Wizard Wednesday Recap, 2024-01-24
The team says that a huge show is lined up for the day, and while Jitcy pings the first of a panel of guests, Bearsnake speaks about a "Japanese-inspired tree stand" that he created to support a falling tree on his property.
Kuroro Beasts
Then, Kuroro Beasts join the Space. Dotta asks for an explanation of Kuroro Beasts for those who are unfamiliar. It's explained that Kuroro Beasts is a collecting game with interoperability for beasts collected in the ecosystem's games, two of which are in development. Kuroro Brawl, the first game, is live.
Wizard, Soul, and Warrior holders have access to Wizard characters in the Kuroro Brawl game. The team has been receiving comments that the Wizard character is OP. Magic Machine shouts out Jitcy (who gives kudos to Madotsuki) for making the connections.
Dotta asks about wallet connection, and while Kuroro Brawl does not currently support Delegate Cash, they say they are looking at integrating more wallet solutions, noting the game is in a pre-alpha state. At present, those interested will need to connect to the site directly.
Bearsnake gives Jitcy another shoutout for his work in making connections with gaming projects, and he asks how many Forgotten Runes are currently integrated in. Jitcy says there will be another next week, but as it stands, he believes Forgotten Runes is integrated in ~15-20 web3 games.
Scott Kominers & The Everything Token
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As the Kuroro Beasts project conversation wanes, Bearsnake tees up the next guest, Scott Kominers, co-author of the new book, The Everything Token. Scott recalls drafting the Harvard Business Review article, "How NFTs Create Value" during NFT NYC with co-author Steve Kaczynski.
Scotts gives details about The Everything Token, stating that it helps explain what NFTs are, how they create and retain value, and imbue a digital experience with new kinds of value. The book takes the reader from explanations of simple NFT ownership to business integration. Scott notes that Forgotten Runes made it into The Everything Token and he reads an excerpt mentioning some of the fundamentals of the project.
Pushing Beyond PFPs
Bear says when many people think of NFTs, they think of PFP projects and asks what needs to happen to make progress with the technology.
Scott says:
"I think part of it is getting simple and intuitive consumer applications into people's hands."
He uses the example of digital tickets, noting that it's easy to understand why it's difficult to have a secondary market for event tickets that are QR codes and emails. Scott mentions that once a person has a theoretical event ticket NFT, now they have a wallet and understand digital assets actually move from place to place, which can then be used to further explore. He uses a similar analogy for onboarding with the Forgotten Runiverse MMORPG.
Scott also says the technology has to get much more accessible before adoption becomes possible. He notes this is happening reasonably quickly, becoming more intuitive, and gaining more consumer protections. Dotta says something similar has happened with Ordinals, in that they have moved Bitcoin forward into the world of web wallets. He senses the need for an "Everything Wallet" that abstracts over different chains and deals with web3 complexities under the hood.
Elf says before NFTs, crypto was largely "finance and tech bros," and NFTs brought the art and the culture, which exploded the space in a way that coins never could. He mentions that NFTs, namely Forgotten Runes, differ from coins because their value can be changed with effort.
Are NFTs PVP?
Dotta mentions a recent conversation in the Secret Tower questioning if NFTs are PVP in nature. He says that's the opposite of the purpose of Forgotten Runes.
"When you create new Characters, that's additive value... [It] increases the interestingness of the entire world."
The Language of Web3
Community member Zay La Soul then steps up to ask Scott about the change in the landscape of web3 language. Scott says he believes terms will become more refined, he says we'll know NFTs have become a fundamental part of the mainstream when we stop referring to them as NFTs. Scott speaks about larger corporations using terms like "digital collectible" or "stamp" for their NFT programs and says that's fine. The point is that consumers understand their ownership of the underlying asset.
He says perspective can change when entering into Web3 this way. Scott compares NFTs to the emergence of mp3s as a file standard, explaining that eventually, rather than oddly pinning the file format to its history of use with music piracy, it's simply used for the tool it is.
Dotta says the same things happen with money. Dotta mentions the early days of credit cards, ATMs, and cheques also made people quite skeptical. He says when there is new technology, there's a new set of scams that come along, and people who aren't used to using money in this new way don't trust it the new methods.
The App That Leads to Consumer Adoption
Bearsnake asks Scott what he thinks is the product will be that will bring the masses to the blockchain. Scott says he doesn't know, but echoes a sentiment Bear expressed that he believes the product will be mundane and maybe a bit silly. Dotta thinks it will be a mobile game.
Dotta says that he feels like gaming is one of the only areas where you can make a case for a token without it being a security while millions of people use it. He says the barrier to a crypto mobile game is more likely the App Store and Google Store rather than SEC regulation. Dotta nods to a fascination he expressed last year with PWAs, saying they're interesting technologies that allow circumvention of traditional app stores.
Disney
Elf says he doesn't think Disney or any other studio like it would do what Forgotten Runes is doing and fractionalize their IP. He says he doesn't think Disney would even generate a 10k PFP character collection for fans to collaborate with.
Bear says eventually legacy studios will have to embrace communities that support their IPs, because their business models are evaporating. Elf says [the legacy entertainment industry] never would never allow shared revenue of merchandise with their community. Bearsnake asks if Elf is saying Forgotten Runes is going to buy Disney.
Elf says:
"No, I'm saying Disney is going to try to buy us before we stomp their asses into the ground."
Tadmajor's Decentralized Insurance & A Question on Techno-feudalism
Then, Tadmajor joins and asks Scott for his opinion about a decentralized insurance project. Scott shares his own brainstorms for an aggregated insurance for gig workers that uses blockchain technology to recognize micro-business contributions to a range of different platforms.
Control of Digital Assets & Experiences
Following that, Zay La Soul asks another question regarding techno-feudalism and digital overlords. Scott says he's not familiar with this terminology, but after a brief explanation from Zay, Scott reminds that tokenization and tradability are very separate — records vs. goods.
Scott says he thinks tokenization will be more about giving individuals more control over digital assets across multiple platforms. He likens this to a phone recognizing preference information and recommending preferred restaurants in maps apps—but on a more global scale.
Arthur Mercenary of the Arena
Bear segues into the reveal of Arthur Mercenary of the Arena, who steps onstage and reveals herself as a photographer from Tennessee. She explains that she and a friend came up with the mysterious plot behind Arthur's character, and that more surprises are to come in 2024.
Erika Lee
Bear then says he has a few friends onstage that he wants to get to and introduces Erika Lee, who Bear says is one of the few Web3 journalists who actually does research. She says she just saw some friends in the Space and wanted to say hello, recommending The Everything Token.
Erika then asks if there is a rivalry between Forgotten Runes and Taproot Wizards, or if there is room for more than one Wizard project. Elf notes that Taproot Wizards and Forgotten Runes are friends, and it could be a friendly rivalry—noting there might not be enough Wizards.
Begin & IRL Alpha
After that, Begin from IRL Alpha joins and speaks about the show. He tells the story of its origins with a group from Bored Apes in a coffee shop that developed over time into a fully produced in-person meetup about all of Web3.
Bear expresses his thanks for having a space like IRL Alpha, and notes that Forgotten Runes will be sponsoring them.
Then he asks Begin to tell "the Ordinals story," Begin recalls Bearsnake standing up at the end of an episode and ominously stating that Ordinals "[were] coming."
As they wrap up the conversation with Begin, Elf notes that the show has run long at nearly an hour and a half and will have to push Cult Questions to next week.
Cult Content
Elf departs due to other engagements while Bearsnake and Dotta review Week 53 of the Cult Content Chronicle—art from the past week within the Forgotten Runes community, aggregated weekly by Tania del Rio..