kills it for me. for example. POKEMON Masters EX is a free to play game where there is a cap on how much you can pay for extra gems if you want a character. But you have the ability to save up in game gems to where you can get your favorite character eventually. Another big factor that nft games miss is this important feature: your in game earned starter characters can carry you through every game mode it offers. It is even more important in those game with pvp modes. Masters EX does not have a PVP mode, making it even more prevalent that your free Units should be prevalent. So is it mandatory to get every released Pokemon in this mobile game I sampled? Not really, only if you want to. Because the free roster of Pokemon you get in it's in built story mode are strong enough to carry you in every time limited event

[@dagarath]

I have a friend in the Philippines who was involved in this, 2 years ago he was making a really good living and luckily always cashed out as much as possible because its now gone to crap, there were thousands of people relying on this game for their entire living wage.

[@burrzie8446]

Not to sound mean, but it’s kind of stupid for your friend to rely on a NFT game to be his main source of income.

[@Freeholdkizw]

@@burrzie8446 it's actually pretty popular in less fortunate countries, you can actually earn far more than a normal paycheck

[@burrzie8446]

@@Freeholdkizw Well, props to the people who earn a lot of money from it. Personally, it just doesn't sit right with me to have your entire livelihood depend on an NFT game.

[@dagarath]

@@burrzie8446 He could early on make a months wage working in a day or two playing axie, might not have been so stupid near the beginning, it just got harder and harder to make money as time went on because the growth of the Play to Earn gaming market is non existent, it is actually starting to shrink.

[@burrzie8446]

@@dagarath I can see you point. I assume your friend has a back-up plan in case the NFT route stops working for him.

[@matthewsnee660]

If we ignore the speculative element, any "earnings" in play to earn have to come from money someone else has put in. If the entire ecosystem is players looking to earn, and no one wants to pay to play then its just standard crypto gambling with extra steps beacause money is only made whilst the token price is rising. That itself is a zero sum game, beacause with an asset that generates no real-world income, all gains have to be realised as someone else's losses eventually. As with all this stuff, the only guaranteed winner is the person who buys in early and the money comes from convincing others to buy in later, so a ponzi scheme essentially.

[@3Rayfire]

Holy shit. They actually made an employment scheme in a video game.

[@iDgaFarce]

When I saw it immediately seen it as a Ponzi Scheme. Good for the starters and the ones that "pioneered" and got out, but well, they were part of the problem as well.

[@deanofthetower663]

I'm grateful as a Filipino, I didn't jumped into the bandwagon. I already knew in the first place that players would only earn if there are many other people who are invested on this game and also very susceptible to hacking since every online games in history always gets attacked by hacking. Also I doubt it's North Korea since it always been the scapegoat cause there's another country who has a military division dedicating to cyber attacking other countries and that's China.

[@S1nwar]

Folding Ideas explained this scam pretty well. especially the part where it has similar abusive structures like unregulated 19th century capitalism

[@macrograms]

Sentence to translate into all languages: "If it seems to good to be true, it almost certainly is."

[@zerathylalysaari1393]

Filipino here. I remember talking to my friends that around December last year, the price of SLP dropped so much that it discouraged those Axie players from playing. Thank goodness I didn't fall for this shit. It was a popular game among the Crypto bros I know.

[@kuroshinko427]

It's weird that I get an Axie Infinity ad while watching this video.

[@hilorens]

Cant blame them. I noticed that 'the poorer people put dangerously higher bets in gambling.' its like, 'got no more to loose since im down bottom, but will be really happy for the win' mentallity.

[@AhsokaJackson]

Oh, Lord. This looks like it's gonna be *nasty.* Please don't tell me folks already in poverty ended up racking up a bunch of debt or anything.… Losing money you don't have is an even scarier prospect than losing the money you already do. Especially if you have very little income to dig yourself out of that hole to begin with. Very curious to see what this is about. I will say as soon as you said "NFTs," it was like, "Ahh, carp this again???" ⛳⛳⛳

[@awitcher5303]

Sadly people in poverty are exactly the sort to fall for stuff like this

[@ma.2089]

@@awitcher5303 well they wouldn’t hav fallen for it if they weren’t in poverty. Ppl become desperate when they want to Survive. It’s scummy to take advantage of that

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

In the Philippines, we have an expression here: Kapit sa patalim (holding onto razors). It's a metaphor on how poverty breeds desperation...

