In the history of gaming, there has been multiple inflection points that provided avenues for massive growth for the whole sector, each of them related to advancements in tech that increased the possibilities of what games could be. Databases are following a similar trajectory. First we'll explain the inflection points, make some analogies between gaming and databases, and finally talk about how we build from here.
Video Games
There was multiple iterations of games before it, but if you ask most people born in the Before 1970 what the first video game was, they'd tell you Pong, the iconic digital rendition of table tennis released by Atari in 1972. In the early days, if you wanted to challenge a friend to a round of Pong, they would come to your place, and together, you'd huddle around the same console and bop the pong ball back and forth until someone scored 11 points. This 'shared system' multiplayer experience was a breakthrough because it was the first time you could play something digital together.
In the 1990s came the emergence of Local Area Networks (LANs). A LAN was used to connect computers within a shared space, such as a home, school, or office. The development of LANs allowed individuals to connect their computers or gaming consoles over short physical distances. This facilitated the creation of LAN parties, where gamers would gather, bringing their own hardware to connect to a single local network. Within this network, they could play multiplayer games together in a shared virtual environment. This transition allowed multiplayer games to go from 'shared system' to 'independent system, permissioned network' multiplayer and was a leap forward, enhancing the gaming experience by allowing players to use their own systems while still being connected to a collective network for multiplayer gameplay.
Then, with the spread of sufficient broadband internet at the dawn of the 21st century, the gaming landscape was revolutionized once again. With an internet connection and console, you could play with anyone. Games could now let you play with random people and thus started to provide ‘matchmaking’, the process by which online games match players for the optimal gaming experience. The 'independent system, permissionless network' multiplayer format emerged, dissolving the barriers of distance and permission, connecting people across the globe. This ability to connect people anywhere in the world has led to massive games, namely MMORPGs, that were completely infeasible before and needed strong network effects to make them playable.
Databases
Databases are making this same evolution and are progressing through the Permissionless Network phase donning the moniker of 'blockchains'.
A 'shared system' database is like an excel document stored locally on a computer. You and I can type on the same document, but only if we use a shared machine. This is like Pong.
An 'independent system, permissioned network' database is like a relational database where you only have access to information if you have permission. This is like a company’s intranet where HR has access to sensitive information and regular employees can’t access. This is like LANs.
Fast forward to today, we have 'permissionless networks' via blockchains! You and I buy blockspace from the same validators and adhere to the same rules codified in the blockchain's code, using our own keys without permission from a centralized authority.
Blockchains exhibit many similarities to MMORPGs. Both operate on networks where users interact with each other, through decentralized ledgers in crypto or in-game trading in games. Users in both environments maintain unique identities through crypto addresses and distinct avatars and profiles in games. Additionally, both ecosystems feature intricate economies, with MMORPGs allowing players to trade virtual currencies and items, similar to blockchains. So in many ways, a blockchain is an Massivley Multiplayer Online DataBase.
So what now?
Just because blockchains have the potential to be a multiplayer experience, doesn't make the experience quality yet, much like early editions of multiplayer games in the early 2000s, where lag and bad graphics were issues that made some games unplayable, the blockchain multiplayer experience needs to be built out. You might be deposited in the same liquidity pool as your friend, own the same NFT, or use the same contract, but it's hard to know because the insights from the platform aren't there yet, largely because the platform doesn't know who your friends are. That is before the adoption of Farcaster.
Farcaster, the decentralized social network protocol, has at least one underlying ethereum wallet identifying each account. That means I can interpret who are the people you want to know information about (who you follow, like, and recast) and surface you information about them on my external app, just by you connecting your wallet!
To take that a step further, Ethereum Name Service (ENS), the decentralized identity protocol, can be used to identify these wallets and give you human readable identities associated with wallets in your social graph.
The world's most popular games are all multiplayer, so it makes sense that, if crypto wants more users, being onchain needs to be made more multiplayer. This starts at the app level, crypto app developers need to incorporate wallet based social graphs and decentralized identity to show a user their friends. This can be done in leaderboards, friends lists, and more to show we are all in blockchains together. Onchain Clarity Co. is making the commitment to set the example for multiplayer integration with the goal of changing the way crypto apps look and feel going forward. We believe that one day we'll look back on the average crypto app experience in 2024 the same way we look back at Pong today.
If you have any feedback or want to work with us, shoot us a dm on Farcaster!
Inspirations to Onchain Clarity Co:
An example of a project that has exemplary Farcaster Social Graph integration is Farcaster Snap by Limone
Farcaster Snap uses your social graph information to surface you information about the wallet you are transacting with and if you follow someone with that wallet on Farcaster. In this example, if I was to accidentally enter the wrong address by one digit, Farcaster Snap would tell me that nobody follows this account and that it's the wrong one, saving me the money I was about to send.
welcome farcaster snap: a @MetaMask snap that enhance your wallet transfers by integrating with @farcaster_xyzinside metamask you can now verify if the recipient is a known individual in your farcaster social graph
"...is followed by vitalik.eth and 43 more"
wanna try it?
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An example of a project that has exemplary ENS integration is VotingPower.xyz, providing transparency around DAO voting in terms of power and identity for ENS, Gitcoin, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Uniswap.
