Chibi ????? — Summer 2022 Community Newsletter and Development Mega-Update
Enter the Chibiverse!!!
Wait?? What could this mean???
Chibis is undergoing a planned re-branding process in anticipation of our upcoming release. We have spent the better part of the year planning, plotting out, and preparing for each rollout stage.
We have come a long way through the Wild Wild West, the Second Crypto Winter, and over many, many Mountains! It is our joy today to say that we have just about finally arrived at our destination, the cusp of our initial release.
With our rebrand, we would also like to announce that we have restructured the overall organization of the project and begun expanding the Team. We have all new as well as returning community members & leaders. We have secured a half dozen or so Community Managers, appointed a new Lead and several Intern Moderators, Content Creators, Web Designers, DevOps, Collaborators, and much more.
First, to celebrate both this Milestone (Chibi) and an even more remarkable Milestone(Ethereum) — a special Airdrop has been sent out to our Discord Early Adopter Group (DEAG). You will find a “Merge Panda” (depicted below) in your wallet.
The Merge Panda is based on the recent Ethereum 2.0 “Merge” that occurred, mobilizing Ethereum from proof-of-work to Proof-of-stake. This huge milestone has been in the works for as long as this project has been in pre-production. It is only fitting to have a celebratory milestone drop for Chibi Fans!
[Due to issues earlier this year with Polygon NFTs on Opensea, all newly Polygon sent assets will generally appear as “hidden.” So “unhide” your assets to see them. Also, no matter personal settings — our project will always be able to see them regardless of wallet/display status]
With that news, let’s dig in. Below we would like to preview what has already been accomplished. We have a large swath of integrations and accomplishments that will make our project not just stand out but cement its status in history as a legendary release.
We have secured/built the following:
- Over 25,000 unique Chibi Related Assets
- Over 100 unique Soundtrack pieces to cover the entire game
- All necessary WEB3 Designations and Tech for a near-fully decentralized experience
- 1000s of pieces of Concept Art depicting characters, places, and things
- Tokenomic Model for multiple asset classes both in and out of game
- Multi-chain access, starting with Ethereum, Polygon, and now Solana
- Multi-chain Marketplace(s), the ability to cross-post items for sale
- PvP Battlegrounds, Tournament, and Multi-player Esport framework
- Infinite Dungeons, a place for a procedurally generated randomized Infinite Dungeon Experience (IDE) (Side Story, not Main Questline)
- New NFT designations (Dynamic)(Storytelling)& (Account Activating)
Additionally, we have either built or are in production of the following:
- Staking: Our unique and one-of-a-kind Dispatch System
- Renting Contract: with Interoperability Functions & Vicarious GameFI
- Fractionalization: Starting with Fiefdom Contracts (more on this below)
- 108 Unique Characters: Paths — each a playable and notably different player experience through the storyline, with perma-death.
- Chibimoji System: for health, damage, and status interactions
- Multi-perspective: Battle System & Overworld — 2.5D Zelda/Metroidvania
- Parental Controls: to assist parents with youngling area access/content
- Heirloom System: Airdrops tied to both Ownerships and Milestones
- Milestone Tracking: Unique Achievement & Badge Systems
- Onboarding: Web2 Ease of Transition (EoT) to Web3 Operations
- So much more!
That is definitely a nice list of achievements, and the overall flow of the project truly reflects the advancements we have made and the whole crypto community over the last few years.
PVP
After the acquisition of new tools in 2022, we have made an executive decision to add PVP functionality to Chibis. We played with the idea last year and were uncertain about how to proceed; initially, it would be a purely MMORPG experience. However, with the available tools, it would be a disservice to our future community not to include this.
PVP functionality now includes:
- Free for all four-man battlefield with unique dynamics
- Multiview/team combat (Splitscreen functionality)
- Last Man Standing (considering versions)
The PVP mode will not be available in the initial release; however, as we roll out the service, PVP will eventually be initialized. We will do our best not to have PVP overshadow the core game, as this can and does occur often enough in the genre. That is one reason why we had initially resolved not to include PVP. Now though, it will be an attraction for sure!
