Sal Qadir
@salxyz
Followers
5K
Following
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Co-Founder @BullpenFi || Host of @UnlayeredPod || Prev @GalaxyHQ @ShapeShift || CS @Cornell_Tech
Solana
Joined December 2018
Web3 Gaming Manifesto - The History of Gaming and its Web3 Future. I read 400+ pages of books, academic papers, and blogs about video game economic design so you don’t have to!. Some of these findings will surprise you🧵.1/50.
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☀️ Your Complete Guide to Trading Solana Tokens ☀️. Trading long-tail Solana tokens is extremely risky right now as there’s a huge dearth of quality projects with liquid tokens. However, I expect this to improve over the next 6-12 months, so it’s worth getting familiar with the
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Introducing @BullpenFi's first product — the most advanced Telegram trading bot in the world. From the very beginning, @blknoiz06 and I have been obsessed with building a one-stop shop for retail to trade onchain. What exactly is Bullpen and how are we different? 🧵
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Major Saga phone airdrops thus far at current prices:. —30M Bonk, $440.—100K Access Protocol, $240.—1 Saga Monke, $800. Total: $1,480. Where do we think this number lands 9 months from now?. @solanamobile @bonk_inu @AccessProtocol @sagamonkes.
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Where are my fellow @DeGodsNFT? Criminally underrated community. Novel tokenomics with $DUST. Incredible art. Not surprised they've been on the rise
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Quick tl:dr of this great report @Delphi_Digital just put out:. "Ghosts of Cycles Past - The Early Innings of a New Cycle?". I'll be focusing on what it means for @solana. Let's dive in 🧵.1/10.
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finally regained access to my account after 7 weeks. decided to retire the punk nft. gm @sagamonkes. noticing lots of folks getting hacked these days, will be posting a long-form on best practices soon. p.s. if i dm'd you between oct 22 and dec 1, it wasn't me.
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Back in April, @armaniferrante was supposed to be @UnlayeredPod's first guest but we had to postpone it due to the mania around @MadLadsNFT's launch. As fate would have it, we finally got around to sitting down with the man himself as he gears up for the launch of @xNFT_Backpack
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@Rewkang Completely agree this take. It's part of the reason why @blknoiz06 and I took a bet building @BullpenFi as a mini app on Telegram vs a native app. Paying close attention to the @ton_blockchain ecosystem
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Curious about the intersection of NFTs & DeFi? @kinaumov and I just dropped a new report yesterday focused solely on this topic for @ChristiesInc Art & Tech Summit. Here are the key insights 🧵.1/16
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Not really understanding the hype around AVAX 🤝 AWS. Subnets sacrifice an immense amount of security for sovereignty. Game devs should probably steer clear of deploying on a subnet.
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1/.Today we at @glxyresearch published a deep-dive into @solana, covering its background, technical architecture, and outlook. If you’re wondering whether Solana can challenge Ethereum as the king of smart contracting platforms, look no further. 🧵.
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@NTmoney .@MessariCrypto did a good graphic on this a while back. Abundantly clear @solana does not stand alone here. The tl:dr is L1 teams were forced to solicit VCs in the post-ICO era. Turns out the ICO model had its merits
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Try the bot today!. Trading Bot + Mini App -> Our other official links are below:. -Official Website -> -Bullpen Brief (Newsletter) -> -Bullpen Docs ->
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Introducing Bullpen Daily Digest. A free, public Telegram channel densely packed with hand-curated alpha. What makes Bullpen Daily Digest different?.🚀Extremely crypto-native (high-signal).⏱️Takes 1 minute to scan through (low-noise).📈Potential 1,000x insights (asymmetric.
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1. Mobile-First Wallet. Our goal is to balance the convenience of trading bots with best practices in security. We leverage your devices passkeys + a recovery email to give you a CEX-like UX embedded directly in Telegram. Say goodbye to seed phrases and painful onboarding.