[@user-pn4py6vr4n]

@@ma.2089 Yep. It's very similar to payday loans. People who are financially secure just wouldn't agree to these sorts of things, because it's a bad deal on its face. It's not necessarily a lack of financial knowledge, just sheer desperation that pushes people into the arms of these scummy scam artists.

[@satorudo]

Note that no one in poverty went into debt for Axie. That’s why “scholars” existed which was basically the rich people who could afford $100 Axie would rent out their Axie to the poor in exchange for a cut of the profits. It was pure digital colonialism exploitation. In fact in the rebranded F2P game the first patch did not add game features or balances or any “game” stuff. It added the ability for scholars to prevent accounts renting Axie from cashing out SLP (the in game currency). This alone should tell your the priorities of how this “game” operates. It’s digital slave labor and features that further entrench the slave class are the things that get implemented

[@RDG99]

The only thing that stopped my from playing this was that it was I was too busy playing Warframe. Almost all my officemates were playing this game trying to get some extra income. Kinda sad what happened to this game.

[@czaczaczar]

I'm a Filipino & a lot of Filipinos are ignorant about NFTs. Many ignorant people think NFTs are the future because of big companies like facebook that want them. I have know some people who fell for that axie infinity scam who told me to just quit my job & become a full-time axie farmer. As if I would abandon my job for a non-existent item that has no value? I might be a college undergrad but I have common sense not to fall for a scam & I would rather play a game to have fun. They eventually lost everything from that big NFT hack that happened. Easy money is a dumb person's excuse for an easy way out. I unsubscribed from many Filipino KZbinrs because they started streaming & promoting that axie shit. Every country need to block that shitty site.

[@finald1316]

I know this is not exactly the place for this, but alas, w/ so much scams I feel like I need to share some ideias on how to potentially apply "play to earn" in ways that complement the business without negatively impact the consumer. Key here is without negatively impact, it does not matter that some "earn" if another user's experience is compromised. A potential application: VR/AR devices may allow for social tv show like games, however, unlike television, if the experience is to be more immidiate and accessible screening gamers to ensure a good game session may not be a feasible or desired option. A potential solution: users could rate themselves, but this will only keep bad players out and potentially create a bad user experience depending on how the rating system is effectively used. If instead the best players are rewarded, they receive an incentive to continue playing, thus keeping an healthy player base, and bad players, over time, since are not rewarded, have less incentives to keep playing. The incentive structure is somewhat similar to tournments with a cash prize, but at a higher frequency.

[@thunderoflight]

Pattern I am starting to see: - Dev/Publisher with no job wants easy money - Makes a crypto/microtransaction with NFT game with difficulty spike - Makes profit - Gets Job offer - It's a Scam - Loses everything by easy money grab hackers, that uses the mental state of the exploiter against them. - Bad Karma to Dev/Publisher stupidity.

[@Jeez001]

Just pointing out the engineerwho feel for scam is just an employee not the founders of Axie

[@thunderoflight]

@@Jeez001 I made it more general, but yea.

[@iamnietta1940]

More like they “hacked themselves” to get the real money and probably avoid some lawsuits.

[@thanhvinhnguyento7069]

@@iamnietta1940 I'm confident most of them are inside jobs. As for axie, I know my countrymen, they ain't no fool easily hacked by these email tricks

[@dereban5654]

My brother in the Philippines messaged me last year in June about Blockchain games and asked me what I thought about it. At the time I'd never even heard of Blockchain or NFTs (not sure if NFTs came after or not), but I knew straight away that it was a bad idea and that it was too good to be true. My first thought was that it was kind of like some stock market except way shadier and that given there's an investment to get in, it would probably be a situation where the rug would be pulled once enough people got into it. I don't know whether my brother dabbled with it any further than just being curious, but after seeing what we now know I really hope he didn't.

