As always, remember: Never invest money you can't afford to lose.
Do your own research. Buy my NFTs.
Greetings to those of you who are new to Alien Worlds. You're not alone, as there are tens of thousands of you. Hopefully this will prove to be helpful.
As I suggested in my April 10, 2021 column, Alien Worlds is a wonderful place for beginners to sample the realm of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) and blockchain gaming.
My goal with this blog has been to learn/understand NFTs and crypto-related games as much as possible and do my best to explain it to others.
Sometimes it works to my disadvantage from a strategic standpoint. But there is a certain altruistic spirit in the NFT community.
Here's a collection of links and info that I believe would be of particular interest to newcomers.
Important Links:
The Explorer's Guide to Alien Worlds
Written in February 2021 but still very relevant/helpful for newcomers, this CozyCrypto guide goes into great detail without being overwhelming.
How to Get a Custom WAX Blockchain Username
I include this early in the list because it's important if you want to use a custom WAX wallet name. Right now I have my randomly assigned name (.fzqy.wam), the blockchain equivalent of a radio station's call letters, and my nashvillelou name.
But it's not like Twitter where you can just swap out your current handle for a new one. Or if it's possible, I simply don't know how to do so.
Point being, you can save yourself a ton of hassle later by starting with the name you want. CryptoStache explains how to do it in this video.
AWstats.io
One of the big benefits of blockchain gaming is the capacity for third-party developers to find ways to turn large volumes of data into easy-to-read lists. This is one of the very best unofficial sites in the biz.
Land Table
This is within AWstats.io but warrants its own spot. You can sort by landowner vig (the percentage they take from your mining of Trilium aka TLM on their land) and thus quickly find the smallest owner cut for the type of land you want to mine.
R-Planet Staking Calculator
For those inclined to stake extra Alien Worlds NFTs in R-Planet, here's a way to look up the aether per hour a given NFT would earn if staked. Look before you buy.
AtomicHub Marketplace (with my recommended settings)
Early on, you'll want to be on the lookout for tools that can help improve your mining capacity and luck rate for NFT drops. My link saves you the effort of having to manually change the settings.
Where Do I Mine?
From Good Vibes Mining, this is a helpful explanation of how mining works in Alien Worlds and the strategies you can employ. Plenty of visual aids to go with a depth of knowledge of Alien Worlds that far exceeds mine.
NFT Landowner Giveaways:
There are a wide array of landowner NFT giveaway offers out there, nearly all with the goal of enticing Alien Worlds players to mine on their lots. You can find info on them on Twitter and on the Alien Worlds Discord page.
Here are a couple that should be particularly helpful for newbies. Limited time only. These aren't my competitions, so I promise nothing. But both contests are run by people who have established an early track record of keeping their word. 
Neri 10:3 from Euphoria Mining (zqcb2.wam)
Land Type: Methane Swampland with a 1% vig
Duration: April 12, 2021 at 2:30 p.m. EDT to April 15, 2021 at 2:30 p.m. EDT
What to Do: "Mine on NERI 10:3 And Be in the Top 100 Miners"
Why: "This Event will be aimed towards helping out the massive amounts of new people! So were going to give a bunch of starter tools away randomly in the top 100 Miners!"
Prizes: 2 standard drill NFTs and 4 standard compactor NFTs to be given away
Magor 32:14 and Magor 33:14 from Tidbyts (ajvb.wam)
Land Type: Mountains (both lots) with a 10% vig
Duration: April 9, 2021 at 9 p.m. EDT to April 15, 2021 at 9 p.m. EDT
What to Do: The winner is the player who comes closest to 100 TLM mined on the two lots combined without going over 100 TLM for the duration of the contest
Why: "In honor of AW passing 100K players"
Prize: Bomber Duck #50
Have fun, and good luck!