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Who plays games? Turns out everybody has their own reasons BUT they tend to fall into 4 buckets (coined by Bartle in 1996). -Achievers: ~10% of players.-Explorers ~10% of players.-Socializers ~80% of players.-Killers ~1% of players.18/50
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Super excited to announce the launch of @UnlayeredPod! . Unlayered is an alternative crypto podcast hosted by @SolBeachBum and myself focused on highlighting all the amazing things happening on non-EVM chains like @solana .
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Today is my last day at @galaxyhq @glxyresearch. I’ve learned an incredible amount from my colleagues over the past 18 months, and I’m grateful for an amazing experience from start to finish. Will miss my fellow researchoors 🫡 @intangiblecoins @FullNodeChuck @christine_dkim.
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3. Generative Insights. See relevant crypto discussions without touching crypto twitter. Our ML pipeline + LLM currently distill the chaotic Soylana Manlets community into one simple feed. We will soon add additional Telegram communities, chats & opt-in feeds from traders.
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Games that don't build with these four buckets of players in mind are simply NGMI. Most gamers are socializers, and most socializers will never spend money in a game. *Hint: stop trying to shill NFTs/tokens as requirements to play a game*.19/50.
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@twobitidiot Not yet, but a fun crypto game will leverage these core principles.
Web3 Gaming Manifesto - The History of Gaming and its Web3 Future. I read 400+ pages of books, academic papers, and blogs about video game economic design so you don’t have to!. Some of these findings will surprise you🧵.1/50.
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This initial product is just the beginning. We are working on some new features at the bleeding-edge of what's possible in crypto and social. ☀️ Stay tuned for these SocialFi features to drop this summer — all powered by our trading bot ☀️.
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No better time to scoop up your forever @MeebitsNFTs than the depths of a bear market. Ready for @OthersideMeta ✅
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What does a successful web3 game look like?. Sorare's NFT-based fantasy sports games offer some insights.NFTs are not a requirement in Sorare's fantasy sports.Rather, NFTs enable higher-level tournament play. We expect this model to be emulated by many others.35/50
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How do you get started?. Simply go through our onboarding process in Telegram and set up your passkey-powered wallet. Then, deposit some SOL and start trading!. We wrote a separate thread on passkeys for those curious about how it all works:
🔑 Everyone is talking about passkeys these days 🔑. Bullpen is proud to have built one of the smoothest wallet user experiences in all of crypto using passkeys. But what exactly are passkeys and how do they work?. Read on to find out 🧵
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Note: This thread is a condensed summary of the 33-page report I published today by way of @glxyresearch . Read the full report on Galaxy's website here: While I will do my best to summarize things here, the full report has all the spicy details 🌶️.2/50.
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If there's any chance that non-EVM chains have a future, Solana seems like the safest bet based on its dominance of TVL relative to other non-EVM chains. It's not even close. 5/10
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1/3.This week on @UnlayeredPod we spoke with @KyleSamani about:. -The convergence of crypto & ai.(inspired by .-Infra vs consumer apps.-Integrated vs modular scaling approaches.-And a bunch of other topics
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Bullpen is comprised of 3 fundamental pillars:. 1. Mobile-First Wallet.2. Trading Interface.3. Generative Insights. Let's dive into each core feature 👇
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That's a wrap!. If you enjoyed this thread:. 1. Follow me @sal_coin for more great web3 content.2. RT the first tweet below to share this thread with your audience. It really helps 🙏🏽. Thanks for reading! DMs are open if you have any comments or questions. 50/50.
Web3 Gaming Manifesto - The History of Gaming and its Web3 Future. I read 400+ pages of books, academic papers, and blogs about video game economic design so you don’t have to!. Some of these findings will surprise you🧵.1/50.
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Another day, another digest. Please find coverage of the ongoing @SolanaConf and today's highlighted posts below:. 💥 Bullpen Breakpoint Breakdown: Day 3 💥. Jupiter Announces $JUP Airdrop and plans to Integrate Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol. One of the most.
