AMA Recap: In-House
We want to thank those who joined our very first in-house AMA last week on Telegram; we truly enjoyed the chat and continued engagement! For those who were unable to join, we’ve summarised the key takeaways below. Thank you all for your questions and thoughts and we look forward to much more to come!
AMA Recap
Ysil |Community Manager : Hello everyone! Thank you so much for joining our first in-house AMA! 🎉 Today, we’ll be talking with Shin, our Founder and CEO, and Mark, our co-founder and Brand Director at Cyberstella! 👏🏻 Thank you so much for finding the time to join us here today! Let’s kick things off right away and get things started! 💪🏻
Can you tell us about yourselves and the team working on Cyberstella?
Mark — Co-Founder / Brand Director
Hello Ysil and everyone, thank you all for joining us today! About me: I first started working with BTC in 2010/2011 where some friends and I built an omni-currency payment gateway which was supported by Microsoft and the government. I’ve always been in branding and into crypto. I work at a layer 1 blockchain company as a brand director, and have been involved in all sorts of exciting projects both in the traditional and crypto world. The team behind Murasaki and Cyberstella are some incredible game developers from Japan as well as a strong business team based out of Europe.
Shin — CEO / Co-Founder
Hey everyone I’m Shin, one of the founders of Cyberstella and we are a team of 20+ people located in over 8 countries all over the world! You can check out our team here: https://murasaki-b-v.gitbook.io/cyberstella/more/team
Ysil |Community Manager:
Thanks for the detailed responses! Can you tell our community what Cyberstella is about? Please give a detailed introduction.
Shin — CEO / Co-Founder
Cyberstella is a GameFi project based on a strong Japanese gaming theme. We are going to make it a conceptual IP with creative commons that will allow users complete freedom to use their NFTs commercially as well as use them within Cyberstella to start their very own Sci-Fi adventure. We believe this is the true meaning of decentralised NFTs.
Users can create the name and background of each NFT purchased and make their own personalised story. Not only can players define the utilities within the game but also define relations between the NFTs while enjoying their own IPs through Cyberstella.
Mark — Co-Founder / Brand Director
Just as Shin mentioned, this is a new type of game that was released, a type of space opera where you can use these NFTs as characters and can use them as different versions and levels, and trade them. What we’re really trying to create here are utility NFTs. NFTs that go beyond art and become your Web3 identity.
What we’re really thinking about in this model is taking real life experiences, such as the hierarchy of organisation, family or whatever that may be and putting that into a game so all the NFTs have different relations. The characters themselves can be set in certain formats so different leaders or subordinates and all those sorts of things. This makes the game so much more unique to each player so when you’re playing something you really get immersed in the game and then the NFTs don’t just become a beautiful piece of art and collectable but they become very special to the player itself.
Ysil |Community Manager: Very brilliant answers, thank you both! And a very interesting concept if I may say so myself! 😁
Here’s our next question;
What main features make you different from other competitors, and what competitive advantages do you have?
Shin — CEO / Co-Founder
We’ve got 3 main strengths. First of all, we have a very strong team. One of our co-founders is one of the best mobile game producers in Japan. He has had lots of success in his businesses in the past so we are positive we can make very interesting games.
Second of all, most of our competitors are selling their NFTs as art graphics or just pure game utilities. Cyberstella unlike any other, focuses on the ownership of the story by allowing players to create things such as comments, skills, and so on for their character.
Third of all, we have a very skilled team from very diverse locations. It’s as if our team is working 24/7! We are confident we form a team who can deliver the best out of our assets. For example, our Japanese creators have tons of experienced when it comes to major manga series. Our team is currently building some strong IP-related titles in the game. So yes, our team members are exceptionally strong which is extremely important for a successful game.
Mark — Co-Founder / Brand Director
Shin touches on a very good point with our team as a competitive advantage. Most of us have a lot of experience in the crypto and gaming space but what’s really important here is that our strategies align. That we have strong business alliances.
As Shin mentioned, one of our other co-founders who has had multiple exits and hundreds of millions of dollars combined with the other brands and business that we work with and work for. You have now built together quite a strong team, so as a competitive advantage you imagine other NFT projects that you can say are more based upon hype or art.
So where we fit into this and I guess where we’re strongest with competitions is the fact that we have built this unique game with this character overlay where you have different unique stories for individuals but then you take that with a team with a strategy and what you do then is put it on a platter to some of the biggest brands in the world who are owners of Japanese IP or blockchains. All of a sudden we stand far out of the crowd because we have that long experience backing us, plus a real project. A great product, solid team, all those things are what put us in a much stronger position than other projects.
Ysil |Community Manager: Talk about elevating the concept of NFTs, nice! Imagine your NFT being part of something even bigger. Definitely a strong point in my books.
Okay. Next is something that most users would be interested in;
Can you tell us about Cyberstella’s tokenomics and the token’s utility?
Shin — CEO / Co-Founder
Regarding tokenomics, we are going to take the dual tokenomics approach. We will have both governance and in-game token. Our in-game token called $UCC (Universal Century Coin) is going to be an unlimited supply while our governance token called $STL will be limited (more details coming soon so keep an eye out!).
