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Why don't idle games mine for crypto? (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 months ago by blanketswithsmallpox@lemmy.world to c/gaming@lemmy.world

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It feels like wasted power. You could at least be earning something off it. The creator can either take a cut if it's free or lump sum for paid.

I've seen a few idle games take up a lot CPU resources, not necessarily GPU so it had me wondering. Why not make it mine?

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[-] slazer2au@lemmy.world 13 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Because it would be inefficient and people don't like it when you use their computing power for your own gain. I should mention that there are known instances of this happening. A site being compromised and a JavaScript mining applet has been added to the site.

Also, Firefox blocks cryptominers by default.

[+] blanketswithsmallpox@lemmy.world -12 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

inefficient

Right... however ANY efficiency when already using a rig for an idle game is literally more efficient, hence why I wondered.

Also it wouldn't matter whether the mining benefits the owner or user. In reality if the user wants to try with the CPU, they'll be making $1 for every $20 wasted in power letting their computer idle hard. However that's still $19 rather than $20. You could at least give the creator the crypto rather than yourself if it's free which is kinda my point.

It's literally a case of I'd prefer nobody benefit rather than someone else.

[-] slazer2au@lemmy.world 10 points 8 months ago

You do know that PCs don't consume all the power when idle right?

I have a server with 2x800W power supplies and it idles at 110w. If I were to run a crypto miner on it my power bill will go up far more than the game creator will make.

The only winner in small scale crypto mining is the power company.

[-] blanketswithsmallpox@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

This isn't about a computer on idle... This is about a computer running a game non stop that people think is Idle... When it's not. It's often running a game doing massive number calculations regularly. Sometimes showing hundreds to thousands of separate things on the screen constantly.

I think a lot of the comments here just don't seem to understand how many resources an Idle game can actually take up lol.

[-] boonhet@lemm.ee 4 points 8 months ago

And if you mine crypto at the same time, it either uses even more resources, or the game runs slower.

[-] blanketswithsmallpox@lemmy.world 0 points 8 months ago

the game runs slower.

Yeah... hence the point of an idle game.

[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago

I assume you mean for the computer owner, not the game developer? Assuming it goes to the owner of the hardware, not really that useful. CPU mining is incredibly slow and GPU mining would not even necessarily break even on electricity costs. If someone wants to mine, they should just run a dedicated mining program. Wasting electricity to do pointless calculations for tokens is an outdated idea anyway.

[-] Maddier1993@programming.dev 6 points 8 months ago

Contrary to popular belief, electric power usage is not wasted if the PC is idle. PC draws more power when it is working at 100% vs. When it is idle.

It's like people switch off kettles or ovens that are not running... but if a kettle/oven is not running then it is not pulling power.

[-] blanketswithsmallpox@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Right... Hence why idle games draw significantly more power than when a computer isn't running it.

This is about idle games. Not a PC at idle.

[-] Sirence@feddit.de 5 points 8 months ago

If the idle game is running at 100% there is no power left to also crypto mine. If the idle game runs at 10% you could use 90% for mining but then you would pay for 100% energy usage instead of 10%. You'd probably end up paying more than you'd mine.

[-] blanketswithsmallpox@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Yeah I was mostly thinking of it as some clever way to mine. Somehow linking the mining engine into the gameplay itself. That's a proper point though when just looking at the efficiency side of things.

this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2024

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