Ever wanted to visit the moon?  Well now you can with the recreation of the Apollo 11 moon landing in Decentraland for the 52nd anniversary taking place this week. And with the release of the first-ever NASA-themed wearables collection, you can walk around just like an astronaut in the metaverse, too!

 

In 1969, the world watched in grainy black and white as Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Louis Armstrong descended the ladder of the Apollo 11 and first stepped foot on the moon with Armstrong saying those famous words, “That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind”.  

In a series of firsts on what happens to be the 52nd Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, Decentraland’s DappCraft Studios together with Banquet Labs, iconic fashion designer Nick Graham, and the Aldrin Family Foundation have teamed up to bring us the first-ever recreation of this incredible moment in history in the Decentraland metaverse.

 

Planting of the American Flag on the Moon in Decentraland

Photo Credits:  Astrid Pilla, July 24, 2021

 

Nick Graham, known for his often playful, space-inspired themes, designed the first-ever NASA-themed collection of digital wearables featuring the Apollo 11 Mission Patch exclusively for the Decentraland event.  This fun space-themed collection makes you want to run around exploring the metaverse like this guy:

Photo Credits: Matt Bond, Founder of Banquet Labs, July 24, 2021

 

The exclusive collection includes a Spacesuit, White AirSpace Bomber jacket, Space Legs, Space Helmet and Space Boots (Legendary editions, Series of 100), a Silver AirSpace Bomber (Mythic edition, Series of 10), and a Unique 1 of 1 edition AirSpace Gold Bomber.

Photo Credits: Matt Bond, Founder of Banquet Labs, July 24, 2021

 

The entire collection is available now through the Marketplace of Decentraland.  Fun fact:  the founder of the famous meme Nyan Cat scooped up the first edition of Graham’s Silver Bomber jacket (pictured above).   

 

Behind the creatively thought-out event was a man by the name of Matt Bond, Founder of Banquet Labs which acted as Mission Control, if you will, specializing in bringing people together in order to create iconic moments such as this one in the Metaverse.  With the incredible technical and design knowledge of DappCraft Studios, they were able to create a look and feel that was authentic and awe-inspiring.  “We wanted to make people feel like they were there on the moon”, says Bond.  Decentraland’s DappCraft Studios carefully re-created the moon setting, complete with the sun shining down upon the moon, engulfing all attendees in the vastness of space.  The Apollo 11 came down from above as we all stood on the “moon” watching, and we listened as we heard the broadcast between an astronaut and mission control, just like in 1969.  And then we watched as first Armstrong and then Aldrin came out of the shuttle and planted the American Flag on the moon’s surface.  To everyone’s delight, Graham’s wearable collection appeared from an explosion of asteroids and most attendees flew around the moon and tried to climb into the space shuttle.  Some took photo ops with the astronauts.   The goal was to give the feeling that you were actually on the moon right there experiencing the landing, and together with the space-themed music and location of the shuttle above us, they really nailed it.  

“Working with a huge entity like NASA and given the importance of the event, we really didn’t want it to feel gimmicky”, says Bond.  Mission accomplished.  It was a sophisticated and fun as well as awe-inspiring event for everyone.    DCL Curations respectfully earned the nickname of “CapCom” after the critical role he played in seamless communication with everyone on the project, just like the Capsule Communicator on a genuine space mission.

 

Nick Graham checking out the Apollo 11 in Decentraland. Photo Credits: Astrid Pilla, July 24, 2021

Any space-loving collectors out there will be thrilled to learn that Banquet has a few more events coming up centered around other NASA Missions, as well as other sub-based themes.   “Our goal is to bring well-known designers and creators into the Metaverse with these projects,” says Bond.  In the works also are plans to bring Decentraland-specific creators into the Fashion and Creative industries in the real world, and I’m personally here for it.  Imagine the possibilities of such a historic full-circle moment between the Metaverse and the Real World.   

 

A donation to the Aldrin Family Foundation non-profit will be made from the proceeds of this iconic event, supporting their mission to provide STEAM-based education tools in support of future space travelers.

In case you missed it, you can still experience the Apollo 11 event in Decentraland by clicking here.

 

Watch a recap of the event from DappCraft Studios: 

 

https://twitter.com/dapp_craft/status/1419614875073007625

Featured Image Credit: Matt Bond, Founder of Banquet Labs, July 24, 2021

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NFTs.WTF in conjunction with the 💯xARt Community presents a large-scale metaverse activation, curated by David Cash + Glassy Music + Pillar Cote! Join us starting at 12 noon EST on July 17 for panel discussions on the Future of Spaces in the Metaverse, Wearable Virtual Fashion, The Social Impact of NFT’s, NFT’s in the Music Industry, a Film & Blockchain Fireside chat, live Virtual Art Shows, DJs & VJs & more!

