Get the most recent info and news about The Sandbox on HackerNoon, where 10k+ technologists publish stories for 4M+ monthly readers.

The Sandbox

thesanboxgame

Moderators at Big Tech are the unsung heroes of our social media and internet experience today. The cleaners of the interwebz if you will. Evidence of their work stays obscured from us. It is only when unintended slip ups occur that the consequences spill over onto the internet and chaos ensues. During the tragic terrorist attacks on Christchurch mosques back in 2019, the attacker was live streaming as he went about his killing spree. While the massacre was ongoing and many hours afterwards, those heinous videos kept on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, YouTube and other social media. Moderators on those platforms struggled to keep up. It became a game of cat and mouse with normal users scrambling to report posts that showed up so that moderators could review and remove them quickly. surfacing In absence of adequate moderation, you or your child's YouTube feed could look like this (Source: Reference #1) It goes without saying that moderators go through disturbing experiences like these day in and day out so that we don’t have to. Their work ensures that vile content stays off the internet. Stuff that often involves unspeakable human cruelty – from violent extremism, to murder, to animal torture, to child abuse, to rape, to self-harm, to hate speech, to terrorist propaganda and so on. Sometimes, it’s intentional shock material like or graphic pornography. At other times, it’s straight-up illegal affairs such as contraband solicitation. A moderator interviewed by VICE last year estimates 5-10% ( ) of what they see through the course of their work is potentially traumatizing. Elsagate Source: Reference #2 What does a Moderator do exactly? Media and Tech companies, especially those that allow user-generated media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Telegram etc. have community standards that are usually based on common sense principles and statutory law. In order to ensure that content posted on their platforms follow the guidelines, these companies employ AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning) algorithms to automatically filter out objectionable matter. Things that slip through the cracks go over to a moderator (or mod) queue for manual review. When a user reports anything, it goes through an automatic or manual review process A mod’s designation can vary from community mod to to content manager to legal removals associate ( ) etc. They can operate proactively if they detect questionable content or reactively in response to a report by a user. Based on their assessment, they can choose to keep, remove or escalate the flagged material to higher-ups. Escalations happen for grey areas such as a political matter. A user can also be temporarily suspended or permanently banned from the platform based on their actions. Some companies additionally have steps in place where mods can report a user to the police. process executive Source: Reference #3 Third-party contract workers receive anywhere between to $15/hour ( ) while directly employed moderators get better pay for this work. But the psychological trauma from reviewing 2000 flagged photos/hour ( ) or 400 reported posts/day and the resulting stress of maintaining a high is the same for all. Many of these moderators develop long-term such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and chronic anxiety as a result of prolonged exposure to the worst possible content. $1/hour Source: Reference #4 Source: Reference #5 accuracy score mental health disorders When exposed to smut like this, panic attacks and feeling sick at work are not uncommon ( ) Source To share some personal experience, as a community manager for various cryptocurrency projects, I have come across a variety of objectionable material in Telegram channels, Discord servers and chat forums – from racist jibes to drug peddling to CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) solicitation. Actions have ranged from permanent bans to reporting the matter to the FBI. Each of those incidents have been distressing to say the least. Where do games come in all of this? Games and social media have always been intersectional in the form of MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) such as World of Warcraft, RuneScape, League of Legends, Clash of Clans, Eve Online or Battle Royale games like Fortnite, PUBG, Call of Duty, Apex Legends or even other online multiplayer games such as Among Us, Minecraft, Pokemon Go, FarmVille etc. Players interact with each other through in-game channels, Discord servers, chat rooms, Twitch etc. over text, audio, video and file transfers. MMROPG's like Old School RuneScape (OSRS) have tens of thousands of players interacting at any given moment ( ) Source So, game moderators (or gamemasters) face similar challenges as above when handling these forums. There are fewer instances of heinous content in gaming forums compared to social media, however. Instead, moderators here have to focus more on issues such as harassment, spam, trolling, cheating, bullying and ensuring that game rules are not broken. Because of the competitive nature of games, these channels of communication could turn heated leaving mods with their hands full and on their toes. Moderators may be by publishers/developers or from the community with high trust scores. employed volunteers What are the legal implications of moderation? In the 90s, the early days of the internet, there was a widespread mass scare that the web would lead to the spread of pornography and the resulting promiscuity would destroy the social fabric. Media reports would use all kinds of names such as calling the internet a “global computer hookup” ( ). The fear-mongering got to a stage where rationalists had to counter repeated calls for censoring the internet. Source: Reference #5 Scare stories like these created negative public perception about the internet during its infancy ( ) Source Subsequently, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was ratified. This gave protection to platforms from the liability of publishers and the immunity to be able to remove bad content under the “Good