💫sales channel
The 💫sales channel is channel in the Forgotten Runes Discord. The channel was originally a place for a bot to post each sale and allow discussion about the sales but has since become a cultural epicenter of the cult.
💫sales channel is a common place for cult members to discuss prices unlike 🔆the-secret-tower channel where principles like Lore not Floor are the guideline.
Chatter in the channel is often fueled by these closely related channels:
- new-listings - Here, a Listings Bot posts each time a Wizard, Warrior, or Soul is listed for sale on a marketplace
- trading-room - This is where solicitations to buy, sell, or trade are posted
- live-burn-chat - The primary place to discuss burns (transforming a Wizard token into a Soul via The Sacred Flame) as they are happening or for future coordinated planning. The "Great Burning Witness" bot posts in this channel whenever a new Soul appears.
Memes and historical events
💫sales channel is also the source of many cultural memes that spread to the rest of the cult, in addition to quotes and in-jokes that take hold within the channel.
Likewise, some significant events have arisen from conversation within the channel. Also, it is sometimes where lore-based or trait-based groups gain traction to become their own channels (like "The Goblin Pits").
Memes
Quotes
- "I would have paid more for this" - Catchphrase of sales channel regular blockomoco
- "U better deserve it!" - Phrase included in a charming, but persistent, sales pitch by the former seller of Gal Impaler of the Grass
Events
- The unofficial warrior burn, during which Warrior tokens were sent to the burn address and thus destroyed by several shales channel participants, led by Retired Yield Farmer on June 27th, 2022
Common terms
💫sales channel fosters an ever-evolving lingo to describe things like token characteristics and common behaviors or simply to serve as recognizable reactions or invocations.
- !magic - Often posted in the sales channel as a message in succession by cult members in between sales and more substantial conversation. It is believed by some to help manifest the next sale.
- Stink bid - A marketplace bid on a token that may be below subjective valuation according to sales channel consensus and likely the current owner of the token. These bids may be equal parts encouraged, apologized for, celebrated, discouraged, and ultimately may be effective in generating a sale.
- "# trait" (as in "4 trait" or "4T") - This is shorthand for how many traits the token has. For example, a Warrior with no Rune or Companion is considered a "4 trait Warrior." Backgrounds are not included in this trait count.
- "#/#" (as in 4/4 or 5/6) - This is shorthand for representing affinity as a fraction, where the numerator (first number) is the number of traits in the affinity and the denominator (second number) is the number of traits the token has. For example, a warrior who doesn't have a rune has 5 total traits (again, backgrounds are not included for trait counts) and if 4 of those traits are attuned to the Forest affinity, then it would be considered "4/5".
Preferences and valuations
"Like wizard, buy wizard!" (or some variation) is the most likely refrain from sales channel regulars whenever a prospective buyer asks for advice on which token to purchase. This saying embodies the unique and esoteric nature of valuing cult tokens, which are subject to a wide range of factors and personal preferences. While rarer traits can command a premium, many otherwise standard cult tokens are valued highly just for storytelling potential from an individual's inspiration. Tokens may also be valued based on overall aesthetics, in terms of multiple traits working together towards a theme or the absence of clashing traits making it "clean." The bottom line is that, despite some common patterns and universal acknowledgment of rarity, the desirability and pricing for cult tokens is abnormally subjective and complex.
Value between collections
Cult members vary on preferences for Wizards versus Warriors (and other official collection tokens), with many holding some ratio of each. Tokens from the different collections provide a different number of votes in the House of Wizards DAO.
The different collection sizes also seem to play a part in valuation, but relative scarcity is only one potential factor. As TV explained in the sales channel, Wizards seem to hold "a premium over warriors for being og, smaller collection size, and being magic" (7/11/22). Souls and Ponies are likewise smaller collections, usually with higher relative valuations, although speculation about possible additional future utility may contribute to the premium.
The official collections (produced by Magic Machine) are:
| Collection | Size | DAO weight |
|---|---|---|
| Wizards | Began as 10,000 tokens, but is deflationary down to 8888 due to burning | 2 DAO votes per |
| Warriors | 16,000 tokens | 1 DAO vote |
| Souls | Maximum of 1112 tokens | 8 votes |
| Ponies | 567 tokens created | 4 votes |
| Flames | 1112 ERC-1155 tokens were distributed | No DAO weight |
| Beasts | 8 total tokens auctioned in the first season | 50 votes per |
| Locks | 42 total (generated from opening the Gate to the Seventh Realm) | No votes |
| Spawn | 294 total (42 per associated Beast) | No votes |
Additionally, the Forgotten Market lists several community-built collections.
