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MMORPG & Web3: When Worlds Collide!

Firstly, Our team firmly believes that the future of Web3 gaming lies in the integration of play-for-fun (P4F) and play-to-earn (P2E). We have outlined the specifics of this approach in an earlier document released by the Space Nation Team. Please refer to that document for more details on our thoughts about the future of Web3 Gaming.

Secondly, we believe that the greatest potential for Web3 gaming lies in Web3 MMORPGs. MMORPGs are virtual worlds where players can enjoy high-quality content and have the opportunity to earn value within the game ecosystem. This includes both entertainment consumers who are willing to pay for a quality experience, as well as workers who can earn value by serving others within the game world. Additionally, some players become investors in the game's economic ecology. At the top of the pyramid are the minimal number of top players who can both enjoy the game and make money. In some games, such as "Fantasy Westward Journey" and "World of Warcraft", these different types of players can co-exist harmoniously for a long time, supporting and relying on each other, growing and progressing together.

With the emergence of decentralized technologies, Tokens and NFTs, economic and social relationships can be strengthened and empowered to make P4F and P2E simpler, more convenient, more robust, and more secure. However, this can only be achieved if game developers allow and support the change.

It's important to note that the integration of P4F and P2E is not a new concept for traditional MMORPG players, as many of them are already familiar with it. The overall gameplay system of MMORPGs is well-established and includes a complete world view, rich game content, and a comprehensive social experience. These games also feature an economic system that is close to reality and has a long lifecycle, emphasizing the assets and economy of the game. In this environment, equipment and items become valuable assets for players, and active transactions take place between players to achieve certain goals. One such traditional game, Fantasy Westward Journey, has created incredible results and is considered a masterpiece of game economic design, reaching an output value of over 20 billion US dollars in China alone over the past 20 years, while the inflation in the game being controlled really well. Other popular MMORPGs in China with a relatively closed economic system, as well as some overseas products such as World of Warcraft, DNF, and EVE Online, have also made significant gains. With the emergence of decentralized technologies, such as Tokens and NFTs, game developers have the opportunity to further empower the economic and social relationships within the MMORPG ecosystem, provided they support and enable these changes.

In the past, without the concept of Defi, traditional MMORPG game designers, with their exquisite gameplay design, numerical design, deliberately or accidentally realized the combination of P4F and P2E within a game ecosystem. The inherent characteristics of blockchain technology make it an ideal fit for an open economic system. By utilizing tokens and NFTs, game designers can further plan and rationalize the roles of producers, consumers, speculators, investors, and game project parties in the game. This will create a more seamless, efficient, and secure combination of games and finance. Additionally, the addition and clarification of financial product attributes will strengthen users' awareness of their in-game assets, which will lead to a significant improvement in retention. For these reasons, we strongly believe that blockchain technology, tokens, and NFTs will have a positive and significant impact on the originally complex game ecosystem.

Building on our understanding and belief in the potential of Web3 gaming, we are utilizing Web3 technologies and tools to strengthen and enhance our Space Nation Online in the following areas:

Ecosystem and Users​

  1. The new Web3 MMORPG economic system with the integration of P4F and P2E reflects the real-world economy within the game, instead of being a financial product disguised as a game. This ecosystem is designed to establish a stable economic system with long cycles. It can meet the continuous and stable input of the game economic system, expand means of production effectively, facilitate economic cycles, and fundamentally address the problem of P2E Ponzi structures.
  2. The new Web3 MMORPG economic system should cater to the demands of both producers and speculators, and more importantly, the consumers. In traditional GameFi, speculators aim solely for financial gains. However, in our game, they will transition to become investors or producers who create and sell in-demand goods, which differ from the traditional GameFi model, where speculators continuously demand from the market.
  3. The new Web3 MMORPG economic system will be designed as deeply and widely as possible to play, to dismantle overproduction, to establish a good relationship between consumption and output, and to promote commodity trading between players. And it should be noted that there is also a certain randomness in the process of output, that is, low-consumption groups also have the opportunity to produce high-value products.
  4. Our game is designed to serve and satisfy both P4F gamers and P2E users, and also provide healthier systems for real investors to enter. The MMORPG ecosystem strengthens role cognition between different categories of users and enables role switching.
  5. Our game welcomes both regular P4F gamers and P2E users, whether they are from Web2 or Web3. The game will have systematic settings to ensure labor division and user interaction.

