Yuga Labs wrapped up a successful second journey last Saturday, giving members of its community a glimpse of what’s to come in its Otherside metaverse world slated to launch later this year.
According to Yuga Labs, around 7,200 players attended the 90-minute test run. Holders of the non-fungible Otherdeed (NFT) tokens – an earthbound collection in the Otherside metaverse – have been invited to join the experiment, with one guest each.
CoinDesk attended the closed event as a guest and was able to interact with other “travelers” and participate in the action-packed storyline.
Tripping
From the outset, the experience was designed to transport players to a sci-fi fantasy world combining elements of the popular MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) and NFT culture.
Users began the journey by entering “Infinite Space,” an empty arena where travelers could learn about controlling their avatars and sending messages to other players. Travelers were able to congregate in small groups and talk directly to each other – a feature meant to mimic a “real-life event”, in which players could only speak and hear others when they were nearby, a said Michael Figge, Chief Creative Officer of Yuga Labs.
After about 20 minutes, large screens appeared on Infinity Space and played a message from Curtis, the Bored Ape Yacht Club mascot, who was “hosting” the experience.
The monkey character divided the group into four teams based on colors and announced their respective captains: Luster (yellow) was led by Yuga Labs community program manager Lowbellie, Crimson (red) was led by Twitch streamer Brycent, Veldan (green) was managed by Snoop Dogg’s son and NFT collector, Cordell Broadus, and the winning team, Glacia (blue), was managed by player Jimmy Wong.
The Voyagers outfits changed to their assigned team colors and players began to gather in groups. Moments later, a wormhole to the “swamp” opened up, transporting players to their team area to complete tasks and earn points. The game involved several goofy directives, including collecting “magic spots” to give to digital toads that shot flames from their mouths. All the while, travelers could run, jump, fly, and explore multidimensional space.
The winners of the game received “winged helmets” that Yuga Labs said would be dropped in their wallets.
show promise
While some existing Metaverse experiences are associated with poor graphics, lagging speeds, and difficult-to-navigate virtual spaces, Otherside’s user experience was relatively robust and easy to use by comparison.
Notably, the experience was incredibly detailed and didn’t seem to have widespread congestion issues despite having thousands of players converging on the space at once.
Player feedback has been generally positive, with many sharing their optimism about the future of the platform.
My 2nd trip to the other side. The experience was smoother and more surprising than the first trip. Although some monkey holders did not enter. But we should continue to have strong faith in the universe on the other side.@yugalabs @BoredApeYC @OthersideMeta pic.twitter.com/2KRNMlh4OY
– Jackie_W🚀✨ (@JackieL75030261) March 26, 2023
As a non-player, the @OthersideMeta The second trip left me optimistic about what a web3 metaverse could be. Can’t wait to get into the Otherside BAYC clubhouse for Apefest.
So those pockets of fud saying the gaming credentials are unproven, seems like a different matter.
— Paddy.og 🍌 (@PaddyWarburton) March 26, 2023
Still, some users have complained about connectivity issues and questioned the significance of several in-game artifacts that remain shrouded in mystery.
thoughts on the 2nd trip Otherside:
– game design too simplistic, became boring (I switched to Diablo towards the end)
– people couldn’t log in, that’s obviously a major problem
– always looming questions about the use of resources, artifacts, Kodas and frankly deeds
+… pic.twitter.com/HzDiq0i12A— tropoFarmer 🍌 (@tropoFarmer) March 26, 2023
A public rehearsal for the Other Side
The gamification of the Otherside platform is part of Yuga Labs’ larger strategy to build excitement and get holders familiar with the experience before it officially launches. Yuga Labs hosted the first trip in July 2022, welcoming 4,600 players to the Other Side for the first time. Players who returned to the Other Side for the second voyage can claim an Obelisk, a digital collectible to commemorate their adventures.
According to data from the OpenSea secondary market, Otherdeed NFTs achieved 568,607 ETH in trading volume, or just over $1 billion. At the time of writing, the collection has a floor price of 1.67 ETH, or around $3,000.
Figge told CoinDesk that more travel is planned ahead of the platform’s official launch. Meanwhile, he is focused on building an ecosystem that will eventually be accessible to token holders at all times.
“We’re doing these big theatrical experiments right now with First Trip and Second Trip, they’re basically big, 90-minute Broadway shows,” Figge said. “But we’re taking all of this technology that we’ve built and funneling it into a version of the Otherside that will be built and accessible with a higher level of cadence.”
Each trip the team runs provides feedback on which parts of the experience worked and which need tweaking. Spencer Tucker, head of games at Yuga Labs, told CoinDesk that the biggest takeaway from Journey 2 was that gamers wanted more intimate “escapes” and community-building experiences to strengthen relationships with others. travellers.
“As we build in the future, that’s something that we will definitely take into consideration because you can have perseverance, but you also have to have the ability to have your own kind of identity and form your own click,” Tucker said. “As we explore what persistent space looks like, we want to allow people to stop and smell the roses sometimes while having some really cool experiences they can dive into.”
Yuga has yet to set a date for his third trip. However, Figge and Tucker shared that in the coming months there will be more advanced experiences and opportunities for token holders to step into the Other Side.
Learn more: See You On The Other Side: How Yuga Labs Brings Its Billion-Dollar Business To The Metaverse
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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