Author: Serin Kim, Marketer (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimserin/)
[TL;DR]
- Web3 technology is having a significant impact on the gaming industry and communities, with Reddit being a prime example.
- Vortex Gaming, a Web3 affiliate of Inven, provides VOR points as rewards for content creation activities, and has a system where these can be exchanged for tokens.
- Vortex Gaming integrates the user-friendly Wepin wallet to increase Web3 accessibility and provide users with a safe and convenient experience.
- Through its token reward system and accessible Web3 wallet, Vortex Gaming is encouraging users' voluntary participation and content production, opening new horizons for Web3 gaming communities.
1. Web3, Gaming, and Communities
Web3 aims to build a decentralized and user-centric internet environment using blockchain technology. These core values of Web3 are also having a significant impact on the gaming industry and gaming communities.
In the traditional gaming industry, game developers and publishers have centrally managed game development, operations, and revenue distribution. However, with the emergence of Web3 technology, changes are occurring in the ownership and trading of in-game assets, and revenue distribution structures.
Notably, with the emergence of the P2E (Play to Earn) model, playing games itself has gained economic value. Users can enjoy games while acquiring in-game tokens, which can be exchanged for real-world currency. This change signifies that gaming has become an economic activity beyond simple entertainment.
Additionally, through NFTs, ownership of digital assets such as in-game items, characters, and land can be given to users. This innovation has brought significant changes to in-game economic systems, and users can freely trade and monetize digital assets they have acquired or created.
Web3 technology is also having a significant impact on gaming communities. While in existing centralized community platforms, user activities and contributions were determined by platform operators, in Web3, users can directly participate in community operations and make decisions.
A prime example is Reddit's Community Points system, which has over 500 million users. Since 2020, Reddit has been operating a system that turns points contributed to the community into community tokens.
Users can acquire these tokens by actively participating and contributing within the community, and token holders can exercise certain rights within the community or participate in decision-making. This strengthens users' initiative in community operations and enables more democratic and transparent management.
Reddit has also been recorded as a case leading the popularization of blockchain by creating millions of wallets using NFT avatars that can represent one's identity in the community.
- Community Token: Users can earn community tokens by actively participating and contributing within the community. The more tokens a user holds, the higher their reputation score displayed next to their user ID, and they can unlock certain emoticons or badges. They can also sell their held tokens on listed exchanges.
- NFT Avatar: Reddit allowed users to use NFT-form avatars as profile pictures. This allows users to own and express their unique digital assets.
- Reddit NFT Marketplace: Reddit has built its own NFT marketplace, providing a platform where users can create, buy, and sell NFTs. This provides opportunities for creators to issue their works as NFTs and monetize them.
Of course, in November 2023, Reddit discontinued its blockchain points program due to regulatory and cost issues. While the blockchain-based points program is ending, Reddit has stated plans to continue exploring ways to reward and empower based on contribution.
Thus, Web3 technology is playing a crucial role in building a user-centric and decentralized environment in the gaming industry and gaming communities. Innovative models such as NFTs, P2E, and community tokens are bringing changes to the revenue structure of the gaming industry and user participation methods.
However, as with the Reddit case, Web3 is still in its early stages, and there are challenges to be solved such as establishing legal and institutional mechanisms, improving user experience, and enhancing security. In this content, we will introduce Vortex Gaming, a Web3 gaming community in Korea that is addressing these challenges.
2. The Meeting of Web3 and Gaming Communities through the Wepin Wallet
Launched in 2023, Vortex Gaming is a Web3 gaming community. Unlike existing game communities, it is opening new horizons for Web3 gaming communities by providing rewards for users' content production activities. Vortex Gaming is a Web3 affiliate of INVEN, Korea's game-specialized webzine and community, and advocates a community optimized for Web3 games. In particular, it aims to form a content-centered gaming community under the broad category of 'games', including not only WEB3 games but all existing games.
The most significant feature of Vortex Gaming lies in the special rewards that can be earned through community activities. Most communities have a structure where users can level up by gaining certain experience points through community activities. However, in Vortex Gaming, users can earn VOR points through content production activities such as writing play records, uploading posts and comments, and attendance, and these points will later have cash value (tokens).
Vortex Gaming offers various missions. By completing these missions, users can earn points called VOR, which will ultimately have cash value. As shown in the image above, users can earn VOR points through activities such as following specific channels, sharing posts, or liking content.
These points can be earned not only through missions but also through community activities, and content creators can receive sponsorship from other gamers. This structure provides recognition, rewards, and benefits just for participating in various gaming community activities.
Users can check how many points they've earned from which missions through their point history at any time, and the acquired VOR points are planned to be exchangeable for $VRTX tokens in the future. $VRTX is a token on the Near Protocol chain, and it's planned to be usable not only in Vortex Gaming but also on external exchanges.
When starting Vortex Gaming, users can obtain a random avatar NFT through a mystery box. The acquired avatar can be customized with other items (accessories, equipment) later, allowing users to create an avatar that expresses their individuality. NFT holdings can be immediately checked in the item inventory.
Interestingly, pressing the NFT transaction history check button allows users to view on-chain data related to that NFT. This easy access to on-chain data allows users to directly confirm that they independently and actually own the digital assets acquired in Vortex Gaming, giving users greater trust.
The success and sustainability of a community lie in voluntary content production within the community. If only common content that can be seen elsewhere or content already seen in other communities is provided, users will leave for places where fresh content is uploaded. Therefore, Vortex Gaming encourages users' voluntary participation and content production by providing "tokens" as independent and substantial rewards for community activities.
3. Improving Web3 Accessibility with User-Friendly Solutions
One of the concerns for communities like Vortex Gaming is improving Web3 accessibility. When launching a Web3 service similar to existing Web2 services, users' Web3 onboarding is crucial. Therefore, Vortex Gaming has integrated the Wepin wallet, which has a user-friendly UX, to provide users with a natural and familiar Web3 experience.
The process of using the Wepin wallet on the Vortex Gaming website is very simple. Users can complete registration and login by clicking on wallet connection in the My Assets tab on the website, logging in with Google, and agreeing to the terms of service. Once wallet login is complete, assets in the Wepin wallet and Vortex Gaming are synchronized. This entire process takes less than a minute for users.
Vortex Gaming and the Wepin wallet connect quickly and intuitively. Users are guided to create and connect wallets with just a few clicks within the website, reducing website abandonment due to complicated procedures. By dramatically simplifying the complex registration and installation process of external Web3 wallets, it provides a very safe and convenient experience even for users without Web3 experience, significantly reducing user churn.
4. Conclusion
Vortex Gaming has opened new horizons for Web3 game communities by providing a new user reward system in the form of 'tokens' and a Web3 wallet that community users can easily access. We hope it will contribute to the activation of the Web3 ecosystem by establishing a culture that encourages users' voluntary community participation and content production.
In this process, the Wepin wallet will provide Vortex Gaming users with a user-friendly Web3 experience, helping with Web2 user onboarding and Web3 popularization. We hope that Vortex Gaming will continue to contribute to the development of the Web3 ecosystem as a game community leading the Web3 ecosystem through user-friendly and diverse community content.
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