Digital Assets Ownership - NFTs​

Every GameFi project emphasizes the concept of digital asset ownership, but it is not enough to simply turn in-game assets into NFTs and grant ownership to players in an game. If the game eventually dies, the value of the assets owned by players will greatly decline. Therefore, the foundation of the game must be stable and long-lasting, and the assets should have more use cases outside of the game, virtually or even in real life.

The true value of leveraging NFTs in a game lies in whether they can improve game design and enhance the player experience, strengthen connections between users both inside and outside of the game, make the game ecosystem more stable and long-lasting, and whether they can create new possibilities for the game economy. In other words, the focus should not solely be on the ownership of digital assets, but on how they can add value to the overall gaming experience and create a sustainable game economy. With the proper integration and use of NFTs, players can not only have true ownership of their digital assets but also have a more immersive and rewarding gaming experience that will keep them engaged and invested in the game for the long-term.

We have established some guidelines for designing our NFTs:

  • Prioritizing gameplay and game balance
  • Ensuring no negative impact on the virtual game world
  • Striving to add value to the game design or enhance the overall gaming experience

For more details, please refer to the NFT design section.

Tokenomic Design​

Properly designing tokens and defining their boundaries is crucial, especially in Web3 Gaming products. The in-game currency (token of Space Nation Online, CHR) should serve as the foundation for the game's economic circulation, facilitating measure of value, medium of exchange and purchasing power storage within the game. On the other hand, ecosystem token (token of Space Nation game series ecosystem, OIK) should represent various utilities for the ecosystem to encourage participants contribute to it. However, in the current Dual-Token designs of most GameFi products, the two tokens are often intertwined, with each bearing the functions of pressure on price and hedging for the other. While this may seem beneficial, it also poses significant risks to the whole project.

We have established guidelines for designing our tokenomics:

  • Our token ecosystem consists of OIK, CHR, and NFTs, with each token having clear and non-overlapping responsibilities.
  • We only consider meaningful tokenomic designs and exclude any mechanism of converting token A to B without any relevance to the game.
  • The revenue generated by the Space Nation series games provides significant support for the development of the ecosystem, indefinitely.
  • We work as a central bank to stabilize the in-game economy by adjusting supply and demand.

For more details, please refer to the Tokenomics section.

DAO & Governance​

The concept of DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) is popular among Web3 games. However, many of these DAOs are not functioning optimally due to lack of community engagement or insufficient knowledge and skills from members. Additionally, governance manipulation and exploitation are often seen in these organizations.

To encourage community participation and contribution while maintaining professional game and economic design, Space Nation has implemented a Guardian system for our DAO. The Guardians are carefully selected from the Dev team, top-tier gamers, and big OIK token holders. The Guardian group proposes proposals to the DAO, which then decides whether to approve the execution.

The Guardian group starts with a small size of 3 members from each category. As we release new game versions and content, launch expansions, and as the community grows, we will gradually increase the number of seats for Guardians, while the Dev team seats remain fixed at 3. This approach will give the community real governance over the game over time, which may take years, and the Guardians will always be those who contribute the most to the game or to the OIK ecosystem, who know the game best and who seek its long-term success.

In the meantime, the power granted to the Space Nation DAO may start small, but it will continually expand as we release more game content and the community grows and matures.

For more details, please refer to the Governance section.

Social relationship​

Another important aspect of MMORPGs is social relationships. This goes beyond just the social systems within the game, but also includes class construction and identity within the social hierarchy. With the advent of Web3, assets can have a greater impact and influence compared to Web2, and the sense of social identity among players can be more pronounced and defined. As a result, future GameFi developments should prioritize the building of social systems that cater to these dynamics. By doing so, P4F players will be more likely to respond positively and engage more deeply with the game.