Our token’s utility will be defined in multiple ways. The in-game token ($UCC) will be the rewards for jobs, and currency for upgrades such as NFT strengthening, making equipment or generating accessories to enhance players NFTs. $STL will be our governance token. Players can hold it and participate in various ‘holding activities’ which we’ll reveal soon.
You can read more about our tokenomics in our Whitepaper! https://murasaki-b-v.gitbook.io/cyberstella/concept/introduction
Ysil |Community Manager: Perfectly understandable. Tokenomics and governance is something that has to be carefully considered, especially in a well-rounded project like this, so we appreciate the transparency. But yeah, we hope to hear more about this soon! 😉
Anyway, speaking along the lines of utility, can you tell us more about the NFTs you mentioned earlier, along with their overall utility within the Cyberstella universe?
Shin — CEO / Co-Founder
There are two main ways players can enjoy their Cyberstella NFTs!
First off, players require to hold an NFT to be able to play. Each NFT is defined as a “Crew” and will have 4 main attributes; power, agility, vitality and luck which will vary with each character. Players can choose to explore, or mint accessories out of the $UCC while moving across the galaxy.
By holding our NFTs and setting up your own story, you can fill up the concept of Cyberstella by yourself. This way, you’re not only a holder but also a part of the ownership of the Cyberstella story itself. We as the operator are going to make manga stories and short movies that will come out at the end of September!
Here you can see a great example created by one of our community members:
Mark — Co-Founder / Brand Director
Great example Shin! Some of you, maybe those who are in their 30s, may remember (RL Stine’s) Goosebump books, or those other books where the reader chooses where the character goes. ie flip to page 103 to change the story. Now you take that and you put this into NFT and you put it into a game and now you are the main narrator, the good guy, the bad guy, you can basically make your entire hierarchy how you want to. As you battle and travel through space and you use your entire team out there in these huge battles, then they all have these different roles that they can play and everything is so unique. So this character backstory that you can see here, that someone in our community made up, is just a small touch of an example of what you can do in this game. You start off by buying this piece of art that is your character, then you make it into the web3 space with Cyberstella. You can see how the romance and space opera comes into it where these NFT characters turn into your own IP.
Shin — CEO / Co-Founder
It is you who creates the story of Cyberstella! Explore the world, play and earn!
Ysil |Community Manager:
Really like the ‘belongingness’ part of it. Really places an emphasis on the concept of decentralization and community! The way I see it, this could very well be a good ticket to being part of a massive manga/anime/game production 😁. Write your own story, be your own main character/villain, the opportunities are endless! Sorry, got a little bit excited. But yeah, I really love the answers so far. Thank you guys!
Very strong start! Next, we’ll be going with some of the questions our followers on Twitter have sent. We have a total of 5, the first one is;
Shin — CEO / Co-Founder
Very good question! There are a couple of angles we can approach. One of them is to get involved within gaming communities. With a strong history in game development, we are certain we can deliver something that the GameFi community can enjoy and easily relate to.
The second is that, our NFTs are based on a storyline. Thinking along with this concept, we’re planning to collaborate with renowned scriptwriters and scenario writers to help us deliver an enticing storyline that will be attractive to non-crypto communities as well.
Mark — Co-Founder / Brand Director
2010-2011, Bitcoin was worth about a dollar. I was pitching to investors, trying to get Microsoft to understand, and even the government, on the big opportunity here - ten years later, everyone wants in on Bitcoin.
It's a matter of market adoption. We have seen how browser wallets got better and better over time.
To lead this, we can make the game simple and then just add the blockchain element. Learning by adoption, that sort of thing. Beyond this, we can increase awareness of the project by getting other companies involved, celebrities, influencers, that sort of thing. Basically, bringing awareness to the game through traditional media, just by itself, is quite powerful.
Shin — CEO / Co-Founder
Just to complement what Mark said. Japanese IP holders face a certain level of technical difficulty in order to launch a GameFi project. Japan’s taxation program and audit issues are huge legal hurdles for them to overcome.
We are in a position where we can offer a great advantage for them, for their IPs, just by collaborating.
With our team having some of Japan’s leading game management teams, we’re able to connect with some of the world’s biggest IPs in manga and anime. Just by bringing in those IPs with us, non-crypto societies can get on board the crypto world as well.
Besides, we can take a little advantage of the current market situation because I think pretty much most of us are suffering from the current market situation. Those fiat holders, the non-crypto communities, are easy to get on board the space because the prices are so cheap. Building in a bear market does bear its advantages.
Mark — Co-Founder / Brand Director
A really good point, this thing about building in a bear market. Right now, all the best innovation is going to be made. You can see projects and developers struggle because of the crypto downturn. This is where all the best things actually come out.
Pressure makes diamonds.
What we see here is the opportunity to help other companies merge their IPs from Japan over to Europe and help them expand. A really good market strategy for many reasons, not just for tax purposes, but for generating revenue. New customers, a whole new range of things.