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Tl:dr: closing thoughts. Build a great game first, then consider the best monetization scheme congruent with that killer game before adding in web3 features. The most profitable games in history entice players with compelling gameplay that is completely free-to-play.47/50.
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Could Solana fulfill the prophecy of its Ethereum fractal? This chart seems to suggest we are on-track. Solana is meaningfully-differentiated technically with an incredibly strong ecosystem and solid fundamentals. Points, LSTs, and cNFTs are some key tailwinds to watch.9/10
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You made it! In this thread, we successfully covered:. ✅50 years of gaming history, emphasizing past experiments in video game economic design.✅The psychological motivations behind gaming.✅The future of web3 gaming. Read the full report here:.49/50.
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Tokens later, game first. Web3 is best suited to augment fun games, not masquerade as the star of the show. Gamers today are skeptical of web3 primitives and happy with the status quo. We need to show this skeptical user base the merits of crypto/NFTs with killer games. 37/50.
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🚀.
also been working on a few different products in stealth fellas, finally got a cracked out dev team w/ me to ship ideas. waitlist for @BullpenFi app beta is live, promise it'll be the best crypto alpha discovery + trading interface in the space.
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Was super fun catching up with @kelxyz_ this week on @UnlayeredPod and hearing:. -his takeaways from Breakpoint.-short/medium/long-term catalysts.-new meme 👀. Time for the era of Hypersound Money 💸
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It really does seem like Solana will repeat the same story arc that Ethereum did last cycle:.-massive run-up during the bull.-huge drawdown/heavy fud during the bear.-re-emergence from the ashes by next bull. This chart shows how uncanny the parallels to ETH last cycle are.3/10
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Crypto market cycles tend to last ~4 years and the data seems to suggest we are on track for another 4-year cycle. The April 2024 Halving is right on schedule to occur 1.5 years after the local BTC bottom. Timeline-wise, this puts us roughly at Q4 2019.2/10
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Amazing work on this report by the Delphi team!. Looking forward to monitoring these trends.10/10.
Quick tl:dr of this great report @Delphi_Digital just put out:. "Ghosts of Cycles Past - The Early Innings of a New Cycle?". I'll be focusing on what it means for @solana. Let's dive in 🧵.1/10.
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@blknoiz06 Pendulum will swing back to end-user applications similar to 2017. Top 20 next cycle will read like a list of apps, not a list of L1s/ecosystems.
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One of my favorite conversations we’ve had so far! Two decades of wisdom building at the cutting edge of graphics computing packed into one interview. Was an absolute pleasure @JulesUrbach.
This week - we were blown away by @rendernetwork and it’s visionary founder @JulesUrbach. 👉GPU usage is going vertical. 👉Supply is static. 👉 Render - by leveraging crypto economics - are uniquely placed to help fulfil the insatiable demand. When people ask why crypto- say Rndr
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Early 2000s: The Advent of Online Gaming. -Runescape players could make a killing simply by being good traders.-Rare in-game items were precursors to NFTs (Blue Party Hat).-World of Warcraft demonstrated the viability of subscription-based business models for games.12/50
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In our most recent episode of @UnlayeredPod, we sat down with @paulbohm of @teleportxyz to discuss his roadmap for building a decentralized rideshare protocol. It's one of the most exciting DePIN projects we've ever seen.(and powered by @solana 😎). Here are some key moments
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Let's start with some fast facts 📈. -The global gaming market reached $198.4bn in 2021.-There are 2.5bn gamers worldwide.-The average gamer plays for 8 hours 27 minutes per week.-Mobile games make up 50% of industry revenue (consoles ~30%, PCs ~20%).3/50.
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2. Trading Interface. Our trading bot and mini-app minimize time-to-ape and maximize information density. We embed the exact pieces of data we personally use to diligence projects in the same venue as execution. (partially inspired by this tweet)
☀️ Your Complete Guide to Trading Solana Tokens ☀️. Trading long-tail Solana tokens is extremely risky right now as there’s a huge dearth of quality projects with liquid tokens. However, I expect this to improve over the next 6-12 months, so it’s worth getting familiar with the
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The future of web3 gaming. What does web3 do for gaming exactly?. -Liquidity: buy/sell items.-Scarcity: items are rare.-Self-custody: your keys, your crypto (or NFTs).30/50.
