Wizard Wednesday Recap, 2024-04-10

After technical difficulties and an AI Wizard Wednesday theme song by Tad Major, Elf starts by saying that he believes Forgotten Runes is about to go "next level" and asks for Bearsnake and Dotta's agreement. Dotta says, "I guess. They won't forget the runes much longer.

Roadmaps

Elf notes his conversation with Henboyd and Magewild on Monday Magic News, and mentions that Henboyd said he was drawn into the project by its roadmap. Elf and Dotta agree on a distaste for roadmaps. Dotta says in the beginning of the project, they were afraid of overpromising. Elf says that instead of a new, updated roadmap, he thinks it's a good idea to have a regular reminder of the core values of Forgotten Runes. He says the make the mistake of assuming that everyone knows what Forgotten Runes is. He starts a recap for those who are new.

What Is Forgotten Runes?

The Web of Forgotten Runes

Elf starts by saying that Forgotten Runes is one of the handful of ETH projects from last cycle that made it through the bear market. He says this was able to happen because of the team, the community, and because everyone on Magic Machine believes in what they're doing.

Shortlist of Accomplishments

Elf names a short list of things Forgotten Runes has done in the past two years, including:

• All 10,000 Wizards made into fully-rigged 3D models with 3D Warriors well into production"
• 10 full physical comics in production with IP owned by the community, who receive royalties.

Dotta speaks about Magic Machine's Binary Star platform, noting that the royalties from the comic book will be the first time the team is able to take advantage of it. He says the mission has always been to build the demand first. Elf says the comic book is a creative and business proof of concept, "and it's only going to continue."

He continues listing of Forgotten Runes' feats:

• Full MMORPG video game in production
• Live and token events
• Robust AI tools
• Pages of wiki information and Lore

Elf acknowledges the cliche but says that this is just the beginning for Forgotten Runes.

"We laid the groundwork for this next phase that we're moving into. We spent the entire bear market building. We made it through. We survived."

Elf says, "I can tell you that the Lore and the worldbuilding from our team, including the TV show, the new website, and other things are showing a lot of promise. I think in the next few months, we're going to get to roll out a lot of exciting things."

Dotta Talks Runes on BTC

Then, Dotta notes that "Rune Mania" is coming up and says he hopes the Cult has their Bitcoin wallets set up.

Dotta's Annoyed At Runes' Name

Splitting UTXOs

He notes that he tweeted earlier in the day about splitting UTXOs, but gives more context, saying this is a process that will help in minting Runes and combat high fees. Dotta mentions a few Bitcoin Runes projects that have previously been spoken about on the show including RSIC, PUPS, and Runestones. Dotta says that Leonidas of Runestones has already stated he will be airdropping a new “Shiba With Hat” meme token.

Dotta says:

“We’re basically about to get a new casino on the chain with a massive amount of liquidity, and you should definitely be paying attention.”

He says he thinks they will be hard to get, but that he thinks people will make a lot of money. Lorepunk then joins the conversation to clarify the UTXO situation in non-technical terms:

“I need to chop up some sats into UTXO so I can mint at size, my Runes shitcoins?”

Dotta says that’s correct. Madotsuki asks Dotta if he’s minted any of the testnet Runes. He says that he has a full BTC node, but that participants shouldn't have to have a full node. Dotta says he knows of solutions in development for this.

Picking the Right Thing

Shadows by Forgotten Runes

When it comes to Bitcoin Runes, Dotta says he wouldn't worry so much about being early as "picking the right thing." Lorepunk notes that CENTS and C.O.C.K.S. collections plan to drop Runes. Mado notes there will be winners and losers, but says those have been gaining traction. Dotta says everyone always wants something new because they feel like the old thing is too expensive—though he mentions there is something to be said for just buying the "main thing" even if it feels too expensive. The conversation turns to psychology of derivatives.

Community member Bridge joins and says that the enticement of Runes isn't enough for him, as it mostly just feels like a "new package." Dotta says that he thinks there will be instances where people spend more money in fees than the actual Runes they receive are worth. Madotsuki agrees that the memes on Runes will lay the foundations as building blocks for greater things on Bitcoin. He says that he could see a Rune eventually becoming a store of value that is used in other protocols.

