Okay, and hello, and welcome everybody on this fine Wednesday. Welcome to another press play, but you buy boxed on a dot gg. Hosted by my wonderful self-charge. Joined as always by gaspode.
Fantastic, thank you for saying hello there, gaspoda. Very, very good of you, too. Not be able to unmute. Great to see. Today we are looking at community, culture and idols for our press play episode.
So you are all aware, myself and gaspode are in fact idols as well. So we are joined by Grand Saga Unlimited by Metapixel and speaking on behalf is going to be Kate. So Kate could you just introduce yourself please?
Kate, we can see you've unmuted, but we can't hear you.
Yes, we can hear you now. Thank you. I think I have some problems with that. So yeah, let me begin my name is Kate or I also often go by the name subset, which is my favorite, but I'll create native to Korea. So thank you for inviting me to speak on behalf of
my team at MetaPixel today. I'm super nervous right now because it's actually my first time participating fully solo in a Twitter space. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to expand my boundaries tonight. So I am currently part of the Meta Business team at MetaPixel
So I am most responsible for social media planning, but I also do a lot of different things including service design, localization, event planning and a bit of business development as well. And to go a bit deeper into my personal experience, I've been
working as a more again designer for most part of my career, but I got interested in blockchain business and building battery ecosystems and luckily I could join some meeting team at Metapixel. Please believe me that I just love coming to work every day. So I hope my boss is listening. Are you there?
At Metapixel, we aim to build the premier gaming ecosystem at us. Metapixel is the Web3 division of NPixel, a South Korean developer, which is best known for its game, Grand Sala, across platform, mobile RPG.
So today the topic I will be talking about is ground saga limited. We call it also GSU for convenience, which is the Webstree MMORPG
built on apptiles. So it's still in development. We had our first plate test back in March and in July we have the second test coming up from July 6 to July 20. We are recruiting a total of 8000 testers this time on our official website metapixel.io.
And especially for the second round of testing, we have collaborated with Pokka Started Gaming, who helped us create a campaign on their website, which I have to mention right now. It's performing really well. Everyone is very impressed. And I hope everybody listening now here has already participated in the Pokka site request.
Thank you Kate that's fantastic as well I get told off if I plug us too much so I'm glad to have a guest that plugs us for me so that sounds like you've had a very good experience so far and you sound like you've landed in the right place of working for Metapix whereas you've been doing mobile through
your career as it has been. So just quickly, for anyone that is listening that has somehow managed to be in this space within games, within Web3, but somehow has never heard of GSU. How would you describe the game to someone that has never seen or heard
of it before. Yes, so our game Grand Saga Limited is a Web 3 MMORPG for Windows PC with an anime-like graphics style. It shares the IP with Grand Saga, which is the cross-platform mobile game developed by Enpixel.
previously mentioned. So it shares the art style, world and lore, but as a genre it's different gameplay and gaming experience will also be very different. So for those who are curious about the original Grand Saga, the Quest System will connect the two games so that players can
can get inside to the narrative of the original game as well. And we are making the game into a classic MMORPG with a fantasy world setting. However, we want to make the player feel like they are being sent to the fantasy world themselves and not just play a character. The game will feature
6 classes in total which are Elementalist, Mage, Guardian, Assassin, Warrior and Garner. So as an MMORPG, the game focuses very much on the encounter experience by which you mean players should feel they are in this world together with other players.
are in an economy which implies that the game should work like a real word in terms of demand and supply. The GSU Studio is working literally day and night to make the world of grandson unlimited or work full of discovering excitement so if you are a fan of online games it shouldn't miss it out.
