Wizard Wednesday Recap, 2024-01-03

After introductions from Elf, Dotta, and Bearsnake, the team speaks briefly about the accuracy of the "Inverse Kramer" meme, in relation to Jim Kramer's recent declaration of Bitcoin's longevity that was followed by a hefty pullback in the coin's price.

The Shadows & Ordinals

English NFTea Joins

Elf mentions that he mysteriously received 100 copies of the new Forgotten Runes Comic Book Issue #1 to his door. With that conundrum still unresolved, EnglishNFTea of Taproot Wizards joins the conversation at the mention of the upcoming Shadows Ordinals mint. Before speaking to the Shadows, Elf asks English if Taproot Wizards will come out very soon.

He says, "I will say...just hang around and listen for a few weeks."

He notes it's not Taproot Wizards, but something else will be happening.

Shadows Free Mint Criteria

Then, Dotta clarifies criteria for those who are eligible for a free Shadows mint (note: Shadows — not Shadow Hats)

• Book of Shadows [Forgotten Runes Athenaeum] holders

• Shadow Crystal [Forgotten Runes Athenaeum] holders

• Jelly Donut Soul [Forgotten Souls] holders

Dotta mentions that there are still 7 Books of Shadows hidden within unopened Nightmare Imp's Boxes. He says that the Shadows mint will be in January — he says the optimistic target is next week or the following week.

Elf asks if Dotta knows how much the Shadow Ordinals will be at mint. He says he would rather not say at the moment to give the team flexibility as the mint approaches, but he says the team may make a detailed mint announcement next week. While Dotta says there are no more Shadow Crystals available to mint, there are still Jelly Donuts that may appear from burning Wizards using the Sacred Flame.

The Shadow Hats

Then, EnglishNFTea asks about the other 7 Shadow Hats that are not based on the founders of Magic Machine. Dotta mentions the founders will keep their own Shadow Hats, noting the 7 others will end up on the market at some point, though they are not in any particular rush for this. He says they may sell one or two in the near term to "strategic people who have expressed interest."

English recalls that Dotta once quoted 10 BTC for the (sub 1k) Shadow Hats. Dotta confirms, saying they wanted to have the highest Ordinal sale ever, though he says that time has passed in different ways. He says they are not planning an auction, though there has been interest. Dotta says the Machine Machine team is bullish long-term on sub 10k Ordinals. He says he supposes it could be good for the ecosystem and for the Shadows mint if a Shadow Hat is already out there. He concludes that it's up for discussion.

Dotta mentions that the Shadows aren't using the typical Ordinals parent/child inscription structure for the Shadows to the Shadow Hats. However, the Shadows' traits use recursive inscriptions. He mentions working with Psifour on the Shadows mint to draw a decagram on chain.

English asks about the number of Shadows that will be reserved. Dotta says he believes there will be around 600 Shadows that actually end up being for sale.

Inscription #988 and Droplister

Dotta receives a community question about Inscription #988 (Dotta's PFP) He says that he felt at the time he was late to Ordinals because he was trying to spin up a full Bitcoin node, which takes around 3 days to sync. He speaks about Droplister who helped him inscribe.

Dotta mentions Droplister's "Dan Files" and "Tough Pills to Swallow" collections. He also mentions that Droplister was the one who actually inscribed the Shadow Hats, which he then transferred to Dotta.

Cult Questions

Runiverse Game

Following the Ordinals conversation, Elf jumps into Cult Questions, starting with a question about the release of the new Runiverse Mounts received from Quantum Gifts during the Eve of Memory Event. Bearsnake says there is not a date set for that yet.

On the subject of the Runiverse, Dotta says that players will be able to acquire Land Plots the next Runiverse event. He says the team wanted players to be able to do something with the Land when they bought it — and he covers some benefits and features for Land owners.

Madotsuki joins, saying that he released a tweet today announcing that the Runiverse Land Sale will be happening during this upcoming event. He says that those who hold Seals of Tenure from the Eve of Memory event will also be able to redeem those plots following the sale. Madotsuki says that Quantum Gifts likely won't be revealed until closer to the full game's release, but there will be new event-exclusive items for the next playable event as well.

3D

Next, Elf touches on a few different questions about 3D models. He says the next 3D release will be the Beasts, and he thinks they will likely arrive this week. He notes the release of 3D Warriors is currently TBD. Elf reveals he's already around 50% done with 3D Ponies. Elf says the 3D quadrupedal Ponies may not be supported in partner metaverses right away. On a suggestion, he says he could anthropomorphize them in the same way as the Beasts. He says the team just isn't sure how to roll the quadruped models out.

Runiverse Map Expansion

Following that, Elf responds to a question about the next big Map reveal of the known Runiverse. Elf reveals that he has a Map expansion finished, but says he's waiting for the right time to release it. Elf says the team will focus on storytelling in 2024 on Twitter through the eyes of a main character "running around the Runiverse" and suggests that could be a good reason to reveal more of the charted lands of the world.

Digital Comic

Then, Entropy asks if there will be digital distribution of the Forgotten Runiverse Comic, to which Bearsnake answers that there are digital versions available.

The Book of Lore

Feckless asks when a "Jump to Random Lore" button will be added to the Book of Lore. Dotta says it's a good idea, and that the Book of Lore "needs an overhaul." Elf says he hopes they are able to get to that this year.

Writing Lore & The Loracle

Elf says that he has seen general concern about a lack of reason to write Lore. He says that aside from the possibility that the stories could make it into the larger media expressions' narratives, he's excited about Lore because it continues to train the Loracle. Dotta says they have been collecting pieces for a Loracle 2.0, noting that the LLM space moves fast, which outdated the current model very quickly. He says the Loracle still works, but they want to add more intelligence to it, such as returning to data for second order queries. Dotta also mentions developments in open source LLMs that are "uncensored" in that they don't refuse queries like Chat GPT might.

He says there are possible opportunities with models like these outside of Chat GPT for the next Loracle iteration. Elf circles back to his point that writing in the Book of Lore provides data unlike any other project has, which strengthens Forgotten Runes and continues to make it more unique.

Dotta says that he wants to add Discord to the Loracle as well. On the topic of the Discord, Elf says that a "pretty big name" came into the Discord the other day, and they messaged Elf afterward saying that Forgotten Runes is the best community they have seen, hands down.

The Founders, The Hobbit, & Dotta's Dad

To answer the last Cult question, Elf and Dotta speak about the first time they read The Hobbit. Elf says his first exposure to The Hobbit was the Rankin and Bass animated Hobbit film.

Dotta says his dad first read him The Hobbit when he was around 8 or 10. He tells a wholesome story about his dad creating his own fantasy world while telling Dotta and his siblings stories set in it. Dotta mentions ideas from that world made it into Forgotten Runes, noting his father's character Dwarzgarth made it into the Wizard collection. On the subject of Dotta's dad, Elf notes that he was actually the one to come up with the Wizard to Soul burning mechanism.

Cult Content Chronicle

As the show ends, the team reviews the Cult Content chronicle — art from within the Forgotten Runes community aggregated every week by Tania del Rio.

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  The Nightmare Imp by Daniela Ilustra

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  Bugbear Chieftain by Marcofine

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  Meepledad Secret Tower WIP

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  The Caster by SHADOW

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  Smol Grim Reaper by Wizardsmol

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  Plum Art

• Error creating thumbnail: File with dimensions greater than 12.5 MP

  Magus Devon of the Quantum Downs by Madotsuki

Wizmas DAO Contest

Sharon also speaks briefly to remind the community to vote for the best Wizmas Lore contest entry and to vote in the current DAO proposal.