Samaritan Clause”. This landmark law allowed the internet to grow to its size and form we see today. This is also what offers protection to moderators to go on about their jobs without fear of reprisal from affected parties. As games and social interactions move onto metaverses (more on that later), the same law will protect mods who “police” these realms to filter out bad behavior. However, there will be higher complexity of interactions in these settings, requiring new sets of guidelines for mods to operate. Just for an example, there could be instances of or stalking in the metaverse which require a moderator to step in and take corrective action. Without clear SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), moderators could remain second-guessing on taking a decisive measure. groping Wait, but what is a metaverse? Metaverse is a loosely held term that is usually meant to describe a shared immersive virtual realm that some envision as the future of the internet. This was largely a topic of science fiction until the advent of provably ownable digital assets in the form of cryptocurrencies and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). The closest precursors of a true metaverse experience would be various game worlds. However, traditional gaming communities and studios have been wary of crypto and its associated technologies so far. As a result, crypto-native companies like Decentraland and The Sandbox have spawned metaverse-like worlds where users can own assets (both portable and non-portable). Experiences in metaverses can range from visiting art exhibits ( ), attending , and much more. Source: Reference #6 music festivals playing games VICE's Michael Moynihan and Outlier Venture's Jamie Burke exploring Decentraland (Source: Reference #7) It should be noted that while various traditional game developers have expressed concerns around portability ( ) from a gameplay perspective, Web3 developers consider portability from an asset ownership perspective. This is a fundamental disconnect between two differing points of view. I explored the crypto-native outlook of metaverses in an last year. One thing that both sides might agree on is that “land” in the metaverse should be limitless. The promise of true permissionless, decentralized realms should also include infinite scalability. by crypto thought leader 6529 ( ) is an attempt to create an infinite metaverse where one can jump from realm to realm inside the metaverse while retaining ownership and use of their assets. As the website mentions, “Space is abundant in the metaverse”. Source: References #8 and #9 interview Open Metaverse Source: Reference #10 Facebook’s much publicized recent transition to Meta is focused on building its own metaverse as well. Imran Ahmed, CEO of Centre for Countering Digital Hate, says that Facebook’s move “was an inevitable next step in the evolution of social media. Allowing the virtual physical presence of the people that you’re connected to from around the world to you” ( ). It is unclear whether Meta will incorporate the ethos of crypto (decentralized, permissionless, self-custody) or build a walled garden with its own architecture instead. Source: Reference #11 digital assets and wallet Meta plans to create highly immersive experiences through a combination of hardware and software ( ) Source But if recent developments at , , , , , , and many other companies are an indication, NFTs, cryptocurrencies, blockchains, Web3 and all that comes along with them are inevitable. Instances of game studios nixing ( ) existing digital context (assets, score, progress etc) continue to make the case for Web3 developments. However, as some critics have , it is important to keep in mind the vectors of bad behavior in a world where blockchains can play a large role. Twitter Instagram YouTube Reddit Shopify Stripe eBay Source: Reference #12 pointed out This is where moderators will come in. A metaverse mod will have a completely different experience from existing media i.e. text, images, video, sound, files etc. In a metaverse, in addition to the above media, there will be avatars mimicking human actions and using digital assets to extend those behaviors which will also need moderation. It will be as real as it gets to the meatspace police trying to maintain civility and keeping the bad apples in check. Moderators will have their work cut out in a new paradigm. Employers, on their part, will have to ensure that this work is not only suitably rewarded but the mental well-being of those involved is also taken care of. Social media has already given an idea of the toll it takes on mods. This new iteration of social experience should not fail them as they strive to uphold the sanctity of metaverses for the rest of us. The author has no vested interest in any of the projects mentioned in this article. No information from the article should be construed as financial advice. Disclosure: Other References: Something strange is happening on Youtube #ElsaGate (The Outer Light): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlNKi5etxhk The Horrors of Being a Facebook Moderator | Informer (VICE): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHGbWn6iwHw Google and YouTube moderators speak out (The Verge): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqP-gde4M-Q Inside the traumatic life of a Facebook moderator (The Verge): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDnjiNCtFk4 Content Moderation And Free Speech | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | Netflix (Netflix Is A Joke): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CQ5-NMzG8s Tweet from The Sandbox: https://twitter.com/TheSandboxGame/status/1536408399730057216 Is Everything in Crypto a Scam? (VICE News): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB5OPthU75o Tweet from Xavier Coelho-Kostolny: https://twitter.com/xavierck3d/status/1480259615174455298 Tweet from Rami Ismail: https://twitter.com/tha_rami/status/1480404367459168258 Tweet from 6529: https://twitter.com/punk6529/status/1514718020849000461 Why You Should Be Worried About Facebook's Metaverse | System Error (VICE News): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bolyiGMcjBs Tweet from Eurogamer: https://twitter.com/eurogamer/status/1534590449012310017