Featured artists include Krista Kim, creator of the Mars House, Amber J Slooten, Founder of Digital Fashion House THE FABRICANT, RTFKT Studios, Emma-Jane MacKinnon-Lee creator of DIGITALAX, BITLECTRO labs, Nahid Shahalimi of We the Women & Stand up for Unity, and Award winning filmmaker Jonny Caplan, among many other industry greats.

Then, starting at 8pm EST we’ll have musical performances with special guest DJ’s & VJ’s, including DJ Mika Kitten, DJ Orly Gal, ORIGINSTØRY, Glassy Music, Tom LaRoc, Pilar Coté and a few surprises!

Tune in for panel discussions between 12pm – 5pm EST, with music performances from 8pm onwards, on July 17th in Decentraland! You don’t want to miss this exciting event!!

Don’t forget to pick up your POAP upon arrival!!

Saturday, Jul 17 from 4:00pm to 4:00am UTC

💯xARt Community, 86, -24

Join Us on Clubhouse July 17 2021
Starting at 12PM EST  | 4PM UTC

Links to the Clubhouse panel rooms are in order below. 

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The past week has had my mind occupied by the book ‘Because Internet’ by Gretchen McCulloch, which covers the linguistic changes brought about by people communicating online. One of the brief points it raises is that young people have flocked online not because they don’t want to socialize and play outside, but because those outside places have been restricted, controlled and commodified to the point where they can’t be accessed, utilized & experimented with.

So where do you go if everything is restricted? The new paradigm of digital spaces with unlimited possibility, of course. Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, easily accessible worlds with ever-expanding toolsets, environments that promote and appreciate a lusory attitude. Spaces that mimic the long-lost forests, parks, and venues now dominated by increasing ticket prices, demolition, or restriction. Children don’t play in the roads, because they’re full of BMWs driving at 70mph. They don’t play at the bowling alley, because Jeff Bowlzos charges 15 dollars for a game, and you can’t play in the park because…

 

No Ball Games

 

The trend for games and platforms in the present day (to maximize users and income) is to fulfill this need for play – creating spaces to be risk-free and ‘fun’ primarily, before being restricted by monetization – spaces for experimentation, before commercialization. Do the current offerings of (NFT enabled) Open Metaverse platforms offer this in abundance? Well, no – no to the point where somebody on a low-income FIAT salary still can’t really expect to engage in the platform, never mind kids. 

As we’ve seen with F2P video games, their evolution has pushed the most successful models towards cosmetics-only monetization (Warzone, Fortnite, Roblox), with an emphasis on leaving any form of experimentation and play as a free component. This removes the barrier of cost which young people struggle to overcome and allows them to provide onboarding, usage, propagation, experimentation, and therefore content, in abundance. It’s about socializing play because that’s the most profitable route.

Minecraft NFT

 

“Yeah but I don’t want to sell it to kids!”, you say. Well, your audience doesn’t primarily become children, it becomes everyone – young people are the conduit to which new technology is accessed. The fun doesn’t stop at the age of 18, all of those adults with LEGO collections and horror movie obsessions are proof of this, if a product is fun, it’s still fun as an adult. 

NFTs have allowed for a race to the bottom in regards to commodifying online spaces, and if we allow this commodifying behaviour to over-exert itself, the users who are most important to gaming’s current success will likely be dissuaded to adopt. What Metaverse worlds often amount to currently, are increasingly expensive blogging platforms with three-dimensional graphics.

This is why we’ve yet to see a mass Metaverse onboarding from blockchain-enabled games, and why platforms like VRChat, Roblox, Minecraft & WoW currently have more mainstream appeal than Sandbox, Decentraland & Somnium. Metaverse Spaces, for the most part, require you to inject large sums of capital prior to being able to experiment properly with the platform. For example, needing to purchase land plots and items to be able to build, customize characters, or engage with the community gate keeps your primary conduits – while the free experiences offered in those worlds do not (yet) surpass basic mechanics & concepts – necessary for encouraging future expenditure.

Decentraland Parcels & Estates

 

Unsurprisingly, this forces a trajectory of feeding largely on whales & corporates for Metaverse spaces, because they are the sole users who can afford to utilize the tech.. Great, an easy market share… But as we’ve just discussed above, we don’t want to (proverbially) pave our Metaverse spaces with highways for commercial haulage, or restrict play to luxury penthouses for self-inflated frat boys. Metaverse spaces, to achieve mass appeal, should be spaces for experimentation and play, without the need for monetization.

So what about airdrops and ‘sponsored entry’? Are these good enough to supplement socialized access to these spaces, and ensure that mainstream audiences onboard and further the space’s usage/appeal?