Affinity
Affinity has always been and continues to be a major discussion topic in the sales channel. The concept of affinities was originally used behind the scenes by Magic Machine for the creation of the Wizards collection to ensure some level of cohesiveness in overall aesthetics for each token, resulting from intentional trait combinations. Once discovered by the cult, this concept was brought to the forefront, with potential buyers developing a variety of preferences towards different levels and types of affinities.
Historically, researchers and prospective buyers in the sales chat would reference the Wizards.guide site, created by Jintao, and the script to query listings with "Max Affinity" (all traits on a Wizard attuned to the same affinity) on the Opensea marketplace, created by TV. Forgotten.market now explicitly shows affinity details alongside the metadata for traits (or at least the primary affinity details). In addition to the general greater shared understanding and appreciation of affinities across the cult, the inclusion of primary affinity details more directly in Warrior metadata shown across all marketplaces made it a prominent factor in valuation of tokens in that collection from the beginning.
Common collector targets
NOTE: Common is used quite loosely here since these preferences can wax and wane in popularity. Also, many cult members fall into their own unique collecting niche.
- Particular affinities by type (such as legendary affinities based on rarity) or attunement level (such as maximum or minimum affinity, full attunement, etc.).
- Particular names - Different values could be assigned based on the relative uniqueness of a name or simply the subjective desirability of combinations. Additionally, quirks of the name generator (such as a Wizard's name, title, or origin not being present at all) could command a premium. Historically, a FRWC Name Rarity spreadsheet was created and shared to assess scarcity.
- Rare or semi-rare traits with established and active lore or culture. Heads, considered by some to be the primary trait for classification, have occasionally led to subgroups within the cult (such as Kobolds, Corvids, Goblins).
- For Wizards and Souls, rare familiars or props often fetch a specific premium regardless of the rest of the traits. The same premium can occur for Warriors with rare companions or weapons.
- Mathematical rarities - such as there being only one Warrior who has a rune but no weapon and no shield
- Multiple tokens that fall into a "set" often of matching characteristics, such as traits or name elements (i.e. a cult member building a collection of Wizards with "Cape in the Wind" bodies or a collection of Warriors with "of Wizards" as the name affiliation)
Noteworthy Sales
Historical sales are often referenced in the sales channel and can sometimes help establish the current floor or ceiling for a collection or a subset of tokens with certain characteristics.
Wizard Sales
The top sale in both ETH and USD (based on conversion at the time) terms is for the Master of Spots Hunter, sold on 1/21/22 for 100 ETH ($268,059.00 USD).
A non-comprehensive list of other transactions worth mentioning:
- Merlin - Sold 12/31/21 for 69 ETH ($261,229.17 USD)
- Punk Rock Arcanist Joey - Sold 12/30/21 for 42.069 ETH ($261,229.17 USD)
- Headless Wizard - Sold 9/12/21 for 25 ETH ($86,159.50 USD)
Stolen tokens etiquette
Like every NFT project, some cult token owners inevitably fall victim to scams and hacks. Stolen tokens may be flagged (and unable to be sold) on the Opensea marketplace and may have warning messages in listings on other marketplaces, including the Forgotten Market. Often, stolen tokens are listed for well below the natural floor price, making a complicated but tempting target even for considerate cult members.
Some informal guidelines and courtesies have been established in the Sales channel to help handle situations involving stolen tokens. These precedents encourage acting with compassion for the previous owner, while dealing with the practical realities of the situation.
- As soon as uncharacteristic listings occur (based on the history of the owner, recent suspicious transfers, or the relative price point), members of sales chat will commonly reach out to potentially affected cult members. Often, stolen items can be identified and warnings shared in the channel, along with owner communication and recovery actions, even before flagging occurs.
- Before purchasing a known stolen token on a marketplace, it is common practice to attempt to reach out to the former owner to determine if they are attempting to recover that particular token or there are any other extenuating circumstances.
- While bots will likely attempt to flip (buying and then reselling for immediate profit) stolen assets, especially before any flags are implemented, a cult member doing so intentionally is strongly discouraged.
- Stolen Wizard tokens may be creatively transformed by burning with the sacred flame to produce a Soul. This new token would not be flagged.
- Sales Channel Heroes have set the tone for dealing with these messy situations by performing a number of good deeds, such as helping cult members recover stolen tokens, clearing flagged listings that artificially lowered the floor, or simply sharing wallet safety information regularly.
Sales Channel Heroes
While the sales channel is the place for impartial (or very partial, but respectful) discussion of transactions and token economics, it is also the home of some of the most significant acts of kindness within the cult.
A non-comprehensive list of legendary actions:
- On 7/14/22, brennen.eth recovered a stolen Wizard from the NFTX vault, burned it, then sent the resulting Soul to the original owner, as documented in the lore for Lich Despot Pandora of the Spike.
- On 7/11/22, stephen returned Pari Vengeance of Snakes to the victim of a temporary marketplace glitch.