Wizard Wednesday Recap, 2024-08-14
Introductions
The team channels in from the Quantum Downs—without Dotta—Bear says he is in "Dev Dotta" mode and doesn't want any communication unrelated to his development work. Elf notes that this probably means there are fun things coming soon, and to "take that as you will."
Wen Runiverse?
Ronin also joins the show, noting that the dates for the public Runiverse beta build, New Foundations have been announced. Elf uses this as a segue to move into discussion about the Forgotten Runiverse MMO:
The Open Beta Test Dates & New Features
The Open Beta test will run from Aug. 26 to Sept. 7. Bear says this is 13 days that users will have access to even more content that was in the recent Closed Beta Test. Namely, interior decoration of homesteads as well as dungeon exploration. He says the way the dungeons "roll out" may be surprising, noting that there will be content expansion happening within the duration of the Open Beta Test.
Incentives
Entropy says that there will be a very good reason to return daily to the game, teasing more information that will be revealed next week. Bear says that people like incentives, and mentions that on top of the item crafting and trading layer of the game, the team will be launching another layer that further incentivizes Forgotten Runes participation. He jokes that he thinks the team is announcing too much and are "pausing all shipping."
Builder's Crates & Other Incentives
Madotsuki also mentions that the New Foundations build will include "Builder's Crates" which will be items exclusive to this event, similar to the Eve of Memory's "Quantum Gifts." Entropy says there are 5 other items that will be available if you are "part of a certain cohort." He says that those paying attention to the team's personal socials might have an inkling. Bearsnake says that he thinks the Forgotten Runiverse will be the number one blockchain game by the end of the year. Elf chimes in to agree that Ronin will play a big role in the success of the Runiverse game.
The Closed Beta & New Foundations
Jihoz joins the space to say that during the Closed Beta Test, from their internal metrics, the Forgotten Runiverse was the most talked about thing on the Ronin network.
Elf says that:
- 76% of players from the Closed Beta Test were new players
- The average player spent around 8.6 hours playing
- The retention rate was 82%
Jihoz chimes in to say that he experienced those numbers and was those numbers. He said that when he was playing the Closed Beta, he was totally addicted, and it gave him that nostalgic feeling of trying to find any sliver of time to play.
"This game was about to ruin my life, and that's what you want from an MMO!"
Bearsnake says that he thinks the game feels very in line with Ronin, and thinks that there is an advantage in going against the current grain of Unreal-style games that are attempting a AAA-style experience.
Two Communities Converge
Jihoz says that he looks for new ways to introduce people to blockchain technology outside of financial speculators, and he has seen the same with the Forgotten Runes community, which he notes is more of a community of creators, which is something he saw in the early Axie community. Elf says that the Ronin community has melded so well into the Forgotten Runes community and has filled the timeline with even more Forgotten Runes art.
Entropy notes community art that he has seen for boss mobs in the Runiverse game, mentioning that these are characters that are not owned. He says if you want to show up and participate, there's room for you in the collective canon.
Jihoz also says that he appreciated the game's economy and having to team up with people for the bosses. He said that he was making totally random friends with people in the community that he wanted to play Forgotten Runiverse with. He says he's excited about the new features in the upcoming New Foundations Open Beta Build.
Along with interior decoration of player-owned buildings, Madotsuki notes that the game's level cap will be raised from 15 to 20, giving players who maxed out more content. On this subject, Mado notes that the bosses of the game's previous build were actually high-level mobs, so the actual Dungeon Bosses will be new content for the New Foundations build as well. Mado also says that the final version of the game will be open world, rather than the current teleportation system.
Bearsnake adds that bugs found during the Closed Beta will be addressed for the Open Beta Build, including bugged party combat. Elf asks if the goal is still to have the full build released by the end of year 2024. Madotsuki says that is still the goal, but he thinks the team will be able to answer more concretely following the Open Beta Test.
Jihoz says that he thinks the buzz leading into the Open Beta could make this event really special.
Royalties
Elf then pivots to note a recent tweet thread that announced the distribution of royalty checks for Wizards who were licensed from their token owners for use in the first issue of the Forgotten Runes comics.
Forgotten Runes Delivers NFT Royalties
Elf mentions that this is one of the things that every project in the NFT space has been bragging about for the past 3 years, and Forgotten Runes is one of the only ones to actually deliver on it. He says this is due to the fans being partial owners of the franchise itself, which is an entirely new way to go about a intellectual property franchise.
Building Louder
Jihoz and Magic Machine agree that the teams need to "be better" about bragging on themselves for their accomplishments. Elf notes a trend in crypto where it seems that loud people who don't deliver do better than people who deliver quietly.
"I think we just need to build more loudly."
The Comic As a Proof of Concept
Elf returns to the idea that the Forgotten Runes comic concept is a proof of concept of the entire Forgotten Runes model—that fans can create, see their creations in professional media, and benefit from that creation. Bearsnake chimes in to say that people accept what Forgotten Runes is doing:
"People tried to buy the TV Show, but I think the problem runs deeper."
Bear goes on to describe hurdles of the traditional media model that may not afford Magic Machine the opportunity that they want to stand up an entirely new model for IP creation, rights, and ownership. Bearsnake also notes that when the team was deciding how to attribute royalties, he did a lot of research into actors guilds and modeled the royalty payment off of the number of appearance or lines spoken by a particular Wizard in the comic. He also says that he thinks it's important to note that the team distributed royalties before taking payment themselves.
W1ldmage Ranks Lore
Following the royalty and comic discussion, Cult member W1ldmage takes the stage to "bump the Lore Ranker" tool. He also shares what Elf describes as a "Letterman-style" Top 10 Lore Ranker Lore list, humorously describing different styles of commonly seen lore.
Elf makes a cryptic hint to say that those who are participating in Lore Ranking should use the Wallet that contains their Wizard, Warrior, or Soul.
Soul Lore
Following this, Elf answers a question about the Souls themselves:
Kinds of Souls
First, he notes the different kinds of Souls: Liches, Wraiths, Zombies, Ghouls, and Revenants, which are more physical or corporeal beings
Then there are also Specters, Poltergeists, and Phantasms, which are more ethereal.
He notes that the corporeal Souls mostly reside in the Nightmare Dominion where the ethereal Souls have the ability to phase in and out of the material plane.
Where They Reside
He says that the Nightmare Dominion is its own empire ruled by the Lich Emperor Supreme.
Elf says there is an ongoing war of the dead versus the dead between the Lich Emperor Supreme and the Zombie King.
He says the Ghouls, who are horrifying creatures of carnal lust and debauchery, mostly live in the Boglands, Vampyre Mist, and sometimes venture into Goblin Town.
All Once Wizards
Elf says that an interesting thing to know about all of the Forgotten Souls is that they were all at one time Wizards that were tempted and transmuted by the Sacred Flame to become twisted nightmarish versions.
"The Sacred Flame was used in profane ways, and this was the result."
Appearance In the MMO
Elf then answers another question about Characters becoming real antagonists in the game, to which he says yes, and that he thinks that the Lich Emperor Supreme will be a Boss in the game. He notes that this is also a playable Character token, which is just "something games do" and players will just have to abstract the Lich Emperor skin away from the Character in the game. He gives the example of Street Fighter, where you can play as a Character, but also fight the same Character as a boss. Elf then says that he will have to push the rest of the questions to next Wednesday.
Cult Content Chronicle
The show then winds down as the team reviews the Cult Content Chronicle—art from the past week within the Forgotten Runes community—compiled weekly by Tania del Rio.