Happy New Year!!
As many readers are already aware, the word metaverse has been in major headlines, news feed and social media since Facebook decided to enter the space and convert their branding to Meta.
There are many projects looking to create their own version of metaverse, selling their project as the next best thing. More than ever people are jumping in, the majority having no clue of what they are getting into reacting on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Typically, a recipe for disaster.
Before stating my reasons, let me define what a Metaverse is that works for me.
Keeping the definition simple - It’s a world where players can participate solo or along with others in a single 2D or 3D environment. The level of engagement and other features primarily lies with the creators.
The recent activity surrounding any Metaverse project has generated questions such as:
- What is the best metaverse project to invest in?
- What is a good metaverse?
- How much do I need to invest in a metaverse?
- Will X metaverse project succeed?
- And various others.
From these types of questions, you can quickly gather most of these questions come from those who are FOMOing. Therefore, not doing the necessary research to understand the project first and foremost or even evaluate or discern which projects will likely be of interest to them as an investor/player.
I have been playing Upland since the beginning. It was pegged a scam by frustrating players and is far from that, but this statement shouldn’t be enough to outline why.
The game is loosely based on Monopoly style of play and continues to evolve. At the basic core you are buying land parcels (not the structure) linked to real world addresses. Creating a virtual real estate economy. Now some my reasons. None of what is posted is financial advice.
- Easy peasy onboarding. No argument. If a project wants a chance of continuous success by bringing in freshly new audience (those unfamiliar with blockchain) which is essential, obstacles need to be removed. You play Upland with an email address. You transact with credit card or Paypal. For more advanced users you can make purchases with other crypto.
- On EOSIO blockchain for crypto users, means no gas fees. You can be X maxi all you like, but this is a problem regarding numerous transactions.
- Its style is vastly different than its competitors. Something many new players have a hard time as they expect it to be like X. For me it creates uniqueness.
- Real Estate is relative to real life. People can easily and quickly associate with the game (more so if you live in a city that’s been released - :) ).
- Land parcels come in various sizes, and price points relative to real life. Like the real world a smaller lot is less expensive than a bigger one. This attracts various budget levels.
- Location, Location, Location!! More luxurious cities, and neighbourhoods are priced accordingly.
- They implemented counter-whale mechanism called FSA (Fair Start act). Not something everyone is a fan of, but it has helped diversify and increase player base.
- Love thy neighbour. ;) The randomness of the market. How a neighbourhood develops in the future is entirely unknown. Unlike other Metaverses, where everyone aims to be near a few big names for a chance of ‘recognition’. In Upland it really works best with team/collaborative efforts of all owners.
- Those claiming it's a challenge to cash out. Remember the underlined word economy stated above. To achieve a safe and secure functioning economy in the early stages of the game cashing out was not yet possible. Upland resides in the United States, it must comply with regulatory guidelines. Plain and simple.
Similar guidelines now being enforced globally, by various international governments. This was on the radar for a while. Everyone should have known governments will expect their share. Upland has prepared for this. And as such cashing out is now functional, you just need to register and complete KYC (know your customer).
A few players already started to receive their statements for transactions/earnings for 2021.
10. Hard to sell? The commerce is basic, a seller must have a buyer who is interested. A buyer must have a seller who is looking to sell. Without that equation no transaction is possible. This has nothing to do with the game, but economics 101.
I’m in favour of a freer market, but not a careless one.
11. From the list above, Upland’s detail website, it’s the formation of working business model.
Upland is not perfect. There are still developing and growing. Where other metaverses have been developing quickly Upland looked like it was standing still. I will not disagree with this; I and others mentioned it a few times of which the team acknowledged this situation. In fact, they made aggressive changes to speed up development. 2022 will be promising in my opinion.
However, the key factor has been assuring sustainable progress in new economic model. A short-sighted approach only hurts long term gains.
I have assets in other metaverse projects and had opportunities to get in ‘early’ on current popular Metaverses. But what works for me will unlikely work for you. If you bought in any of the popular projects when they first launched, your ROI is way up. Three years ago, there were just a small handful metaverse games and price was reasonable if you were willing to gamble.
But the market is and will become more competitive moving forward. You can take a chance on a project investing only what you are willing to lose, but even so unless you opt to blindly throw away your money, not doing any research on a project is reckless.
Wishing you all the best on your 2022 Metaverse adventure. Play wisely.
If you'd like to experience here's my Upland Referral
Receive Additional UPX with this link: https://discover.upland.me/TheCatalyst
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