[@EJ_Red]

Do you guys still contact each other? If so then he may be doing fine and was just asking

[@TiMz]

Filipino here. Did earn a bit and was able to sell before it crashed but damn after a month of playing it became boring so quickly. And yes with the fluctuating slp prices it was just causing so much stress. Oh and not to mention jihoz and his high horse. lol

[@joshdannieltiamzon902]

Yeah. That's Nix Niego.... Yung mukhang pera baboy. Tsk haha

[@danhibiki2]

Pinoys are just so entranced by the idea of "playing AND earning" that they just lose sight of how obvious of a bad idea it is. I remember when there was this facebook ad about "getting paid while playing pokemon go" and there was just a lot of comments asking how to join. Do you more-ons actually expect to be sitting comfortably in a car, driving from one mall to the next one, while happily playing on your account? Beach no. Its going to be a sweatshop with you sitting in front of 50 crap phones, using vpns to constantly change your locations.

[@ashproof]

Remember all those NFT's us gamers wanted? Me either.

[@kilyan6191]

Yeah like microtransaction and dlc 😴

[@Moralof]

I dont usually comment, but the fact that I got an ad of an NFT videogame in the middle of this video is kinda... Weird, to say something. I hope people open their eyes to this kinda things. Keep spreading awareness!

[@PatatoGamesTV]

Thanks you so much yong for bringing this up. And i hope filipino gamers realize that this game is a pure ponzi scheme. Filipino gamer here. Its sad to see that “pinoys/filipino” fell for this NFT bull***t. It even came to the point that they would borrow some money just to play this AXIE scam. And on top of that MANY FILIPINO STREAMERS use this AXIE game and ENCOURAGE filipino to play this ponzi scheme saying that this would be THE FUTURE OF GAMING and this would be the ANSWER for their MONEY PROBLEMS. It really saddens me that filipino gamers chose this axie game over games like elden ring, horizon forbidden west and stray. And lastly i have been mocked by my friends that play this axie game saying that i am not a REAL GAMER because i chose other games like elden ring over this axie infinity and saying that REAL GAMERS PLAY AXIE INFINITY.

[@charlesc2095]

Ive had way too many friends fall for this, and tried to stop all of them as much as I could. I know a few who personally dropped as much as $10k as sure "investment". They all went from raving fans that just wouldnt stop talking about it, to absolutely quiet or dodging the topic everytime I'd ask how things are going.

[@count_dcinamon]

i had tried this game using a cousin's account just to see whats it's about. and i gotta say, its basically a pay to win game. if you dont have a good axie with good stats, you are almost guaranteed to lose as there's barely actual tactic involved. it wasnt that big of a problem early on the game's lifetime as you can still earn some of the currency just by doing pve missions, but later on you only got them if you win some pvp. i see no reason why actual gamer would want this sort of shit on a proper game period.

[@LastPaganGaming]

this, i got sent into a managed account and all my opponents are rigged against me. Even with their best builds. i got released after 7 days. don't bother with the game

[@mehkel8672]

Have you seen Axie Infinity: Origins?

[@jirehtheprovider]

what you mentioned is what immediately killed me from joining this game when I read about Axie Infinity from Akshon Esports. No more in-game modes to earn it's in-game currency. Only earned by PVP game modes? Yeah, that is gaming toxicity and exploitation there. It is unlike Pokemon Masters EX, a favorite Mobile Game I had with obvious Lootbox Issues. But it has a lot of other features and systems that still kept it alive from 2019. Just the ability to earn in game gems through its daily gamebmodes really helps. Remove that, and it will make me quit the game.

[@count_dcinamon]

@@jirehtheprovider yea unfortunately as bad as lootboxes on that kind of game is, it is still somewhat a game first. with axie, its a money earning scheme first, game second

[@matrix255]

Here in Venezuela Axie was also very popular, some people were very excited to receive Axie "scholarships" basically they got an account for "free" however the owner of said account took the majority of earnings but it was sort of an easy way to make some money. That's why we Venezuelan are refer as the Filipinos of latin america by many.