Okay, at this point my co-host would normally be unmuting and jumping in with this question, but is either abandoned me or Twitter is not letting him unmute his microphone? So everyone you will keep getting to hear me for the time being. So yeah, that's a great summary and I think
actually give an idea to most people what type of game GSU is if there's someone that has somehow missed out on seeing any of the video content you guys have been putting out and all the other people that have had the opportunity to test this prior has been putting out I know I've played it prior and I've put out content
and about this showing it off as well. So hopefully that brief description that K gave has enlightened some of you as to what you would be expecting if you were to jump into this world and play. My next question is, I think the genre we call it is different to what you believe.
As a GSU, what does it bring that is different or unique to the, I've got a JRPG genre, which I know we refer to it as, but I know you often refer to it not being quite that way. - Yeah, so.
Yeah, you mentioned the word JRPG and I think it's a very interesting view on our game. It's, yeah, similar to JRPG in terms of characters and graphics and art. And my understanding of JRPG is that they usually follow a single story
that is very intriguing and the story is really touching, right? But we define just you basically as an MMORPG. So the overall play will be different, I think, from the JRPG we are usually used to. And that means that you have a lot of other plays
and the game that you will interact with and it has the potential to create a whole new player experience depending on who you meet and how you play. So to go a bit further I think what GSE will bring you to the MMORPG genre and the utilising
of F3 technology to enhance play experience. So we want to solve problems that work too and we more PG's have been facing. So for instance in terms of trust issues with the developers and also in economy aspects we want to make a structure in which player expenditure
ultimately benefit the participants of the ecosystem. So it is not easy to explain everything in detail because we also are in the process of building the system, but we have a clear vision we are following and yeah with the amazing team we have a Metapixel I'm enjoying the daily progress.
That's interesting to hear and I like the development you're taking on the genre. You touched on them a little bit already in terms of the classes as well as kind of the options people had and you mentioned that you want people to feel like they're
in the game rather than just playing as a player. What do you expect people to do in terms of classes? Do you think people will be playing a single class or do you see people spread in their time across multiple classes?
So people have the freedom to choose among six classes and they can actually try to get them all out. But considering the time and effort, they have to input to level up and get the right equipment for playing.
refer to see players play one main class and grow it with love. However, there will be gaming content that limits the number of plays a day or a week on a time basis. So for those who want to play a GSU more intensely,
they might also choose to pick another class and try it out. So since each class will experience and progress through the game differently, it could be actually fun to try and compare them. Do you have any favourite class in Darks Play?
I almost always choose magic because I'm not magic in real life. So I would expect to have some magic when I pick any of the classes. But the idea of kind
of different storylines and encouraging people to look through the different classes, sounds interesting and definitely a way of keeping those people who want to think a lot of time and kind of engaged with different aspects of it.
I would also agree with Gaspoad there. I am without doubt always playing some sort of magical class. Normally I am actually a healer. Recently with the release of other games I have stepped slightly away from the healer aspect but if that is an option
in game I can tell you I will likely be going down the soft healer root casting my spells from the background outside of all of the danger. So with the opportunity to be able to play through all these different classes one of the main things that gets screened through any MMO RPG is you need to
Nerf X and Buff Y. So what type of stuff are you guys doing behind the scenes to make sure all classes are balanced and you don't just see a huge number of the player brace gather towards what is currently, as they would say, the OP class within the game.
Yes, so balancing is always the trickiest thing when we play online games, right? So we take into account different factors when that
in classes. However, since not all classes will be a dealer, there is no meaning, we think, and then I think just the power.
because the most important thing here is to consider the different roles that each class is supposed to play. So each class will have distinct traits and skills that others won't have. So what we focus on before balancing the comp
bit power among classes is whether they have sufficient skills and traits that will make party play possible and subsequently we check if those skills and traits will actually create synergy when people play together in a cooperative play like Clan Wars instead.
So we are considering more party versus party or clan versus clan situations, rather than just one versus one PVP, one balanced classes, and we aim to make each class more distinct as in classic MMORPG still.
