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Skill Tree #4 - January 29

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Skill Tree #4 - January 29

0xKepler
Jan 29, 2023
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Skill Tree #4 - January 29

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🔥 Highlight

BAYC & MAYC holders were able to mint Sewer Passes for free on January 17 which give access to Dookey Dash, an endless runner inspired by the likes of Subway Surfer, Temple Run, etc. Every Sewer Pass holder who plays the game at least once until February 8 can exchange it for another NFT on February 15. Not many details are know about the new mint - but, a user’s score on the Dookey Dash leaderboard will influence it! Sewer Passes are tradable, while the score is tied to the wallet address, preventing people from purchasing better mints.

Like everything Yuga Labs does, Dookey Dash received a lot of attention on Twitter (they are really good at that).

While the game itself isn’t worthwhile to discuss (basic, NFT-gated endless runner), how it is embedded into the ape ecosystem seems more interesting. It gamifies the minting process, creating stronger engagement. If done via a traditional mint, ape holders could decide to hold or sell the new NFT. The Sewer Pass system provides more options:

Other options exist outside of the official ones shown above, such as paying others to play for you, or hacking the game.

There are also 4 Sewer Pass tiers which adds complexity. Higher Tiers give a bonus on scored points. Players can also buy time-limited (to 10 minutes) 15% boosters for 2 APE tokens.

It essentially adds another layer of speculation to the minting process. Is that something good? People enjoy speculation, so give people what they want? Does it negatively impact non-speculators? Does it help distribute the new NFT to the right holders?

Regarding the last question, the underlying thought should be: What does a high Dookey Dash score signal? Skill? Time commitment?

In my opinion, the signal skews more towards time commitment than skill. Not the worst as you want to identify committed community members! However, the score in an endless runner is only one data point. Therefore, my guess is that the score has less of an effect on the future NFT than many expect. There needs to be some difference between low and high scores to make high-achievers happy, but I think it will be relatively small and/or can be compensated for later on through other actions (e.g. APE burning, which shows capital commitment).


📰 News

— Fractal, a product suite for web3 games, is coming to Polygon. With it, Fractal announced a new raise of an undisclosed amount from Polygon. Fractal raised a $35m Seed Round in April 2022. They currently employ 18 people.

— Shrapnel announces mint of new NFT ‘Sigma Containment Unit‘. The SGU comes with in-game utility (used to extract Sigma, a valuable item) and other perks like exclusive content for creator tools and rare skins.

The mint will be multichain, taking place on Avalanche, Polygon and Ethereum.

Date: TBD

How to get WL?

Twitter avatar for @playSHRAPNEL
SHRAPNEL 🔺 @playSHRAPNEL
👉 Multiple ways to get #whitelist ➡️ Be a Verified Operator NFT Holder ➡️ Participate in Raffles & Giveaways ➡️ Community Collabs ➡️ Submit an Application (Coming Soon!) ⚔️ Operator NFT Collection on OpenSea: go.shrapnel.com/3XGCaex 🧵 8/9
9:48 PM ∙ Jan 24, 2023
27Likes3Retweets

— WL list by sparkc

Twitter avatar for @sparkcsays
sparkc | wolves DAO @sparkcsays
My updated list of games worth trying for WL. It's not every upcoming mint, just the ones that I think have some promise.
Image
2:53 PM ∙ Jan 23, 2023
320Likes88Retweets

— In Web2 news: Netease x Blizzard drama

The GameMakers Letter
Market Wire | Jan 23, 2023
Good evening. This new year is moving fast. Make sure you take a moment to enjoy the present. Have a great week everybody! Also, we got some cool videos coming up so stay tuned…
Read more
10 months ago · 3 likes · Joseph Kim

— Beta launch of Museum Heist, an on-chain social deduction game (think Among us)

Twitter avatar for @Tetration_Lab
Tetration Lab @Tetration_Lab
Deduce and Deceive, are you ready to heist? Introducing: Museum Heist, an on-chain social deduction game 🪔 About game: tetration-lab.gitbook.io/whitepaper/mus… Beta-Access Registration: forms.gle/fmpxid68Bv6swr…
Image
11:59 AM ∙ Jan 23, 2023
82Likes36Retweets

— Bitmates officially joins TreasureDAO & Arbitrum

Twitter avatar for @Treasure_DAO
Treasure @Treasure_DAO
Treasure community, we’d like to introduce you to some new 'mates' of ours. 👀 We’re overjoyed to announce that @PlayBitmates will be joining Treasure and @arbitrum! 🐵 ✨
8:22 PM ∙ Jan 23, 2023
398Likes129Retweets

We highlighted Bitmates in newsletter #2.

