The Metaverse: What if?
A prediction of how self expression, gaming and commerce would look like in the Metaverse.
The Metaverse
In the anime Sword Art Online S2, the main character Kirito made a switch from Alfheim Online to Gun Gale Online essentially transferring his character from one MMO to another. In the new MMO, he wasn’t able to retain his items but he was however able to transfer his ‘skills’ that were tied to his avatar.
Who’d expect that an anime 7 years ago was already describing what composability could look like in the metaverse.
Like all new technologies, we simply cannot predict what the final form of the metaverse would be. All we can predict is that it would be better than what we can ever imagine and more. That said, one can dream and hypothesize on the metaverse’s foreseable iterations.
I posit that at its core, the metaverse will be centered around 3 key areas: self expression, gaming and commerce.
For the purpose of my predictions, here’s what I’ll be basing the metaverse on:
Form:
In its most rudimentary form, the medium of the metaverse would be a combination of VR and AR and the people participating in it would be represented by an avatar.
Property rights rule:
In the physical world, when you buy a car, your rights of owning it is on paper and enforced by law.
In the metaverse, when you buy a digital object, your rights of owning it is stored on the blockchain and enforced by code.
Self expression in the Metaverse
The need for self expression existed far before social media apps were invented. Apps like Facebook and Instagram merely provide an easier avenue for people to express themselves. With the metaverse, this behavior will be further enhanced as the metaverse will unlock the highest capability for self expression.
Imagine if you can create your own storefront in the metaverse to showcase your interests consisting of fashion, music, and the brands you support.
Visiting each other in the metaverse would be like visiting each other’s storefront, greeted with decorations and one’s favorite music playlist.
And what if you can showcase not just external interests but also internal ones - the values you hold close to heart or the causes you are passionate about.
Curation of this content would be huge in the metaverse. And because it can be recorded on the blockchain, one can also see how their curation evolved over time. Searching for people or groups who share similar interests would be ‘browsing’ people’s curated storefront.
What would social media in the metaverse look like?
Current social media standings are judged mainly by the number of likes and follows. What if social media implements a social score gained through specific behavior determined by the community. For example gaining a point by helping others or if other people found your content useful or interesting. Letting the community decide which behaviors are rewarded puts the control of social media standings back to the community.
I think what this would encourage is the creation of various social media groups based on interest and break down the network effect current social media apps have. There would not be select few dominant social media platforms, but instead unlimited social media groups. This way, I can choose ones I want to be active in so I don’t feel obliged ‘to create an Instagram account just because everyone is on there’.
For content creators, the nature of existing platforms does not allow for constant active collaboration from their respective communities. With the metaverse, we’ll be able to see content collaboration and community-owned content.
Gaming in the metaverse
Besides the typical NFT angle, I think a major moat for gaming studios would be to have robust composability.
Right now the issue with NFTs in the gamingverse is visual and utility fit. A sword from one game might not fit perfectly when ported over to another game in terms of visual design (difference in game theme) and utility (difference in game mechanics).
Furthermore, game devs would prioritize working on their own game’s assets and would have little time to figure out exactly how this sword from this other game would fit in their game.
Hence, instead of trying to move NFTs as they are, what if game creators start to think of composability in its rudimentary form. Taking inspiration from the Loot project, what if items from any game could be converted to a standardized list of items.
Games would create the basic NFTs based on this standard list so that players can expect what their assets can be when they port them over to other games. Of course, this doesn’t mean game creators cannot create NFTs outside of this list. In fact, assets that aren’t portable might have their own rarity appeal and encourage time loyalty to that game.
Proof of Progress
Rewatching the Sword Art Online scene got me thinking about composability outside of the standard game assets.
What if games implemented a reward system based on proof of progress where seasoned players from one game could join a new game and get rewarded based on the progress that they have made from the previous game. This could be in the form of starting off with higher stats or access to certain priviledges that a completely new player would not have had.
While established and huge games focus on incentivizing players to spend as much time as possible on their game, newer games would focus on player liquidity. Proof of progress could be a huge incentive for players who have spent a lot of hours in some games and are looking for a fresh new game.
This proof could be a combination of factors such as amount of time spent in game, achievements or levels achieved, and items or skills acquired. Proof of progress also rewards ‘free-to-play’ players who show dedication to the game not necessarily by amount of money spent but time committed to the game.
Commerce in the Metaverse
Perhaps the most common way to describe Web 3.0 is the read/write/own analogy. In Web 1.0, users are only able to read content from companies. In Web 2.0, users are now able to write and publish content on platforms such as Medium and Facebook. Unlike Web 2.0 where the content ultimately belongs to the platform it was published on, Web 3.0 introduces the ‘own’ element. You’re not only able to read and write but now, own the content you write.
In the metaverse (and Web 3.0 in general), you own not just the content but also your products and services. Coined as the passion economy, the metaverse will bring forth a wave of entrepreneurs making a living through selling products and services that stems from their passion. Buying, selling and trading will be borderless and permissionless.
Public spaces & SEO
Even though anyone can sell anything from anywhere in the metaverse, I think there will still be public spaces to facilitate commerce. In the actual world, this is akin to having online commerce vs a brick and mortar shop. While it is true that anything can be bought from anywhere, commerce will still exist in the metaverses’ public spaces - where there is gathering, there is economic activity.
Thus people could speculate on public spaces by renting lots for economic activities. For example, selling a product in a shopping mall in the metaverse might be lucrative as the space attracts a lot of foot traffic.
At the same time, if one wishes to only sell products on their storefront on their private space (similar to the one mentioned in the self expression section), they can. What if there was a search engine for the metaverse? How would one optimize their store’s seo and visibility?
The Metaverse in its entirety
Again, I think how the metaverse will take shape will be beyond what we can ever imagine and more. But I’d like to think that the 3 key components of self expression, gaming and commerce will serve as the base layer of the metaverse with other aspects built on top.
For me, I’m most excited on the concept of proof of progress. In the anime, Kirito goes on to be completely overpowered in the new MMO as he was able to transfer his high strength and agility skill levels which he spent years honing in the previous game.
This is the extent of what composablity in the metaverse could look like. One could port not just assets but also progressions across different metaverse experiences that span over games, social media and even commerce.