I think that's interesting that it's going to be a part TV party that you maybe don't need to balance single class versus single class. That's definitely a way to do it that you don't get lost in my new show balancing. Just to touch on the part
party, be party and you mentioned it a little bit in terms of plans. How do you see clan play, guild play working within the game and what kind of step you'll be taking to encourage more kind of community and social aspect around the game?
Yeah, we will have guild of clan system in the game. So we call it clan in GSU and Starting with the second test coming up in July players will be able to create clans in game so clan members can display
clan type under characters and also play together with other clan members in large scale field battles. In the number of people who can join one clan is not exactly fixed yet but the size of a clan will grow together with a clan level so active clans will be
able to welcome warm-in verse to it. And at Metapixel we are going to conduct a series of internal play tests in June before we open the second community test in July. So from the results of these tests I think we will be able to figure out more details of our systems including the class
system. And maybe some of you have already seen the clan ranking board on Metapixel's Twitter. There's a huge ranking board standing tall in the center of the town and everybody can see the list of top clans.
every time any time they go to the town and we want to foster competition among clients to claim the throne. So of course it's not only about climbing the ladder but top clients will also take some special rewards. So yeah when
And whenever we talk about gaming content in MMORPGs, we usually think of combat systems and welfare or some non-combat content such as crafting and housing. But in the core of MMORPGs, I believe, is the concept that makes you feel belonging to a group that makes you feel
play an important role in your group and also feel a sense of power and pride that you are a member of a certain community and we want to develop the plan system to achieve this. While players can enjoy GSEO solo player, the experience of GSEO will be unlocked by playing with others
Yeah, I do like that and I do like the end part you there touched on as well of you can play the game as a solo player, but you will get more of experience and a better perhaps experience if you are playing in a group and a clan. I do like that some people do have the option to loan wolf and they'll still be able to go through the game.
there still be a play in the game but for the full intended experience they need to be part of something bigger than themselves. And I believe I have definitely seen the images of the large leaderboard so everyone can make sure and track daily as they're walking past it if they're clan is doing the best in the game which
I'm sure most people will be using as their flexing screenshots for Twitter if their clan does get to the top or at least very close to it. With the idea of community, not only in-game, you guys are also doing some rather interesting stuff for community outside of game. I kind of jokingly touched
on it at the start of this as well that myself and Gaspoad are in fact metapixel idols. But could you explain more about the idol system to the people listening? Yeah, we South Koreans are extremely proud of our
K-pop business and so we want to make idols in our game. So actually we have two idols hosting this stage and we are going to make you the next K-pop idol. No I'm kidding but yeah. Recently we have announced a number of so-called idols in our Twitter and so far we have an
50 and we have 50 more coming up. We are working on a feature that is called idle fans system that is utilizing the Soulbound token technology. In short, idle will be gamers who will have their own group of fans inside the game.
So our vision for Metapixel is that the system should reward participants who contribute to the community. And we believe that content creators are a very important access in the left free space because they
know how to reinterpret the game to make it look more attractive, thus inviting more people to join the game, and eventually make the game more vivid and more fun by creating content and streaming it. We made this into
one of the core features in GSU and Metapixel starting from the second Test Engine 9. Using the Zoban token technology, which we have recently written on article about
Creators can authenticate themselves and invite their fans as testers. Creators who own idle tokens can interact with their fans through special indie features that include fun things like growing in size, shrinking in size, and emitting
of light, which was really fun at the previous test, and this time we will have more fun things going on with items. And idols in the future will of course be more than just people entertaining other players in the game. The underlying intention is to record
achievements on chain and based on this give more rights to core active players to contribute to the expansion of our game and platform. I can't reveal everything about it yet but we will gradually share more information about it so please keep an eye
out for us. We will soon announce the final list of all 100 meta-visa idols and also tell the details about becoming a fan of these idols. And if you become a fan, you will be one of the 8000 testers that can play the game in July.
