What Does it Take to Really Become a Metaverse Gamer?

Four months later after my ongoing adventure with blockchain Technology, I finally come across a book Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, an American Writer. This book I can't say(for sure) blew my mind;

(1) Maybe because I already knew what the content entailed before advancing to reading it, (2) Or because I strongly believe that imagination of unknown worlds are realities unforeseen, uncreated, yet.

The summary of it all is this; One man conceived a Metaverse world in 1992 and every feature of that world is taking shape as a reality today - That is exactly what keeps nagging at my mind.

Fortunately, this is not what this post is gonna be about. I wanted to include my experience with Snow Crash as a way to divulge into the Metaverse Term without sounding too cliche or like a sole boat joining in on the party.

A Blockchain Story - Introduction to Rubbing Elbows with Blockchain

What does the Blockchain GameFi world Entail?, How does one find their way amongst all the Noise?

Are you here for just the thrill or is there something deeper you are searching for?

Strangely enough, I think that my experience and adventure in the blockchain Play2earn world has further enabled me to discover myself(at least an important piece of myself), how the finance world works in general, how to handle money, and eventually what being around money really feels like.

It's an exhilarating experience that I'm sure every one of us here(in the space) experiences continuously or at one time or another. This experience has touched me deeply in a way that I feel obligated and committed to expanding tangible information about the whole process involved to others just getting started.

Most of us here, doing what we do, are driven by passion - either from games, social interaction, or maybe just the flipping around of tokens. So, I was thinking recently, how do people who are less aware of the techniques and have no background logic advance in this Gamefi space?

My first instinct might be to say;

So long! this isn't the space for you, find somewhere more suited to your vibration! Have you considered photography? xD. But then, when looking at the bigger picture I realized that; This space we have in motion - Blockchain Tech, Web 3.0, Decentralized Finance & Ecosystem, Metaverse world, etc should NOT be reserved for just the people with a technical drive in the inner workings or previous background with blockchain and crypto, because Social Interaction should be for everyone, Managing your Personal Data should be for all, Marching into the future Internet with Web 3.0 should be for all, and finally, The Metaverse is gonna be for all.

A Blockchain Story - My Personal Interaction with Blockchain Tech

The first time I heard about Axie Infinity funnily enough was way back in April 2021, I read an article about NFTs games and how you could literally earn from them. I arrived on the Axie Infinity marketplace and I can vaguely remember seeing Axies priced at less than $100. It said that I needed three Axies to start playing and although I thought this was a fair deal, I didn't have the funds readily available for this, furthermore, I had absolutely no idea how to transfer cash from my Mom's bank to Axie Marketplace (That was the most limiting, to just think about it right now Ugh).

My second attempt with the Blockchain Space was with NFTs, I had somehow learned about Sorare NFTs Soccer Game also in April, and since I am a huge football fan, I thought that I could have fun playing this game while earning (Uh, That was my main goal back then). If I remember correctly, it was from this exact post - Top 5 Most Popular NFTs game in 2021 on the Trust wallet Site. This got me so excited about Trust wallet and I started browsing through the various Dapps on it. I found out about the idea of minting artworks on Trustwallet Dapps like Rarible, Opensea, AirNFTs, and decided to give it a shot because I had a couple of Artworks to upload(created with Blender), I was stumped yet again with the Gas fee Obligation for minting.

April became Officially, the month that I started exploring blockchains applications and understanding how they worked. Too bad though, I got off from it all to face other pressing matters in my life.

5 Months Later

August 28, 2021, - marked the day I would begin a 2.0 version of my exploration with Blockchain and Play2Earn Ecosystem. When I think back now, it feels almost just like a script out of a movie. It's like... Click Click ... Now you can start your adventure. Because the situation in which I got a rekindled awareness and enthusiasm was totally unexpected because I literally did not go searching for it, rather it came to me. No doubt, that day marks the entire turning point of my life --- In an extremely positive way.