[@AoiLucine]

Oof. Yeah, Venezuela has had... a rough time, these past few decades. Stay safe, friendo.

[@herrkommandank675]

Venezuela is nowhere near the state of the PH, hyperinflation isn't present here and poverty does not take more than 50% of the populace, just 18% and has been declining. Furthermore, Venezuela's GDP has been contracting, but the PH's GDP has been growing an average of 6%, where it's poised to reach a GDP of a Trillion USD by 2033.

[@matrix255]

@@herrkommandank675 Venezuela has no hyperinflation? Are you high? I would like to remind you we removed 8 zeros from our currency, even the US dollar our parallel currency is being affected by the inflation. Also I don't know where are you getting those numbers but saying only 18% of the population is living in poverty is laughable

[@herrkommandank675]

@@matrix255 Venezuela has hyperinflation, PH has not. Please read the comment above once again

[@matrix255]

@@herrkommandank675 Oh sorry my bad. I misunderstood what you said.

[@LuciferHunter-kt7pm]

I don’t want a world where video games and real life exist. My wife and I play video games to escape. NFT’s need to go away.

[@kilyan6191]

No

[@LuciferHunter-kt7pm]

@@kilyan6191 but they did!! I think

[@zeddbalszredd4740]

This game was one of the reasons we broke up. Exactly as the article stated. She was fatigue, and made her anger issues even worse. We weren't at the best point in our relationship that time but this BS made everything worse. My life got even more miserable after everything. Now I'm still miserable but less than before. Don't trust NFT's you can earn money but you can't earn people and time.

[@Carnax6969]

As a Filipino in the UK, who wants to be able to financially provide for my mother and father in their older age, I genuinely feel for Orias and all other Filipinos who just wanted to have money for their families. My heart breaks that he wasn't able to provide financial comfort for his mother before her passing.

[@taags]

So why is the Phillippines such a victim to this thing?

[@Val17282]

@@taags Phillipines is wracked with poverty, so Filipinos who don't better fall victim to it as a desperate attempt to get out of poverty

[@Carnax6969]

@@taags Don't know, mate. I was born in the UK and I've never been to the Philippines yet. But if I were to wager a guess, it'll be because the victims were poverty-struck individuals and thought that this would be the financial opportunity they've been waiting for. Just like in any country, you'd find people who are susceptible to these kinds of schemes, possibly due to lack of awareness of modern scams.

[@woah56]

It's almost as if investing your time and money in something that doesn't have much value for your real life, or any monetary value, is a horrible idea.

[@Ebani]

Who would've thought!? Let's hope crypto bros don't read you comment, for them their imaginary coins are worth more than the environment...

[@MarkDeSade100]

@@Ebani Unfortunately, even if you completely ignore the existence of NFTs, a lot of people still believe that coins are worth more than the environment.

[@alexstuffs9667]

ALL FACTS, experienced it myself, the loss of funds, loss of sleep, stress and pressure, Im glad I sold all my axies even in a very low price.

[@zad_rasera]

I'm a Filipino and I've never heard of this.

[@DOGEonPC]

This game was huge when it blew up here. Sadly, a lot of people fell for the scam, with some people even looking for "scholars" who they pay to play the game for them. If you don't want to be a scholar and want to invest instead, you have to pay at least $1500 iirc just to get your own Axie. Of course, it burst and only those who came first were able to make heaps of cash while those who invested last weren't even able to recover their losses. Typical Ponzi scheme stuff, but hey! People here in my country are used to that kind of stuff.