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Major game publishers are cautious about web3. This is similar to when legacy game developers were slow to embrace mobile in '08. Smart web3 game developers will capitalize on this lack of competition from industry juggernauts. Use this window of opportunity wisely. 38/50.
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One key headwind for Solana DeFi to take off is the high percent of native staked SOL vs liquid staked SOL. If large pools of staked SOL migrate to LSTs for additional yield opportunities in Solana DeFi, we could see billions of new capital injected overnight.6/10
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I really like Delphi's positioning of Jito as "Lido meets Flashbots". LSTs and MEV are top-of-mind in Ethereum land and @jito_labs is extremely well-positioned to capture this mind-share on Solana DeFi. Potential widely-used LST built by a Solana-native team? ✅.7/10
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Market Control. The degree to which an in-game economy is controlled by the developer. Candy Crush/Fortnite = Total Market Control.Runescape = Partial Market Control.STEPN = Free markets. Notice which of these companies (still) makes money?.25/50
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Tl:dr: closing thoughts pt 2. Over-optimizing for web3 features attracts mercenary playerbases that detract from a game's community. Durable game economies will balance digital asset supply issuance with demand via sinks/faucets, market control, etc. 48/50.
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-On-chain Reputation: accountless internet, sign in with wallet.-Permanence: blockchains are forever.-Audibility: prove an item is real/fake, prove who owned it.-Decentralized Governance: players have a say.31/50.
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It turns out many of “killer features” espoused by web3 game devs were debunked by the gaming industry decades ago. Industry incumbents aren’t skeptical of web3 because they “don’t get it”. Rather, they recognize that tokenizing everything is inherently a stupid idea.4/50.
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1983: The Video Game Crash. -Industry profits tanked 40%.-Too many games, too many developers, zero quality control (sounds like crypto).-2,000 arcades shut their doors nationwide.-Atari dumped (literally) 700k unsold E.T. game cartridges in a landfill.8/50
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In case you missed episode 1 of @UnlayeredPod, here's a clip of @0xMert_ comparing @SuiNetwork with @Solana. Tons of insight into Solana’s meaningfully differentiated architecture throughout the interview. Check out the full episode here:.
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Special Edition: Amsterdam Alpha.for Solana Breakpoint Enjoyoors @SolanaConf. Put this together with the help of a close friend who's from Amsterdam and publishing here in case others find it useful!. Sightseeing.Most recommend doing at least one scenic boat tour of the canals.
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Last week on @UnlayeredPod, we sat down with @ZhuoxunYin of @MagicEden to talk about the future of NFTs. We also got sidetracked talking about Solana’s immense potential as an L2 for #Bitcoin
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hybrid yokens (404s) will be a major narrative this cycle. @mutantmon_sol pioneered this emergent standard and our interview with @WeedleChamp on @UnlayeredPod goes into all the details of how they work.
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Tournaments are a compelling use-case for NFTs/crypto. This model works because it positions crypto as an aspirational asset instead of a pre-requisite. As players get comfortable with games, they can choose to engage with higher-level tournaments. Example: Sorare.44/50.
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Sinks and faucets are among the most important game-design primitives needed to balance in-game economies. Faucets dispense in-game assets, Sinks remove in-game asset from circulation. Game designers must balance new player growth with existing player base maturation.21/50
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Currency Distancing. The de-coupling of in-game currency from its real-world value. Benefits include: pre-loading set balances (breakage income), players buying more than intended (sunk-cost fallacy), impulse buying (decreased mental accounting). Pictured Example: Fortnite.24/50
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Game development is a tricky balance of Challenge, Gratification, and Economic Engagement. Lately, it seems like game devs are over-optimizing for economic engagement. Check out how much CoD's online multiplayer menu has changed over the years. 20/50
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Serious question for @0xPolygon people. Which part of the tech roadmap will improve the user experience?. It took me 2 hours to turn ETH into a Polygon NFT. Wrap ETH, buy MATIC, convert to Polygon MATIC.2 bridges.64 block confirms to clear. Help me understand, I want to learn
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Not everything needs to be on-chain. Good web3 games will blend off-chain and on-chain digital assets. Most gamers today don't spend money in games. Web3 doesn't magically change this historical precedent. Reserve on-chain transactions for the economically engaged. 45/50.
