🧐4.1 A STABLE GAME ECONOMY WITH FUN AND SEASONAL DESIGN
Last updated
Last updated
As is well known, when the actual demand for currency is less than the currency supply, it can lead to currency depreciation, eventually resulting in the collapse of the overall economic system. This is the classic economic formula below:
where:
M= the money supply, or average currency units incirculation in a year
V= the velocity of money, or the average number oftimes a currency unit changes hands per year
P= the average price level of goods during the year
T= an index of the real value of aggregate transactions
So far, a large number of GameFi games have been considered to engage with "Ponzi schemes," where anyone who gets involved can foresee their doomed outcome. This is chiefly because players instinctively realize that "due to the infinite generation of in-game currency combined with constrained gameplay, there will be no growth in player demand, inevitably resulting in a substantial devaluation of the in-game currency and the disintegration of the economic system." Therefore, we believe that to break the death cycle of blockchain games, what is needed are high-quality games with a long-term system design, and CardsAhoy is certainly one of them.
Interesting gameplay + abundant strategic design
In CA, we always prioritize gameplay and deck design because we firmly believe that only good gameplay combined with continuous iterative updates can keep players investing time and money, ultimately bringing brand new players flow into the game and breaking out of the death spiral.
In just the first season, we designed four factions and nearly a hundred of cards with distinct mechanics. The differentiated card abilities, the daily changing maximum team cost, and the randomly generated vanguard bless combine multiple mechanisms to provide players with a vast strategic space in the ladder. These system designs also ensure that each card can assume a completely different role in your deck.
Diverse outputs, not just tokens but NFTs!
From the experience of past blockchain games, an economic system centered solely on token output often faces the continuous accumulation of massive tokens selling. This accumulated pressure forces the project team to spend a lot of effort monitoring and maintaining token prices, rather than focusing on gameplay design. At the same time, players are compelled to constantly monitor the token price and adjust their holdings instead of enjoying the fun of blockchain games.
Moreover, we conducted a thorough study of the NFT market in previous blockchain games. We found that with the influx of new users, NFT output can rapidly expand during a certain period. This expansion not only continues until the growth rate of player numbers starts to decline but often lags significantly, even continuing into periods of negative player growth.
Therefore, when designing the CA (CardsAhoy) economic system, we decided to emphasize the power of NFTs, creating a system with more diverse output channels, varied strategic gameplay, and various consumption channels. To achieve this goal, we introduced the following design principles:
Leverage the Advantages of TCG Card Mechanics:
The CA team has participated in numerous successful TCG card designs. Our various experience allows us to ensure that each NFT card can play a significant role under specific circumstances through gameplay design. Naturally, cards with higher rarity, thanks to their superior mechanics, will generally perform better in terms of versatility.
Diversified Card Output Channels to Various Player Ecosystem and Promote In-Game Trading Activity:
To ensure a dynamic and engaging gameplay experience, we have incorporated various card acquisition methods, such as opening Ahoy Boxes, earning Ladder Chests, and utilizing the Card Alchemy system. These systems offer players multiple avenues to expand their collections and experiment with different strategies, catering to a wide range of playstyles and preferences. In conclusion, it's not feasible for a player to build a competitive team by engaging in just one activity without using the trading system.
Two-Way and Diverse Exchange Relationships Between Cards and Tokens:
In CA, we got inspired from CSGO's trade-up contract and introduced a card alchemy system, allowing worthless cards the chance to transform into sought-after golden legends of the current version. At the same time, we implemented a final safety mechanism - card burning. Players can exchange unused cards for CAC tokens at a fixed ratio. Through this design, players can enjoy the thrill of obtaining unique and rare NFT rewards by ranking up and opening Ahoy boxes. These rewards add an extra layer of excitement and satisfaction to the gaming experience, allowing players to collect and showcase their achievements within the game. Each NFT reward is a testament to the player's skill, dedication, and luck, offering a sense of pride and accomplishment that enhances the overall enjoyment of the game.
Designing games based on data and player feedback, all practical in official game
Unlike many blockchain games that talk about their game quality, we prefer to set the quality of our games on data and player feedback.
In our first pre-registration event, we received over a million registration, which fully demonstrates the players' recognition of the game's quality and the development team's strength.
In our first invitation test, we achieved over 55% next-day retention and over 30% five-day retention, which is at the forefront of the industry even in traditional web2 games.
Long-term season design and version upgrade plan.
Before the public test, we have prepared several core deck series for players to experience, ensuring that players have differentiated content to enjoy in the next 2-3 months.
The aesthetic system represented by avatar frames, emote, and field background; along with core in-game and external systems like story mode, and guilds, will all be launched after a period following the public beta.
Whenever a series of legendary cards is sold out, we will release a new series of card packs with new mechanisms or appearances. Through the serialized design of Ahoy Cards, we are able to the price of CAC within a basic range to the greatest extent possible.
