After two years of waiting, the blockchain version of "MapleStory" (hereinafter referred to as MSU) is finally about to enter public testing and TGE. This is the most prominent traditional game to enter the blockchain space so far, operating for over 20 years, with total revenue exceeding $5 billion and a cumulative player count of over 250 million. (For more background details about the game, refer to: “Why does the classic game with over 180 million registered players choose to go on-chain?”)
Last week, the MSU official released the white paper for the game token $NXPC, detailing the game economic mechanism of the blockchain version of "MapleStory." This article will outline the content of the white paper, so let’s take a look at how a major traditional online game designs a Web3 game economic mechanism.
### Three Different Forms of One Asset
The economic system of MSU consists of $NXPC, $NESO, and NFTs, all of which can be exchanged in both directions.
$NXPC - This is the native token used to pay for MSU Layer1 network gas fees and can also be exchanged for $NESO or NFTs.
$NESO - Used for various functions within the game (such as weapon enhancement), it can also be exchanged for $NXPC or used to purchase items in the official NFT market.
NFT - Characters, equipment, and consumables in the game will appear in the form of NFTs, which can be exchanged for $NXPC or traded with $NESO in the official market.
This does not mean that MSU adopts a dual-token or triple-token model. In fact, the entire economic mechanism is "three different forms of one asset."
If we consider in-game items as a type of "token," then in the original MapleStory and most MMORPGs, this type of "token" is somewhat like Ethereum—there is no supply cap, rewards are given to contributors (items dropped from monsters in the game), and there are burning channels (lower-level items may be consumed through item synthesis and other means).
Similarities also exist in that in-game items can be subject to "network attacks," and the involvement of studios can greatly accelerate the production of in-game items, leading to severe inflation of items.
In MSU, the source of all assets is $NXPC. The in-game currency $NESO and $NXPC have a fixed exchange rate and can only be minted through $NXPC. All game items (NFTs), such as weapons, armor, and decorative items, are centrally managed by the official team and stored in the official "MSU Item Pool." To enter circulation, these items need to be exchanged using $NXPC.
In the game, $NESO and game items (NFTs) can drop, but this does not mean they are independent assets; their source is also $NXPC:
$NESO can only be minted through $NXPC, and due to the fixed exchange rate, the theoretical maximum supply of $NESO is the same as that of $NXPC.
MapleStory N receives $NXPC as an ecological contribution reward and may convert some $NXPC into NFTs as in-game rewards. Players can obtain NFTs through various in-game activities, including defeating monsters and bosses.
It can be said that $NXPC is like liquid water, while $NESO is like ubiquitous water vapor, needed in all aspects of the game, especially for weapon enhancement, which helps players improve their combat power to better defeat monsters and level up to obtain items. NFTs, on the other hand, are like solid ice, with significantly lower liquidity compared to FT, and as weapons are enhanced, price differences for the same equipment may arise.
### "$NXPC Fission" and "Item Fusion"
The "$NXPC Fission" mechanism allows players to use $NXPC to exchange for game items (NFTs). This mechanism is similar to the FCFS (First-Come, First-Served) process for purchasing NFTs, where players do not receive a specific item but rather a fixed percentage of the maximum supply of all available item types remaining in the "MSU Item Pool."
The exchange rate between $NXPC and NFTs will be fixed, and it will only increase when new items are introduced in future game updates and enter the "MSU Item Pool." Exchanging for NFTs will not result in the destruction of $NXPC.
The "Item Fusion" mechanism is somewhat like having a Bid pool in the NFT market. If players want to quickly sell their items (NFTs), they can directly throw them into the pool. However, players do not choose their own prices in the official market and settle their earnings in the in-game currency $NESO. The official team will capture the corresponding item prices in the secondary market and determine how much $NXPC players can earn based on the median of the weighted average price.
These two mechanisms give the entire game a strong "GameFi flavor." In fact, it means that the blockchain version of MapleStory may not have an in-game store or a traditional in-app purchase store like a "point card mall." Instead, there will be a unified consumption asset, $NXPC—players can either use $NXPC for item exchanges or convert $NXPC into $NESO to purchase in the official NFT market (this situation will be more common for enhanced items with better attributes).
When using $NXPC to exchange for items, players may be forced to buy items they do not need, which has the benefit of promoting overall item liquidity (for example, items for unpopular professions, low-rarity items, and low-attribute items).
The ideal effect is "stepping on both feet"—players use $NXPC to exchange for items to improve their efficiency in obtaining high-level items in the game -> $NXPC price rises -> returns from "Item Fusion" (gold farming) increase -> more $NXPC is reinvested into gold farming.
However, the relatively negative aspect is that the strong "GameFi flavor" may diminish the fun and diversity that the game itself can bring. With $NXPC as a value anchor, and given the uniqueness of blockchain users, even with mechanisms like "$NXPC Fission" to avoid extreme speculation on certain specific items and prevent most items from becoming worthless, players will still choose the easiest professions to grow in the game (for example, those with group attack skills that can quickly eliminate monsters in a map or those that level up relatively easily) to maximize $NXPC earnings. Many maps, tasks, and dungeons that are not cost-effective for leveling up may become less popular, significantly impacting the game's diversity. If the "Item Fusion" mechanism is monopolized by studios, it could lead to insufficient overall consumption power in the game.
Nevertheless, from a game profitability perspective, this is indeed a bold attempt. MapleStory originally made money by selling in-game items like costumes and enhancement scrolls, but this blockchain version has no in-app purchases, relying entirely on the value of $NXPC. The production of in-game gold ($NESO) and items (NFTs) is also regulated by $NXPC.
### $NXPC
The total supply of $NXPC is 1 billion tokens. 80% is allocated for MSU ecological contribution rewards. Of the remaining 20%, 16.317% is airdropped to early community members, 0.437% is used for liquidity provision, and 0.15% is for gas fee exemptions, with a total of 16.904% fully unlocked at TGE.
Of the remaining 3.096%, 2% goes to IP licensors, and 0.696% goes to the MSU team, both of which are locked for 9 months and will be released quarterly over 3 years after the lock-up period ends. 0.4% is allocated to advisors, locked for 12 months, with future unlocks depending on the project's development.
### Conclusion
Since the birth of GameFi, discussions about gameplay and financiality have never ceased. If a truly good game emerges in the crypto space, will GameFi escape the death spiral? This question may be answered by MapleStory through its performance.
Additionally, as MapleStory is an MMORPG game where social fun > exploration fun (in my personal opinion), will the social fun of the game and its powerful viral spread change when the audience shifts primarily to the crypto space (blockchain version)? This question also intrigues and excites me.
But there is no doubt that this is indeed a good game, and it can make the crypto space a happier place.
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