Something most don't realize about Rising Star is (de)centralization of certain parts of it...
Here's a breakdown.
The Centralized Part
The game itself is centralized - STARBITS and STARPRO are issued by a central entity (not a smart contract) despite the process being automated (and up until now, without any issues). You can't do much about that (not that you'd need to, either).
The same thing can be said about the issuing process of NFTs - centralized, nothing one could do. Not even the numbers behind the RNG are discussed which has its Pros and Cons, but we don't get into details on that.
The game is basically run upon the trust the players have (with or without knowing) of the devs.
The Decentralized Part
I've said that the 'issuing' of NFTs in the game is centralized, but the NFTs themselves ARE decentralized (the way they are handled by Hive Engine). And THAT is what gives an opportunity to build!
You can go and play around with things on Engine - read from or write into the database and see how that works for you.
Why Does it Matter?
It DOES matter to those who are picky or skeptical about stuff as well as those who want to build upon the game.
Yes, you can build a game of your own utilizing STARBITS, but since you're not given permission to issue STARBITS, your actions would be limited.
Your game may and most probably will affect the price of STARBITS and having your game utilize a token you don't have the issuing permission of is not a good idea, but you're not limited in that department - let your imaginations run wild.
It gets interesting when you want to utilize the NFTs. You have complete control over them (you can buy, sell or even burn them), and the print limit, although centralized, gives the issuance some sort of cap and rarity.
One thing I've been thinking about is building a game that uses Rising Star NFTs - rather than the Tokens.
The difference might not appear to be significant, but the (centralized) cap on the printing limit and the fact that discontinued cards won't be printed ever again (this is also centralized) make things more convenient in the 'trusting' department (and as a result, the stability).
You could literally make an RSG clone with your own altered storyline, different missions, or entirely different things - a pokemon game where the NFTs are your pokemon...?馃ぃ Just imagine Foxon being a super legendary pokemon everyone wants to have.
The possibilities are endless, but the fact that you can easily read/write onto the Engine makes these possibilities... well, possible!!
Can't wait to see what kinda apps pop or don't pop when enough people start building on RSG...
Cheers~