Last year Niftys and Warner Bros partnered up for a Game of Thrones-themed collaboration. This project would see the creation of a series of themed NFTs.
Well, those NFTs have finally landed! The hit TV show gained a huge fan following, despite the widely-felt disappointment in the final season. The prequel series House of the Dragon also proved extremely popular, and fans had something to be excited about again.
Taking a step further was the possibility of owning a personal piece of Westeros with the likes of official NFTs. The project, Build Your Realm, recently saw the release of NFTs but some fans didn’t seem particularly pleased.
Game of Thrones NFTs
The official NFTs are intended to be a first-of-its-kind collectible experience where fans can connect with a much-loved franchise. Fans are still passionate about the franchise which became evident when the NFT collection sold out in just seven hours.
Quick sales were perhaps to be expected from a series that gained so much popularity. The original show reached huge heights and House of the Dragon stands as the biggest series debut for HBO. This is now followed in second by the recently released The Last of Us video game adaptation.
However, not everyone was impressed with the return to the Seven Kingdoms. Firstly, there were issues with the mint, and then the actual NFT designs left fans disappointed – or laughing, but not in a good way. Nifty announced that it had paused the queue due to congestion issues. They did however try to reassure buyers that their purchases would appear in due course, and if not, they could receive a full refund.
Not again…
Users complained that by the time they had waited for a couple of hours, the floor price of the NFTs had already dropped. Issues with minting NFTs can be commonplace, however, this wasn’t the only issue to impact the launch.
A major problem stems from the NFT designs themselves. Users took to the internet to share images of the NFT creations and, well, some of them bring back that pang of disappointment that the final season gave us. The sales themselves are part of Hero Boxes, these boxes contain a Hero Avatar, three story cards, and nine resource cards. These avatars are then intended to be upgradable.
The problem seemed to be that some of the avatar designs were questionable. If you have seen the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once, the reality where people have sausages for fingers is a close comparison. These designs showed characters with oddly shaped hands and fingers that are supposed to be gripping some kind of weapon. Yet the weapon is instead just floating in place.
Better NFT designs
While it’s quite funny to look at, this does point to a wider issue with NFTs. Many still don’t understand the concept of NFTs and a negative stigma has attached itself to some of the space. Mints such as this don’t go a long way to changing that narrative. When the main aspect is the designs themselves, buyers expect better.
The Nifty page that showcases the characters does prove that not all of the designs suffer from sausage fingers. Many of the designs can be seen wielding weapons that accurately fit the character’s hands. Some even have companions such as horses, birds, and wolves.
NFTs draw a lot of attention through hype, celebrity endorsements, or in this case, being based on already popular material. Going forward, however, potential NFT buyers will be hoping for higher-quality assets.
