Upland has been the quiet virtual property game gradually picking up momentum. And now is setting the stage to roll out massive features in 2021. Here's a start. Last week we saw the end of the first of many Building Competitions, with neighbourhood Panhandle taking first place. Merced Manor and Dogpatch taking 2nd and 3rd respectively. This challenge created to setup ranking system for neighbourhoods. Here is the Panhandles Neighbourhood Statue ![]() COMPETITION DÉTENTE: We thought the dust was going to settle, Upland had different plans, we enter into another set of competitions. The first started Tuesday Jan 26/21 in Fresno. The difference from the Sandbox Neighbourhood Wars - no neighbourhoods. The players are building the most they can within the timeline allocated. A 3-day event. Every player starting off with the same amount of spud (the necessary token to execute a build). The cell towers that took away points in the first competition no longer exists, this time it is Llama statues that double the points of other players’ buildings with 30 meter radius - not your own. The timespan to complete the build of a structure build has been adjusted for these new mechanics. How well, participating players support and collaborate in this competition will be key. Prizes: Prizes for the top 10 winners. 1st receives a surprise Fresno collection property. COMPETITION LLAMAGEDDON:
Next Friday Jan 26/21, will be in San Francisco. Similar to the Détente competition with two exceptions. 1) Two separate tiers. Executive and Directors = tier 1, Pros and Uplanders = tier 2. 2) Players will be allowed to speed up their construction by spending UPX. The amount will be fixed and the UPX redistributed into the prize pool for the winners. As you can see a lot is starting to happen in LLAMAVERSE, and much more on the horizon. Follow my Facebook link - @AmineU_GP1 for more details Here’s a link to additional UPX you can use for your first land purchase. https://discover.upland.me/TheCatalyst Already signed up - let me know your Block Explorer name and I hope to see you at a virtual construction site!! LOL
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9/8/2020 0 Comments Blockchain Gaming![]() Blockchain Gaming - Its increasing popularity. And why it should be on the radar of traditional gamers, coders and artist. Blockchain technology and blockchain gaming are relative new terms appearing in traditional gaming circles. Not too long ago any reference to blockchain was automatically and solely aligned with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. There was barely a thought that Blockchain technology would have any association with gaming. That time is changing. Blockchain gaming although still in its infancy has been around for about 4-5 years. So what is blockchain? In the most simplest form it is an immutable record of every digital transaction, recorded on a chain in a form of blocks. Each new block stores historical information from the previous block as it records new transactions. These blocks(data) are stored on a large network of various computers (nodes) around the world for integrity/consensus and decentralization (in most cases). Therefore a transaction is tamper proof because all the nodes on the network must agree the transaction is ‘true/valid’. If someone attempts a false transaction it will be rejected by the network. Blockchain also provides transparency allowing anyone to see the transactions through a web browser on what is called a block explorer. You can look at data in realtime or look for historical information. Here are two in-depth links to blockchain and blockchain explorer. Now that you have a vary basic understanding of blockchain, I’ll attempt to explain how the two gaming styles differ. I am not a heavy gamer, and definitely not an expert, however I am familiar with the two worlds. Growing up and participating in the ‘High Score’ era (a Netflix movie) and witnessing the growth of blockchain I see the benefits as well as the challenges of blockchain gaming. This comparison is not to pit one against the other but to illustrate some differences so that new players/developers/coders/artist from the traditional gaming wanting to explore blockchain gaming have a more realistic expectations. Traditional Games. Generally all games are predetermined. The assets: your avatar/character, elements in environment, the mission or objective are already defined. This makes entry or onboarding very simple and easy. In some games, a game could introduce secondary games to assist with player engagement. Game signup is often just a payment or subscription an email and a password. And depending on the game they could offer ways to advance or enhance your player. Such as a purchase for X item with in-game currency or credit card. Where X items could be skins, tools, furniture, seeds, armour. You get the idea. The one thing that is most constant is that game play whatever it is, is immediate. Sign in and off you go. The computers storing all the game and player data are on a centralized network. However, what has slowly emerged is the realization that none of the assets purchased belong to a player, but remain the property of the game developer. The