Scarcity and the Scaries: Rethinking the Metaverse With Aavegotchi's Lickquidators

In the blockchain gaming world, a familiar scene has played out in almost every project. Within minutes of the launch of any NFT, from virtual land to pixelated pets, these items get snatched up within seconds. Sometimes by bots, sometimes by individuals who have loaded an ungodly amount of gas into their wallets.

This was also what happened during the launch of Aavegotchi’s first Haunt, where 10, 000 portals were bought within a minute of their launch. Plenty of community members were left Gotchi-less and wondering how else they could participate in the Aavegotchi platform.

This isn’t really a problem for those hoping to make a quick buck – scarcity and market forces take care of that. The problem instead plagues those who truly hope to take part in the experience of any metaverse. When you zoom out, this creates longer term issues for the project and even the value of the NFTs in the realm. The problem is this: no one wants to buy into a game that only whales can meaningfully participate in.

Aavegotchi’s innovative answer to this comes in the form of the Lickquidators.

What are Lickquidators?

Lickquidators are the yin to the Aavegotchis yang in the Gotchiverse.

Every good story needs an element of chaos; the antagonists to the otherwise idyllic lives of the protagonists. This is where the Lickquidators come in. While you should definitely read the project’s litepaper to get a better sense of the project’s lore, the gist is that Lickquidators are free-to-play, one-time-use avatars that you can choose to control, as you navigate the Gotchiverse. As normal Aavegotchis go on with their day-to-day activities, from building on their Realm parcels and going on missions, you’ll get to throw a spanner in the works.

The main goal of a Lickquidator is to collect loose Alchemica that has been spilled all over the Gotchiverse. Lickquidators will also engage in combat with Aavegotchis and their installations to earn Alchemica (ERC20 tokens that can be exchanged for rewards).

Anyone who has Lickquidator credits can choose to play as one. These are obtained by completing simple tasks in the larger Aavegotchi system, such as referring friends to the project, participating in airdrops, amongst other free to complete tasks. Otherwise, if you have some spare cash on hand, you can also purchase these credits with GHST, the project’s native token.

Right, but how is this good for all of us?

The idea behind creating such a mechanism is to lower the barriers and costs to participating in the Gotchiverse, making the game far more accessible to a wider audience. This doesn’t mean that you won’t be making gains from your Aavegotchis or the project – the mechanism simply helps anyone who wants to dip their toe in the Gotchiverse to do so. Those who are curious but are not yet ready to fully commit funds can now readily access and play an important role in the Gotchiverse. 

As the prospect of mass adoption interacts with other existing models of the project, such as its dynamic supply curve, holders of the GHST token also benefit from an increase in its price. On the other hand, introducing a whole new segment of people on the decentralized Web to Aavegotchi also helps bring in fresh interest and capital, which could potentially help push up prices of Aavegotchis and their wearables.

Admittedly, these things all take time and might not bring the instant gratification that flipping a Godlike Aavegotchi Wearable currently brings. But for players looking for an engaging metaverse to spend their days in while playing-to-earn, this path forward seems sustainable and fresh. The narrative around NFTs has long centered around exclusivity. But as the mainstream hype simmers down, it’s a good time to expand the definition of what it means to hold an NFT, and how further layers of utility can be unlocked. 

Or, maybe we can all just stop thinking about gains obsessively for a second. A huge part of metaverses is the experience itself, and the escape from the grind it can be. Sometimes, all you really want to do is to just vibe and have a good time with your ghostly frens.

So, Wen????

The first live portion of the Gotchiverse Realm will actually go live in Q4 2021 in an exclusive and Lickquidator-free area called the Citaadel. The Lickquidators are set to arrive in phase 2, during the first part of 2022. That’s when the invasion of Lickquidators come knocking just outside the Citaadel’s walls. 

There’s plenty to do to get prepared in the lead up to the launch. The first REALM (yield bearing in-game land) presale goes live likely in September, with subsequent rounds happening before the year’s end. 

In the meantime, you can stay spooky and keep up with everything that’s going on at Aavegotchi’s social pages (and verify that you’re on the right page):

• Aavegotchi Medium
• Aavegotchi Twitter
• Aavegotchi Discord
• Aavegotchi Wiki
• Aavegotchi Telegram