Product Management

Read the official recaps from the weekly MTT with the people who are building and shipping Planet Neo's metaverse experiences.

MTTW 160622 — Recap

MTTW Session held on Thursday 16 June 2022, at 10:00PM (GMT+10)

Speakers included barbedor#5419 (Product Lead), hosted by Count W#7162 (Digital content & Comms)

Live session was hosted on by Planet Neo's Discord server (link).

In this Meet The Team Weekly, Product Lead barbedor#5419 answered some longstanding questions about the game that Planet Neo's team has been working on. This is the first time that details of the upcoming game have been revealed. Here is the recap of the call!

Q: What's next now that the Dino eggs have hatched?

barbedor#5419 addressed this question.

The hatching phase took a lot of our attention over the past few weeks. We dealt with many unknown unknowns. We can redeploy our resources to what I call metanomics, the metaverse economy, which encompasses tokenomics.

Q: Can you tell us more about the game you are working on?

barbedor#5419 addressed this question.

Yes! We can now reveal our work on Recon Leagues — Wild Lands. Recon Leagues is geolocation-driven mobile game where players complete missions to earn rewards.

The gameplay involves IRL (In Real Life) movement between outdoor locations (the Wild Lands) in search of virtual rare elements that can be mined, refined and traded for rewards. Think PokemonGO + Ingress (yes, yes, I've been a fan of Niantic Labs' work since 2010).

Recon Leagues will have many solo challenges that players can complete on their own, however the most exciting (and most rewarding) challenges will require players to form "parties" and collaborate to complete lengthy and complex missions.

Q: Why are we doing the game on mobile? Will it be NFT-gated?

barbedor#5419 addressed this question.

We spent a long time considering the platform for our flagship game. In the end, we decided to go mobile because we believe it is the best platform to attract a massive player base. We believe that a wide player base is critical to building a thriving and sustainable metaverse.

Our team has experience publishing and marketing mobile games in some of the most competitive markets in the world. We intend to leverage our expertise to bring Planet Neo's avatars and worlds to as many fans as possible around the globe.

By releasing a mobile game, our objective is to create a fun game that everyone can join and enjoy. To achieve this goal, we decided not only NFT-gate the most advanced missions of the game. Players who hold a Planet Neo NFT will have an outsized advantage when it comes to advanced missions and top-tier rewards.

Q: What mobile OS will you release on and when?

barbedor#5419 addressed this question.

We're working to have Recon Leagues in the app store sometime in November 2022. It will be an early version and we plan to add new features and new missions every month after that.

At this stage, we are planning to release on iOS via the Apple App Store first, followed shortly after that by an Android release on Google Play Store. We don't expect much delay between the two app stores so Android users, don't get upset. After an update or two, the game will be in sync across the platforms: in other words, iOS and Android users should enjoy the same features and access the same missions.

Q: What does Recon Leagues mean for Dino Holders?

barbedor#5419 addressed this question.

Recon Leagues — Wild Lands will not be NFT-gated so players will be able to complete missions even if they don't hold a Planet Neo NFT. Of course, Dino holders will have advantages as the pioneers of Planet Neo Multiverse.

We have planned the following for Dino Holders:

• Access to exclusive missions

• Ability to sponsor remote missions (to participate in missions far from a player's own geolocation)

• Access to exclusive rewards, including on-chain rewards ;)

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MTTW 090622 — Recap

MTTW Session held on Thursday 09 June 2022, at 9:00PM (GMT+10)

Speakers included Goonie - (Community and Metaverse Systems Designer) and Count W#7162 (Digital content & Comms)

Live session was hosted on Planet Neo's Discord server

Here is a curated recap of the questions and issues discussed during the live session. Many of the questions were sent in advance. This is not a direct transcript of the session. It has been edited for accuracy and readability.

What is your role as a Metaverse Systems Designer at Planet Neo?

Goonie addressed this question.