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Storytelling & Dynamically changing NFTs
Storytelling is the core and pan-ultimate metaconcept that separates “games” from “experiences.” We strive to be a significant experience in the Crypto and Metaverse journey and have taken the time to ensure that this story will not just be told, but experienced properly.
With 20 years of game design and leadership, it is my hope to provide a quality experience for our community members. In 2019, we began to kick around the idea of storytelling, NFT’s and MMOs. One of the previous historical games worked on had not just lore but an entire storyboard that was nearly 100 pages of background and story. It successfully launched in Q1 2018 and is one of the most historically relevant projects on Ethereum and the entire blockchain community. Interestingly, we are coming together to release an updated project version in 2023!
In 2020, as Chibis became a forerunner in the space, we teamed up with a group of innovators (Silica Nexus) that were intent on not just building the De Facto metaverse but building something similar to Ready Player One. My role was to provide unique, quality content in a game theory-enabled environment. This Chibi project is the first of the results of the said initiative.
Thus, the concept of integrating Storytelling into Atari-age-like crypto gaming began. Since then, many opportunities and attempts have begun. To truly have a “AAA” experience, an engaging experience coupled with lore and a quality storytelling ability is a must. This is what is still missing from the crypto gaming world, but not for much longer.
We collaborated back in 2020 with an exceptional group that wished to help us with our storyboard by generating Comic Book NFTs. Although this initiative fell by the wayside, we still intend to release several items of value. This includes a Chibi Comic Saga, Manga/Anime, and even an Animated Series in the works (with Production Rights secured).
Currently, the better portion of the Chibis Lore remains unpublished. This will change, however, as we roll into our release. Expect to find unique Storytelling Initiatives, including Storytelling NFTs, to help tell the Origin Story of not just our Chibi’s but all Chibis throughout all of time.
So what is this feature that we are hyping up?
I’m glad you asked……
We have developed a collaboration with a newly founded organization stemming from Metaverse Collaborations — a company named “NPC.” They are a new AAA group hoping to help build and lead the development of the “true” Metaverse backbone. To do this, they will develop a product that creates, manages, and implements NPC Nfts, managed by and run by people worldwide.
NPC will pilot its first product with us. That means in the near future, alongside our testing and releases, we will also see a unique opportunity to mint 2222 “NPC” dsNFTs. NPC seeks to collaborate with and compete with half a dozen other organizations seeking to build similar infrastructure. In recent years, some movies and IPs have run off the NPC dynamic.
Organizations like Horizon Games, Ultiverse, Autonomy, and even Meta (previously known as facebook….) are jumping on the bandwagon and raising funds in the tens and hundreds of millions. You can read up on it HERE and HERE. Axies Infinity, Splinterlands, and some other projects paved the way for this to become a possibility and we are hopeful for the future of NPC and its initiatives.
dsNFT = “Dynamic Storytelling Non-Fungible Token”
So how does this work?
A Dynamic Storytelling NFT exploits the mutable factors of NFTs. A much-ignored aspect of the NFT and Smart Contract design — leveraging these mutable aspects allows creators and projects to create uniquely changing NFTs. In previous years, the infrastructure did not exist, nor was it fiscally viable for most projects to explore the mutable aspects of NFTs.
Now, however, mutability vs. immutability offers creators new and unique ways to express and explore the more significant potential NFTs have always possessed, as seen HERE and HERE and HERE — (the second article is exceptionally worth the read). Immutability “limits” many dynamics and was a trust solution rather than a technical sustainability matrix. Mutable NFTs are exceptionally worth it when offered and managed by trustworthy sources.
An excellent discussion on Twitter Threads about mutability can be found here:
Immutable vs. Immutable Threads
Further, when approaching the topic of “NPCs” and storytelling dynamics, aspects such as rarity, immutability, and the like become less of the forefront. The ability to have fun, do dynamic things with, and ultimately tell an overall story and function of the metaverse — mutability opens up many doors for innovative approaches.
So how does it work?
