Wizard Wednesday Recap, 2022-01-19

Images of Tania del Rio's tattoo of two of her Wizards, shared January 2022.

Wizard Tattoos

Wizard Wednesday started out with the amazing tattoo we saw this week from Tania del Rio. Magic Machine reimburses any Wizard-themed tattoos from Cult members (if piece is extensive/expensive, check with them first).

The new Book of Lore cover created by Ozzz.

Book of Lore Cover Refresh

The Book of Lore has been updated with new cover art! Ozzz has created the new cover. Elf complemented Ozzz's work, and said he did some things, artistically, that Elf didn't think of with the original cover.

The New Media Landscape

Exterior of the Thirsty Wizard, a Forgotten Runes token-gated space created by WWWeb3, a 2D metaverse game that supported Wizard walkcycles. Image taken by Jeeves circa January 2022.

Elf's talk this week was around this trend. The financial structures under media have influenced them for decades. Traditionally, studios survived by making content that advertisers can attach ads too. As a result, the content needed to be "ad-friendly" and the advertisers had a lot of influence on the content. However, subscriber-based platforms like Netflix and HBO were a new trend. These platforms don't need to worry about advertisers, and the content-creators are more free to explore themes that they couldn't before. The relationship between the studio and the audience changed.

Dotta added that this resulted in experimental forms, as well as niche interests and longer-form content - you weren't limited to 30 minutes about a topic that interested a broad audience. The viability of niche content even allows existing franchises, like Star Wars, to increasingly branch out in content about more characters.

Elf believes that Forgotten Runes is at the forefront of another change. Now, a community is not just audience members, but can take part in, and benefit from, the creative process.

Dotta pivoted to recounting his talks with artists at Cal Tech regarding NFTs. These represent a way for artists for get a fair wage and work on content they want. Elf added that most of the criticisms of NFTs with regards to how artists are treated, are not true, and are actually more fitting of the big media studios. He acknowledged that the way Magic Machine talks about Forgotten Runes to non-crypto people needed to change. These are some of the key talking points he uses now:

Interior of the Thirsty Wizard, where many Cult members partied during Wizard Wednesday (January 2022)

1. We are built by, and for, the creator economy.
2. We are world-building, tweet by tweet. We are creating on social media, in real-time, with the community.
3. We have provided the building blocks (creative primitives) to get the creators started. The Wizards as seeds.
4. There is a financial incentive structure in place for creators, via the IP structure.
5. The relationship between Magic Machine and the Cult is new and different from those of the traditional big studios and the audience, enabled by the blockchain. This is a tool that changes the way a franchise is built.
6. This is not theoretical, it's already happening, at scale, right now.

Comic Book Update

Elf talked about Magic Machine's internal discussion about how best to distribute the comic book - there were several models possible. MM wants to get the comic book in the hands of many non-crypto people, with an explainer about how to get your 1st NFT and other crypto basics.

The 1st script has been written, and the artist is drawing the panels. Dotta wants to have little contests in the comic book, similar to those of classic Nintendo Power issues. MM wants to get comics to the Cult members as well, ideally multiple copies to enable sharing with friends. The goal is not to create a scarce collectible that is highly prized and expensive, but to make it a promotional and educational vehicle to spread word of Forgotten Runes.

Wizard Party - Thirsty Wizard Tavern

Druid Ofaris out of the Blizzard organized a wizard party in WorldWideWebb3, a 2D metaverse game that supports the Wizard walkcycles and features a token-gated space called The Thirsty Wizard. Elf also mentioned that Atlantis World is planning a clubhouse for Wizards.

Elf's Take on the Simpsons

Elf recounted a video created by SuperEyePatchWolf about the Simpsons, one of the longest-running TV shows in history. It showed that the story, characters, and animation is nothing like what it was like in the beginning, to its detriment. Lately, they even did a sponsored inclusion of Balenciaga. Marge and Homer acted out of character to promote this clothing brand. The franchise is essentially a shell of its former self. Given this reality, how is the Simpsons still on the air? Basically, meme culture is doing it - there are so many Simpsons memes that has proliferated over the years.

The meme form of Simpsons is still able to tell authentic stories, and this allows the Simpsons to grow and stay relevant. Elf wants to see what happens when you build this meme culture from the start, and promote and collaborate with fan-made creations from the very start (as what is being done in Forgotten Runes). Bearsnake countered that he thinks that Simpsons are still on the air because Disney (via Fox) sees Simpsons as a cash cow and will milk every last penny while it can.

Warriors Update

Dotta said that the Warriors drop will be bigger than Wizards, but not excessively so. Somewhere between 12-15K tokens. He thinks it would happen post Runiverse land sale. He mentioned that to create the TV show, it may cost $0.5-2 million per episode, so funds are needed. He would love if the Warriors are structured to enable the show to be created, as well as bringing in more people into the community.

Elf added that lore-wise, there are always more Warriors than Wizards, and Wizards showed be viewed as elite. And Magic Machine wants more characters to be available for the metaverse game and other participatory experiences.

Lore Reading

The lore reading this week was from Jitcy, reading a script-style narrative about Ghost Eater Trollin of the Fey (1246) and other wizards.

Note: Cult Content shoutouts and links can be found in the written description of the Youtube recording of this week's Wizard Wednesday.