Digital Fireside Chats

Yesterday, we co-hosted an AMA with Marguerite deCourcelle a.k.a Coin Artist in Dapp.com's Telegram. The public submitted questions on Dapp.com's announcement page, which were subsequently tackled during the discussion. Marguerite covered a whole range of topics, everything from the key details of the Founder's Sale to her own game-based inspirations. No need to go too deep in synopsis, as we've documented the full AMA for you all below!

Dapp.com + Creative Crypto: Marguerite, thank you so much for joining us on this special day! Before we start the AMA, could you please introduce yourself a bit more and what do you do?

Marguerite: Thank you for having us! I am Marguerite deCourcelle, CEO of Blockade Games, a next generation game studio building on layer 2 blockchain tech via the Loom SDK.

Question 1: Will players across all platforms be in a single, unified world? Will players be able to play on PC at home, then take a device on the go, log into public WIFI, and still have access to all the same assets?

M: Player data will persist across multiple platforms, yes. Will an event occur simultaneously across multiple platforms? Yes. Blockchain enables different platforms to access the same data. We will first be releasing on PC and then depending on Nintendo's stance on blockchain, the Switch. Additionally, players will be able to transfer NFTs via our gateway to the Ethereum mainnet.

Q2: Am I too late to participate in the Founder's Sale now? Is there any way to get on the list late?

M: The waitlist is closed, but all Founder’s Keys and Founder's assets are NFTs. After the sale opens, we anticipate the secondary marketplace on OpenSea will begin to populate with assets, where you can offer a bid or buy others' keys to participate in the sale. However, once a person uses their key to access the sale, it will be locked until we release the asset at either the conclusion of the sale or a period after which the initial roll-out has completed.

Q3: How did you manage to find your first 10K users and get them signed up for Founder's Sale?

M: We have a great community that really leveraged the referral system. You can see all the amazing hard work people accomplished on this visual data analysis we had done -

https://twitter.com/geoffgolberg/status/1110222294306226179

Q4: How exactly will item rarity work? Will items level up alongside characters? Will a common rifle always be common, or will using it enough eventually let you upgrade it to uncommon?

M: Rarity defines aesthetics and not power. Skins will be transferrable to future assets. For instance, a player can obtain a higher-level asset and reskin it with their limited Founder's asset skin. A skin can earn badges as it is used to complete missions or other tasks i.e. "the boss killer" after being used for the final blow on a boss.

Q5: Is Neon District multiplayer? What is the most interesting thing about the storyline that would intrigue the players?

M: We're looking to integrate multiplay in Season 2 which is slated for Spring 2020.

We love the storyline because it has so much creative real estate which allows us to play with the tech and art. In that way, the story and experience are immersive and reinforce each other. We also love the exclusive speak-easy nature of a cyberpunk universe. We're very excited to have factions in the future and play on the organic evolution of our community.

Q6: With Multiplayer coming in 2020, does that mean we can't trade blockchain assets with each other beforehand? Or is there going to be a marketplace so we can trade the assets?

M: You'll be able to trade assets immediately, as soon as players are willing. The only asset that will be temporarily locked is when you've engaged your founder's key to buy founder's assets, but this will only be a temporary lock until the roll out for the sale is complete. We won't be locking or preventing the trade of any founder's assets obtained from the loot boxes. Everything will be tradeable on OpenSea.

Q6: What makes plasma bears so unique from other collectible games? And why bears?

M: We experimented a lot with the crypto artist community, integrating user-generated content. Plasma Bears was a tech demo we produced in a month to test the stability of our backend tech stack which is ultimately the underpinning of Neon District. Plasma Bears is unique in that it is entirely free to play. Players have collected bear parts and even sold them for ETH on OpenSea. There's the accomplishment of collecting a full art set of bear parts, which consist of composable tokens and transfered as one unit, and then the goal of trying to assemble more powerful bears to go questing with.

Q7: How does Neon District make money? As I understand it, ND will basically be a Free-to-Play game. So how will you make the game sustainable? Marketplace fees? Selling crates with cosmetic items (like the Founder's Sale)? Are there going to be any P2W concepts?

M: We will be following the traditional free-to-play monetization model established by games like Fortnite, however, with the added layer of asset transferability and open markets. As we've seen with other successful free-to-play models, players really love the ability to express themselves through art, emotes, special effects, and style. Blockchain assets are great for this because we are just now challenging how we perceive the value of virtual identity and digital art.

Q8: Please collab with Gods Unchained

M: If there's a fun opportunity to collaborate, we'll consider it!

Q9: The @neondistrictRPG pinned tweet describes Neon District as "a Final Fantasy inspired cyberpunk RPG," so I have to ask… What's your favorite Final Fantasy installment and why?

Final Fantasy VII. I loved the earlier FF's but for me, FFVII really broke the mold by introducing a whole new level of power fantasy.

Q10: At the start we will only have tutorial campaigns. Will there be anything to justify grind (item drops, achievements, leveling up the character, etc.) or will it be just a simple campaign and after we should just wait for future seasons?

M: The Season 0 Tutorial and Campaign will teach players core game features. Players will be given starter gear that will not be valuable and only meant to help them complete missions. Players with founder's skins will be able to earn badges on the skins that they've bought. The real competitive gameplay will kick into high gear during Season 1 (Fall 2019). The entire reputation and rarity systems matter as seen by how we aim to reward our dedicated community through the Founder's Sale and Season 0

Thank you Marguerite for joining us and to Dapp.com for hosting! The Season 0 Founder's Sale goes live on March 28, so be sure to keep your eye on their social channels and on OpenSea. You can find more information on the Founder's Sale and Marguerite's backstory here.

Blockade Games Website: http://blockade.games/
Neon District Website: https://neondistrict.io/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/neondistrictRPG
Medium: https://medium.com/blockadegames

Dapp Website: https://www.dapp.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dapp_com

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