NFT LA Collection - Metaverse And Gaming 2: Shira Lazar Hosts Pinar Oncu (Atlas Space), Steven Ball (AlwaysGeeky Games), Clint Rodriguez (No Limits Crypto), Cholo Maputol (Play It Forward DAO)

We’re back to our series dedicated to the NFT LA event. Whether you missed out on the fun or would like to take a trip down memory lane, this episode is for you! We travel on-site with Shira Lazar as she hosts a series of impromptu convention hall interviews from the event. This time, she is joined by Pinar Oncu (Atlas Space), Steven Ball (AlwaysGeeky Games), Clint Rodriguez (No Limits Crypto), and Cholo Maputol (Play It Forward DAO). These amazing guests let us in on how they are bridging the Metaverse with the world of sports, entertainment, music, art, and fashion. Find out the amazing things they are doing for the space. Take a peek into what lies ahead for the Metaverse and our lives. Plus, hear their advice on how to enter the space and jumpstart your journey. Join in!

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Listen to the podcast here

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NFT LA Collection – Metaverse And Gaming 2: Shira Lazar Hosts Pinar Oncu (Atlas Space), Steven Ball (AlwaysGeeky Games), Clint Rodriguez (No Limits Crypto), Cholo Maputol (Play It Forward DAO)

Along with my incredible co-host Jeff and Josh, as well as the huge crew of rock star team members we assembled, we had pulled off a stellar inaugural NFT LA event featuring the crème de la crème of Web 3.0 and leveraging the vibrant entertainment scene of Los Angeles. This episode is one of a series featuring content from the NFT LA event, which happened from March 28th to the 31st, 2022. This session is one of a handful featuring impromptu convention hall interviews that our good friend, Shira Lazar put together. We have organized them into tracks, similar to the content tracks we organized for NFT LA talks and panels. This track is Metaverse and Gaming part 2 of 2. Enjoy.

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I’m at NFT LA with Pinar from Atlas Space. How’s NFT LA for you?

It is much better than I expected. The crowd and the audience are amazing.

That’s a good thing.

We have been visiting all of these expos all around the world but this place is something different. We are impressed.

Tell us more about Atlas Space.

Atlas Space is a metaverse platform for brands and enterprises. Most companies want to have their place in the metaverse. We get a giant universe for them. We locate them. We have their private spaces and public spaces. They can visit each other. They can go to common facilities like exhibition halls, event halls, yoga parks, and executive networking clubs. They can get private jet NFTs and access to very special limited islands. This is how it goes on.

Are you white labeling or are you having a space and then you are customizing it for brands and companies?

We’ve got a giant land. We locate the companies. For a company, we can give a white label URL so that they can publish it wherever they want and have access to only their land on their website.

Are you creating your own metaverse or are you bringing Atlas Space to other places as well?

We are creating our own metaverse. We develop the platform. We are working with some partners and agencies that also communicate with companies. They are the organizer and we are giving the land and all the accessibility features.

Why do you think that’s important and so needed?

This is a huge potential for enterprises and businesses. There are three major reasons for that. First of all, the companies create extra impossible revenue channels through the metaverse. They’ve got a huge engagement environment. Second of all, it reduces your HR costs by 40%, which is amazing.

How?

Now everybody is working remotely. Nobody sees each other. If you and I are colleagues but we are not on a video call, we don’t see where we are. We had this feeling in the office that created that team spirit, the bonding, and all these feeling like I belong to a community. That keeps a person happy and in a team. The company and the person can thrive. When it’s on remote, we are looking at the screens. That’s it. You don’t see any communities around. Metaverse completes that feeling.

How do you make it more accessible? This is a big thing. As we move more into the workplaces, I’m sure accessibility comes up.

We are accessible through the web. Most importantly, when we say metaverse, mostly VR comes to mind. VR is an immersive toy for us. If you have a computer and use a web browser, you log into your system and you are there. You can go to your office and say, “In an NFT LA version in the metaverse platform, there is NFT LA. I will go visit there.” In virtual with your 3D avatar and then say, “At night, there’s a comedy show in the event hall. I’m going there with my friends.” It’s all happening in virtual. You only need your computer or VR headset.

What are you excited about moving forward? Are there any partnerships that you could talk about?