I think that's an interesting concept I know when I've signed up for the idol. I'll have to make sure I get plenty of fans to come and worship me. But I like the idea that as well as a fan they can come and actually test
in the game as well. It sounds like it's going to be a very big event, getting involved in this testing. One thing I just wanted to touch on and you've touched on it throughout the bits as we've gone through is
It is, you've mentioned some of the IP coming previously from Web2 and you see in your now moving into Web3 and you've mentioned some of the benefits of say the Soulbound tokens, how do you see Web3 improving the game?
Oh yes, so most of our Metapixel members come from our gaming background. So we have been looking for ways to create fun games and also sustainable games. And we found that Web3 technology could be one way to improve the quality of the game and also the overuse experience.
What tree and blockchain technology brings in my opinion a totally new layer to gaining and one important aspect of it personally I think is trust. It makes a game trustable by its own nature because it provides engine data regardless of whether developers and users actually trusted.
And I think this opens a new horizon to what systems can be in, excuse me, this opens a new horizon to what systems can be built on a game. So for instance, Metapixel is currently developing the proof of play system that provides more transparency
to valuable item drops in the game. In the proof of play system, the probability of item drop is public and whether they will get the item or not, the result is open to gamers and they can always track the history of data that is being recorded on
and in our second playtest we will have the first version of the proof of play explorer where players can actually see how many valuable items have been obtained in their realm and how much is their left. And not only the game itself, but
also the community will face a totally different way of interacting with the game and its developers. Web3 games I think value users in community more than ever and this will gradually become the norm in all games because this is a far better option for players I think.
Yeah, I'm very good. Yeah, good. You could continue. I thought you would finish or to interrupt you. But you can interrupt me anytime. Yeah, so, but yeah, of course we know that shifting from to what's really extremely
difficult because we know there are many obstacles towards all this including what we usually call onboarding of new users to watch. So for example at Metapixel we'll be introducing an update on our website this month. There will also help with two users play up three games. Actually
it might be more accurate to say that it will make easy for any user to play our games. We are not pretending we are not a watsre game, but we are constantly researching ways to improve the first impression for our service and games. And I think even now, the feeling the majority of people have towards watsre games is not
so favorable. Many people still call it Play-to-Earn Games, which I think is not their regulatory term, because it focuses on earning money, while their reason we gamers play games is to have fun, feel the thrill, and cry about the beautiful story and so on. And as game developers, we should really focus on games
If it helps you make money in any way, then I'll be really happy for you. However, I think that luxury games can be much, much more than that. And we at Metapixel strive to become the first and the best achieved that. But I also will really be excited to see more games coming to the market and make brilliant use of the luxury technology.
Yeah, you touched on two great things there. So that's why I suddenly jumped it interrupt by fertile people go through with their whole train of thoughts so we can really hear people's actual opinions on things because once you're in your kind of monologuing state then you're just your own of
emotions about how you feel about these things come through. So I definitely liked mainly what you touched on there to do with the proof of play, the idea that on chain people can see these rare items if they have been dropped the remaining drop rate and the calculations they will need to go into to be able or likely to pick up this drop because I know
people are just always obsessed with stats and percentages when it comes to RPGs as well. And I do think you touched on a good point there as well with the idea of utilizing the blockchain technology to show things that are happening in game opposed to it just being a way to
monetize the game itself. I do like the aspect of yep we've got this on chain you can know if you're gonna get this rare weapon because so many people have got all this many out of this many so far. I do like that approach a lot and I think I've actually heard it too much personally.
Now I'm trying to think of it. So with that, what type of things do people have to look forward to in the short, to midterm future of metapixel? What should people be really watching out for as they pay attention to you guys at the moment?