The Other Side of Moderating the Metaverse

El otro lado de la moderación del metaverso

L'autre côté de la modération du métaverse

मेटावर्स को मॉडरेट करने का दूसरा पक्ष

メタバースのモデレートの裏側

O outro lado da moderação do metaverso

Mặt khác của việc kiểm duyệt Metaverse

调节元宇宙的另一面

“XEN.” by @ Cassiopeus https://www.hicetnunc.xyz/objkt/170135 Is it too late to be early? At this point, if you’re someone with an investor’s mindset who has heard about Web 3 and the metaverse, you’re probably wondering how you can grab a piece of the pie. You might have questions like: “What’s available to buy?”; "Am I too late to be an early investor?”; “Where do I even start?” If that sounds like you, let me be the first one to reassure you that you are incredibly early and that there are plenty of opportunities to grab hold of as this space continues to evolve. Metaverses are still in the process of being developed with many versions still in a presale phase. You’re not just on time to the party, you’re hours early and the host is wondering if they made a typo on your invitation. Where to Start A perfect place to start your metaverse investment journey is on . It’s time to do your own research so that you can make an informed decision based on the currently available options. Luckily for us, CoinMarketCap has a metaverse tag that can help make your search process much easier by filtering to cryptocurrencies that are in the metaverse space. Simply click “Categories” (next to the Cryptocurrencies tab) and scroll down until you find the metaverse category; it is currently #51 on the list. I’ll provide a link below for your convenience as well. CoinMarketCap Once in the Metaverse section of the website, you’ll currently find 32 tokens listed to peruse through until you find some of your liking. As of right now, some of the most promising projects include , , , , , and . The easiest way to invest in the future of the metaverse is to purchase the cryptocurrencies of the projects. Wilder World The Sandbox Decentraland StarLink UFO Gaming Star Atlas With Sandbox you can buy SAND, with Wilder World you can buy WILD, etc. Each coin typically has different steps that you must take in order to invest, so check out the website to get some guidance on your token of choice. Keep in mind, these are all very early tokens that rely on the success of the metaverse project and the team behind them. Think of this as investing in a startup tech company. This is a highly risky business; proceed with caution and don’t invest more than you’re okay with losing entirely. Metaverse Land Buying digital land within metaverse projects is one way to really stake your claim in the project and loudly proclaim “I believe in the future of this!” It may sound really complicated, but in reality, land usually isn’t difficult to buy. It does, however, tend to come at a decent price premium, so make sure you’re able to make an informed decision if you do decide to purchase your own digital land. In order to demonstrate how to buy land (keep in mind it varies between each project), I’m going to use Sandbox as our example. First, you’ll want to head over to the official Sandbox website . Once there, you should see a drop-down menu on the left side of the screen. Click the icon that says “Market”. Within the market, there are various filters that you can apply. Scroll down the filter list until you find “NFT Type”, click on “Lands”. https://www.sandbox.game/en/ This will pull up the different parcels of land on the secondary market that are available to buy within the Sandbox metaverse. If you find one that is to your liking and click on it, you will be redirected to OpenSea where you can complete the transaction to purchase the land. In addition to the secondary market that is available, you can also participate in primary land sales. These occur every so often, and I recommend following Sandbox on Twitter (@ ) and joining their discord ( ). TheSandboxGame https://discord.com/invite/vAe4zvY Metaverse NFTs As I discussed in my on Hackernoon, the backbone of the metaverse will be NFTs. From your avatar, to your vehicles, to your HQ within the metaverse, all will be NFTs that you alone own. genesis article Right now many metaverse projects are already selling NFTs to consumers, even before the full project has actually launched. These early metaverse NFTs are something that I can foresee appreciating greatly in the coming years due to the allure of them being some of the very first ever released. Others in the NFT space seem to have a similar sentiment, as evidenced by the highly successful Wilder World auctions that have already taken place. On September 16, 2021 the Wilders hosted an auction for 99 digital “Air Wild” sneakers that metaverse citizens will be able to equip within Wilder World. These sneakers launched as some of the very first NFTs to be offered for the Wilder World metaverse, and closing auction prices were astronomical. The highlights of the auction were the “Bone Animal” edition, which sold for $28,200, and the “OG Coral” edition, which sold for $35,003. The Metaverse is for You With three main investment opportunities currently available within emerging metaverses, it really is hard to go wrong. Whether you want to become a digital real estate tycoon, stockpile prestigious NFT items, or stick to the currencies that back these incredible projects, the future of the metaverse has something for you. Go get out there, explore the unknown, and find something that’s right for you. Opportunity is ripe, and the time to get in early is now! Disclaimer: This article is written purely for entertainment and educational purposes and should not be taken as professional financial advice in any way. Do your own research and, if you are seeking financial advice, find a professional who is right for you. This article is part of The hosted by HackerNoon in partnership with Gaming Metaverse Writing Contest . The Sandbox Submit your today for your chance to win up to $2000. #gaming-metaverse story