- Splinterlands And AxieInfinity

The two most popular games in the Play2Earn Ecosystem, and I've been lucky enough to play them both. Getting on Splinterlands was fairly easy for me, a couple of Reddit posts came in very handy, By the time I was already conversant with Crypto transactions which were essential in transferring over crypto-payment for the great summoners book, to properly kickstart my earnings adventure in Splinterlands.

Axie Infinity was most difficult to get into. I can't express fully how I felt when I was in the Axie Infinity world, whether through their Reddit or Discord Channels. The prices for a starter team were ridiculous and I was pained at why I couldn't take up the opportunity during April when I first found out about it when the community hadn't yet exploded which made things just super oppressive. It taught me a great truth and lesson about the crypto world - You are always gonna have regrets. And justifying those regrets is the best way to move forward.

What I did back then And I've done ever since when faced with crippling [Had I Known situations] is to tell myself this -

(1) I couldn't predict that this would turn out like this because I'm human

(2) If I had the chances in my favor (time, money, risk factor) no doubt I would have savaged this opportunity.

The Axie Infinity community felt oppressive, more so because of the huge noise on how people were making millions from it - Buying houses, cars, and other shit. My plan was to get in as a scholar since I had no way of affording the huge starter fee. The scholarship route CAN be a nightmare, Gosh, It began to dawn on me and I started to feel sick at some point. The number of scholars on the waitlist, ready to do anything to get into Axie Infinity(not literally), they could even take a cut of 30 - 70(in the manager's favor) if it just means they get accepted.

After sending my information manually to several "supposed" managers, I started feeling uncomfortable with the idea of sharing my information so freely with strangers. They ask a bunch of questions in a google docs file and you gotta answer them.

A site Potato.gg is created so that players can reach out to Managers in one sitting, and while I didn't think it effective (as opposed to manually sending out several documents and getting a reply soon), I filled in mine regardless, and Lo', That was how I eventually gained admission as a scholar, In the least way I expected, on a day that Axie Infinity was already out of my mind.

Trying to find your Feet , Admist all the Noise

Did my quest end there? Of course Not, silly Question But the Play2Earn Industry is just getting Started…

And with that In mind, I kept telling myself that It was gonna be a rollercoaster in the coming months. When you go on dedicated Play2Earn communities on Reddit and Discord, you are getting filled in with huge amounts of Information. With the explosion of Axie Infinity in value, people in the space and psyched-up newcomers are aware of the life-changing, and wallet-wrecking opportunities (if I can call it that) that exist. One month in from August 2021, when my Play2Earn adventure began, I felt totally out of my mind(completely disorientated).

I gather that a lot of folks felt the same way, as I did. Let me try and explain it in more verbal terms;

I was feeling a lot of pressure with the information I found online, the amount of play2earn games that kept popping up was ridiculous and furthermore, I knew they looked ridiculous, but here were people hyping it up and claiming the hundreds and thousands they were making from it.

I was in this space to earn money after all, and so it was hectic trying to process all that information. In fact, I was asking all these questions because I felt that I should get up to speed(ASAP) about the space being a noob and all, so I don't miss out on future opportunities; My Mind rattled with the following questions, and DID it help that I saw similar questions from other folks?

Question 1

Free Play2Earn Games - How can I earn without Investing money?, I selfishly think that the thriving ecosystem of Play2Earn Games can be able to fend for some rewards that should be distributed rightfully to me (Pun Intended)

Question 2

How much realistically can I earn from playing Splinterlands and Axie Infinity, in 2 weeks?

Question 3

Ok guys alas I'm late to Axie Infinity, I don't get that kind of entry Cash anywhere, what other games have an ecosystem projected to upscaleor are currently on the rise?

My Answer to Question 1

You know what, in less than my entire four months journey with play2earn gaming, I came to realize that; If your goal is to enjoy and derive pleasure from playing blockchain games, don't even bother. Why?

(1) Majority of the Games aren't Enjoyable

(2) It would be difficult to find a truly enjoyable game, making it better to leave it up to chance OR give the time the industry needs to mature.

