Hi I am Agwn, the Consul of Ludium.
I am thrilled to be present at Crypto Asia Week and meet you all.
We are here as the believers of the new city. No matter whether you are a collector, an artist, a developer, or an audience, you are here because you feel the change happening. Although it is difficult to estimate the exact timing, the city built on the Metaverse will be our future.
Nay sayers argue, “Bitcoin is harmful to the environment”, “NFT is a scam”, “Metaverse is far from technical viability”. Sometimes, it can be troubling to hear all the negative comments. But we are not afraid of those who cannot understand. The time will come and show them anyway.
Yet, there is something that we should fear. We should fear that we lose our belief. We should fear that we lose our vision. We should fear that we lose our direction. Then the question is: From where do we find our direction?
I find my direction from the history. In the history, there are traces of legacy that shows us the way forward.
1. Cypherpunk’s Four Stages Of the Internet
In 1988, Timothy C. May wrote an article named Crypto Anarchist Manifesto. At the time, May and other developers shared the idea that individuals should have privacy over the network. They were concerned that government and other entities will take over the network entirely. To protect the privacy, they formed a community called Cypherpunk.
Cypherpunks communicated through mailing list and developed the technology to ensure privacy. Developers like Julian Assange, Adam Back, Nick Szabo, Marc Andreessen, and Hal Finney, were all members of the community. Through series of discussion and communal projects, they paved the foundation of the Internet.
In 1994, they envisioned four pillars of technology to come: public key cryptography, secure e-mailing, digital cash, and reputation based voting system. This was all before the Internet took shape but their vision reached far beyond. It seems that we are at the third stage of the Internet. After Bitcoin opened the age of Cryptocurrency, we are witnessing the digital cash at its work. But still, we are not at the final stage.
2. On The Final Stage: The Metaverse
In Cryto Anarchy and Virtual Community, May predicted the age of virtual community based on cyberspacial system. In the community, members will protect their identity with strong cryptography and use digital cash to trade digital commerce. Most importantly, they will not be dictated by the control of a single entity including the government. Instead, they will have digitally authenticated reputation as the token of distinguishment. I believe that the Metaverse, as a whole, is heading towards the cypherpunks’ vision. But there is one critical limitation.
We have not seen the reputation system that resolves the issues of governance. On the one hand, it should value the member’ contribution and reward them properly. On the other hand, it requires a transparent criteria and provide fair opportunity for the new members. That way, members can feel they are appreciated and seek the opportunity to contribute.
Without the proper system, people cannot get absorbed into the Metaverse. As of now, the Metaverse users are torn between the two conflicting identities: virtual identity in the Metaverse, and the identity in the real world. No matter how fun the virtual world may be, you come back to the real world and introduce yourself by your real name. It is because the virtual identity cannot represent yourself enough to substitute the identity in the real world.
Once the your virtual reputation is meaningful enough, people will start to identify themselves as their virtual identity. Think how people introduce themselves by their job title, people may start to introduce themselves as their Metaverse-self. This can be possible if and only if the reputation system of the Metaverse is significant enough both on personal and social level.
Many of today’s metaverse projects are focused on user acquisition and technical set up. It is because those numbers directly add up to the immediate network growth. But by doing so, they overlook the governance issue. For instance, adding virtual maps and contents are good ways to acquire users. But it makes harder to bridge the virtual and real identities. Also, token drops and land drops provide immediate benefits to the users. When the price explodes, however, it makes harder for new users to join.
3. Ludium’s Approach To Metaverse
Ludium is testing the governance through offline based lifelogging Metaverse. Ludium runs offline place and sell tickets to participate in contents. Offline contents are curated by Ludium to ensure the quality of time. We provide everything that is need for a good time including, space, time and people.
It is true that offline community is slower in network growth. But it lowers the conflict of identities. When you interact offline, you are more likely to feel that the activity represent yourself. It gives the sense of connection that cannot be replicated in the virtual world. For this reason, Ludium is set on offline first based approach when it comes to contents participation.
Lifelogging is the key activity that makes Ludium’s reputations system. Like facebook, you can post your thoughts and activity through online community board. On the community board, people may recommend your post or make comments. All these interactive data are stored in your profile to establish your reputation.
Based on the lifelogging activities, one can claim rewards. Rewards are given in the form of Ludium currency with which you can participate in different contents. The amount of reward is set based on the importance of the activity for the growth of community; the more activity you participate, the more rewards you will receive.
Once the initial testing is over and reputation system is set, we plan to open contents off and online simultaneously. On/offline contents will be featured on the Metaverse where people can seamlessly interchange between online and offline. We believe that it is only when the members can freely choose online and offline interaction that the true meaning of the Metaverse will come into the light.
Along on/offline contents, members will be able to interact in the reputation based market. Reputation based market place is here you can buy, sell, trade digital collectible goods based on your reputation. Without the sufficient reputation, you cannot claim some of the digital assets. In this way, members are motivated to participate more contents and be more active in the community.
After the reputation market place is at work, we plan blockchain integration for token/land drops. By then, there will be enough community members who understand how Ludium’s system operates. They will have reasons to protect their reputations and assets in Ludium. For this reason, they will be the protector of the system along with the developers.
4. Open Invitation For Sailors
Ludium invite you to join the community. We are running offline contents called the BOAT. The BOAT stands for the BOard of Art and Technology. The BOAT is for the sailors who navigate the sea of the Metaverse.
For instance, Gem study is for the NFT artists and planners who are interested in making projects related to Cryptoart, NFT goods, exhibition or any other NFT works. We study the meaning of NFT and discuss how cryptoart is different from NFTs. Eventually, participants come up with their own idea of NFT project based on their topic of interest.
LSA(Lecture Series on AGI) studies the cognitive and social meaning of AI. It is run by a captain named Steve who is in charge of preparing all the materials for the study. The topics of study include the meaning of data and algorithm, cognitive rethinking, and how to prevent the prejudice of AI.
For those of you who are interested in the study, please let me know. My e-mail is contact@ludium.community. If you just wanna talk, still let me know. I will be glad regardless.
Thank you.
