BitMates
BitMates is a collaborative NFT project building an expansive metaverse. The BitMates core Non-fungible Token (NFT) is a collectible creature from our base universe. This NFT will serve as our primary token for the BitMates decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Each BitMates NFT will be used to verify ownership and give you voting rights for the various governance proposals the DAO community puts forth. As we build out the universe, you will be able to interact with parts of the world directly with your BitMates NFT. If this is something that interests you, make sure to join the discussion in our community discord: https://discord.gg/bitmates and visit the website at: https://bitmates.io
Why do we need an NFT for this game model? BitMates is looking to innovate the gaming sector by directly addressing the issue of digital asset ownership. Traditionally in the gaming world, the entity that sells you digital goods retains all ownership and jurisdiction over the purchased goods. Although you may have paid for the goods, you don’t own the goods. The centralized entity behind the project has complete jurisdiction over these goods, including removing them from your possession or banning you from accessing them. Decentralized technology directly addresses this issue of ownership. BitMates assets are stored on the public Ethereum blockchain. This decentralized model gives the purchaser trustless rights to their digital goods. The owner is then free to use the digital good in any way they wish, including interacting with all the BitMates Core-created use-cases. By destroying the inequitable power dynamic seen in traditional digital goods models, we open a new door to building a decentralized game.
To speak more about how this enables decentralized development opportunities, I will try to help break down the most likely scenario for the BitMates project. On launch, we will have two main entities guiding the trajectory of this project. The BitMates Core team will consist of our founders, software engineers, artists, and supporting staff. The BitMates Core team is focused on directly expanding the BitMates universe in a structured way. Including building supporting tools, game ecosystems, incentivizing community engagement, growth, and marking. The core team will provide the project with the much-needed stability and structure that building an advanced ecosystem requires. The BitMates project will have many systems requiring long-term dedication that we feel are better directed and subsidized by a centralized entity.
The BitMates DAO will be a fully autonomous entity. The early community is integral to forming the initial structure of this DAO. The roles and responsibilities of the DAO will be separate from the BitMates Core team. The BitMates DAO will have a community treasury that the DAO has ruling power over. There will be no one centralized authority over the DAO’s treasury or the decisions the DAO makes. Initially, a council will be set up from the community that will appoint signatories to the DAO’s multi-sig wallet. Ideally, these signatories will be prominent figures from the larger NFT/Cryptocurrency scene with reputable backgrounds and knowledge of the space. Although, the main objective of the Core Team is to continue expanding the BitMates universe into a thriving metaverse. The DAO may choose to focus on other essential aspects of growing a project, such as community growth and events, philanthropy, and boosting up sub-projects, or start their development chain to work in tandem with the BitMates Core project.
The DAO aspect of this project is our most promising front towards innovating the NFT space. We are going to explore the limits of working with a DAO to its fullest. Many blockchain-based projects have promised decentralized entities for development, but we believe that they have mostly fallen short. Projects such as Axie Infinity have been operating for years in a completely centralized manner, and their roadmap for decentralization is very stagnant. If you are interested in being a part of a growing DAO, please take the time to join the Discord and continue the ongoing discussion regarding the BitMates DAO’s planning.
Now that I have laid out the main priorities of the directing parties for this project, I will explain some of the plans for the project in the short, mid, and long term.
Short-term
We continue to improve the UI/UX of the https://bitmates.io website. We are constantly looking for feedback on this front and are willing to build ANY tools the community wants. We have already created a native explorer, account dashboard, leaderboards, and Discord/Twitter bots. Our goals here are to provide the community everything they want regarding UX. It would be best if you did not have to rely on outside sources within the BitMates ecosystem. We will build the tools you want and bring them to you natively through the platform.
Art: we are narrowing in on our selected art style. Setting up a large-scale art-based project is going to require quality and recognizable art. The early stages of the project consisted of many different artists participating in the various art pieces we feature on the platform. We have started selecting talented artists from the bunch and are working with them on a more long-term basis. We want the BitMates art to be unique and recognizable. Much of the UI on the website will change in the short term as we start to replace the art with more thematic pieces. The most important part of this project is the community. You play a significant role in this project being relevant or not. As the core team, we are dedicated to taking extra good care of the community and center our focus towards community growth. We are all in this together, and maintaining a positive and trustful relationship with you is our priority. To do this, we will be interacting directly with the community and listening (and acting on) the feedback you give us. We want to hear your thoughts on the project, so please participate in the community discussions in the Discord as we all become friends and grow this project.
Mid-term
Much of the same information applies here, but I want to focus more on the development plans for the mid-term. We are very eager to innovate in ways no other NFT projects have. We want to build out features that the community will actively use. The first of many that we have planned is to build out a marketplace for all things BitMates. Some vast and successful projects such as Axie Infinity have already done so to great success. One of the main reasons for this is the massive fees that OpenSea (the current leading NFT marketplace) charge to all users. Right now, OpenSea takes a flat 2.5% fee on all sales. Depending on the secondary trading that happens in this project, that is potentially a lot of lost capital that could otherwise be re-injected back into the BitMates ecosystem. We plan to provide the option for people to trade, buy, sell their NFTs natively on the BitMates platform (and incentivize those who do). The marketplace allows us a lot of flexibility for the project long-term. This project will consist of many moving parts, and having a native marketplace will be a great addition to the project. Alongside the BitMates market, we are already in the process of creating the BitMates game universe. An extensive game requires lots of planning, lore-building, creating art assets, programming, and the added task of integrating all of this through Web3 and building on top of Ethereum. We will continue to update the community each time a significant piece of the world is completed.
We are already developing the mechanics behind BitMates breeding, land/real estate, and resource harvesting in the mid-term. More on the specifics of each of these integrations will be outlined in our next Medium post.
Long-term
We are witnessing the convergence of blockchain technology and many digital spaces. We are trying to make the BitMates project lead in innovation as this space grows. The main priority of this project is to have a unique, enjoyable social experience within the metaverse. Accomplishing this feat is going to take hard work and a strong community. As this project is mapped out we will be sharing every accomplishment with the community.
We look forward to highlighting some of our core game features such as breeding, land ownership, resource acquisition, and the many other in-game features that will utilize the BitMates generated stats.