How You Can Invest in the Metaverse Today

I was introduced to NFTs in general whilst perusing Twitter, particularly Crypto Twitter content after having rediscovered a wallet I had created a few years earlier. Why would anyone buy these JPEGs, I wondered, just right click and 'save as' I thought. I just didn’t get it. Forward on 6 months and boy, now I get it!! These are more than just digital art some of this stuff is revolutionary. That is when the Rabbit hole led me to the metaverse and The Sandbox. The Sandbox is a Voxel-based Metaverse with NFT's which aren't just a JPEG but a parcel of Land in which you may build out environments for games. A number of well-known organisations such as Atari, The Smurfs and The Walking Dead have bought Land for this reason. So this could be a good purchase, a parcel of Land in The Sandbox, I needed to know more. Specifically, what can I do with it, hang on to it and sell it in 12 months and hope for a profit? Possibly. However it turns out you’ll probably be able to rent your land out to game makers. I like that idea as a form of passive income. Could I build on the Land myself? How big is a Parcel of Land? Is it big enough to do something with? The Sandbox state, “A single 1x1 plot of Land is 96 metres in width by 96 metres in length, making it a perfect square. They are also 128 metres in height. In The Sandbox's metaverse, 1 metre is the equivalent of 32x32x32 voxels.” 96 metres by 96 meters, it still didn't sound that big to me. Then I came across a ‘The Sandbox 1 Week Challenge’ run by Boop Goop & The Sandbox’s Andy Richy. The actual Tweet that got my attention started with “How big is a @TheSandboxGame 1x1 Land?” The actual challenge was to split a 1x1 parcel of land in the Game Maker into 4 segments and build a different Biome/Landscape on each. The Game Maker is a program you download and build your experience in, ready to publish to a parcel of Land. You don't actually require a piece of Land at this point. Although I had never tried anything like this before I decided to give it a go. So, I downloaded and Installed Game Maker from The Sandbox website, installed it, watched a few tutorials, read the official Sandbox documentation and got to work. There was a week to build, learning as I went and it turned out quite easy to use the Game Maker if you followed the tutorials. I started by building out a desert scene for my first quarter with oasis, a pyramid, and a temple and dropped a few camels in. My 2nd quarter became a snow scene with wolves and a snow mountain. My 3rd landscape was a volcano and now I was getting ambitious. For my final quarter, I dug down and built a platform-style maze which actually felt so much bigger than it was once you jumped in. Once finished I published my attempt in The Sandbox gallery. I didn’t expect much from my first attempt but was obviously interested to see who would win and see what I could learn from the other entries. To my surprise when the results of the competition were revealed I had come second. So here I am pretty pleased with myself and my second place, and the accompanying prize, of course. But this was more about having some fun. It was showing what you could do with a 1x1 parcel of land. So, I did buy a parcel of land, or 2. That’s how I became a landowner...in the metaverse. This article is part of The hosted by HackerNoon in partnership with Gaming Metaverse Writing Contest The Sandbox . Submit your #gaming-metaverse story today for your chance to win up to $2000 in SAND tokens.

How I Became a Landowner (in the Metaverse)

