Let me slowly check and share some updates about Ex Populus for you!
This is the news for February 2022:
A new trading card system built for the future of Web3
On Monday the 14th, Ex Populus will be releasing the first set of cards from its new trading card system. The set is named Decentralized Autonomous GigaUnits and you can check out the full introduction here. We chose to launch on Solana because of the technological advantages it offers. High transaction speeds and low fees remove the barriers to entry associated with the network. A few weeks ago, we participated in the Solana Hacker House and our confidence in the enthusiasm of the Solana community has never been higher. Our goal is to be one of the projects that changes the perception of Solana NFTs in the greater ecosystem. In this post, we wanted to dive into some of the details of the cards and the potential of the card system. First, let’s take a look at one of the trading cards:
Card metadata
Every piece of information on the card is critical. In the first part of this post, we'll enumerate and define every integer, symbol, and label you see on the card above. Let's go from left to right, top to bottom:
Round "Sun" Icons: Each XP Trading Card belongs to one of 4 Families. You can think of these as suits in a deck of cards. The Families are: Man, Machine, Beast, and God. The Sun icon represents the God. Each Families has strengths and weaknesses against the other Families.
Round "1" Icon: Each card is equipped with 1, 2 or 3 special abilities out of over 30. In the metadata, the names of these abilities will be listed. These abilities can be used in-game to attack enemies or protect allies.
Lightning symbol with a number: This is the card's power level. When the card is used in the game, attributes such as life points and attack power can be derived from the card's power, so the higher the number, the better.
DAGs: The name of the card set. Other sets, such as Iron Pigeons, will have different names. It is important to know that each set is fully compatible with every other set.
NO. 00000: Each set of cards has a number that starts at 0 and increases as new cards are minted. This means that the counts are mixed between the tiers: Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. The card above is numbered 000548.
Set Numbers: DAGs is a card set that is the first in the Ex Populus trading card system, so it will always be referred to as Set 1. Iron Pigeons will be Set 2. Subsequent sets will continue to count.
Edition Numbering: Because the game will heavily incentivize burning cards to evolve, the supply of Ex Populus trading cards may decrease rapidly. Eventually, we will mint more cards to replenish the supply (never exceeding the upper limit of each rarity tier). These new mintings will be 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions, and counting. Eventually, 1st edition cards will become very rare, so if you're a collector, keep an eye out for those early editions.
Rarity Tiers: To start, there will be 4 rarity tiers: Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Here are the supply caps for each tier in each set: Common: 100k - Rare: 20k - Epic: 4k - Legendary: 800
Supply Cap:
Each supply cap is per set. Let’s look at these caps again:
Normal: 100k
Rare: 20k
Epic: 4k
Legend: 800
Seems high? Well, this isn't a pfp project, but a trading card system. Consider that there are only 800 legendaries. Given that, many collectors will probably hold a few dozen cards at a time to build up full decks.
Flexibility and scalability:
This system allows for scalability. Based on demand and participation, Ex Populus can determine if new cards should be minted to replenish the supply once most of the cards have been burned (never exceeding the cap), or if new sets should be crafted to create new supply beyond the cap within each set. This allows for scalability based on demand while setting levers to keep things balanced.
Play games with cards:
There is a simplicity and elegance in the design of the cards, which was inspired by standard playing cards. Standard playing cards have a suit and a number, which is enough to inspire people to play dozens of games with the cards. Ex Populus is already thinking about games for traders and collectors, but due to the simplicity and elegance of the design, there is the potential for many more games in the future, with different rules, and even the possibility that you can spontaneously organize impromptu games with other people.
Cards, Games, and Ex Populus' Vision:
When we started Ex Populus, we knew the company would be different. The company has a founding team that understands both crypto and gaming. As veterans in the business, we know that making great products takes time. Our company has a good process of checks and balances, with award-winning Pixar animator Mark C Harris driving quality and our dear Soby driving fast cycles on the other end. We believe we will land in the middle, balanced, as all things should be, and provide excellent value to our community.