With the initial NPC drop as a test run/prototype, we have determined to help integrate these “NPC” NFTs into the MMO RPG that chibis will run.
What the heck does that mean?
Simply stated — these will be “living and changing” NFTs. Their metadata will change over time due to both controllable and uncontrollable factors. When minting your first NPCs, you will have a “dashboard” to control your NPC’s functions, features, and integrations.
NPC dashboard will allow owners to manage their NPCs integrations and features, such as rentals and staking. In the first prototype, Chibi NPC nfts will require “activation” in the game world. This means that only players will be able to test these initial NPCs. However, infrastructure for renting out or even selling/trading your NPCs will be in place after activating them.
So how do you activate a Chibi NPC?
Players will have a bit of a hide-and-go-seek experience in that — while exploring the Chbiverse, they will eventually “discover” their NPC(s). Once discovered, a player will then have the ability to “activate” their NPC nft for the first time. The requirement to both play the game and advance the story is an intended function of the NPC release to get real, not bot, non-collector feedback, and interactivity.
Once discovered (players will receive hints and prompts the closer they get to theirs, and as others pass by them unknowingly via proximity — they will generate what we call “NPC Hints”), various quests/requirements will be necessary to activate your NPC fully.
Once this is accomplished, your NPC(s) will be functional and can be controlled by either interacting with them or through your dashboard both in and outside of game. It sounds more complicated than it is, but pretty much you will be able to do one of three things. First, you can set your NPC to “On” status. This allows it to interact autonomously within the game world, and various heuristics will be implemented over time, thus allowing for deeper customization.
While set to “on”, an NPC can be strictly set to interact with you, your guild, or the entire population as set in preferences. Further, you can customize its script, background, purpose, and more. The ability to implement scripting for interactivity is being researched now. Additionally, a third setting would be AI automation.
For now, NPC nft and their in-game avatars will only be interactable. Still, considerations for making them combat responsive are also being considered (say an enemy player or enemy NPC encounters your NPC — they could engage in self-defense if attacked.)
The possibilities are limited by imagination and the willingness of each dev team to fully flesh these services out.
These are “Dynamically” changing NPC nfts. Thus, their metadata will update irregularly, allowing various environmental conditions to periodically change your NPC (for the better and sometimes — for the worse!).
There are too many conditions and events to delve into this article, yet imagine:
Your vendor NPC sells a lot of stuff during a month of real-world time. The game/contract notices this and upgrades its appearance, items for sale, or the shop itself (builds a more extensive shop, adds a sign, etc.).
Another possibility — an NPC is out in the far reaches of the world, untravelled by most. Eventually, Fuddruckers take over their zone — the NPC may become depressed or even captured, temporarily deactivating it until a rescue operation can be undertaken. Maybe the NFT updates in a prisoner outfit.
NPCs also live in a world of their own. Thus they may have gatherings, parties or even form their own councils. When this happens, notable changes to the contract metadata will occur. Players will receive notice generally to choose whether or not to involve their NPC in one or more of these activities, as the changes may become permanent.
Efforts to include “lock-in” points for NPCs will also be included. Say your NPC has changed appearances 5 times, and you liked the 4th. An NPC control panel will eventually be introduced so that you can admin your NPC to make it as pleasing or (as displeasing — you filthy degen) as desired. Of course, specific standards will be in place to avoid dissonant usage of NPCs.
Trading of NPCs will be available to owners, and thus optimizing your NPC(s) will be a priority if you wish to market them. The ability to level up NPCs will be included, and NPCexp increases based on various usage and interactivity statistics. The entire system has not yet been fleshed out, but we look forward to unique changes, upgrades, and marketability of NPCs.
Party on!!!
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Fiefdoms Revisions:
Fiefdoms are the primary focal point for the GameFI nature of the new Chibi release. The core initial reason this game even existed was that our founders and community members wanted something more than what was available on the market. I came up with the idea of a Feudal system overtaken by forces of chaos, a world in which Chibi Heroes such as yourself would unite to fight and return the Fiefdoms to their proper state of existence.