Hi there! I am Reart, and today I asked myself a question. How can I make the world of cryptocurrencies more profitable or more fun? So I found some information that you all should really know. This article will introduce blockchain games, NFTs, and some of my favorite Play2Earn gaming metaverses. : Blockchain Games Blockchain games are a new frontier with limitless possibilities. It’s not a stretch to say that blockchain technology has the potential to change the game as we know it and create a gaming metaverse, where play creates opportunities for earning cryptocurrencies or NFTs (non-fungible tokens) in a decentralized environment. But how does this work? What are some of the benefits? And more importantly, what does this mean for players and developers alike? In this post, we will explore some of the answers to these questions and discuss where you can find projects to get involved with now! But before we can do that, we need to understand what blockchain is. : Blockchain and Cryptocurrency The internet changed the way we store, access, and share knowledge. And blockchain has the potential to change the way we transact, create value, and transfer or verify ownership. The power of blockchain lies in its ability to provide a shared ledger system that is immutable and decentralized. Anything stored on the blockchain is shared by all network participants, making it almost impossible for data to be tampered with or altered. It also allows for new systems of ownership to be created through smart contracts – essentially snippets of code that run on blockchain networks – and use case scenarios that have not yet been explored. The most popular application of blockchain technology currently is cryptocurrency. Most people have heard of Bitcoin, the first widely adopted cryptocurrency that saw a large increase in adoption and value over the past couple of years. Currently, there are over 2,000 other active cryptocurrencies with various use cases and projects in development. Another trending activity on the blockchain is token generation events (also called ICOs), where new digital tokens are created and sold to interested investors in exchange for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ether. A few years back, Blizzard announced that it was moving forward with a plan to play around with blockchain technology and introduce a new kind of in-game currency that can be bought using actual money. The currency will take the form of a token that players could use to gain access to certain features or bonuses in their favorite games. We believe this is the first major step toward a monetization system based on proven blockchain technology, opening new opportunities for publishers and players alike. Blockchain games are the new craze in the entertainment industry. They could revolutionize gaming and application development, becoming a mainstream way of playing with or developing digital assets. There are several different blockchain games you can play right now, and more content is being produced each day. These blockchain games exist on their own blockchain networks and are distributed across thousands of nodes. And now is the time to learn about NFTs. ? So What are Non-Fungible Tokens Non-fungible tokens are unique digital assets that are distinguishable from one another while still being equal.  Think of them as digital collectible "things." You can use them in games, apps, and other digital experiences. It's what makes trading cards so special. Every card is different but is equal to every other card in the pack, whether it's rare or common. Right now, we're just at the beginning stages of this technology—so there are still lots of unanswered questions about how these unique things will be used and what they'll enable us to accomplish in the future. But it's important to understand how non-fungible tokens work to get a handle on just how revolutionary they could be. These are special kinds of crypto assets designed for specific use cases or to represent unique things. