Reflection on Lecture #1: Online Censorship and Ragnarok

I have run into the problem of censorship on Youtube with my friends trying to post videos and it being taken down because of a song or image that someone else owns. I understand that censorship on the internet is potentially a big issue because people's voices can be silenced by just one company or one person. I also however see the need for some regulation, particularly for things like pornography and content that is harmful to both the creator and the consumer.
The SPK network is interesting and solves a problem that we talked about in class, how to store videos and data (particularly NFT data) on the blockchain. By incentivising people to contribute the use of their computer storage to storing these items, I could see this network eventually becoming widely used. Like we have talked about before, I see many people having issues with just not understanding the platform and then not wanting to be involved. However, there may be more people in the world than I think that are willing to do the research to invest into the SPK network. Obviously the more people that participate, the more valuable the network becomes and the more people participate.
I actually really liked the idea of Ragnorak, the NFT based game. Particularly the explanation about how they are trying to make it a spectator sport with skilled players that people watch, caught my attention. I myself have played online games before like Fortnite and Overwatch. In fact, there is an Overwatch tournament that is held every year (actually I think there are multiple) in which teams compete against each other and it is broadcast to the world. I know that the city of Dallas has a team and teams are popping up all over the world. What is cool about Ragnarok is that it is a similar concept to Overwatch, but the game has many different aspects of skill and one company isn’t cashing in on all of the people playing their game. This game seems to be geared more toward the community which I can see being very successful. I also loved the idea that it is so tied to all of the different mythologies in the world. I’ve lately been learning more about Canaanite mythology and how many stories were shared between all of the Mediterranean cultures during ancient times and I think the potential for learning about all of these characters is unlimited. I was unclear on how spectators can get involved though, and I hope more information is given about the game in the future.