Consider this analogy: imagine you’re taking your child to a playground (Meta-world) that requires you to pay for a ticket to entry, while you’re surrounded by free access theme parks (Centralised-worlds), who are filled with customers creating a positive atmosphere, and who are purchasing a lot of hats, the hats aren’t theirs to keep, sure – but they don’t care, because the social credit is more important than the ownership itself.

Currently the, comparatively small, playground is saying, ‘here’s a free ticket for one day a year’ or, ‘you can wear this free party hat when you’ve paid to visit’ – but it’s clearly not as exciting as the rollercoaster next door, and it’s also somewhat insulting, because let’s be honest, the slide is dull and the sandpit smells funny. So, to offer you such a small incentive seems somewhat absent-minded, considering the neighbours.

Meta-worlds, and meta-projects behaving in this way might bring in one or two new customers, but charging every time someone uses your jungle gym isn’t going to guarantee an enthusiastic group who create their own game of tag nearby, and certainly won’t provide the mass social hierarchy to encourage cosmetic spending.

What we should be looking at is a socialized system of baseline play, which, if we look at the history of MMOs, is a standard practice. It has been exhibited throughout successful online games up to this point, and seems to be an art lost by blockchain-enabled Metaverse spaces. For example, the concept of receiving housing ‘space’ in MMOs is not new, even Club Penguin did it. The expansion of that space is where the cost comes in, through play or through payment – Decentraland & CryptoVoxels for example, could provide all new users with a plot of land to utilize, but require purchasing for larger sizes, different plots, or location movement.

 

Club Penguin

 

The problem is that these spaces, shortsightedly, currently serve the crypto community, and so unsurprisingly, depend on discerning individuals to spend on name, locations, looks, just about anything, based on sheer speculation. However, for true mainstream onboarding, the airdrop method, or ‘sponsorship’ systems, can’t compete with immersive F2P worlds which hook audience attention through entertainment, and then monetize as a secondary target to obtaining users.

This needs to be something keenly considered as a key component of any Open Metaverse play, cut off the big (cost) hurdles to experimentation, and the ability for power-users to amass control over experimentation, create a community that plays with your tech, and then commodify the hierarchy (not the play itself). 

Metaverse spaces need to assess a ‘minimum viable fun’, to ensure they’re outdoing their competitors in regards to user attention, which means offering quality content, while not providing too much, for free. These meta-worlds would fare well to look beyond the golden trinket of a marine mammal’s pocket, and to the audience who will provide a long-term population, and success – the whales will follow.

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Users from around the world gathered Friday, June 11 to celebrate Decentraland’s (DCL) inaugural Pride Parade. Music, parade floats, and dancers filled the newly built ‘Rainbow Road.’ The event was dazzling, but most spectacular of all were the droves of avatars sporting the latest DCL fashion. 

Just weeks before the event, DCL enabled their ‘Wearables Editor.’ This allowed designers to create their unique in-game collections and sell them as NFTs on the DCL marketplace. A handful of quality collections were approved and released the day of the parade.

 

DCL-Pride-Rainbow-Road-Fashion-Kiosk-DCL-Pride-2021.png

 

Users lined up in front of kiosks to purchase their new items. Some 30,000 active users were given free wearables from the DCL Pride Collection. MetaZoo International hosted a drop party before the parade releasing their genesis collection. By the time the parade started, all in attendance were showing their pride with newly minted outfits.

Here are some of the best styles spotted during DCL Pride 2021;

DCL Pride Electric Pride Helmet PlusLove Tiger Warriors Torso Wonderzone Pride Pink Shorts Retro One Kicks

Helmet: Electric Pride +Love Collection

Top: Tiger Warriors Torso, Wonderzone Pride Spring 2021

Shorts: DCL Pink Pride Shorts

Shoes: MetaZoo Intl. Retro 1 Kicks

 

Hat: MetaZoo Intl. BlackCat Hood

Top: MetaZoo Intl. BlackCat Hoodie

Joggers: MetaZoo Intl. BlackCat Joggers

Shoes: MetaZoo Intl. Retro 1 Kicks

Eyewear: MetaZoo Intl. Tinted Glasses

Accessories: CZ Mecenary MTZ Exo-Blades

I managed to speak to MetaZoo Intl. founder ‘iZoo’ about their successful drop. “The drop was very exciting, long overdue, but worth the wait! Wearables on layer 2 now are a total game-changer as there is no minting/gas costs. The collection was well-received by the community and we are already thinking about new collections!” said iZoo.