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, which are technically divisible and can be broken down into smaller amounts, NFTs cannot be divided—they're considered indivisible digital assets that can't be broken down into smaller parts. Metaverse : In Metaverse, users can make and trade digital assets like oil, investments, and land. In addition, metaverse is backed by the world’s first cross-blockchain connection, making it easy for developers to integrate blockchain games into their applications. The Metaverse blockchain also offers a wide range of choices in terms of apps and games. In the future, the concept of Metaverse extends augmented reality to the blockchain. As a result, users can purchase and trade digital assets and create their own tokenized assets. ? You must be thinking, what are ‘Digital Assets’ Treat your digital assets as you would treat your physical belongings. You don’t lend out your car without expecting it to be returned in the same condition, so why would you lend out a game character, which can lose value? You wouldn’t! It defeats the purpose of owning something if you have no control over it, but with Metaverse, every asset is encrypted and protected by law. Digital assets can be bought, sold, and traded on the blockchain through smart contracts. ? Why use a Metaverse It is a fact that the majority of online gaming platforms are centralized, meaning data is stored in a single location. Bluntly stated, this leads to a breach of user privacy and puts the gaming system at risk for hacking and damage. On the other hand, metaverse was designed to be decentralized – it’s completely secure because it uses blockchain technology as its foundation. As a result, users have heightened control over their digital assets and data. Here is my favorite Metaverse, TheSandboxGame : Sandbox gaming metaverse is a platform for new games where users can create worlds and share them with others. The worlds are created using a voxel-building tool, which is similar to Minecraft. This is a world for people interested in playing different games but also happen to play them online. It provides players with the freedom to use all of their creativity and imagination to make their games. The benefits of sandbox gaming can include more creative freedom, better collaboration among players, and more user-friendly interfaces. It is imperative to understand that a sandbox game metaverse doesn't just mean one type of game world. There could be many different worlds within it, such as fantasy, sci-fi, modern civilization, etc. People here can buy LAND and make some good profits from them by doing some activities there. A LAND is a piece of The Sandbox metaverse, providing access to exclusive content as well as granting the possibility to monetize your own part of The Sandbox’s Metaverse. Build experiences, host events, invite friends. There is also $SAND, the main utility token that allows you to buy and sell LANDS and ASSETS. This is where the article ends; I hope you learned something from it. And personally, I am fond of THE SANDBOX GAME. Thanks for giving your valuable time to read this. Nothing mentioned in the article should be taken as financial or legal advice. Seriously Do Your Own Research and And then decide What You Really Want to Do… This article is part of The hosted by HackerNoon in partnership with Gaming Metaverse Writing Contest . The Sandbox Submit your #gaming-metaverse story today for your chance to win up to $2000 in SAND tokens.