[@CapucineNighly]

Yup, I was also shocked that you really had to invest in that much to even try and earn something there. So it felt like a scam to me. Also, ya.... People here fall for scams like that often. Especially if they only "need" to play a game and other Filipino money makin channels on youtube advertising it. So ofc they end up thinking it's safe and end up falling for the scam. 😒

[@thequietplayer3691]

I remember back in late 2020 during the beginning of the chip shortage, I was trying to buy a 30-series Geforce GPU just to play Cyberpunk 2077. I joined a stock monitoring discord and I was surprised that so many people who could barely afford to pay their rent, were spending $1000-$2000 on a GPU to mine cryptos. I hope those poor fellas are doing okay and at least able to recuperate their original investment.

[@B.B.Digital_Forest]

I bought a 2nd graphics card during the Covid lockdown so I could render my work faster. I learned the card was used for crypto mining and the seller bought a new, more expensive card to replace it. He even tried to get me in that work but I turned that down fast.

[@Aereto]

@@B.B.Digital_Forest especially when mined cards have hit-or-miss reliability that is not worth buying and risk losing a lot more than playing safe

[@coredetta]

Thank god the crypto mining died and gpu is getting cheaper

[@ryukomatoi163]

@@coredetta wait fr? I didn't e en see the price dropped yet, it's the same

[@coredetta]

@@ryukomatoi163 idk but in my country the GPU and CPU is getting cheaper

[@xShibux]

axie infinity was unique in that case, that it had a scholarship mechanism, so people didn't have to buy in into the echosystem but instead could play for free and earn a descent amount of money. Especially during the pandemic time where people had no work. But if you decide to become an Investor and invest real money into something, you are willing to take a risk for a return. Usually with higher risk comes higher rewards. Can't blame anyone else but yourself if you didn't do your proper research or weren't willing to lose your investment. People became greedy and that let to it's downfall, nothing else.

[@TempoLOOKING]

All there fault

[@HeathenHacks]

Quite a lot of Filipinos like joining the hype/trend. That's why the game blew up here. A lot of people also lost their jobs during the pandemic and maybe viewed the game as a "saving grace" to still earn money. The way I understand it, it works like an MLM. Players can earn money by selling their "teams" to new players, because you can't play the game without a "team". Players can also sort of "lend" their "teams" for a fee to other players and whatever the lendee earns, the lender gets a percentage of it. That kind of "business" was really popular on various SocMeds here. In addition, the players can't even withdraw their earnings directly. They have to go to a 3rd party app/site to convert it to actual money which would also take a cut. PS- Didn't realize that this was going to be discussed as well. I posted this comment during the start of the video. lol.

[@TempoLOOKING]

Bums

[@kevingame3198]

Looks like the game industry needs to be held accountable just like how movies back in a day were held accountable I don’t know my history of movies but this movies from a century ago words were in its infant stage

[@MyNameIsSonsky]

My good friends in the Philippines.. 🇵🇭 😓 I was almost encouraged by them to start playing and investing as much as $1000 to play this game.. jeez..

[@alphawolf5294]

This NFT play to earn would only work for a company that is the richest on the planet and doesn't care about profit. The reason it doesn't work now is because all these games are currently designed to scam the players of money.

[@renzian1845]

play to earn is basically just gambling disguised to target "gamers"

[@fiskburk2908]

Some crypto bros called me ignorant when I said that this game was a scam, to test it myself i create a dummy account and tried to play, after 30 min my account was stolen by russian bots and of course they were looking for CC info an all that, seeing is more crap than I though

[@hombreg1]

Imma press x to doubt

[@Albatorwow]

Did you give out your password in general chat? Lol

[@phoenixlich]

If this had been any other kind of workspace the lawsuits would be pouring in.

[@happysatanproduction8854]

my philosophy in life is, if you're having fun with something, dont make it a business. video games is my number 1 hobby. i tried to be a content creater for a short time and it almost destroyed gaming for me. the editing, script writing, capturing footages, they are all work. so like state and church, i keep my leisure and business separated btw im a filipino and i found axie and its players stupid since day one

[@hoshi314]

while i agree with your sentiment overall, you somehow missed the biggest bullet for Axie Infinity : They had to nerf SLP farming by killing off single player rewards and PVP rewards are only available for higher rating team so low rating teams are out of options literally