Roadmap: The Birth of a Universe
Wen roadmap? Wen mint? Wen game?
From day 1, our team has been hard at work bringing this grand vision to fruition. Though we knew what we wanted to build from the start, assigning dates to each event just didn’t seem feasible, knowing the many road-bumps that inevitably occur during a project’s lifecycle. For this reason, we’ve left the community sort of in the dark regarding dates and timeline, as we’ve seen many projects fail to meet the optimistic deadlines they set for themselves from the start, which only fosters distrust and FUD within the community.
Thankfully, we’re now in the position to offer some loose dates regarding our timeline and roadmap, which hopefully should clear up the common questions we’ve been receiving from die-hard community members. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you’ll see that we’re truly in it for long-term positive-sum value creation in the Solana ecosystem and beyond.
June — Genesis Wanderer Mint + Passive Quests + $ENERGY + Relics
In the coming month, we’ll finally be launching our Genesis Wander characters, which will be game-ready sprites with pre-built animations ready to plug into our Unity game client. Holding a Genesis Wanderer will grant you access exclusive access to in-game content, boosted questing rewards for maximum financial utility, and retroactive airdrops from subsequent projects in the Lucid Realms ecosystem. As we continue building, our focus will be enabling as much utility for our Genesis Wanderers as possible.
Of course, that’s not all we’ve been working on in this time! Upon release of the Genesis Wanderer collection, we’ll be launching our passive quests, where you’ll be able to stake your Wanderers to earn $ENERGY, the native token powering the Lucid Realms, as well as Relics (composable, utility-driven NFT loot) which will help your Wanderers navigate the vast Lucid Realms. $ENERGY and Relics form the resources powering and connecting the Lucid Realms ecosystem projects.
There is a lot to cover for this drop, as we are innovating in ways that haven’t been seen before in the NFT landscape, so stay tuned for another article diving into the specifics of our tokenomics, NFT-nomics and overall utility behind the Genesis Wanderers.
July — Mini-games + $ENERGY Marketplace + Lore DAO
Yes, we’re building an MMORPG, but Lucid Realms is much more than just a single project. MMORPG’s take an insane amount of time and resources to build, but that doesn’t mean we’ll just stop delivering while in development. Lucid Realms will be an entire ecosystem of immersive experiences, held together by $ENERGY, Relics, and most importantly, Lore.
We’ll be launching mini-games for Genesis Wanderer holders to have some fun while earning token/NFT rewards, before our full game is out. One simple example of such a mini-game would be a coin flipping game denominated in $ENERGY (similar to https://degencoinflip.com/). This also opens up simple opportunities for builders to get involved in our ecosystem. The possibilities here are practically limitless!
A marketplace denominated in $ENERGY is necessary for a thriving ecosystem, as it’ll serve the foundation for our NFT economy and provide further utility to our $ENERGY token. The first project we’ll be launching through our marketplace will be our Lore DAO PFP’s, which will serve as a decentralized world-building effort to bootstrap the main narratives occurring the in the Lucid Realms, in a web3-native fashion.
Q3 2022 — MMORPG Play-test + PvE Combat Quests + Core Game Loops
We’ll be starting with a closed-beta play-test for our active combat quests and core game loops and progressively open these features up to the public. As this is an MMORPG, there will be plenty of opportunities for non-Genesis holders to engage in the ecosystem, but priority will be given to those who hold Genesis Wanderers. Yes, there will be F2P support, but there will be a clear distinction between the “playing” and “earning” within our game, to ensure that we’re reaching the largest possible audience.
There is much, much more to be revealed regarding this, but you will see that information when the time comes. For now, keep in mind that we are building a combat-driven MMORPG in the 2D pixel-art aesthetic. Gameplay will be similar to a fusion of the top MMO’s like WoW, Runescape, and Maplestory, as well as some other cool combat-oriented games like Realm of the Mad God and Deathstate Abyssal. While there is no genre that succinctly describes what we’re building, a 2D hero-based top-down shooter MMORPG seems like the most fitting descriptor at this time.
Q3/Q4 2022 — Factions + Multiplayer Battles/Quests
What good is an MMORPG without the MMO aspect? After fine-tuning our combat features after play-test feedback, we’ll be releasing Factions (commonly referred to as Guilds) and multiplayer battles + quests, which includes both PvE and PvP elements. This’ll be smoothly transition into the next milestone in our roadmap…
Q4 2022/Q1 2023 —Competitive Matchmaking Ladder
We believe that competitive gaming has massive potential when combined with the proper financial incentives and solid gameplay. I personally grinded many games with a competitive ladder, and had nothing to show for it other than a number on a screen (and lots of tears…cough cough Overwatch). With $ENERGY rewards, players are rewarded for having fun and wrecking opponents.
I had always dreamt of an in-game wagering system, where I’d be able to bet something (literally anything) while 1v1-ing my friends. Soon enough, this will be a reality in Lucid Realms, where you’ll be able to wager up both fungible and non-fungible tokens for PvP and PvE battles. As with everything in the Lucid Realms, this will be built in a web3-native manner, optimizing for degeneracy and fun.
And if you were wondering, yes, this will be a seasonal ranking system like the typical competitive eSports game.
2023 and Beyond — Expanding the Universe
While all our decisions will be informed by governance, the community will have much more impact on the decision-making process once we’ve laid the groundwork for further iterations. It’s possible some of the previous milestones may need to be tweaked through trial and error. But regardless of where we’re at by this stage, one thing will remain the same–our drive to build and innovate in the Solana space and beyond!
Though we’ll be focusing on expansions from the start, at this point we’d be operating in full-throttle to ensure the Lucid Realms provides as many funnels into the ecosystem as possible. This includes new games, projects, and virtual experiences–all connected by a shared set of resources ($ENERGY and Relics) and narratives.
Most importantly, we will be shipping seasonal content updates for our MMORPG, which will include new maps, quests, characters, items, and mechanics.
If you’re hungry for more information regarding all these milestones, do not fret! We will be providing an ample amount of resources for you to fully understand what exactly we’re building. This will be a journey like no other, so buckle up for the ride ahead. Things are only going to get crazier as we continue building and executing. Stay lucid, Wanderers!