Ordinals & Shadows

Lorepunk notes an issue with Ordinals in that a broadcast buy can be frontrun by a higher bid within the same block. She says that Taproot Wizards op_cat campaign is looking to solve this with smart contracts for BTC. Bridge says this is another restricting factor for Bitcoin. Lorepunk agrees that the ability to snipe Ordinals with active buys is a restricting factor for their appeal, but she says the liquidity factor of Bitcoin shouldn't be underestimated. She mentions that old BTC whales have been watching/waiting for their chance at the felt table. At this point, Dotta has had technical difficulties, and Elf says the only thing he has to add to the Ordinals conversation is that Shadows and Shadow Hats will be some of the most lore-significant characters in the franchise—and that's all he can say about that.

Elf says,

"The secrets that the Shadows hold are so deep and opaque that I don't think the market has understood or appreciated it yet...but that's sort of their nature to stay hidden and mysterious and will only reward those who look deep."

Cult Questions

The Singularity

Runes TCG Tech Junky

Elf then pivots to answer a few Lore questions beginning with a question about the proximity to the Singularity of most Forgotten Runes stories. Elf says that it really doesn't matter when it's happening, just as no Batman presentation every explicitly states a year. Elf also references the Pevensie children, who live full lives in Narnia, but return home as children again. He says he thinks the Runiverse works like this too with Time being measured differently on different planes of reality.

The Power of Technology

In response to a question about the power of technology in the Runiverse, Elf believes Magic is far more powerful than technology, including instruments of modern warfare. The downside of Magic is that it's unpredictable, and the most powerful Wizards have lost themselves to it. Elf says there are people, particularly Blue Hat Wizards who attempt to find a middle ground between Magic and Technology. He says they often try to augment technology with Magic and vice versa.

Elf speaks about the helicopter and wooden ship in the television trailer. Elf says that Magic is an art form that embraces aesthetics, which is used as a tool for enhancement. He says this Lore will be covered further on the new Lore website.

IP Use In the Forgotten Runes Comics

He then answers another question about consultation of Wizard holders for use of their IP in the comics. Elf says that Joe, the writer of the comics is mostly in charge of the storywriting. He says for the most part they pull from the Book of Lore, and sometimes they consult token holders, but usually they just try to stay true to Wizards' Lore.

Game Codes Included in the Comics

The team is asked about the codes on the back of the comics, to which Madotsuki says that the codes will provide a Firecracker mount in the game that is exclusive to the comic code along with enough Mana for 3 rolls at the Font of Memories. There is a redemption limit. Dotta says Bearsnake may have other plans for the Forgotten Runes comic scratch-off codes as well. He mention Bear might have a similar mission for those codes as he does for the Sacred Flames.

Lore Poems, Monster-Catching Familiars, & DAO Announcements

Marlo Poem by Lorepunk

Lorepunk then announces an initiative to write more Lore Poems, and offers free poems for any Forgotten Runes tokens. Then jameswyper.eth joins to read a poem by Lorepunk about Marlo's Alien Wizard.

Zay La Soul then asks a question about the possible ability to catch, trade, and train familiars in a monster-catching game style. Madotsuki says the mechanics for familiars isn't fleshed out, but that the monster-catching angle is and interesting idea.

DAO Announcements

Acideater then joins the stage with House of Wizards DAO announcements:

• Working through issues with initial multi-sig transactions for author payments
• A proposal to convert $200,000 worth of ETH to USDC
• April proposal deadline - April 13
• Twitter Space Town Hall - April 18

Cult Content

Following DAO announcements, the team reviews the Cult Content Chronicle—art from the past week within the Forgotten Runes community, aggregated weekly by Tania del Rio.

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  Malevolent's "The Heretic" by Daniela Ilustra

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  Nova Crasher of X Comic

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  Feckless' Imp Tattoo by Meatprisoner