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We've talked a lot about compressed NFTs on @UnlayeredPod, and I love this chart as a visual for how game-changing cNFTs could be for businesses and startups. @drip_haus is demonstrating this first-hand. cNFT users -> DeFi users -> the STEPN effect manifests once again .8/10
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1978-1983: The Golden Age. -Arcades were the star of the show.-Players inserted quarters into machines, playing until they ran out of lives.-Games were engineered to be easy-to-learn and difficult to master.-This model maximized engagement and revenue for arcade operators.6/50.
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Our latest @UnlayeredPod episode is an excellent primer on tokenomics for builders, investors, researchers, and anyone in-between. We chat with the grandmaster himself, @mattyTokenomics, about his Tokenomics for Builders guide with plenty of historical examples throughout.
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@blknoiz06 Our audience @UnlayeredPod is full of DePIN maxis, . Past DePIN episodes w/ more on the horizon 👀.-@JulesUrbach from @rendernetwork.-@redacted_noah from @helium .-@paulbohm from @teleportxyz .
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1978-1983: The Golden Age. -Arcades made a ton of money, even adjusting for inflation!.-$5bn total revenue in 1981 = $16bn today = 8% the size of the gaming market today ($200bn).-High scores and leaderboards motivated player to climb up the local gaming community hierarchy.7/50
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Complete Web3 Data Repository. During my chat with @BlockBeamio earlier this week, many students asked how I monitor the space. It's an impossible task, but here's a decent starting point. This list is based on experimenting with 100+ data sources over the past year 🧵.1/16.
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Why do we game? It boils down to 3 primary factors:. 1. Test skills.2. Act independently.3. Connect with others. Let's look at an example. 16/50.
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Where is web3 gaming today?. tl:dr very very very early. GameFi tokens are down ~75% from all-time highs.web3 games are being built on a bunch of random chains (little consolidation).33/50
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2010s: The Rise of Mobile. -Started with the debut of the App Store in 2008.-Ubiquitous smartphones and cheap mobile games broadened distribution.-Free-to-play became the clear path forward.-RIP portable game consoles.13/50
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How Fortnite nails the psychology of gaming:. Test skills --> Build battling, shooting, strategizing.Act independently --> Fortnite's massive, dynamic map encourages exploration.Connect with others --> Cross-platform chat, high Twitch engagement.17/50
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Non-transferable NFTs will be key for web3 games. Player achievements and unified logins through wallets can enable a player’s history to travel with them across platforms and game environments. There is a treasure trove of on-chain metadata waiting to be unlocked 🔐.40/50.
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Impulse Buying. When developers introduce real-world constraints (called choke points) to progression by dangling in-app purchases as quick solutions. Also referred to as pay-to-win mechanics. Used by Candy Crush, League of Legends, Mobile Strike, and many others.26/50.
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Meta games will reign supreme. Think games built on top of other games. The Sandbox is an early example that's fully embracing this approach. Meta games are key to diversifying economies tied to an ecosystems's token and can help absorb token issuance with organic demand. 41/50.
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@vec0zy Solana has hit escape velocity, it’s not going anywhere. Massive and diversified ecosystem of infra and apps. Composable dev experience in a world where EVM gets increasingly complex . Hacker houses flush with talented people and creative energy. Very asymmetric bet.
