Wizard Wednesday Recap, 2023-09-20

All of the founders are back for the show this week, and Dotta notes he had a nice trip to New York, but says there's no place like home. Elf and Bearsnake catch Dotta up on the alien conversation from last week and recount their bet about proof of aliens.

Cult Questions

The Best Impy Shake

Elf then dives into Cult Questions, beginning with who at Magic Machine has the best Impy Shake. Elf says everyone in the company claimed theirs was the best. Bear bows out. The team suggests that community member Slim might be among the top ranks.

Skipper Wizard

Next, Elf answers a question about the Skipper Wizards' hands and arms which do not match in coloration to some of the Wizard heads. Elf responds that, "You get really tan when you're sailing on the Brine for months on end."

Magic Machine's Self-Care Rituals

Then, the team answer a question about their person self-care Sunday rituals. Dotta says he goes to church where he sometimes plays bass and then takes a nap later in the day.

Bear says this past Sunday he just watched Star Wars Episodes VI-IX. Elf gives what he says is a controversial take and admits his favorite Star Wars are the prequels. Bear says he once wrote a spec script entitled, "Jar Jar Binks Goes to College" as a joke. Dotta says a building from Episode IX has appeared in his dreams numerous times.

Elf says his self-care ritual is waffles, peanut butter, maple syrup, and coffee — "Every damn morning, not just Sundays." Dotta says he's been making waffles with protein powder and heavy cream, noting that it smells terrible, but it's good protein with not much sugar.

Ouroboros Spawn

Next, a question arises about the lack of Quantum Ouroboros Spawn, since all of the other Beasts have Beast Spawn. Elf says this is because Ouroboros is not one a Beasts that emerged from the Gate to the Seventh Realm, but is instead a god that does not need to copy itself.

Friend Tech's "Avoidthegame"

Then, Dotta is asked about the "The Game (@avoidthegame)" on Friend Tech. He says it's so suspicious because he was the first person to contribute to it. The algorithm gave him an account which said "send .02 ETH to [x address]." He says, "Sometimes that works." Dotta looked at the avoidthegame contract and noticed no one else had sent ETH to the address. He says he DM'd the account asking if it was a scam, and they responded, "no." He sent the money, stating it's worth it to possibly be first on "the next big thing."

Dotta says he's seen some interest in The Game, saying it was disappointing they launched a contract on Manifold. He says he doesn't see it gaining a ton of attraction and not to put rent money into it. He says, "I just like trying new things. I like being early to things."

Magic Machine's Sleep Health

A community member then asks if Magic Machine are getting the nutrition they need in their meals. Elf says he's eating healthy and going to the gym. Bear says not to get him started; he's in a "bad cycle" and not sleeping. Dotta says he's doing just fine.

Currency In The Runiverse

After that, Elf answers a question about gold and its use as currency in the Runiverse. Elf notes initial thoughts about stories where gold is formed by magic: Rumpelstiltskin, King Midas, the goose that lays golden eggs, and alchemy's mission of turning lead to gold.

Elf says conjuring gold can be interpreted in two ways:

A metaphor for pursuit of spiritual enlightenment
A cautionary tale against materialism

He notes gold can be created in the Runiverse, and it's likely a point of contention across the land. Elf notes everything in the Runiverse is commentary and inspired by the real world. He imagines Red Wizards are commissioning rogue Blue Wizards to make gold in "bootleg labs" hidden in the Alchemist's Archipelago, though they likely produce little at great cost. Elf suspects deception from these rogue Blue Wizards who have not truly achieved their alchemical goal, but instead have extracted false "fairy gold" from a prisoner of The Fey. The discovery causes assets of the Red Capital backed by this fairy gold to become worthless.

Friend Tech & WORDS App

Following this, the team converses about Friend Tech. Dotta shouts out some Wizzies who use it.

Lorepunk approaches the stage and notes a new thread in the Alpha channel on Discord for Friend Tech discussion. Lorepunk also nods to Dotta's use of the platform and Rare Dottas. Dotta mentions there may be a Season 2 of Rare Dottas, but making collectible cards based on Runiverse lore is more widely applicable than just that. He says it was not so much a scheme to pump his Friend Tech keys rather than experimentation with an idea. Dotta says he still finds value in Friend Tech and there is possibility for it to last longer than people might think.

Bearsnake says he thinks it's going to blow up "in a bad way" though he thinks there is opportunity in PWAs for mobile crypto. Dotta thinks Friend Tech will sustain itself for a while. He says no one has circumvented their royalties in a serious way. He also notes the amount of money top creators are making, even excluding "influencers who are phoning it in."

Bear asks about the exodus of OnlyFans from Friend Tech. Dotta says it did happen, but he's not sure why. He says he isn't familiar with the design of OnlyFans, but it could be more sustainable. He notes the bonding curve as the "Achilles heel" of Friend Tech. Lorepunk notes that part of what is keeping people engaged in Friend Tech is the "Points" that are being farmed. She notes that there are fewer and fewer Points being distributed each week.