My primary role is to design and simulate the core systems that exist within Planet Neo. My goal is to create an open, sustainable and high value ecosystem that rewards contributors.

Are you designing the Metaverse and if so what can you tell us about it?

I am designing the metaverse with the goal of encouraging community content and ventures. I want you guys to be the heroes of the story and be integrated into the narrative.

When will we be able to experience the Metaverse? What will our first view/experience of the meta verse be like?

Some components of the metaverse already exist (Dino X Dino). These will be some of the avatars that exist within the space. When we release our first game you will get to experience the first major component of our metaverse. Our product manager will discuss this further in his AMA.

Let’s talk about AOB

AoB will be a narrative driven ARG in which you will be able to start exploring Planet Neo. It will involve a few puzzles that utilise various techniques (including Steganography and Ciphers). I intend to make the first version relatively easy in order to introduce these techniques to the community.

MTTW 020622 — Recap

MTTW Session held on Thursday 02 June 2022, at 2:00PM (GMT+10)

Speakers included Adam S.#8186 (Lead NFT developer) and Count W#7162 (Digital content & Comms)

Live session was hosted on Planet Neo's Discord server

Here is a curated recap of the questions and issues discussed during the live session. Many of the questions were sent in advance. This is not a direct transcript of the session. It has been edited for accuracy and readability.

Why is Dino X Dino unique and is one of the most complex collections in Singular?

Adam S.#8186 addressed this question.

It's all about the variety. You'll notice in most generative NFT collections the art shares the exact same shape and form across the whole collection to make it easier to script out various art combinations. With DXD, that's not the case at all. Since there are 70 species varieties, it's almost like creating 70 generative NFT collections. A wearable item needs to be sized and positioned differently depending on the species it's being equipped to. The complexity arises when encoding that compatibility into an item. With RMRK 2.0, an equippable NFT needs a resource for every slot it could render into. Are you equipping a baseball cap to an Angel T-Rex or a Guardian T-Rex? How about a God Carnotaurus or a Royal Bronchiosaurus? How about a Uteodon Guardian with an afro or a Baryonix with a bob cut? Every possibility needs to be accounted for and identifiable with a unique resource ID. Each resource needs to be mapped to a base-slot id and it needs to be mapped to the item NFT id. When you have thousands of items to mint, this becomes extremely tedious.

Those who burned eggs in the first stage should be given a Drop, what kind of Drop will it be and when will it happen?

Adam S.#8186 addressed this question. I'm always thinking of ways to take care of those who have been dedicated since the beginning. If it's alright with the team, I'd like to airdrop Name gems to early supporters so they can name their Dino whatever they want! This is just one idea. Another idea is to airdrop new items to random early supporters. Planet Neo knows who's been sticking around since the beginning - the data is on-chain and we see you.

When will the items for sale be available?

Adam S.#8186 addressed this question.

We want to give users the exclusive supply to our genesis items, so items will only be obtainable via airdrop or by purchasing it from a holder who received it in an airdrop

Adam wrote about some Dino functions that no one had ever heard of before. People would like to get a detailed understanding of all the functionality.

Adam S.#8186 addressed this question. Each Dino has many equippable slots: footwear, legwear, bodywear, backwear, neckwear, headwear, eyewear, tailwear, background, scene, banner, accolade slot(s), foreground and backdrop slots, ear, nose, mouth, and neck accessories, and a halo slot for Dinos with Angel/ God genetics.

Can you create a variety of colouring pages for Dino in the form of skin tones, such that everyone can dress their Dino in the colour that they like?

Adam S.#8186 addressed this question.

You won't be able to change the skin color of your dino - some things are fixed. However, there are many wearable slots that you'll be able to equip items to. Once we expand our catalogue of items, there will virtually be an infinite number of ways to dress your dino.