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The Key to the Next Billion. In @UnlayeredPod’s most recent episode, we dive deep in @solanamobile with its maker, Steve Laver. Mobile is where most of the world will use crypto, and Saga provides a glimpse into what that future might look like
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Present Day: Free-to-Play. -Tastes have shifted, people largely expect their games for free.-Campaign/story modes have fallen out of favor.-Game devs now make money via microtransactions.-Goal: attract a lot of minnows (and dolphins) with the hopes of catching a whale.14/50.
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Crypto is beautiful because it teaches us the allure of printing money while unveiling how improbable it is to put that genie back in the bottle.
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1985-2013: The Console Wars. -Nintendo kicked-off this era with the NES.-They birthed in-game economic features (coins in Mario, items in Zelda).-They were obsessive over quality control by limiting 3rd-party licensing.-They dominated early on with 80% market share.9/50
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If you’re a web3 game developer, investor, or enthusiast, read on!. I will be covering:.-50 years of gaming history, emphasizing past experiments in video game economic design.-The psychological motivations behind gaming.-The future of web3 gaming. Let's dive right in!.5/50.
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1985-2013: The Console Wars. -Games were now sold as one-time, upfront purchases.-Consumers could play for an unlimited amount of hours.-Time spent playing was decoupled from the revenue generated by a game.-This led to industry consolidation and a focus on generating hits.10/50.
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@j0hnwang We built it.
also been working on a few different products in stealth fellas, finally got a cracked out dev team w/ me to ship ideas. waitlist for @BullpenFi app beta is live, promise it'll be the best crypto alpha discovery + trading interface in the space.
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*Pause*. Well done on making it this far! We're onto the home stretch. ✅50 years of gaming history, emphasizing past experiments in video game economic design.✅The psychological motivations behind gaming.➡️The future of web3 gaming.29/50.
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@VaderResearch 1.) all of a gamer’s work in acquiring rare skins lives on the blockchain forever. instead of servers shutting down, they can shift to being community-run. 2.) developers can build meta games and products without permission (eg, an online poker room for elite skin holders).
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Bridges will be a key piece of web3 gaming infra. Web3 game devs are already building across dozens of competing, non-interoperable blockchains. Bridges will be necessary to support any cross-chain interoperability. (unless we're cool w/ using exchanges as bridges).42/50.
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Don't hold your breath for composability. Seemingly every week, a new web3 game is being built on a new blockchain ecosystem. Assume that none of these chains will be interoperable with one another. Focus on other web3 use-cases for now. 39/50.
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Here's what you missed yesterday on Crypto X:. post links, additional news, charts & commentary are all available in Alex Thorn (Galaxy) on Bitcoin’s Constrained Supply & Liquidity Amplifying Further Upwards Moves and correctly predicts max pain for gamma.
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Early 2000s: The Advent of Online Gaming. -New game economies were being built by MMORPGs (Ultimate, Everquest, Runescape, WoW, etc.).-Global leaderboards took the mantle from local arcade high-scores.-Online distribution (Steam) improved unit economics of game development.11/50.
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@jon_charb Some interesting things I've seen on @solana: @teleportxyz, @saydialect, @glowwallet, @UltimateMoney, @ellipsis_labs, @GenesysGo . Benefits of using Solana? Fast, cheap, easy, composable. Solana USDC and SMS are underappreciated. Zk and app chains are still early and unproven.
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Why did Play-to-Earn fail?. Liquidity is both a blessing and curse.Open web3 economies enabled mercenary users on games like Axie to farm tokens and dump them into the market.Asset issuance (supply) outpaced asset demand (typically driven by game utility).34/50
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*Pause*. We've covered the history of gaming, now we'll move onto the psychology of gaming. ✅ 50 years of gaming history, emphasizing past experiments in video game economic design.➡️The psychological motivations behind gaming.-The future of web3 gaming.15/50.
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@mdudas @monad_xyz @keoneHD Love it. For anyone interested in what makes Monad unique, we had a great episode w/ @keoneHD that dropped today.
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-Payments: seamless with fast finality.-Business Model Innovation: use tokens to pre-sell (though this can be problematic).-Composability: games can interact via blockchain metadata.32/50.
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