That being said, it also doesn't mean there aren't games out there that can retain some user's attention, there are of course, but when I say Addictive Games that you can lose urself in?, Nuh-uh.

On the other hand, if your goal is to make money by playing free-to-play games(games not requiring an initial cash investment), It's a grey area, because yeah, One game, in particular, has so far changed this status, and links are shared at the end of this post, so you can explore the Game in question.

My Answer to Question 2

I saw a lot of hazy answers on this, but NONE were really suited to my unique situation. How do I mean? - It's really hard to bank on the information shared in this respect because the information shared can be highly variable, it's almost always a question of - See for yourself.

For example, Imagine a Splinterlands Silver league player describing his earnings system on Reddit, I mean come on, I'm still trying to climb up from Bronzed league. But since I think I'm smart, I could try to use a simple mathematical calculation to figure out my earnings similarly.

Doing this though, I might be in for a shock because what if the earnings are in exponential distribution, what if the prices of the tokens fluctuate negatively the moment I start playing? I mean, these variables are highly unpredictable. At the same time, they could work splendidly in a different scenario at the end of the day.

My Answer to Question 3

I see this question A LOT, and I mean it's only logical, people are searching for the next opportunities and they want to make sure not to miss out. This question was constantly in my head and propelled me to search far and wide, filtering through ALL Play2Earn Games I could come across, hoping for when I could run into a game early on that is SET to Explode. The sad truth that has finally dwelled on me is that; The same thing we saw with Axie would never (necessarily) happen in the same way it did, it's like the world is programmed in such a way, Skeptical Analysts refer to them as Black Swans, Unpredictable events that happen when no one is ready, and never happen again (because everyone is ready).

Take this Analysis for an example; The Logical-Abstract Main reason Axie grew explosively was that it had a healthy economy that was not at its heels to drain the game of incentives, it had time to grow, it went through a transition period of Good Earnings, Great Earnings, Awesome Earnings, up until Extraordinary Earnings, and the Community saw this as a Blessing(before it was even captured in the media). Now that people are ready waiting, people are ready to plunge, cash out and drain any community that grows exponentially right under their eyes, check this token, it's the BEST Example there is. Lesson to Learn; Drastic Change is like Poison.

Stupidly enough, the easiest way for me to check Blockchain Games with an ascending Economic Value is through DappRadar. Pft, I should have spent those time searching for tools and resources that can help me research trends but I know much better now!.

Future Goals as a Metaverse Player

Amongst all the Questions, Pressures, Market Storms, Gaming Disappointments, I know one thing for sure

“that I'm here to stay, BECAUSE what could be better than being in a digital world, owning your data, playing awesome games(soon-to-be), earning money, resourcefully engaging your skills, socially interacting with like-minded folks with sick looking avatars, and making life easier for everyone in a way no other "JOB" has achieved up till now?”

Expectations

If I was to truly narrate my expectations for the future and world of Metaverse, it had seem like I was crazy(when In fact, I'm a thoroughly logical person). When did being utterly imaginative become a crime?, why do people tend strongly to NOT believe realities that are yet unforeseen, nonexistent, and uncreated. Hasn't history shown us time and time again what we humans are truly capable of? I'm not gonna spell out that shit of; We can do anything we put our mind to (even though it's damn true lol), but my reasoning goes like this;

Creativity is a Sequence of Steps, you can't leap across steps right in front of you. When we predict such fantasy worlds, we limit our minds by thinking in terms of today! Thinking in terms of Technology that we have available today, Although once better bridging tech becomes available, we are fully capable of making that giant leap

My expectations for the Metaverse are very simple, - "A Meta World like Somnium Space but with more crazy spice.