Dotta says one of the things he likes about Friend Tech is that people are willing to share alpha in their day-to-day thoughts. He says he could see it being later usurped by someone who figures out better mechanics, but he wouldn't underestimate them. Dotta notes the Friend Tech team has "options to improve the product" as they figure it out, such as adding new features or upgrading the contract.

Dotta Makes a PWA

Elf then states there are a few Friend Tech derivatives that have started to pop up, noting it has inspired Dotta himself. Dotta says he saw a derivative earlier in the day called "Posts.Tech or something." He said it was like "Twitter Meets Friend Tech" but he wasn't that into it.

Dotta also says he wouldn't call his app, WordsDotArt, a "Friend Tech derivative." Dotta notes the Words app should be "out on production [Thursday night or Friday morning]." He says Wizards should have around a 24 hr head start on creating new Words. He notes this is a "mobile app where you buy and sell words, and that's it."

Dotta says he sees opportunity for Forgotten Runes to be present on mobile. However, just at the base-layer of the PWA, there is the boon of a "vertically integrated stack," as in Friend Tech's assets, trading UI, and conversation platform all in one central location.

Dotta then speaks about the idea of technological bundling and unbundling of services, using live television and streaming services as an example. He says the PWA is user-friendly "bundling play." He says Words was "the simplest thing that could possibly work."

Bear asks Dotta to give context for Words, as he feels some people may think Magic Machine is losing focus. Dotta says he built the first version of Words in ~2 weeks, noting he was off the week prior. He says, "We're going to launch it, basically, tomorrow." Dotta says all of the things with the comic, the show, the Forgotten Runiverse game, the Goblin Town game, and "the secret projects we haven't talked about yet... are all still completely on track."

Dotta says something he thinks about in the bear is "what's the simplest thing we can post to find out if something works?" He gives the example of a crafting-style PWA he has considered that might use the Athenaeum items. Dotta explains that this experiment is a stab at reaching a broader audience while also testing ideas that could be used for Forgotten Runes in the future.

"If it fails, it doesn't bring anything else down."

Bear notes that the experimentations don't slow down Forgotten Runes projects. "We set up the company in a way where we can be juggling multiple things."

He notes Goblin Town will be "rearing its head soon."

"Experimenting isn't always about what face value is."

Dotta explains some of the mechanics of Words, noting again that Wizards will have ~24 hrs to claim words first. He says, "The idea is if you can create a piece of word art that captures the meme of the moment, you're able to capture this idea that people want to collect." Dotta imagines the idea of adding chat on top of the Words app, but says, "First, let's see if people like it at all." Bear says he has a hard time with the idea of selling himself a la Friend Tech, but he likes the idea with Words: buying and selling ideas, concepts, and memes.

Giveahoot approaches the stage and thanks the team for addressing some of the concerns from the previous week's Discord discourse.

The Need Of An Easily Digestible Project Progress Overview

Giveahoot brings up the subject of more digestible sources of communication rather than Wizard Wednesday (and pointing to the length of the Press' Twitter Recaps). Bearsnake and Dotta speak about finding the best way to package the summary of Magic Machine's progress over time. Bearsnake says he believes it is a format issue, noting that he thinks infographics would go a long way. Dotta says he has received feedback that Wizards are too transparent and don't leave enough room for hype.

Givahoot clarifies that he thinks there's a need to package the transparency that already exists in a different way. Lorepunk approaches the stage again, stating that the topic is her "bread and butter day job." She says Forgotten Runes is seen as one of the best at communication in Web3, and agrees that a biweekly or monthly newsletter would be useful, offering to speak about good practices.

Dotta says newcomers need a place to see a snapshot of the current moment in Forgotten Runes. He says the team tries to be considerate of everyone's time rather than using @everyone in the Discord announcements channel. Then, there is discourse on the difference between the Forgotten Runes ecosystem, Cult tools, and Magic Machine's deliverables. Dotta says they should possibly make four different graphics to share. Giveahoot says he would like to see an overview of "coals in the fire." Giveahoot notes the shareability of infographics between friends.

Bearsnake talks about follower fatigue that sets in with some people getting "tired out" from the breadth of information about Forgotten Runes. Bearsnake tells an anecdote of a video creator who had a video go viral after years of middling interest. Following the viral video's popularity, his viewership spread to his other content once there was a realization of real substance. Bear likens this to Forgotten Runes.

"There's this idea of a compounding effect where you deliver, deliver, deliver, deliver, and when something strikes, then people understand there's substance, and they can go back and go into it."

Runes TCG Rumble

Before he steps offstage, Giveahoot speaks about the new Runes TCG Tournaments mechanic and "Runes Rumble" Weekly Tournaments.

Outro & Discussion Primers For Next Week

The team hints about some Battle For Goblin Town topics, but then decide to hold off on that conversation for next week, as the show is already over time.

Bear also asks about what the Cult wants for central Characters. Dotta says that's another big topic. Dotta asks the community to come with central Character questions next week.

Elf notes a conversation with the Claynosaurz team about main characters adding that their main characters are not tokens in their collection. He says that isn't how Forgotten Runes wants to do it. Elf says the Forgotten Runes answer to "central Characters" for the time being is to have a rotating ensemble cast between all of the different media expressions. He wants that consideration to be a primer for next week's conversation.