— Elixir Game Launcher comes to Arbitrum. Due to the increased security risk of web3 games, trusted launchers are essential infrastructure.

Twitter avatar for @arbitrum
Arbitrum (💙,🧡) @arbitrum
🧡🎮🧡 We're very excited to announce that #ArbitrumNova will be fully integrated on the @elixir_launcher 🧡🎮🧡 This is huge news for all of the #Web3Gaming & #Arbitrum communities out there. You can find more info in their blog post 👇🧡💙
Twitter avatar for @elixir_launcher
Elixir Game Launcher @elixir_launcher
We are thrilled to announce our new integration @arbitrum 🤝 Arbitrum Nova and Elixir will work together to identify and support best quality web3, fun-first games. Read more about it 👇 https://t.co/V8idFDGxiD
10:09 PM ∙ Jan 23, 2023
290Likes85Retweets

— Animera x Immutable

Twitter avatar for @Immutable
Immutable 🅧 - $IMX @Immutable
Welcome @animeragame to the IMX family! Search for Animera is a sci-fi MMORPG built on Unreal Engine 5 #onIMX. With experience from Konami & Metal Gear Solid, they aim to unlock the true potential of web3 through an NFT-powered journey of interplanetary conquest & exploration
5:02 PM ∙ Jan 23, 2023
413Likes55Retweets

— Axie Infinity releases January Dev Update. Good thread to get up-to-date on the Axie ecosystem.

Twitter avatar for @AxieInfinity
Axie Infinity | #AxieOrigins, #AxieHomeland @AxieInfinity
1/4253 Welcome to Sky Mavis's epic January Dev Update! Buckle your seatbelts and put your blue light glasses on… …because this is a big one. 🧵👇
Image
6:40 AM ∙ Jan 27, 2023
178Likes66Retweets

— M&A: Mythical Games acquires DMarket

Twitter avatar for @deantak
Dean Takahashi @deantak
Consolidation in blockchain gaming. Mythical Games acquires DMarket blockchain gaming marketplace #DMarket #MythicalGames venturebeat.com/games/mythical… via @GamesBeat
venturebeat.comMythical Games acquires DMarket blockchain gaming marketplaceMythical Games, a publisher and developer of blockchain games, said it has acquired DMarket, a marketplace for digital assets.
4:23 PM ∙ Jan 25, 2023
12Likes2Retweets

— TreasureDAO announces MagicSwap V2

Twitter avatar for @MagicSwap_
MagicSwap @MagicSwap_
Announcing the new MagicSwap by @Treasure_DAO. MagicSwap v2 will be the first AMM in crypto with universal token compatibility, supporting pools for both ERC-20s + NFTs through a single router and enabling trading of all items within game economies. treasuredao.substack.com/p/magicswap-th… 👇
treasuredao.substack.comMagicSwap: the First AMM with Universal Token CompatibilityThe first AMM in crypto to support pools for both ERC-20s and NFTs through a single router, and enable trading of all items within game economies.
8:53 PM ∙ Jan 25, 2023
724Likes228Retweets

📚 Education

— 2023 Outlook for Web3 Gaming by Delphi Digital and Naavik

— Parallels between the Flash Player Era (RIP) and web3 gaming

Frontier Gaming Watch
Parallels Between the Adobe Flash Games Era & Now in Web3
Dear readers, welcome to the first issue of the Insights branch which will consist in articles sent to your inbox every Tuesday. If you’d rather not receive articles and stick to the Thursday Newsletter only, you can do that through Substack. Enjoy the read ! …
Read more
10 months ago · 1 like · Frontier Gaming Watch

Flash games were the golden era for indie games. The Adobe Flash Player allowed many people to get into making games. Aggregator sites such as Miniclip acted as curators. Players were able to directly play in the browser. Games were able to monetize, mostly via ads.