Gamers are turned off by change. People don’t like change too much. Click To Tweet

We are making partnerships with a lot of blockchains. A lot of agencies have got a broad catalog of companies and brands. Most of the brands don’t even need these features. They just hear what we do and stick with us. “I want my place.” We are telling them we are going to launch in mid-May 2022 but they say, “If it’s in beta or alpha, I don’t care. I want what is existing. We are inheriting them.”

Are you launching in May 2022?

Yeah, but we still have got the users and the companies on the platform.

How did you do that? What was the key to doing that?

In our past, we come from an architecture background. After then, we develop more than 40 enterprise-scale, virtual reality, and augmented reality applications. We have always been working with enterprises. We know their needs, the language they speak, and how the workflow happens in the companies. We’ve got all the algorithms. When we touch on the right need of them, they are in.

You are primed for this. What are you doing differently than what we are seeing in other metaverses?

I will be directly focused on the professional life, the business social part, and the business revenue part. It’s all about a person or a company thriving because we offer a lot of experience zones. These experiences can be visited for business contacts. We’ve got a lot of simulations, platforms or communities that one can improve themselves inside. It’s not like the physical world. You have to go somewhere. You have to spend time and energy to do something but in the metaverse, with one click, you can unlock all of the miseries in your life and your career.

Where do you see this going? What will we be talking about?

We are going to have a lot of companies in the metaverse. People started having the feeling that conventional business is a little bit old school and this is the new, colorful version of business life. You have to be there.

What advice do you have for folks coming into the metaverse space or the NFT space?

There’s a lot happening. There are fantastic things going on but on the other hand, there is some dirty information also going on. One should be careful about what they are doing or buying. A lot of individuals bought a lot of lands from here, there, and in this metaverse project but most of the people come to us and ask, “I bought this land but what am I supposed to do now?” That platform didn’t offer anything more than the land piece, these pixels, and that point. We explain, “We don’t know but if you are on our platform, you can create revenues. A company will rent your space and you are going to have your revenue.” This is one fact.

If I come in and get a space or a piece of land in Atlas Space, you are doing the sales work, if that makes sense.

We are a B2B platform. The companies buy or rent the land. Individuals can also buy the land and rent it to the companies. They get their revenues from rent.

Will you be integrating NFTs in any way?

Yes. We’ve got certain ways. First of all, we can mint the company’s products. They can sell NFTs. We have got art galleries inside the platform for individuals to visit because for artists, it’s not in your space. It’s not in your city. You have to travel. You need a lot of effort. In the metaverse, we get a lot of lands. On the other hand, this is the most fun part. You’ve got special keys and vehicles like private jets, a magic key or a time portal. These all have got limited NFTs. If you get one of the NFTs, you can access the private islands that they offer. If you have a time portal NFT, you can travel in time.

Where can people find out more about the May 2022 launch?

NFT LA: You have to spend time and energy doing something, but in the Metaverse, you can unlock all of the miseries in your life and your career with one click.

They can follow our Twitter or they can go to our website at Atlas.space. Our Twitter is @TheAtlasSpace. Keep in touch with us.

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I’m at NFT LA with Steven Ball from AlwaysGeeky Games. What’s going on?

I’m good. How are you doing?

I’m good. Have you been having fun?

LA is awesome. I’m enjoying it so far. It’s my first time here.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Tell us more about AlwaysGeeky Games.

AlwaysGeeky Games is a brand new gaming company we founded in 2021. We are a blockchain NFT gaming company. We founded the company on the back of a successful NFT project last year. We launched in March 2021. The original NFT project was called Voxies. These are lots of 3D voxel characters that you can use in our game. We have a game that’s available. It’s an open beta and the NFT characters you use in the game you can play as your characters. It’s free to play, play-to-earn game. As you are playing the game, you can earn NFTs currency. You can earn stuff in the game.

You fulfilled some of your roadmaps.

We have a game available out there. We are one of the first NFT projects to have that. We are super happy about that.

Was it always a part of it to launch this game or did that develop?

My background is in gaming. Before crypto NFT, I was in traditional gaming. I worked for Ubisoft and Electronic Arts. Right before founding the company, I was working for Ubisoft and making a game in my spare time as a hobby, a passion project. That was two years prior to the whole explosion of NFTs. I was in crypto at the same time. To make a game was always the plan but when I started exploring NFTs, I found a good overlap between NFTs and the game we were making. The game was always planned. It maybe wasn’t planned with NFTs in mind but it was a perfect overlap when those two worlds collided.