Blockchain Gaming & The Metaverse: Everything You Need to Know

In the world of searching for the next big thing, the metaverse looms large. Fueled by “what if” dreams and outlined by fiction, the concept has been around for decades — look back at the first in-print appearance in a , for example. With advances in technology, what once seemed impossible is quickly becoming a true reality. Platforms like is proof of this. 1992 novel The Sandbox As with anything that impacts society via the world wide web, the metaverse puts business owners and startup launchers on notice. So what, exactly, does the onset of the metaverse mean for you and your venture? Defining the Metaverse The meaning of “metaverse” has grown and expanded since it was first suggested with the advent of internet socialization. At the core, it’s about connections — connections between people, and connections with tech that facilitate what we do, who we talk to, and how we live. Add to that how we make purchasing decisions, interact with brands, and run our businesses. From both the business side and the consumer side, the metaverse offers some unique opportunities for anyone willing to take advantage of them. Dipping our toes into the metaverse could mean something as simple as including — and as complex and unique as using a virtual reality setting to communicate with clients or market new features. The full use of the metaverse is limited only by the type of startup. automated AI chatbots for customer service So how can you ensure that your startup is completely ready for the full integration of the metaverse? Leveraging the Turn The scope of functionality for the metaverse is huge, but it boils down to a few key elements: identity and connectivity. Leveraging these two elements can set your startup on the path to metaverse success. In my own experience with numerous startups, I can personally attest to the importance of both, even before the most recent iteration of the metaverse. With the popular emphasis on virtual reality, augmented reality, and other ways to boost our workaday world into something more special, I would certainly recommend any startup entrepreneur to put their attention on these two aspects. Identifying Your Startup in the Megaverse Okay, branding isn’t new - but that doesn’t mean it’s any less important just because it’s one of the most commonly recommended areas of focus for a startup. Branding is how you identify your company, and with the advent of the metaverse, there are simply more arenas in which you must be clearly identified — and more ways to do so. And more meaning behind it, too. Take something basic and fundamental, like designing a logo. Pre-metaverse, logo design was more about putting a label on your company. Messaging should be a key player in design — making sure that your logo appeals to your target audience, for example — but the metaverse itself stems from connectivity, the purpose of bringing people together. Acknowledging that basis could lead a graphic designer to create a logo with a more community-minded meaning that translates well across all platforms used by your startup. For example, the great Saul Bass designed some of the for brands such as AT&T and Kleenex. most famous and iconic logos Reaching out to any new platform requires an understanding of the nuances that caused the construction of that platform — at least, in order to leverage the platform to its highest extent. Feeding that information into your branding enables you to design branding that appeals to your wider audience by demonstrating your understanding of where they come from, and why they’re there. I definitely recommend any startup entrepreneur to review their branding initiatives before launching into the metaverse. Excellent branding is imperative for building loyalty among your customer base, but it can be even more important as we head into an expanded online universe that utilizes metaverse principles as our new reality. Connecting With Your Audience Okay, here’s a big one that you’ve never heard before: utilize social media for your startup. Yeah, that was a sarcastic. You’ve almost certainly heard branding expert after branding expert sing the praises of using social media — more than half of consumers turn to social media to learn about new brands, and nearly and interact with brands. little 70% use social media to communicate Right from the beginning, the metaverse was all about connectivity. Today, it hasn’t really changed. Reaching out, starting conversations, and allowing your audience to touch base with your brand and get to know your startup as a personality is all part of interacting in the metaverse. My suggestion here would be to make your brand a real personality and leverage the metaverse to facilitate interactions. This can be done in a variety of ways — one suggestion is using the chatbot AI on your website as the brand “personality” and writing scripts that fit in with how your brand would interact if it was a real person. As a serial entrepreneur, facilitating connections with my customer base is one of my absolute favorite features of starting and running my businesses. The metaverse gives me and other entrepreneurs an even wider range of possibilities to initiate and grow those connections. Is Your Startup Metaverse-Ready? Most discussion about the metaverse centers on the use of individual methodologies like virtual reality, augmented reality, and virtual conversations. I love the use of these as facilitators to make connections between brands and audiences, and between humans and other humans. For your startup, it’s definitely important to be ready to utilize these specific aspects, especially as your audience increasingly turns to AI, videos, and varying levels of reality. But the most important thing to remember is that the metaverse sprang from a desire to connect more deeply, more broadly, with others. If you remember that principle as you design your startup launch, you’ll be ready for the world of the metaverse.

Is Your Startup Brand Ready for the Metaverse? 