With new (AI) tools and crypto elements, we could see a similar indie game innovation wave as tools help democratize game development and introduce new monetization opportunities, like the Flash Player did in the early 2000s.

This could also drive browser-based gaming. I wrote about my browser thesis in this article (thesis 5).

— ‘Will AI kill UGC?’ by Konvoy Ventures

AI reduces the skill floor required to create content, like character accessories or weapon skins. This come with two major challenges for UGC platforms:

1 More assets flooding the market (mostly with low-quality, undifferentiated items) requires better curation.

2 The following commoditization of content drives down prices, which results in a) lower revenue for platforms (usually take a % fee), b) limited opportunity for quality creators to earn an income, making it more likely they’ll leave the platform, further reducing the quality of UGC (similar to a “market for lemons”).

One web3 game trying to tackle this issue is Shrapnel, as explained by Kiefer Zang.

Konvoy presents 4 paths for platforms:

a Limiting access to UGC to vetted creators (lowest risk, lowest cost, limited upside)

b Limit AI-assisted creation to restrictive in-platform tools (low risk, high cost, high upside)

c Develop advanced curation engines and drop the bottom of assets (medium risk, low cost, high upside)

d Charge a fixed amount per sale instead of a % fee. This forces sellers to stay above a certain floor in order to still profit. Personal opinion: This still drives prices down close to costs, which makes it not worthwhile for quality creators.

— How to design game markets by Deconstructor of Fun

— Insights from Pocket Gamer Connects Conference

Twitter avatar for @JonHook
Jon | PlayEmber @JonHook
A thread after #PGConnects in London this week 1. Mobile developers are still making mobile (web2) games 😆 + securing funding from VC's and publishers. Game genre focus is more around higher LTV games - hybrid, casual ( puzzle, narrative)
2:52 PM ∙ Jan 27, 2023
15Likes4Retweets

— Understanding Web3 Player Behavior by Naavik

Nathan Snell is the co-founder and CEO of Raleon, which we covered as a new project in newsletter #1.


🕵️ New projects

Mozart.xyz

Twitter: @mozart_xyz

APIs for game economies

Ogmi

Twitter: @Ogmi_io

Social trivia gaming app + infrastructure allowing anyone to create content and host events.

Twitter avatar for @Meiikai
Meikai @Meiikai
@0xKepler Builder a hypersocial skill-bases trivia game and infrastructure, allowing anyone to create content and host events. Bullish on creators, social gaming, and interest-based human connection.
3:11 PM ∙ Jan 25, 2023

S7: Sector Seven

Twitter: @S7_SECTORSEVEN

Risk-based shooter. Pay to spawn, kill to earn.

CyberStadium

Twitter: @cyber_stadium

On-chain NFT game developed by the Crypto Raiders team. Coming in March.


🎁Surprise

I published two articles about Power Tokens. While not directly related to gaming, the underlying logic can be applied to game economies.

Part I

Deus Ex DAO Newsletter
Power Tokens - A new Tokenomics Template [Part 1]
It is not often that we witness the release of a new tokenomics model in crypto. Therefore, IPOR sparked our (and others’) attention when they published their article on power tokens. In DeFi, three major tokenomics standards have existed so far: Simple staking model…
Read more
10 months ago · 1 like · Deus Ex DAO and 0xKepler

Part II

Deus Ex DAO Newsletter
Power Tokens - A new Tokenomics Template [Part 2]
This is Part 2 of our series on Power Tokens. Before continuing, make sure to read Part 1. Power Tokens Deep Dive Goal #1: Alignment of LPs, stakers and the protocol The first step to alignment is getting LPs to care about the protocol and governance. This can be done via a retroactive airdrop or liquidity mining. How effective this initial distribution is…
Read more
10 months ago · 1 like · Deus Ex DAO and 0xKepler

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Skill Tree #4 - January 29

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