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MTTW 190522 — Recap

MTTW Session held on Thursday 15 May 2022, at 10:00PM (GMT+10)

Speakers included barbedor#5419 (Product Lead) and machiiinegorilla#8888 (Community Impact Lead)

Live session was hosted on Planet Neo's Discord server (link).

Here is a curated recap of the questions and issues discussed during the live session. Many of the questions were sent in advance. This is not a direct transcript of the session. It has been edited for accuracy and readability.

Q: What is a "Metaverse"?

barbedor#5419 addressed this question.

There are many different definitions of a “metaverse” out there. I believe there are indeed several valid definitions of a “metaverse”. I’d like to offer you Planet Neo’s definition of a metaverse, and my personal vision as a Product Manager.

A metaverse is a network of digital experiences that manifest across many different digital platforms and mediums, BUT that together create a distinctly human experience that is so rich (immersive) that it competes with IRL human experiences. This is an entire conversation of hours and hours and I hope we can have a live AMA focused on just that in the coming weeks.

Q: Is Planet Neo building a metaverse?

barbedor#5419 addressed this question.

Based on the definition above, yes, we are building a metaverse. I like to call it a "playable" metaverse. Our long-range roadmap includes products for web, mobile and reading and video experiences and more. We plan to build each experience as a stand-alone but our members will derive a more immersive and empowering experience when they interface across multiple platforms and with a variety of mediums.

Q: Where is the video game? Will I be able bring my Dino NFT in the game?

barbedor#5419 addressed this question.

If my earlier answer makes sense, then consider this: the metaverse we are building will indeed be a gamified experience, then yes, we are building a game. I call it "playable metaverse experiences". And yes, you will be able to bring your Dino NFT and any future Neovatar (NFTs) to our gaming experiences.

In the metaverse, you will be able to explore virtual maps, travel around the virtual world, mine resources and trade them. You will be able to build economic units (think virtual businesses) and consume content from other economic units. Here comes the but.

But it will take time for all the pieces of our metaverse to come together into that unified experience that I talked about earlier.

Q: When we I be able to join Planet Neo Universe or see a preview?

barbedor#5419 addressed this question.

Considering that it took all of Q1 2022 to build our core development team, we are on track to release pilots of our games in Q3 2022 and Q4 2022. We're aiming to share previews 5-8 weeks before a public release.

We can expect the first substantial previews to turn up in August.

Q: What genre of games, gameplay and game experiences will there be?

barbedor#5419 addressed this question.

Early this quarter (Q2 2022), the team completed the scope of game experiences we can ambitiously deliver on our budget this year.

We are working on a browser-based governance and strategy game where Dino-NFT holders and certain other community members (with varying degrees of influence) will make decisions on the evolution of Planet Neo Universe (and earn rewards for participating and for winning the events).

We are also simultaneously developing our flagship game. It will be a location-enabled experience, on mobile (ie. we’re making a mobile application), that will require players (using their Dino NFTs and other PNU passes) to explore their direct environment and discover valuable resources. Players will be encouraged to collaborate to claim mining rights and then mine and trade the resources.

When I said flagship game, I mean that we plan to develop this game rapidly and increase how immersive the experience is.

Creating a unique metaverse also requires us to build some of our own tech IP in the background. While protocols and platforms are evolving fast, there are still technological gaps in creating an immersive metaverse.

In practice, it means we are building some of our own tools for creating, governing and sustainably growing Planet Neo Universe. Two of these are already in development: NV Deck and Planet Neo Metaverse Engine.

NV Deck will enable users to display their Dino NFTs (and any other NFT avatar from Planet Neo Universe) and to "upgrade" them for metaverse play. The metaverse engine includes the algorithms that will govern and regulate Planet Neo's metaverse.

User DrakSpark asked a follow-up question: "By upgrading the avatars, does that mean that our dino x dinos will have upgradable stats in the future?"

barbedor#5419 addressed this question: Yes, we're aiming to make avatars upgradable as they evolve in Planet Neo's metaverse and take part in the games.

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