other factor is lack of community involvement with game direction and development and lack of transparency on how monetary funds are deployed. Blockchain Games: Here is where it gets tricky. The approach to a blockchain game is different and thus requires a different way of thinking, while still retaining conventional gaming mechanics. Blockchain Gaming carries over all the same constructs to its counterpart and more. The major difference is how the game is developed. Generally at a slower rate one segment at time vs full game release. Let us take away most of the presets and start completely blank or on a simple grid. Every new feature must first be coded AND be viable across a vast decentralized network. Most items first require to be ‘owned’ before they can be utilized as an asset, modified or played. In essence because the game is on a blockchain there needs to be a transaction of some kind. A purchase, a trade, a sale, or other (to be determined) that work harmoniously. All these transactions are recorded on the network for your reference as an owner or any other player/owner since all transactions are transparent. What does it mean to be an owner? Just that, the assets you acquire are yours forever. The purchases you make, in most if not all instances, can trade, upgrade or sell your assets also known as NFTs (non-fungible tokens) for money or other cryptocurrencies and have a say or input on game direction. The computers storing game and player info are accessible via the block explorer. You can see your game transactions whenever you want. But there are a few challenges with Blockchain gaming. -Because the game is set on blockchain, most games require a crypto wallet and if you are not familiar with cryptocurrencies this could be overwhelming for most traditional gamers and the mass population. The game Upland scores major points here since no wallet is required to play simple signup (email and password). -Robust gameplay remains a bit of a challenge in comparison to traditional gaming. As you may already assume gameplay must integrate with the blockchain showing every record. Not an easy feat to accomplish - yet. -Design and aesthetics, there is room for improvement and a few have, such as Upland and Chibis Global compared to earlier games and there are other blockchain games on the horizon that have scaled up their visuals as well. So let’s be fair, traditional gaming had 35 + years to evolve. Take a look at Donkey Kong back in 1981, Mario today is no where near the gameplay or graphics back then. It is now far more complex and detailed. We can’t expect blockchain gaming to be at the same level just yet. However I doubt it will take 35+ years to get there. ![]() Internet image from YouTube. Now you may think this comparison favours traditional gaming over blockchain gaming. Not at all, I pretty much enjoy both with a heavy lean towards blockchain. This article is to bring early awareness about blockchain gaming adoption to the traditional gaming sector and its supporting communities.
Take a look at articles from CoinDesk and Hedgetrade discussing the popular Minecraft utilizing blockchain to tokenize elements in the game. If you read any of my early articles/blogs you will know I favour blockchain as a new tool for society in general. Blockchain gaming in my opinion offers one of the best onboarding methods for mass adoption into this new technology. Blockchain Gaming like early Minecraft is for anyone with an interest to build (or maybe more accurately re-build), create and share environments within a strong supportive communities. To develop a platform for future gameplay features while learning about blockchain and cryptocurrency. Patience is key, it takes time to build a different type of game, a city, much less a universe. However the earlier you are involved the better and more opportunities you have help shape the game and to me that that kind of ownership is the most impressive. I hope this article provided some highlights about blockchain gaming. What blockchain games have you discovered and enjoyed? #femalegamers, #blackfemalegamers, #femalegamedevelopers, #gamedevelopers, #blackfemalecoders, #coders, #underrepresented, #blockchaingaming, #NFT, #femalecreators, #femaleartists, #creators, #artists, #womeningames, #womeninblockchain, #Upland, #genX, #generationX, #proportionalrepresentation 8/27/2020 0 Comments Upland enters Manhattan, NY![]() Here you have it. Even More Virtual Real Estate available. Upland has officially expanded to include Manhattan, New York. At time of writing, Manhattan’s second bubble has been released. These series of calculated releases is based on the percentage of San Francisco properties that have been sold and introduces Upland’s Fair Start Act, which is to even out purchasing opportunities for all players regardless of a player’s in-game net worth. This includes some properties being locked out from purchase, therefore in theory allowing players of modest means the chance to purchase properties closer to their in-game net worth. This is the first and will no doubt requiring some tweaking as the game structure develops, but it also illustrates how the team has been listening to community concerns. The 5 Manhattan bubbles are determined at increments of 40%, 42%, 44%, 46%, 48% of properties sold in San Francisco. Ex. First bubble accomplished when 40% of San Francisco had been sold, Lower East Side was opened. Other regions of Manhattan include Upper West side, Upper East Side, Midtown, Village/Chelsea. Once 50% of San Francisco has been sold, all of Manhattan is available for purchase. *** Update: As I write this Upland added another feature that will open up all of Manhattan randomly for a short period of time. The details on when or how this will happen is still pending. Maybe the time you read this it has already passed.