“The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena… Think of the rivers of blood all those generals and emperors have spilled until, in glory and triumph, they become temporary masters of a fraction of a point.”
The above quote from Carl Sagan was used by Metaverse Studios to pave the way for Angelic, a popular NFT-powered Sci-Fi RPG. The beautifully designed game – as Sagan’s quote already mentioned – asks players to see beyond their everyday notions of space and time.
Due to the current market turmoil, many in the NFT and cryptocurrency industries have had to change their views. We were able to speak with Angelic’s COO, Anastasia Wolgemutt, about the current uncertainty in the market, how Angelic has evolved and what lies ahead for both the game and the industry in general.
What was the main motivation for Angelique moving from Solana exclusively to the crossover series?
My choice to expand Angelic to multiple series was influenced by the premise that everyone should have equal access and be able to enjoy all aspects of gameplay within our world. It’s no secret that even with its exponentially high gas fees, Ethereum remains one of the most widely used and popular blockchains to date, which gives Angelic an opportunity to tap into a larger gaming community, specifically guilds, that support players through education and community building.
Does a single or multi-string game affect gameplay? What will players notice about the change?
When describing Angelic, I always start with “we are game first and blockchain second”, or simply, “chain neutral”, with no blockchain components visible to the untrained eye. We want to ensure that traditional gamers are able to focus and appreciate gameplay as much as our Web 3 community. To achieve this, Angelic will automatically store all NFTs our players have earned in-game via a dedicated back-end wallet, which they can access at any moment when they are ready to explore and learn more about what web3 has to offer.
Image_0
How did your community react to the news?
We communicate regularly with our community, especially when it comes to big developments in our roadmap. As a result, community feedback has been generally positive, especially after we announced our decision to partner with ImmutableX, a leading gaming-oriented Layer 2 scaling solution for NFTs on Ethereum. I wanted to find a partner who was not only able to provide an ecosystem for us as Angelic, but also for our players, who would now enjoy the benefits of gas-free coinage and fast, secure solutions that meet the needs of traditional players.
She strongly opposed Magic Eden’s decision to make royalty payments optional on its platform. Why do you think this move sets a bad precedent in the industry?
We know a lot of creatives and small projects in this space who spend weeks if not months creating exceptional artwork in hopes that their art will be recognized and appreciated. Owning the work and the rights to it is also one of the core principles that gave birth to the idea of a decentralized network – not to mention that the majority of creators rely on royalties as a way to generate sustainable income.
In my opinion, before resorting to stripping creators of their autonomy, markets should first remove their fees entirely, as a way to show community support and help preserve the ecosystem during the uncertainty of this bear market.
Has the current market turmoil affected Angelique?
Developing a game is not easy. Developing a blockchain-powered triple-A narrative and strategic RPG in a bear market while watching the world’s second largest stock exchange disintegrate in a matter of days before our eyes – well, I’m sure we all felt the same and experienced the same uncertainty over the past few weeks.
For Angelic and other gaming projects, the overall impact of this remains unknown. After carefully considering our values and goals, the only logical way forward was to continue to build and implement our milestones to the best of our ability. After all, from the very beginning I have maintained the position that if the blockchain dies tomorrow, Angelic will still be a quality game.
Image_1
How supportive has the Angelic ecosystem been during this time and what’s next on the roadmap for Angelic?
“You’re only as strong as your weakest link,” is the general mentality I’ve seen emerge over the past few weeks, both from the community and our partners alike. I believe what defines an effective and supportive ecosystem is not what happens when everything is good, it is how we respond to each other when things are bad. Angelic is happy to get along with like-minded partners who support each other and offer to help in any way they can, especially some of our key investors and closest advisors.
What has happened over the past few weeks has been unprecedented – many great people, projects and companies have suffered a great loss