The Sandbox offers everyone — from crypto investors to thrill-seekers — a chance to play unique and fun games while earning cash. Upon , players will get the chance to explore new worlds and complete creative quests within them. There are even collaborations with popular franchises that can be found in this metaverse. One such franchise players can find in The Sandbox is The Walking Dead, a hit franchise about zombie survival that has boasted collaborations with other games before. The Walking Dead: A Day in Alexandria is the official world featured in The Sandbox Alpha Season 3, though the amount of official content featured in the world is somewhat lacking. entering The Sandbox The Sandbox Alpha Season 3 - The Walking Dead: A Day in Alexandria When players first find themselves entering A Day in Alexandria, they’re greeted with an interesting set piece. Mounted soldiers fend off nearby zombies amongst broken, rusty cars and buses. Fans of the series will quickly find themselves face-to-face with Michonne — someone that should be very familiar to them. She’s the first one to direct players to the iconic Alexandria Safe-Zone, complete with its walls and numerous residents. Players will find the names of other familiar characters such as Eugene, Rick, and Negan, but there are also a couple of named survivors not present in other Walking Dead media. This ties into the world’s story, making some notable departures from events found elsewhere in the franchise. Rather than following an exact timeline, the version of The Walking Dead featured in The Sandbox seems to be a collection of famous characters all together in one famous location. There are many aspects of this world that don’t line up with the hit TV series or other media. Even some characters that can be found in places like the novels or the show don’t reflect their Sandbox counterparts at all, though this might simply be a case of common names showing up in more places than one. It could be argued that this was done on purpose, though more critical fans might wonder if any writers involved in The Walking Dead had any input on this collaboration at all. The “Gameplay” of A Day in Alexandria Despite any arguments that can be made about A Day in Alexandria’s faithfulness, one can’t help but acknowledge how heavily it focuses on its writing. Every quest is focused around getting the player to connect with Alexnadria’s inhabitants through dialogue and worldbuilding. The player is never in any danger, but the constant air of mistrust and aggressive nature of some survivors can still lead to tensions rising every now and then. The world acts somewhat similar to a visual novel in that sense, using its quests to tell a story for the player to get immersed in. Unfortunately, this focus on storytelling leads to extremely poor gameplay. For a franchise so heavily focused on survival, betrayal, and conflict, there’s no point in which players will need to fend off anything. Even the walkers found outside of Alexandria are nothing more than animated statues unable to harm the player. This wouldn’t be too big of an issue on its own, but the quests given to players don’t offer a very good substitute. They simply involve running from place to place, occasionally carrying an item over to another survivor or just inspecting random areas within the safe-zone. The most these quests offer is busywork, and though players still get rewarded for completing them, it’s hard to feel engaged with them and their stories. Final Thoughts on The Sandbox Version of The Walking Dead It’s hard to recommend The Walking Dead on The Sandbox for any reason other than earning rewards from quests. A lot of the references to The Walking Dead itself are very surface-level, and the quests surrounding them don’t offer any sort of challenge or variety. It’s especially a shame because there are many Sandbox worlds that offer a lot more than this, so to see such a grand franchise represented so poorly can only make one wonder where it all went so wrong. A big reason why the concept of the metaverse turns people away is because there haven’t been many metaverses that rival the creativity and variety of other games out there. The Sandbox has numerous tools and resources to allow that creativity, but many of the official worlds don’t make use of them. It makes sense when considering worlds based around celebrities, but not with major franchises like The Walking Dead. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time The Sandbox has collaborated with The Walking Dead. They featured a Game Jam back in 2021, giving players the chance to make their own game based on the franchise. Some of these games are actually very fun and creative, pitting players against massive hordes of zombies. It’s a wonder the official experience featured in The Sandbox Alpha Season 3 turned out so poorly in comparison. A Day in Alexandria makes one thing clear. If major franchises want to make a leap into the metaverse, they have to push themselves harder than simply plastering their name onto a virtual world. There’s a potential for entire Triple-A titles to be published on metaverses like The Sandbox, but if there’s not much effort put into the games themselves, this possibility isn’t going to lead anywhere.

Stories, News & Mentions about THESANBOXGAME

Thesanboxgame’s Stories on HackerNoon