Who Has the Biggest Brain? was a brain training social video game by Playfish, published on Facebook in early 2009. It was played 500 million times by over 15 million Facebook users, which was, at that time, a massive success. The game consisted of 4 minigames focused on memory, math and spatial games to get a “brain score”. Once completed, a leaderboard showed both the player's Facebook photo plus core, and that of their nearest competitors and friends.
Y.T. has also fallen victim to the virality of the game. A student and developer friend (we’ll call him Mr. T for privacy’s sake), recognized this opportunity and built a bot that enabled mediocre players to jump to the top of their leaderboards. Thousands of WHTBB-users bought this bot. Seneca once said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Mr. T. created his own luck. He noticed where the eyeballs were, honed the skills needed to create that bot - and made a very nice side income (especially for a first year college student). For Y.T the inflated scores removed the challenge of the game, but there was one positive side-effect that lingered on: a noticeable improvement in logic and mental math skills.
Wax On. Wax Off.
Few look back at their school days and reminisce on the joyful process of learning on offer back then. If you think about it through a crypto lens, the schooling system looks at its students as fungible robots. Assume your position in class, be quiet, and remember these somewhat arbitrary facts, in a one-size-fits-all teaching model. Knowledge that can’t be converted into action is meaningless, and in order to hone your skills, you must practice.
In the cult movie The Karate Kid (1984) the protagonist (aka Daniel-son) has been forced to move to a new alien “territory”. Shortly afterwards, he is bullied and attacked by the local habitants, just to be saved at the last moment by Mr. Miagi, who later becomes his mentor. Daniel promises to do whatever his sensei says in exchange for the promise of learning karate. Mr Miagi instructs Daniel on doing what appear like meaningless chores around his estate, such as “paint-the-fence”, “paint-the-house” and washing cars - “Wax on, Wax off”. After another long day, Daniel confronts Mr. Miagi, accusing him of wasting his time. Mr. Miagi instructs Daniel to repeat the movements he’s made during the chores, and immediately afterwards, Mr. Miagi attacks him - showing Daniel that all along, he was actually learning karate.
So until you’re able to “download” kung-fu knowledge onto your Neuralink 5 pro max chip, the most satisfying method to learn is through a game that is both challenging and rewarding or simply put - engaging. That is why companies from all fields are trying to add “gamification” features to their products.
Whether it’s a game, (e)sports or general competition, the more you enjoy, the more you’ll practice, the better and more knowledgeable you’ll become. If you keep on leveling up you will become the master of your domain.
The Rebel Bots Army
Rebel Bots Xoil War is a cross-platform Play-to-Earn card battle game, where players will be able to play, progress and earn in a single-player or multiplayer sci-fi-themed game taking place in outer space.
Rebel Bots started in June 2021 as an NFT collection of 10,000 robots, each made from 4 to 7 different traits. Overall there are 150+ different robotic assets making each robot unique (so no two robots share the exact same assets). The rarity of each robot is determined by its traits: “all robots are unique, but some are more unique (rarer) than others”. The goal of the project is to build a community of gamers interested in NFT games, while developing the game itself around the Rebel Bots collection - thus making the robots themselves the main characters in the game.
Every Friday, since 09/03/2021, The Origins blog has released a new chapter in the Bot’s story, maintaining interest and offering further clues about the game to the community.
There are three types of NFTs: Rebel Bots, Lands, and Fighting Bots. The goal of the players is to collect Xoil through PvE (player vs. environment) and PvP (player vs. player) game modes, use it to build an army of Fighting Bots, and improve their rank for season prizes.
The project is built and backed by industry-leading professionals. True to our investment thesis, Rebel Bots is planned to gradually become a DAO by Q4 of 2023.
Bots Just Want to Have Fun (But Not Only)
30 minutes to learn; a lifetime to master… This delicate balance is important, not only to encourage beginners to onboard and join, but also to keep it challenging enough for advanced players. For more details, read the excellent whitepaper.
The Kingdom Lords are the Generation 1 (Genesis) Rebel Bots from the Rebel Bots collection. This is the most valuable NFT in the game, as each Rebel Bot is a Kingdom Lord. The game will start with 10,000 different Kingdoms and Kingdom Lords.
The Fighting Bots are the 3rd and most common NFT in the game. Unlike Rebel Bots and Lands the Fighting Bots supply is not capped at a certain number, so building and minting Fighting Bots is one of the ways to earn from playing the game. Players will need to build and assemble a balanced team of Fighting Bots in order to succeed in battles and progress in the game.
Lands
Lands are the game’s second most valuable NFT, and without lands, players aren’t able to play.
The game will be launched with 150,000 lands. Prior to game launch, each land will be sold or given with a set of 3 fighting bots, allowing players to start battling from their first session in the game and thus offering a simple onboarding process.
The AAA Team
Very few in the gaming industry have the unique experience that this team has, working on games that produced revenues and users in the hundreds of millions. They have over a decade of experience in gaming — primarily real money (betting) and social gaming — and have delivered more than 12 titles. Not all games can be shared, due to legal disclosure limitations, but a shortlist of companies they have worked for includes Playtika ($7.1B mcap), Gameloft, Tencent, Youda Games, Come2Play, and more.
A Bot’s Best Friend
Speaking of “grandmasters” having your back: Rebel Bots has partnered with prominent entities both in the crypto and gaming space. Two of the more prominent partners of the project are among the biggest names in the gaming industry: Ubisoft and Overwolf.
Current Challenges with P2E
There is some criticism starting to emerge regarding Play-to-Earn.
Some say the games are just luck based and speculative, or that the tokenomics are unsustainable. Some frame their projects proudly as #play2win and boast “will provide a competitive environment for wagering NFTs against each other”. Others have pointed out the fact that many games’ demographics are heavily skewed toward low income countries and the potential pitfalls for both the game and the countries’ sustainability. There is some merit to all of the above and even the exciting game will not endure unless it has a solid foundation.
Bottoms Up
Rebel Bots has put a lot of emphasis on the design of the protocol in a way that will be long sustaining. First, this project was meticulously planned and built from the bottom up rather than a top down manner which can be seen in its lively and highly engaged community on Twitter and Discord, and that despite the limited marketing efforts made forth thus far. Another testament for that is It took only 90 days since the launch to become one of the most recognized collections in the NFT space.
The community is one crucial factor that makes this project unique, as they are highly involved, creating content, creating collaborations, and pushing the brand on social media.
Second, Rebel Bots is a skill-based game (rather than luck-based). This is important on many levels, one of them is that in order to really succeed in the game one must learn, practice, evolve and be vested in the game otherwise they’ll get outplayed by more skillful opponents.
Master of Your Domain
Every disruptive technology creates a myriad of new and exciting job opportunities that no one could have imagined at the time.
An expert is a person who has special insights into a specific field. Wayne Gretzky, seen by many as the greatest hockey player of all times, was once asked what made him “the best”, to which he famously answered, “I skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.”
Let’s say you are now an expert in a very successful P2E platform. Here are some potential means to generate additional income or transform the fun time you had - P2Eing while on vacation - into your daily vocation.
In the context of Lands and NFTs: buying and selling undervalued lands, using your land as a billboard to earn from ads, and leasing your land. You can become a crypto-realtor and spot undervalued opportunities. If you are the owner of a prime location, you can be the virtual Madison Square Garden and host events for a nifty fee. You can be a land manager or land architect. You can be a land developer or Avatar designer and many other jobs that no one can prophesize. Knowledge is potential power. If you have the special insights and know how to use them, P2E can be much more than just a fun game. It can be your Ikigai.
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