Ysil |Community Manager:
Very good points raised! Great question and even better answers! Good insight into the JP market and how DeFi itself can be the perfect medium for users to grow. Thank you so much Shin and Mark. 👏🏻
Next question:
Mark — Co-Founder / Brand Director
Yes, we're in the process of creating both ambassador and referral programs. We are currently getting different managers and leads from various regions across the globe.
As for getting more users, basically, it's going to come down to the project's uniqueness.
You see all these massive titles and NFT games come out. Tons of money get pumped into marketing, but what happens to those projects is that they don't really last too long. Many of them with massive budgets, but people just pump and dump the token and that's not good for longevity reasons.
Cyberstella is our first title. We want this to be the gold standard that we set all our games around. It's important for us to build recognition for Cyberstella and get our community involved.
As for global adoption, a few things. First is exchange listings. Then of course, branding and partnerships. We want to involve those who have a lot of street cred and brand equity to support Cyberstella, share it, then create their own stories. Twitch streamers, major investment funds, and all sorts of random people that could build and share their own stories.
Shin — CEO / Co-Founder
You nailed it Mark 👍
Be it Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, or French, all regions are being considered. For now however, we are working on our priorities, and that is to build an attractive title that we believe will span across linguistic differences.
Ysil |Community Manager: Very detailed, very clear, and very indicative of the direction where the brand is headed. Thank you so much for the wonderful reply!
The best part is, it even gets better! 😁 Here’s another interesting question:
Mark — Co-Founder / Brand Director
This model itself, where the character is yours, the story is yours. The way that you create the story, everything has got to do with the IP owner and creator.
If we’re successful with that story… to address the last part of that sentence, what will bring greater and greater abundance to the industry? Well, that itself, I think really speaks for itself.
You’re right, many of these titles just go out there and amass wealth for themselves. These games are short-built. Hyped marketing then they disappear, with their founders walking away with lots of money. Our plan is to flip that on its head.
This is exactly the reason why Murasaki was really started. If you talk to Shin and our co-founder Sasaki, you can see that they are most passionate about creating long-lived authentic games that people can really resonate with. Take for example what games Sasaki has built, long-lasting, history-making titles that he exited on. Combining that sort of experience with our unique approach that we’re going with, I believe we can truely build a new standard to blockchain gaming.
Shin — CEO / Co-Founder
The ultimate purpose of building a crypto project, for us, is to build actual value. Not just about creating an attractive title, but we want to give our storyline to our community members as well. It’s no longer just a service provider and the service users, instead, we want to change the standard relationships and have everyone in the same group. Users get to be the maker of the service as well.
It’s not just about the ownership of NFTs in Cyberstella, you’re also going to have multiple utilities out of these NFTs and tokens. The Cyberstella story isn’t complete, so the community has a big part to play in establishing this universe. We have a game, manga, and even an anime series planned down the line, and we want our community members to be the director, authors, and actors of these plays.
Ysil |Community Manager: A masterclass of how to take the community-driven approach to the next level! 👏🏻
We have another great question for you both:
Shin — CEO / Co-Founder
Our ambition is to create free, community-driven titles like Cyberstella, so we’re only just at the beginning!
Currently, our goal is to complete the story of Cyberstella. Then continue to build different titles built upon the Cyberstella setting making an entire ecosystem out of our community-made stories and IPs. Personally, I dream about making a movie or anime series out of the titles we’ve built.
That’s ultimately what we want to create.
Mark — Co-Founder / Brand Director
Ambitious goals? Everyone wants global domination, right? We want to lead this race. We want to be the first people to have this model where other projects can even copy us, copy the way we did things.
This could be the first time I could say that GameFi became more meaningful, that it wasn’t just about making a handful of people wealthy, but that this was a real community-driven project.
I think that term gets thrown around a lot in crypto, ‘where community, where community?’. Now, you can own this IP, it’s yours, you can do what you want with it, and you can create your own stories.
The biggest ambition that we have here is just what Shin said. Imagine if you can take the NFTs, then you can make games, you can make an anime series out of it, and you can do all sorts of things. Merchandise, movies, the world is our oyster!
But we have to start by taking the first step, which is Cyberstella. We hope to build a thriving community on this. Perhaps even like a community marketing arm, leveraging the power of the community to go out there and make their own stories.
We don’t want ambassadors, we don’t want shillers and those sorts of things. We want authentic storytellers who are able to use the NFTs and Cyberstella as a way of communicating their own stories in Web3 and Crypto. The people following you and your socials can see what kind of creative stories you can make, so leveraging the power of people’s creativity is probably a massive ambition for us, because that means all our marketing is going to be exceptionally authentic.
Ysil |Community Manager: A game, manga or an anime with your NFT as the centrepiece — imagine that.
What stands out to me is that this is a two-way street, and community members are encouraged to be a part of the universe we’re building. It does not stop at your cute NFT image, everything STARTS from there.
That is it for our community questions! Thank you so much everyone for participating in the AMA! Can’t wait to see what Cyberstella has in store for us next!