The concept of Fiefdoms then mutated over time. Eventually, it became an environment in which players could colonize, own and even manage the distribution of lands. Then Covid hit, amongst other challenges. The concept of Fiefdoms then began to morph into a more significant product — an entire MMO RPG with story arcs and various GameFI elements.
Today, we have some exciting news regarding Fiefdom development. First, Fiefdoms will not be introduced until the 3RD Act of the game (meaning the third story release update), which is great because it gives us even more time to develop their overall role and implementation/coding. Fiefdoms will serve long-term goals while players and guilds get acquainted with the system.
Fiefdoms will initially be enemy-controlled landscapes that require the actions of the entire player base to unlock, conquer and eventually determine a governing structure through DAO-based Fractionalized ownership and voting systems. The early days when players first access the Fiefdoms will be likened to a gold rush. An extreme amount of tokens relating to that zone will be mineable when colonizing the zone(s) for the first time.
At first, the initial four Fiefdoms (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) will be accessible. The fifth Gate (Metal Fiefdom) will require quests and objectives to unlock collectively accomplished in the first four Fiefdoms. This allows time for those who miss the first colonizations to engage in the final colonization — the Metal Fiefdom.
Fiefdom control will be “Fractionalized,” meaning that ultimate ownership will be controlled by DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) — one for each of the Fiefdoms. Colonizers, Investors, and Champions alike will be able to partake in ownership of Fiefdom fractionalization by region. Governance participation will primarily be affected by the tokenization of each realm, starting with tokens earned through colonization efforts.
The first four Fiefdoms will be available once their respective gates have been discovered and the Gatekeeper has been defeated. The fifth Fiefdom will require a unique Key to unlock the Gatekeeper, which can be accomplished through a server-wide quest line revolving around events that transpire in each of the four fiefdoms, chibiville, and other unreleased areas.
Lore-wise, the Neon City lies beyond the fifth gate of the Metal Fiefdom. This city will play a significant role in the course of the game. Seeking out the Ultimate “Key of the Realms” will begin once Neon City has been accessed. Finding the Keymaster will be one of the initial tasks, but the journey ahead will be filled with challenging endeavors, not for the weak of heart (or virtue). Who will be the one to unlock the gate to Neon City?
Story & Lore
The Prologue and Tutorial kick off the introduction to the game. The Prologue serves two purposes; to show the player how they (imaginably) become the Hero that the Chibis need (or the degen they don’t), and how “1” of the “108” professions is applied to the player. Players will not choose their class; instead, they will engage with a series of virtue questions that will heuristically determine the players’ best fit class. Players can also choose to have the generic “Main Hero/Heroine” job instead of a more advanced, dynamic job. This is especially useful for those unfamiliar with RPGs.
From here, we enter the Tutorial portion of the Introduction. The tutorial will introduce the main characters to the initial storyline. It will also serve as a training board so to help you familiarize yourself with the basic commands and functions of interacting with the game world. This game portion also introduces some main story characters and plot lines.
Once this process is complete, Act ONE will begin. Earlier, you may have noticed that we added a portion about “parental controls.” In Act ONE — players will have a minimal challenge but egregious outlets for fun; minigames, random stuff to do, etc. Players who are underage will require parents to unlock Chapter Access past ACT ONE.
Until then, they will be able to play in a safe zone, fun areas, without concern for challenge or perma-loss. This provides a two-fold purpose: parentally controlled players can remain and farm resources in the game’s early zones. While other players adventure forth, a need for simple essential resources will always remain — food for soldiers, basic minerals for crafting, etc. Thus even those remaining at the homestead of chibiville can participate in the community and the economy.
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Act 1 will bring the players through chapters, introducing them to story elements, and adventuring in and around Chibiville and its valley.
Act 2 will bring the players beyond the Known Realm (Valleys). Without giving away too much, players will be responsible for exploring the surrounding mountains out beyond the valleys, confirming rumors, and discovering Ancient Chibi history that will change things forevermore.
Act 3 will then bring players together moreso than ever yet. This Act will bring players into the aforementioned Fiefdom content. Everything up until this will have served to corral the player into a deeper story and familiarity with the game and its mechanics and systems. Fiefdoms are where the real, more profound game begins.
