Wizard Wednesday Recap, 2024-05-22
After introductions, the team briefly talk about EDC, and Elf, Jitcy, and a few other Wizards were in attendance.
FIT21 & Crypto In the USA
Following that, Elf asks the floor for thoughts on the potential landmark days nearing for crypto. He speaks about the FIT21 bill introduced in the US. Elf says he believes the new FIT21 bill will redefine certain aspects of the Howey test, stop "regulation by enforcement," and won't be vetoed by Biden. He then notes the potential approval of the ETH ETF. Bearsnake says that Washington is waking up to the fact "that there's money to be had." He says that the US interest payments on national debt are now more than defense spending.
"I'm not surprised it's happening, but it's really cool to see."
Dotta reads a quote from The Block about Gary Gensler's dissent to the FIT21 Act before proclaiming:
"Send it, boys."
Bearsnake says it comes off as "land-grabby and pathetic." Elf says he doesn't think Gary has much say in this situation. Dotta reads another quote from The Block that states FIT21 would exclude crypto trading platforms from the definition of an exchange. The quote also states that crypto puts investors at risk. "And that's what we want...Let us take it."
Cult Questions
Signatures Signed
Elf then moves to Cult Question, beginning with one from Legatus asking Dotta what "signatures" were signed. Dotta says he can talk around it, noting there are three big partnerships this year that he's excited about. One is signed.
"Everybody signed. I can't even believe it."
Dotta says this new partnership will "affect the whole ecosystem," be good for the Cult and good for the Forgotten Runes game.
"You'll just have to wait until we can properly announce it...I couldn't help myself but tweet..."
Bearsnake says the recently closed deal was seven months in the making: "...but big deals take a long time to make."
He says he told the team before the meeting that hasn't been as excited for a meeting as he was for that call in a long time.
Dotta says that this partnership is with "one of the best teams in the crypto space."
"I don't delight in withholding it from you. I know this is like family time and I just want to tell the family something good happened."
Runiverse Map
As for an announcement that can be revealed, Elf says that the updated Runiverse map ready to release. He says this is not the final version of the map, nor will there ever be a final version, as the world is ever-changing. Elf speaks about the new locations that have been added to the map by way of the community as well as a new endeavor with Frog Eater to create a 3D version of the map as well. He says "a bunch of different features to the map are coming very very soon."
Elf says the 3D Wizards will be able to run around on the 3D version of the Runiverse map, and in a later version he hopes to enable Cult members to add new locations manually. Bear says he thinks that's going to be the start of something special.
Feckless asks about the distance between the Duck Alliance and Fort Turtle. Elf says that he will have to "do some science-ing." Bear suggests it would be fun to have a "Google Maps" for the Runiverse that calculates distance by different modes of transportation. Elf says the scale of the Runiverse map still isn't perfect, and that it's more of a Fantasy map that enlarges things for visibility.
Wen Runiverse?
On that topic, Elf poses the next Cult Question: "Wen Runiverse?" Bearsnake says that the team saw a timeline for the Runiverse this week and he thinks the Cult would be happy about it. He says the silver lining about pushing builds is that following builds will be released much closer together. Dotta says that the team's plans for when the game is fully live haven't been pushed back. He says the most recent Runiverse game build was pushed back due to other announcements, rather than technicals. He notes the development team has nearly two builds complete.
Dotta says:
"Sorry, not sorry. Everything has to line up. It will all wash out by the end of the year and you'll all be very happy."
Elf also notes questions and comments about bugs in the VRM rigs. He says re-genning the collection is more complicated than it might seem. Elf says that there are some big 3D events coming up, including the launch of 3D Warriors (ETA July)
"We want to have an event to complement that launch, and I think we at Magic Machine are incentivized to have the best-looking, most well-functioning 3D models by that time."
Bearsnake says that he will be stopping in London for a meeting about 3D during a trip to Europe he is taking with Elf. He says he thinks the talks he will have in that meeting could lead to a way to "pour gas" on the launch of 3D Warriors.
The Loracle
Elf then asks Dotta how his work on the Loracle V2 is going. He says there will be a release for that by next Wizard Wednesday. Dotta notes the new Loracle looks like V1, but the bones have been switched out. He says it's now better informed about the Runiverse as a whole. Dotta says that the team is building a Forgotten Runes User/Password system. He says this will allow logins for the official site, the Book of Lore, and the Loracle. He says the Loracle will also have persistent chat history associated with accounts. Dotta says the infrastructure with the Loracle V2 is going to allow for "much more interesting events" which he says are being worked on "in the laboratory."
Elf asks what information the Loracle uses. Dotta says Wizzypedia, The Book of Lore, and stock GPT knowledge base. Elf asks Dotta how fast the Loracle is able to update, to which Dotta replies, "every day." Elf also asks how the Loracle knows about things that are only talked about on Wizard Wednesday. Dotta notes summaries and transcripts of Wizard Wednesday are uploaded to Wizzypedia.
Elf says that this seems like one of the main reasons why a Cult member would want to write in Wizzypedia: You're getting you're own lore exposed to other members. He notes that what makes good stories is writing about Characters relationships to each other. Tad Major speaks about the difference the Loracle made in connecting the Runiverse through all of the community's stories. Elf says that the team is so lucky to be starting a decentralized worldbuilding project right at the time all of these AI tools are coming into their own.
Acideater Gives DAO Updates
Acideater then joins the conversation. Elf grants her Pirate Warrior Character, Salty Sloane, half of the globe (which is water).
Acid then gives a few DAO updates.
- DAO Proposal Survey distributing soon, targeting July for changes
- Treasury Balance +$53k due to ETH spike
- The Council discusses converting percentage of Treasury to USDC in internal Vote
- Two May proposals withdrawn, leaving one for vote
- Proposal threads updated for previous proposals
Bear Checks In
After a couple of Screes from the community, Elf asks Bear what's going on in the Bear Cave. He speaks about heinous snack situations and pull-up bar installation. MeepleDad asks about MagicCon in Las Vegas and if Magic Machine plans on having a presences. Elf says it sounds like a good idea, but he wouldn't want to go without at least some sort of trading card—Bear muses about pitching Runes TCG for the event.
Insomniac x Forgotten Runes Party
Bearsnake then says that well-known event-maker Insomniac is throwing a party for Web3 degens and they want to give Forgotten Runes a sponsorship for free. Elf learns this live on the show.
"Forgot to tell you. Live alpha. Internal," say Bear.
Bearsnake says that it also makes sense to throw a "big banger party" sometime around the launch of the full game "that isn't someone else's event." Then, the team celebrates that passing of the FIT21 bill in the House. Nalgene joins the stage to speak about pork rinds, founders' gains, and Tyson V Paul. Elf volunteers himself to enter the crypto boxing arena "to take a few hits and deliver a few punches" if it will help Forgotten Runes.
"It's a serious topic. Let's maybe sidebar about it."
Cult Content
As the show winds down, the team review the Cult Content Chronicle—art from the past week within the Forgotten Runes community.