What Is The Fiefverse?
“The Metaverse”
Before we dive into Fiefverse specifically, let’s break down a buzzword we’ve all likely been exposed to over the past couple of years: the metaverse. It’s a loaded term, with countless discussions of its true meaning. Some people say a metaverse is a blockchain-enabled virtual world. Others believe the real metaverse can only be experienced through the lens of virtual reality.
We think it’s more broad than that. Just like a home is where we feel safe, secure, and a sense of belonging, we believe the metaverse is a digital world where we can explore, communicate, share common interests, and create memories with people. All of these things we want as humans, and can now enjoy in digital environments. In that sense, Fortnite, Roblox, World of Warcraft, and countless others are also metaverses. They just haven’t been called that.
It seems that web3 has adopted the word to mean a virtual world very similar to what we as gamers have seen in the past, only now with blockchain enabling interactions like owning land, avatars, developing experiences, etc. So with this context in mind, let’s dive in.
Applications
In order for Fiefverse to make sense, we need to first talk about the applications we’re building. The applications that comprise the Fief Protocol are primarily focused on unlocking liquidity for in-game assets.
It’s a simple truth that much of the innovation in the NFT space is singularly dedicated to popular PFP projects, leaving those who hold in-game NFTs out in the cold as they wait for their project’s titles to come to market.
Game development takes time. In-game asset holders are illiquid and bored. There’s plenty of room for innovation here. Let’s explore further.
Staking
We’ve covered this before in State of the Protocol: Part 2, but it’s worth a mention here. Staking is the first application live on Fief Protocol. It allows users to stake their FIEF and earn staking rewards along with Influence Points (IP). For more information, check out this article on Influence Points.
Staking rewards are supplied from fees generated through user activity across the Fief Protocol. That’s cool — but we’ve all been there, done that. What is innovative with Fief Staking is that it is currently the primary path by which you can produce IP, which is the key to everything — starting with Loot Farms.
Loot Farms
Loot Farms are next on the application release schedule. Let’s say you own items for six different games. You’re super excited about the games, but you know it’s going to be awhile.
Most of the items people have purchased are for games which haven’t been released yet, and many will take 12–36 months to release. It’s like pre-ordering an expensive game really far in advance. Many of these games also promise rewards and utility for the items once the game releases, which again, may be awhile. And the rewards are uncertain.
“Well that sucks, what can I do with these items I’ve purchased until then?”
The answer: earn yield with Fief.
Once Loot Farms are live, we’ll open Loot Farms for different game collections. All you have to do is acquire IP to unlock the Farm, join with those items in your wallet, and begin accruing rewards. And the best part: those items never leave your wallet. Your items, your control.
Yield will come in many forms, including competitive FIEF distributions, Fiefverse NFTs, real yield via transaction fee flows, etc. All securely gated by IP.
Additional Applications
Our suite of applications won’t stop at Staking and Loot Farms, either.
If you’re like us, many game items you own may lack meaningful utility, and sometimes you want ways to extract liquidity from your holdings without trying to navigate secondary marketplaces. Or maybe certain games require sets of items that would be annoying to source individually. The list in production goes on, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Our applications will serve any gamer at every price point, providing new life to your items. Hundreds of games are in development across web3. Some will be a hit, and some won’t. We’re here to help you regardless.
Fiefverse
Now let’s get to the glue that makes Fief application rewards possible. In order for yield to be real and sustainable, it has to derive from user demand and activity. Otherwise it’s just contributing to inflationary pitfalls the industry has seen in the past.
We believe that the Fiefverse can become the market’s premier metaverse and act as the bedrock for a sprawling application ecosystem dedicated to unlocking yield from in-game assets.
Fiefverse is the gaming layer of the Fief Protocol (pure DeFi is boring). It’s an open world RPG built around an ever-expanding collection of explorable worlds. Players can travel to different locations based on their interests and equipped Avatar.
We’re tired of web3 metaverses with nothing to do and no structured economic layer. We should be able to explore, adventure, and visit a host of experiences while collecting rewards that seamlessly plug into other web3 applications. With the Fiefverse, you can do all of that and more.
- Explore dungeons and fight enemies to get awesome loot (NFTs and IP)
- Join competitive multiplayer game modes and win prizes
- Build up your corner of the Fiefverse (literally)
- Hang out with friends in one of the many Chillzones
- Use the gasless auction house to max bid on your favorite weapons.
…the possibilities are endless.
In order for Loot Farms, Staking, and other apps to be a better alternative to the current models, and thus fuel the applications, Fiefverse itself has to be a great standalone experience.
Our approach to the Fiefverse is to build and release rapidly. Instead of hyping up a world for years and potentially failing to meet expectations, we’d rather release updates and game types, gather feedback, and iterate quickly.
The Fiefverse is built in Unity with infrastructure designed to make it quickly scalable. But again, we want to get a basic world playable so there is immediate utility for your Fiefverse assets. We want players to be there as new parts of the map spring up.
You can purchase a Fief Avatar, equip gear, have companions, and use IP to upgrade your character and unlock new worlds. Customization, progression paths, fun experiences, and IP rewards, which you can then use to buy more Fiefverse assets in the Fief Shop or directly in-world.
We’re targeting everything that we see as lacking in current metaverse projects and moving quickly to bring those features to market.
Connecting the dots
Once players equip an Avatar and start playing, there will be a natural desire to become stronger or to own the rarest and coolest items in the game. Note that equippable items in the Shop are only available for purchase with IP.
If a player wants to improve their look with fresh gear, or re-supply their IP balance before going on dungeon crawls, they can buy IP directly with ETH in the Fief Shop, just like one would in their favorite web2 games. Alternatively, players have the option to participate in the applications (like Staking and Loot Farms) to passively accrue IP.
Said another way, if a Fiefverse player doesn’t want to participate in our dapp layer to acquire IP, they don’t have to. They can purchase IP directly, get their gear, and continue their adventure. It will feel like traditional gaming upgrade mechanics, and they own their in-game items.
Player enjoyment of Fiefverse creates demand for IP. Demand for IP in part drives application rewards. It’s a circular, sustainable model for both the applications and the game that fuels them.
What do you want to see?
Lastly, we’re launching Fiefverse rapidly and iterating quickly, which means the world will launch with the basics and continue to improve over time, with player feedback along the way. We’re not promising hundreds of hours of gameplay right out of the gate. What we can do is launch with core mechanics to further support applications while quickly iterating and expanding fun experiences for gamers.
What types of game experiences would you like to see in the Fiefverse? We’d love to hear from you on Twitter. We’ll be actively listening to player requests, so who knows, maybe you’ll see your requested game mode in the Fiefverse.
See you there.
About Fief Protocol
Unlocking freedom for players with accessible decentralized applications fueled by the Fiefverse.
