Transcript – CardMaker participates in NEO LIVE Telegram event

On Thursday, October 10th, CardMaker participated in NEO Global Development’s (NGD) English NEO LIVE event. NEO LIVE is an Ask Me Anything (AMA) style community event that takes place on the official NEO Telegram channel. In addition to the English event, NGD also hosts weekly NEO LIVE events in Chinese via WeChat.

CardMaker founder, Wizard, and team member, Monster, participated in the AMA, discussing the gaming platform, its economic models, winning first place at the NEO Game Competition, trying to list on the Steem platform, and more.

The full transcript can be found below:

Denis Suslov (NGD EcoGrowth manager): Welcome to the NEO LIVE on Telegram. This is Denis Suslov, manager at Ecosystem Growth in NGD. Very happy to have you guys here. I will be your host tonight.

Before the session starts, I would like to repeat the background of the NEO Live initiative in case that you are new to the group.

NEO Live is a marketing Initiative from NEO Global Development, to bring latest blockchain knowledge and NEO news to the community. It’s one hour live chatting every Thursday night 8pm (UTC+8) in NEO official Telegram group (https://t.me/NEO_EN). NGD core teams/NEO Eco Project leaders/NEO dev community leaders/pioneering blockchain leaders will be invited to share latest technological developments and industry insights with the community members.

Today our guest is the game CardMaker and its producer who goes by the name of WIZARD.

A brief intro: CardMaker is a multi-feature cryptogame which won two prizes in the NEO Game Competition and was widely reported by media like DappReview.

CardMaker seamlessly integrates financial aspects of crypto, cross-chain trading, and mining with other features. At the same time, the game has a rich gameplay and an open united gaming community (UGC) world so the game will deliver long-term player engagement together with stable growth.

Wizard, could you introduce the game please?

Wizard (CardMaker founder): Hi, everyone.

Well, it looks like another liar is delivering a speech? lol

I have been in NEO Telegram group for some time, and I have been watching all kinds of Live and people’s opinions, most of which are mocking, dissatisfied and complaining.

Although I am here to deliver a speech, I also hope communicate and discuss with you guys. I am an independent game developer.

I have been interested in video games since I was a child, and I have always been interested in developing games. By coincidence, I entered the field of blockchain.

As an ordinary person, like you, I hold various digital currencies including quite a few NEO and want to bring up their price. For the current market situation, I think it is no use complaining.

OK, some of you may know we developed a game for NEO, CardMaker-Nature Town.

Unlike other cryptogames today, it is neither a gambling game nor a Pyramid Scheme, and players can experience game while also mining general token like NEO and other NEP5 token. More importantly, the game is permanently free.

At present, we have gathered over 1,000 players all over the world and I think it is a destiny that we play and support the same game here.

Denis: Those are nice statistics!

Wizard: At this point, you might wonder, why is so good? Earning NEO and free game?

My personal experience is that some good things tend to arouse suspicion. In fact, it’s quite simple.

We once won the FIRST PRIZE of NEO Game Competition, so we paid for it out of our own pocket.

On the other hand, we hope to attract some people who are interested in cryptogames.

We are currently provide Staking or Buy, thus users can get free non-fungible tokens (NFT), namely in-game resources, and at the end of the staking period, you can take back the NEO (these NFT will belong to you, of course).

If you want, you can purchase to support us. The game is unique and the world’s first crypto game without hurting the principal.

In the future, we hope to land on Steam platform where has over 7M players.

Denis: When can that be done do you think?

Wizard: Before this year.

Denis: Before the end of this year you mean?

Wizard: Yes.

Ok, here’s a brief introduction to CardMaker’s concept and gameplay.

We have integrated financial thinking into the whole game system. The deeper you study the game, the longer you invest, and the more return you can get.

Every NFT in the CardMaker, such as cards, roles and workshops, is a mining machine. You can use them to acquire various resources in story mode, trade with each other, or generate tokens, for example, NEO, NNC, SEA, etc.

Most importantly, CardMaker is a creative game that allows users to design cards and story modules.

“Mining machine” lol

So why is this game worth playing?

We know that most people enter the blockchain field for speculation, we can understand that it is human nature, but most people have lost a lot of money, so why will lose money? Is it simply because of some bad projects?

If so, there are more dealers in the conventional, which is more mature after all, and less profitable for the speculator. This is also a point I agree that blockchain is closer to us, so everyone can participate.

So what’s causing all of us to lose money? I think it’s inflation. M0 doesn’t generate cash flow.

That’s why Warren Buffett invests in real estate, stocks; and, people, put money in the bank. So each of us entered the digital currency market, but if you don’t use it for investment, BTC is still M0 in your hand and does not generate cash flow (which is the main reason why Buffett is not involved in crypto).

There are some players or investors in the market who would rather believe in a Pyramid Scheme, a packaged “figure” then trust us, then I can only say that I can’t prove in that way.

But, what if you found a program that would allow you to generate positive cash flow in the digital money market?

The worst way to put M0 digital currency into a good game or project is to simply keep it and not consume it. In the way of Staking, it can resist inflation, and at the same time, it may earn some tokens.

In conclusion, as a gamer, a game founder, and a crypto holder, when a project does no harm to principal, generates cash flow, is free to trade, and has incremental value, it may be worth trying.