• Somnium Space with Custom Avatars that can be in any form you choose
• Avatars that can make interactive movements and Dance fluidly(work it, work it, work it Lol)
• Somnium Space with Mall buildings in different worlds and people transacting openly
• The Mall is filled with personal business, posters, gaming hubs, services like (elevators, escalators, barbers, teleporters) all in one Big jumble of Digital EcoMarket.
• Somnium Space with a [Medium of VR] that is very comfortable and convenient. Hey, stop thinking in terms of Headsets for a Bit? Cause you just never know
• Somnium space with Digital Tech Controlling with the Brain. We already have such a tech available today so don't feel too sorry for me, LOL. I choose to stop right here before I get too wired up.

Roadblocks

Ah, the Roadblocks are plenty. But like I said, One creative door opens another;

1. Price of Metaverse Assets

It's no doubt that the immense ecosystem of Metaverse Worlds would cause them to be very expensive - at least for majority of users to have a shot conveniently. If there is a very high demand (as I expect there would), there would be a crazy price attached to the Assets in a Metaverse.

For example, During land sale periods, people who grab them at that price are almost guaranteed of making back their initial investments plus loads of profit when they sell in the future because, then the World has gained popularity = more traction = higher demands.

It is sad to see these same projections happening in The Sandbox, Gala Games, Mobux Ecosystem, etc. Especially for the last two, the prices are just plain crazy and they happen to have the highest quality games in the industry today. This Early Adopter syndrome is a competitive Race but too bad that's just the way markets work,

Low Demands = Buy Low

High Demands = Sell High AND ViceVersa

2. VR Hardware and PC GPU Requirements

This is gonna be a big hurdle in front of the Metaverse and until this issue is solved, the Meta-VR Gaming World would fail to go mainstream.

Look at Facebook(Now Meta, but consider Their FB App) for Example, with about 3 billion users, why do you think this is so? Surely NOT because Facebook is an Attractive App, Hell no! But because it's available to a large mass of the world and literally 84% of the world population has access to mobile devices.

When you also analyze the fact that Mobile Games is levels higher in revenue they generate over PC and console games combined you can conclude that, the easier the medium, the more access to targeted user base communities. For VR and the Metaverse, we literally want all gamers (casual, pro, inclined) and even social interactive gamers(like second World) to be involved.

Social Interactions

Yeah, I think this might be the point most folks can predict or visualize the metaverse as. A bunch of people represented by custom avatars and interacting in a digital world. As a Gamer, I can tell you that this (when implemented to its full capacity) is sick, I mean we cannot go around the fact that it's super cool, can we?.

Unlike traditional Games, where we can communicate with other players usually through chatrooms or Multiplayer Chatboxes, for example as we have in Brawl Stars, Fortnight, Among US. Metaverse worlds are taking it miles further, because not only can you communicate using words, you can with body movements, A whole lot more interactions are available to us like Dancing, Waving, Playing Bowling, Racing in Virtual Cars, etc.

Social Interactions in a fully developed Metaverse(whatever that looks like, but you get my point) would be totally seamless for all kinds of communications (Family, Friends, Business Partners, Conferences, Classes, Remote Schooling, Work-from-Home Companies, etc), Can you imagine if all these industries and groups of people create dedicated hubs or services inside a Metaverse like Somnium Space? That's just WOW!, The concept of Metaverse has shown us that it promises not just Games but a Decentralized world of E-business.

Brief Conclusion

After experiencing lots of Play2Earn Blockchain games popping up with great hype and then catching up with its real lackluster community/project, I've tried to map out exactly where I stand and what my morals should be (it's crazy but you need a guide map) and my decision has been; To keep it focused on what I like and what gets me excited, thankfully a mass load of news in the Blockchain Gamefi world gets filtered out with this new model; Just keep it simple and do your thing

Concerning the Metaverse?... I wanna give it time to grow, nurture, and mature, so as much I am enthusiastic about it right now, I'm not hoping for a masterpiece anytime soon, but there could be surprises for all of us, especially now that Facebook joined the game Ugh.

Anyway, enough of my blabbering, I hope you've learned a thing or two from this post, I also hope that you enjoyed reading it as it was meant to be - a Story and Narrative.

What are your thoughts about the Metaverse?

Thanks for Reading,

Chel_

Also published here.