The story will begin to climax through the events that transpire in and around Neon City (Metal Fiefdom). From here, the story will expand drastically, more so even than the transition from Act 1 through Act 3.
During Act 1, players will first explore Chibiville and the surrounding territories. At first, all Chibis are unaware of life outside their little valley. Having been closed off to the greater realm (as the player discovers was for their benefit), events unfold that unlock passage to go further than any chibi has done within their collective memory.
The Great Chibi Philosopher becomes the primary support for the players, gifting them knowledge and guiding them to points of mystery. Players will build their first Headquarters, a place where they can manage their armies of Chibis gathered through the story, promotions, and pack sales. After the players establish their Chibi HQ (Castle), additional features and functions are granted.
Once the players have “outgrown” the valleys of Chibiville — ACT 2 will commence. The players will gain access to new zones, story elements, and essentially their first real interaction with heavy oppositional forces. It is now that the players will encounter the first “curtain,” the pushback for goodness by the forces of evil. As the players progress, the “curtain” will begin to open to reveal more profound truths and secrets long forgotten.
It is here where players will begin to encounter a challenging experience and when perma-death can occur for the first time. Regardless, the Chibi Lands are vast, wondrous places for those who do not fall to the wicked ways of the entropic forces. Unique map interactions, side stories, quest, Fiefdom discovery, and more occurs during this discovery and exploratory stage. Players will find a mass of hidden allies and recruitable Chibis to join them on their journey. This is not a linear stage but a dynamic, unique player experience.
The story that plays out during ACT 2 will be extensive but nowhere near the outpouring that occurs in ACT 3. ACT 3 commences when the players pierce the Gatekeepers to the various Fiefdoms. This, as mentioned earlier will be a bit of a gold rush, allowing many groups and individuals to increase their wealth in multiple ways.
ACT 3 will serve as the mid-journey jump point. Players will combine forces to colonize the Fiefdoms and engage with DAOs and Fractionalization Governance for the first time. This collaborative effort is a focal point, both in-game and out-of-game. The challenges faced in the various fiefdoms will require players to work together to overcome obstacles to further the story.
There are several acts after the Third, all of which lead up to a culmination point in the story. When all the original acts of “Enter the Chibiverse” have been laid out, we expect anywhere from 3 to 5 years have passed (real world time).
It is an exciting time, and we look forward to how our players determine to face the challenges ahead.
Let’s talk more about each of the fiefdoms!
Each Fiefdom will have its own tokenomics, and the currency of each realm will be farmable to various degrees — especially for those first adopters and colonizers. The DAO governance for each Fiefdom will be primarily managed through the unique token for its realm.
Additionally, each Fiefdom (Element) will have faction(s) of Chibi NPCs present. Each represents a “Founding” Faction that had been the Governors and/or Protectors of their respective Fiefdoms.
These primary factions are as follows:
The Earth Fiefdom (was) controlled by the Cowboy Chibis. ^
The Wind Fiefdom (was) controlled by Ninja Chibi Families. ^
The Water Fiefdom (was) controlled by Pirate Chibis and their Fleets. ^
The Fire Fiefdom (was) controlled by the various Mystic Chibis and Clans. ^
The Metal Fiefdom (was) controlled by the Samurai Chibi Factions. ^
As some may recall — the fall of the Fiefdoms to the forces of chaos and entropy is what our story ultimately revolves around. Each of the four primary fiefdom elements has an elemental master — Alpha being the Chibi Master of Thunder and Lightning (thus Wind Fiefdom), for example. As the player journeys through the story, they partake in the struggle against these forces and their minions and assist/rescue those disenfranchised Chibis in hopes of recovering and reigniting each Element.
This is the game project’s first true goal and primary collective purpose. Everything up to the Fiefdoms will be primarily a single-player experience, with various engagement points for group play along the way. Fiefdoms, however, are the core of the tokenization dynamic and require a collective effort to unlock, maintain, and grow while resisting these evil forces.
