EOS dApp Ecosystem: Prospectors (Game) – Episode 4
Article credited to cryptomandate and provided by EOS GO
Preface
Prospectors is the first blockchain game I ever played. I actually enjoy playing games once in a while but never spend more than a few hours playing them. Sure games are a fun form of escapism but they just don’t pay the bills at the end of the day. As entertainment they provide a great value to the customer, evident in the industry’s reputation as one of the biggest in the world, with a $135 Billion market cap in 2018. Representing an impressive 11% growth from the previous year.
I enjoy competition as much as the next guy and nothing is more rewarding than making a bit of money in the process. It’s the ultimate cherry on top! In fact, the last few years I spent playing poker semi-professionally as it combines my passion for competition, and financially rewarding skilled effort. These are the two most important check marks if I’m to spend any significant time playing a game. Which is why poker is my perfect game. I say this as reference to how Prospectors has the capability to convert or acquire new users to the EOS ecosystem, as it has done.
By the end of last year, I wasn’t motivated to play poker anymore because it felt like I was doing the same thing over and over, even though I was a profitable player. This feeling is similar to something known as ‘burnout’ amongst gamers. A month’s vacation later I still wasn’t enthusiastic about the prospect (excuse the pun) of going back to playing poker. So I decided to invest my bankroll in crypto related passive income streams and look for something else to do in the meantime.
A couple weeks of researching weren’t yielding anything that was worthwhile. EOS however, as my favorite blockchain, was showing the most promise with projects launching dApps almost on a daily basis. It didn’t take long before I was reading a pre-launch article review of a promising gaming dApp and I was instantly intrigued. The enthusiasm I once had for poker was re-ignited and directed into something new. The following couple of days before launch couldn’t have been any longer.
Enter Prospectors…
Set in the 19thcentury world during the Gold Rush, Prospectors is a free to play Massive Multiplayer Online Real-Time Economic Strategy(MMORTES) game run on the EOS blockchain. In simpler terms, it is a game in which players from across the world compete to create a thriving economic world for themselves and others. To achieve this, players need sound strategies in a wide variety of specialties. It has an in-game currency (gold) that can be withdrawn using the native PGL token (1k gold = 1PGL) and exchanged for real money in the real world. PGL’s total supply is 220 Million and no more will be created.
To begin, every player has access to their own 3 workers whom they can put to work to earn them gold. You earn gold by mining it, selling resources, selling tools, or earning a salary from working for other people. Your 3 workers are instrumental in earning your gold and how much they make for you will depend on your own skills in managing them. Prospectors is more like real life disguised as a game and many lessons from here can translate into the real world.
You can choose to mine, build, produce, trade or try your hand at mastering all of the tasks. Let’s take a closer look at some of the strategies involved in this game such as in Economics, Business, Finance, Management, etc.
DISCLAIMER:The game mentioned in this article is very addictive as it can be rewarding. Please do not take my advice as conclusive and do your due diligence in strategy research. This article is simply to serve as an introduction and basic guideline to the Prospectors game.
Strategy
There are many routes you can take to succeed in this game, some of which will be unique to your own experiences. Here are a couple:
· Economics – is what it’s all about. As we all know numbers don’t lie, thus it is your responsibility to jot them down in your favor. Interestingly enough, there’s more to what governs economies than just numbers. It is your interactions with other players in the game that will determine the strength of your economy. These interactions can be financial, communicational, assets trading, or the quality of your services.
Building an economy is like building a new world; you get what you put in and in the Prospectors world that equates to the time and effort you put into it. Although it is true you can start from nothing in the game and slowly build an empire, you can also invest some money into it to accelerate your progress. Remember that economies change and you’ll need to adapt to this changing environment quite frequently. A little advice – Cash is King!
· Finance – I won’t dig deeper on this one as some of it has already been touched on earlier. Basically finance has to do with how you manage or invest your gold. Depending on whether you start the game with an investment or not your strategy will differ. If you start with no gold, then you can save gold you earn from trading resources or the salary earned by your workers. If you buy gold, then you can rent a plot to build a factory to manufacture for instance. Also look for plots with a large quantity of resources depending on the function of your factory.
· Geography – Any business owner will tell you that one of the most important elements of a successful business is location. The best way to figure out the best location is to specify what kind of factory/service you’ll provide. Look at the world map to see what your neighbors are doing and pick a plot near where most of your customers reside. You can also pick a spot where there’s little competition.
You probably should invest in a plot that is close to your target audience. In the game it takes a worker a minimum of 10mins to travel to the plot next to them, generally you’ll add 10mins for each plot between them and their destination. Depending on where you’re travelling to, it can take up to 5 hours, in real-time, to get there. So tighten your shoe laces and be prepared to stay up late while your workers trek.
· Business – skills are a great benefit to have and if you don’t have any, then Prospectors is the best game to learn. Since you’re competing with other players in real-time you’re going to need a strong understanding of your business and the value it has. For it to be successful you’ll have to convince other players of this value and why they should choose you instead of your competitors.
What I do in the game is to approach business prospects and offer them a service, I don’t wait for them to come to me. When I reach out to them, based on their factory type, I’d have already done my research on all the tools and resources they’ll need, and how much my competitors are pricing them on the market. Now because I’m nearby, I then can sell directly to them at a higher price as I point out that they’ll still be saving money on transportation costs. A powerful negotiation tactic that most of the competition doesn’t even think of applying.
The name of the game is profit, and working on your margins is a must. Try to lower your costs in order to increase profits but still maintain competitive prices on the markets. This is true whether you have a factory or have nothing but your 3 workers. Every piece of gold saved is gold earned and it’ll make a big difference in the long run.
· Partnerships – Be cautious of who you choose to partner with. You don’t want to have your gold confiscated and workers thrown into prison for illegal stuff your partner(s) did. If you do find the right partner, then it is an advantage to have 6 workers rather than 3 workers as you’ll reach your objectives much quicker.
If you care, find people who are strong in the areas of the game where you’re weakest. This will ensure that your partnerships are more effective as you won’t be wasting time trying to decide who does what for your business. Deciding on the leader is also a tough task, especially if you’re both 50/50 investors. Thus I suggest you tread carefully with partnerships as money is involved here.
Prospectors is Real Life
I bet this game is sounding a lot like real life. That is exactly the point. It’s only going to get even more realistic as more features get rolled out. The game is currently in a good working beta with its full release expected sometime after the EOS v1.8 update (23 Sept). Prior to this date Prospectors is launching a new world on the WAX blockchain which will be connected to this one later on. This brings an additional need for transportation features like horses or coal trains that can be consequently implemented at that stage.
Prospectors, as you can imagine, also has many similarities to the Monopoly board game one of which is the shared fundamental theory that an economy which rewards wealth creation is best. Have this theory in mind when starting out and building your empire, the same is true for the real world.
Creating value for others is key to wealth creation and it also distinguishes you from everyone else. Most people want to take rather than create which is why most people in the economy are workers or employees. It is much harder to start a business than it is working for one yet it is more rewarding. Both types of people are necessary for the economy to function but for it to thrive, more wealth creators are needed.
There’s a lot more to say about this game but like real life it can’t be done in a single article. There are too many aspects to consider and because of a changing environment, no single strategy is absolute. That’s why I shared with you the basic strategies capable of adapting to the constantly changing world of Prospectors.
Thank you for reading and please look forward to the next article on this series about the EOS dApp ecosystem. In the meantime, have a look at the previous articles perhaps there you’ll find another topic you enjoy.
Until the next one, #GoEOS!
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