At the beginning of 2023, we were participating in the Apple's Hacker Fund and we revealed our roadmap for this year. We don't only have GSU on our plan, but we also have
NFT collection coming up and also pixel craft another game that will be featured on our metapixel ecosystem and yeah we are trying to create full ecosystem for gamers that will
provide an excellent user experience to everyone who will be onboarding our platform. So, people will have to look out for our upcoming NFT collection that we have recently revealed.
our Twitter and also the website for it. And actually also there will be some announcement coming up for an actual mobile game that is on the market now which is May
revealed the name here. It's nice survivors. It's a mobile game currently on the market and it has an association with PixelCraft which will be announced within a few days so yeah, please stay tuned for it.
Awesome, that sounds like a good short term thing for people to be looking out for and some exciting gameplay for them to set into. So as we move towards the end of this space, I like to ask a question that is more personal to your self-cate as someone that is quite clearly
What are you excited for currently in the whole world of games and anything game related? What has got you excited at the moment?
question because there are so many games right now in the world and I don't have the time to play in question. I always enjoy games that present a total new aspect
of gaming. For example, I've seen gameplays of the new Zelda, for example, and I haven't imagined such a game where you can actually manipulate things around you and build
rockets and some robots and stuff. I was really amazed by it and also the concepts that makes it possible and also the developing environment that encourages you to do that kind of innovation that amazes me a lot.
Yeah, I think you are not alone there being amazed by the new Zelda. I have watched many of videos of it and either even contemplated dusting off my switch just to buy the game, but unfortunately my capture card that allows me to stream it for any of the polks, not a fan, broken. So I would feel like I was robbing them of
getting the experience with me if I was to play it alone. Actually I have thought I didn't have the time to play it. Oh no that's even worse I'm so sorry. Okay so as we're approaching the end now it's been lovely to have you here K.
And you've done a fantastic job for someone that says they have not participated in a speaking role on spaces before. I think you did really well. So for the people listening, where is the best places for them to keep track of all these things to do with Metapixel and find out how to get involved? What's the best way to gain information about the project?
Yes, the best way is of course follow our Twitter Metapixel. Actually Metapixel is here, one of the speakers, so you can go to that account and start following it. And also we have a Discord where we have the latest news, we share it there.
And please check out our Metapixel.io on the website because we are recruiting testers for the community test until June 15th. There's not much time left. And we are recruiting 8000 this time. And all testers will get some cool presents so please do check out.
Awesome sounds very good. I am definitely looking forward to being one of these testers along with being one of the idols along with gas boat here. So everybody that has joined us in the space today is big thank you to all of you for coming to press play for community culture and idols with Metapixel and
and Kate's doing a fantastic job helping us understand more about what MetaPixel is and more about what they're going to be bringing to us. So, Gaspoad, if you want to say goodbye, goodbye. Fantastic outro there, Gaspoad and another big thing
you to keep coming along if you would like to say goodbye. Yes, of course I'd like to say good-fine. So yeah, can I say a few more things? Yeah, you certainly can. Yeah, thank you. Okay.
So I mentioned our second community test multiple times and I promised a test will be a very fun experience this time if you love games. There have been testers and the first test who gave up sleeping for playing the game because the testing period was just too
for these three days and this time we are going to prevent these kind of sleep disorders so we have set a testing period this time for two weeks so you will have enough time to play and also not to forget there is a campaign going on focus.gg where you cannot
accomplish missions and get a chance to win a test or access code. So make sure you do until June 12 because it will become them. And thank you again for listening. Have a great day and for those who are in a similar time zone as me, have a good night.
I am one of those in a similar time zone as well as it is approaching 10 o'clock for myself as well. So big thank you for everybody up on stage speaking with us. Big thank you to all of you in the audience as always. Remember you can join us every Western stay for a press
If it is too much to wait for next Wednesday, we are also on your preferred listening stations as the press play podcast. We are still waiting to get sandboxes approval to move over to iTunes, but we will keep trying. If you have any
ideas or thoughts or news you are required don't forget to go to polkastuder.gg we've got everything there and as Kate mentioned we are currently running a Metapixel quest amongst other things on the site as well so have a good week I'll see you next time everybody and goodbye