Fiefdom Land structure will also be “incorporated,” meaning that “proof-of-play” tokens and “proof-of-life” will be taken into consideration when exploiting land governance. This also means that functional resistance to botting and large corporate organizations buying up tons of land for speculation will be enforced. Instead, players actively engaging in, and investing time will unlock the ability to manage, and curate metaverse land within the Chibiverse. (Proof-of-play/life)
Guilds will primarily focus on acquiring, building, and maintaining land spaces. It will be an epic struggle to “push back” against the forces of chaos and entropy while building a community and structure. This is one way our metaland experience will vary from other decentralized land projects.
Once players unlock access to Neon City, however, we may see a more universal dynamic (compared to competing elements), as the Metal Fiefdom governance will be a different dynamic than in the elemental fiefdoms. Neon city will have not just land but entire city structures, buildings, and infrastructure to own, maintain, protect, and control.
With that all being said — it is a lot to take in and look forward to. The first three acts of the project are very fleshed out and expectedly exciting to see play out. We expect players to engage deeply with our tokenomics, especially the fractionalization of ownership of lands and nfts. The renting and dispatch systems will also provide unique tokenized gamification with endless possibilities and outcomes. Unlike play-to-earn games, this is a GameFI design with proof-of-play (POP) and proof-of-life (POL) initiatives.
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Crafting and Itemization
A less discussed topic — our crafting systems! This is another entire project sector that has been overlooked for some time. We will initially operate an “off-chain” crafting and upgrade system. This system allows all players to craft and refine items, gear, etc., ingame without paying fees. However, these will strictly be ingame accessible only. To trade/sell to other players, you must “mint” these items via a forge. Once “forged,” they will be on-chain and sellable/tradeable between wallets.
Forging is Minting. Owning the item ingame, whatever it may, does not exist in your wallet until it is “forged”. Generally, this will cost a nominal fee depending on which chain you will forge it to (Ethereum vs. polygon, for example, may naturally have higher gas on Ethereum).
This will also apply to raw crafting materials as well. Say you farmed up that 100 pieces of ore and combined it to make an iron ingot — you could then forge the ingot for the purpose of trade/sell, or whatever! Keep in mind that until an item is on-chained (nominal fee), it is only useable ingame and not attached to your nft wallet.
Utilizing this forge-minting model will allow the player to mint tens of thousands of items at little to no cost and do the same. This also works to funnel core and interesting items to the forge while allowing the mass of things an MMORPG can create without overwhelming the network and store. Demand will likely drive this economic model, and we will revisit it in further depth soon.
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Last but definitely not least — let’s cover two community topics. I am pleased to announce that the initial transition phase for assets has now been completed. Once the game reaches Beta, expect to receive the available asset for use in the game environment. Until then, during certain testing phases, we may utilize the placeholder to test these characters, equipment, and items, so stay tuned.
- Early Adopters Program: Those who have successfully transitioned their assets to the new placeholders on Polygon will be part of our “DEAG” Program. “Discord Early Adopter Group” members will have “Founder” Status, as previously mentioned. One new aspect that will be added is a limited token that will be “account bound,” identifying said account as a DEAG.
- Having a DEAG Token will confer a variety of benefits. The most notable will be enhanced “Voting Weight” in Fiefdom DAO administration. Any community vote can be swayed with your “heavy vote,” depending on which way the voice is wavering. There will be cooldowns associated with the usage of weighted voting to prevent exploitation; however, it is a convenient notion, and one many may seek out to enhance their position. So enjoy your sway!
- Speaking of Discord — we are now transitioning to what we hope is our final Discord home. A lot has changed since last year, and we need to update and design the discord to match the trends, integrate new tech, and enhance interactivity. Further, some changes to bots have had a lasting impact on the server and some administrative issues that are unresolvable regarding server ownership. Thus, following the re-brand, a new discord home is on its way.
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Well, that is it for now! It has been a busy season, and the fruits are just beginning to come to bear. We look forward to implementing a significant number of social strategies to make both the game and the community in and outside the game an enjoyable, enriching experience.
Till next time,
- The Great Philosopher