By the way, the game is free, but mastering it isn’t easy. Every time you get a little more familiar with the game, you earn NEO more than anyone else. It’s a game only for the smart. There are already smart players who have mine dozens of NEO without losing one.

Q1: Can I really play without paying NEO?

Wizard: Sure, I also suggest you to know the game before you are unfamiliar with it (of course, there are also users with very sharp thinking who quickly stake NEO after they understand the rules).

Q2: How about dedicated mobile app? Mobile game have the largest user base.

Monster (CardMaker): Our game is HTML5 which means you could play it on any devices at any time.

So, no worries friends.

Q3: You mentioned UGC, and the name of the game also happens to be Maker. What’s difference between it and the well-known RPGMaker?

Wizard: CardMaker’s main theme is “play,” players only need to create in the process of playing, and the threshold is very low, while others in the market are mainly “make,” which will undoubtedly raise the threshold, which is why RPGMaker is still not popular.

Q4: Will it be difficult for me who usually does not play games to adapt?

Wizard: The game itself is not difficult to understand, you even need to build or staking a “mining machine,” then wait to receive.

Q5: Does CardMaker work with O3?

Monster: You can play even without binding with O3 wallet, and we also have a collaboration plan with O3.

Q6: Is it too late for me to start in the CardMaker Nature Town?

Wizard: The stock prices of Google and Amazon are now over $1,200, and at every stage people ask if it’s too late, but that doesn’t stop the great companies from continuing to grow. Also, Nature Town is in its beginning, so just respect your judgment.

Q7: What if I invest in NEO but end up making nothing?

Wizard: You don’t seem to have lost any more because NEO are still yours and can be picked up at the end of staking cycle.

When the bull market is coming is anyone’s guess.

It may never come, but maybe you can join some good projects, get more NEO, and at worst you won’t lose more.

Maybe you’re not supporting for NEO, but a team that’s willing to create a marvelous game. Over time, won’t you be a winner if you accumulate more than others?

Q8: What tokens can we mine in Nature Town?

Wizard: NEO, NNC and SEA are all from within the NEO Ecosystem, so we provided a landing scene together. The mining methods of each are different. Please check our gameplay or ask GM for details. BTW, there are SEAC airdrops every week.

Q9: I found that the game is really different from other current mobile games, which the learning curve is steep. It seems that the game favors the first comer, rather than the ones who join later. In this case, this will somehow create barrier to attract new joiners. Any plan on how to how to balance the benefit between the old players and new players?

Wizard: In fact, the reason for the difficulty is that it will be defined as “blockchain game” first, and when it is really aimed at traditional users, they will find it very simple instead. I introduced CardMaker to Hearthstone friends of mine, and they are easy to get started with it, and even stay up all night playing our games.

However, as a starter player, you actually have a big advantage, right? lol. Since you said that CardMaker is your first blockchain game, if you or others have any requires or questions, welcome to contact our GM!

Of course, the entire resource pool is limited, and just like bitcoin, as resources continue to flow into the hands of players, the entire game content scale will rise. We will gradually develop a series of designs around UGC, including the fact that there are already players joining us to make modules together.

When we were designing the game, we thought for a long time how can we make the game fun without hurting our players, our users.

We hide the financial features of the whole game under the gameplay, and all NFTs are given a layer of “mining mechanics.”

I think it is a dynamic process during which we help each other.

And then we will face to more traditional players who are concerned about gameplay not financial feature.

Our game continues to improve up to now, relying on players feedback and experience, and thanks to all the players for their support!

Q10: Since it is HTML5, why shift into Steam instead of a mobile game?

Wizard: First of all, Steam is a great gaming platform where I often learn and experience all kinds of classic games, which I think is the basic quality of being a game producer.

The players on it are different, they are more focused on the nature of the game not on Skinner-Box Game there.

So, not only out of 7 million users market, maybe out of respect for the platform, maybe out of feelings, I think we should prove CardMaker to all blockchain game users, and even the traditional game users!

How about when Steam begins to gradually transfer to blockchain game in the future?

Q11: Can you explain what the difference is between a traditional game and cryptogame?

Wizard: Blockchain tech doesn’t make games much more fun, but it has created a lot of mindsets, such as how to make game assets like NFT cross games. It is the future that traditional games will connect sooner or later.

Currently, there are various bottlenecks in the development of blockchain technology. It’s like that ten years ago people are not optimistic about the Internet, and today they don’t believe blockchain, but I believe that’s not going to stay the same.

Denis: Well thanks a lot both for sharing your story about how you came up with the idea. And, explaining in detail game economics and mechanics.

The screenshots were helpful to understand what the game looks like. Thanks everyone participated who asked the questions, and feel free to add Wizard on Telegram.

Wizard: That’s all. Thank you every friend.

Monster: Btw our latest NEO airdrop is ongoing, for more info please join our group https://t.me/CardMaker

Denis: I think we are done with questions, that was a good conversation indeed! Thank you all for asking the questions and to Wizard and Monster for the detailed explanations. Gamers – please check out the game!

See you next time, Denis.

Note: Some edits have been made for formatting and readability. The full conversation can be found at https://t.me/NEO_EN/26561.