** What does the roll-out for New York look like? During this controlled release Upland had prepared challenges for a chance to win 12 hour exclusive access to open segments. Personally I have mixed feeling about it. Time will tell how it all unfolds. The other thing worth noting is Manhattan will open up in vanilla mode. This means there will not be any collections to collect and no Treasure Hunts to find. Thirdly, any new game enhancements like the property build or business license will not be available in Manhattan. San Francisco will remain as the main focus. You may be saying then why bother with Manhattan if you are unable to do anything? I wrote a small analogy referencing real estate sub division in real life you can read about it here. Upland is very similar. It’s about building your own portfolio one layer at a time. My trip to Manhattan including my experience with bubble 1. Yup flew over to New York State. First I sent my gallant seahorse to one of the airport parcels. Purchased a ticket for 2,500 UPX at one of the terminals, and on a flight lasting about 45mins. You even receive a nice animation of plane take off. Sat back, chill. I took a peak to see the progress and was nicely informed my flight had 19mins remaining. Once I landed another neat notification prompted me I was ready to deplane the aircraft. From the airport it was sending my Seahorse to the first minted property in Manhattan, and was it every busy. The block explorers were hoovering around like seagulls waiting for food in this case the first light green indicator (for those who haven’t read through my blog, light green indicates a property within range and available for purchase) and off to the races. Needless to say it wasn’t the smoothest experience. On my end I had freezings glitches, the game went under maintenance a few times and there we no sends (sends - paper airplanes that allows your block explorer to jump from one property to the next - paying rent unless it’s your own property), but that was quickly addressed. Frustrating a bit, but also in a good way. Because to me this indicated there’s interest, the game is growing and also offers the team hard evidence on resource demand to better prepare for bubble 2 etc. Conclusion: It was exciting. I bought a few properties and stayed for about a week before purchasing my return ticket back to San Fran. At this moment it is unlikely I’ll participate in bubble 2, but will see how things move along for bubble 3 and onward - or maybe all of Manhattan will be available if the demand continues. There are really good stuff happening, take advantage of my referral code: https://discover.upland.me/TheCatalyst to gain a bonus on your first property purchase. Soon -- I'll touch on NFTs (non fungible tokens). 8/1/2020 0 Comments Upland!!! Ok Im in![]() Assuming you already signed up and received your UPX and poked around with the user interface (see quick reference guide from previous post), it would be wise to get a sense of the game and how the mechanics work. When purchasing your property the most beneficial ones to buy are the unminted (grey) properties no previous owner. Why? You avoid paying markup costs as a second or third buyer. Some of the benefits to getting in early. It doesn’t mean you will only buy unminted properties. In some cases you may want or feel like you need to buy a minted (owned) location. See colour guide image made by player ZHIDALGOKIDZ.
Depending on your budget it would be best to tackle the collections first. There are 21 original collections to obtain with many of the higher collections sets sold out and only available on secondary market (2nd buyer or more). Some more lucrative that others (meaning more expensive to purchase but in return offer higher yields). Scrolling from left to right you will see what the collection are, what’s needed to complete them, what the one-time reward is and what your yield booster will be. To determine where a property lies within a collection and to avoid mistakes, when you find a location of interest select it and you will the see base information. When you click on ‘Boosted Earnings’, it will provide a list of collections that the property is can be applied towards. See below Keep in mind only one property per collection. You can swap out less yielding properties as your portfolio grows for properties offering more yields. A slide show sample of the kinds of properties you will find in San Francisco and how they relate to real life. There is no direct link to the actual physical property. |
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