Hat: Casino Visor Community Contest

Eyewear: MetaZoo Intl. Tinted Glasses

Mask: Meteorite Dustmask

Top: Polygon Thunder Jacket

Trousers: Hiroto Kai Pride Pants

Shoes: MetaZoo Intl. Retro 1 Kicks

 

Top: Flamingo Party Outfit

Top: Pride Love Wins T-Shirt

Mask: Floral Skull Halloween 2019

(Photo courtesy of Null PC)

Top: Full Body Swimsuit – Pride Parade 2021 Collection

Shoes: Left- Atrati X RTFK Sneakers, Right- Polygon Thunder Sneakers


I had the chance to speak with ‘Null PC’ who’s swimsuit design was a big hit at the parade.  “I knew once the opportunity came that I wanted to make something people wouldn’t forget, and I don’t think you can forget the image of someone in a lime green Manakini once you’ve seen it.” said Null. “The wearables tool is one of many aspects that enable creators and collectors to contribute to the community and help Decentraland progress and reach its full potential.”

 

Top: Hiroto Kia Fire Kimono

Trousers: Hiroto Kia Fire Kimono Pants

I asked artist and designer, Hiroto Ka, about using the new wearables editor in DCL. “I thought the design process was difficult at first to understand the geometry of a moving avatar and how the clothes move alongside their gestures. But after amazing help from the design committee, I was able to nail down my design and understand fully how it works. My next step for my wearables is to create more rare and more common style Kimonos and Japanese attire.” said Kai.

Left: Cybermike Cybersoldier Set

Right

Headwear: Wonderbot Head, Digital Alchemy Hair

Top: Pride Love Wins T-Shirt

Trousers: Pride Sport Pants

Shoes: Pride Rainbow Shoes

Accessories: DC Nifty Blocksmith Drone

The parade was electric! Celebrations carried on throughout the night with live music and giveaways. With successful drops from each designer, it appears digital fashion is thriving in Decentraland.

 

 

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No, it’s not the ‘Fed’ you’re thinking of. Metaverse developers, Polygonal Mind launched their latest game in Decentraland (DCL) on behalf of the ‘Federated Reserve Wish’ project. Featuring fountains of lava, piles of gold and the eccentric NPC ‘Uncle Crypto,’ the Federated Reserve is an intricate build that puts users on a treasure hunt for hidden coins.

 

 

 

Once you’ve explored the lavish treasure rooms, be sure to find those coins and throw them in the lava fountain. When you ‘burn’ your coins, you get to make a wish. These wishes are minted on the Matic network in the form of stylish NFT tickets. These tickets serve as your entry into a raffle for some DCL wearables. It’s free to play, and new prizes will be announced every two weeks. There are even special edition Federated Reserve wearables launching later this season.

 

The best part is that wishes are anonymously displayed throughout the building. Most are jokes, some are funny, but a surprising number are heartfelt wishes. When given the opportunity, users pause and ask themselves, “What do I want most in life?” Some wish for peace, world travel, a lost loved-one or simply “more bitcoin.”

The event went smoothly with over 100 global visitors across servers. Attendees who managed to grab a special POAP (Proof of Attendance Protocol), received VIP access to the penthouse and an additional coin to burn for wishes. The energy was wild as people rushed to find their coins and tossed them into the lava. Users gathered to read the wishes on the walls, sharing their dreams for the metaverse and showing off their new NFT wish tickets. The elegant (and slightly creepy) Uncle Crypto, watches over the hoard of treasure and is also minted as an NFT CryptoAvatar.

Federated Reserve

 

I asked Polygonal Mind CEO, Tox Sam, how the Federated Reserve came together and their latest utility NFT, The Wondertech Pledge. According to Sam, “The wondertech pledge started because we were getting a flood of people contacting us.”

Polygonal Mind has become a leader in metaverse development with projects in DCL, CryptoVoxels, The Sandbox, and Somnium Space. That’s an impressive feat for a small but powerful team. Their CryptoAvatars project has been very successful as well as their popular MetaTrip tour events.

To mitigate nonstop inquiries, they minted their service package as an NFT and auctioned it on OpenSea. The winning bid for the Wondertech Pledge was 6.3 ETH from the Federated Reserve. “It came with an unlockable […] and full services with premium features. The team really went all out,” said Sam. 

 

From concept art to product launch, Polygonal Mind’s Wondertech Pledge is one of the most valuable utility NFTs out there. With droves of projects entering the metaverse, dev teams like Polygonal Mind become increasingly important. Not only do they expedite project onboarding, but they ensure a level of quality and attention to detail that have, thus far, led to some truly stunning builds and user experiences.

Come see the Federated Reserve for yourself in Decentraland (location:144,-37), and be sure to follow Polygonal Mind on twitter for weekly events and announcements.

Federated Reserve

 

play.decentralnd.org. “Federated Reserve”

OpenSea. “Wondertech Pledge #01 March 2021 – MetaverseBuilder.”

PolygonalMind Discord Server Discord

 

 

 

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