The Launch Of Fresno

This upcoming Tuesday, Upland will be opening Fresno California! You might be asking “With all the amazing cities in the US, why is it that Upland has chosen Fresno to focus on?”. For Upland, Fresno has a special purpose.

Last month, we announced Fresno when we announced FSA Fest. Here’s a refresher of what Fresno means for Upland:

“Fresno represents a fundamental component of the Upland economy, a space where new and casual players can learn the ropes of Upland, without having to spend a lot of UPX. The launch of Fresno brings us a big step closer to achieving the vision of a digital economy that anyone can participate in, and a game that anyone can play.”

For more details on Fresno and the trains that will take you there, please read the full initial announcement.

Today we are ready to share some important details about Fresno that will allow Uplanders to prepare for the grand opening. Here’s how the opening will go down:

• On Monday, the first Fresno train parcel will be gifted to player Goudalord, who won the lower tier of the Innovation Hunt at the beginning of October.They will be dropped into Fresno to receive the terminal.
• Monday evening we will be opening the Fresno train route, but the properties will still be locked.
• Tuesday at 8am PT most of the properties will be unlocked for minting.

Notable Features of Fresno

Fresno will include the following 10 collections:

1. Firefighter: Own any 2 properties with a Fire Station in Fresno.
2. Downtown Murals: Own any 2 buildings with prominent murals.
3. Fulton St: Own any 2 properties on Fulton street.
4. North Growth Area: Own any 3 properties in the North Growth Area neighborhood.
5. Tower District: Own any 4 properties in the Tower District neighborhood.
6. Woodward Park: Own any 3 properties in the Woodward Park neighborhood.
7. Lowell: Own any 3 properties in the Lowell neighborhood.
8. Olive Ave: Own any 3 properties on Olive Ave.
9. Blackstone Ave: Own any 2 properties on Blackstone Avenue.
10. Van Ness Ave: Own any 3 properties on Van Ness Avenue.

Certain properties will be locked at launch, to be unlocked at a later date.

• City Hall, which will function much like City Hall in San Francisco.
• Properties belonging to the Downtown Mural and Firefighter collections will remain locked at launch.
• 3 additional train terminal parcels will be opened within 7 days of Fresno opening, without announcement. 6 of the train terminals will remain locked. All train parcels will fall under the FSA.
• Landmarks: Old Fresno Water Tower, Kearney Mansion Museum, St. John’s Cathedral.

Fresno will be the first city to be mostly allocated to the FSA, putting it in the “Affordable” category (about 75% of the city will be available for purchase only by Visitors and Uplanders).

Trains

• A one-way ticket to for the Fresno train route will cost 95 UPX (which will be transferred to the Community Pool) and the train will travel at 7.5 miles per minute. The train ride will last about 25 minutes, each way.
• Trains terminals will launch with a large capacity for explorer sends, although the train station itself (and thus train rides), will not have a passenger limit. Train terminal send capacity will be tweaked as actual travel volume is studied.
• Train terminals are different than airport terminals in that a player does not need to visit a terminal directly in order to buy a ticket and board a train, it is possible to do so when in discovery range of a terminal.
• Unlike future airline businesses, that will need to operate out of terminal, trains are a public utility that is not expected to drive revenues for train terminal owners.

Other Differences

• Sends fees set by property owners in Fresno will be limited between 5 and 20 UPX.
• As usual, the Upland team will be running tests on different aspects of the first time user experience. This will include variations in: which city players start, the starting bonus, and daily bonus.
• Fresno will launch only with a standard and limited tier Treasure Hunt (not with exclusive), that will carry different reward values compared to SF. Exclusive hunts may be introduced later on.

Fun Numbers

• Fresno will have 160,000 properties total.
• Fresno will have 31 neighborhoods.
• Fresno is 185 miles South-East of San Francisco.
• With 531,576 people, Fresno is the 5th most populous city in California.

A final note on the details: Fresno is launching with test settings that may be adjusted as we study the outcome of player experiences.

We’re super excited to be launching Fresno next week, as we know the Upland community has been inquiring about it for weeks. With Fresno opening, new players will have an easier time getting acclimated to the world of Upland, ensuring our community can grow larger and faster than ever before. This is the first big step to ensuring that Upland is a metaverse that works for everyone!