What was the key to you building your community?

Originally, at the very beginning, the community didn’t know about the game. When we first launched the NFT project, the game was very much like a secret that was going to come later. We didn’t come out and hype stuff up at the beginning, so we had very organic growth. People discovered the game. It got leaked that we had a game that was in development.

People got super excited and there was an influx of people that were very interested in the game but also exploring crypto. We saw an organic community growth around that. We spread by word of mouth and kept stuff very low-key. We didn’t try to hype up stuff at the beginning. The key to our success is keeping stuff grounded and realistic rather than going for the hype of the NFT world that everyone seems to be pushing.

Do you think what you did would have been more challenging now?

Yeah. Now, because there’s much more spotlight on NFTs, the whole crypto world and people are critical about every aspect of stuff, I feel like there’s much more focus on stuff that happened in the early days. People are interested in all the KPIs, roadmaps, and specific schedule stuff. A lot of stuff that was grassroots at the beginning doesn’t appear as if it’s the case now. People have come out of the box with sponsors, branding, the big names, and the projects that don’t have that almost fall behind the base. They get lost in the shuffle.

NFTs and gaming are a new change that the gaming industry has to get used to. Click To Tweet

They are lost unless there’s some virality to it.

Yeah.

With that, what have you learned in creating this successful brand through the NFT space?

One of the things we have learned and found that’s super successful during our growth and where we are is to make sure that we put the community first. Since we are a gaming company, people are interested in the project we are making, the product. They are always interested in what tangibility they can do with the NFTs and utility. We have found that for us, it’s super successful. We are always making sure we are going back to the community, keeping them in mind in everything we are doing, giving updates on staff, and giving them tangible benefits rather than promising stuff that we can’t deliver.

What’s coming up? You have this game but it’s in beta or alpha.

Our game is in open beta. That’s what we are using.

This is the alpha and this is in beta.

We are in the open beta. Our game is available to play now. People can use their NFTs in our game. It’s all completely free to play as well. People don’t need to have NFTs to play our game. We looked at the Axie Infinity model where they need to have NFTs to play. We decided we didn’t want to do that from the beginning. We wanted to onboard people as a free-to-play game. People can play with the NFTs or as free to play and people can earn stuff in our game.

When people are playing, they can earn weapons, armor or any items in the game and also the native currency. People can earn our currency in the game and this all feeds into our marketplace. People can go to our marketplace, sell the NFTs they have, and use the currency they have earned in the game to buy items and NFTs. We have built a whole ecosystem around everything we are building.

Are those NFTs that you have built or that other people provide to you?

They are built by us but they are earned within the game. Our game is a tactical fantasy game. It’s a game like chess. There are two players against each other and because it’s fantasy-based, everything is like swords and shields, bows and arrows. All the items people earn are their weapons in the game.

Are you still trying to encourage people to buy the original NFT?

It’s a good goal. In the game, if you have NFTs, you have better rewards. There are benefits to having NFTs. You have a higher chance of loots. You earn more currency. The goal of most players is to build up to having a collection of NFTs and a team of characters. That’s always an end goal for the users.

What’s coming up?

On a roadmap coming soon, we have launched the multiplayer, the PvP. We have a whole single-player experience, a PvE mode that’s coming. We have some leaderboard rankings. We currently have one multiplayer mode but we have a draft arena and an extreme arena coming up with prize pools and rewards. We’ve got a lot of stuff planned.

What do you think about trends in this space? Where are things headed?

If you have seen any of the news around NFTs and gaming, you have seen a big pushback from the traditional gaming world for NFTs, blockchain, and crypto.

NFT LA: People started feeling that conventional business is a little bit old school, and this is the new, colorful version of business life. You have to be there.

Why is that? I’m blown away by that. Considering they were alienated from so much in terms of traditional entertainment and now, they are doing the same thing to this.

From my experience and gaming background, gamers are turned very off by change. People don’t like change too much.

They were change-makers like, “This is where I am.”

That’s where it’s super interesting because the game industry went through a change from microtransaction with mobile gaming and all of the streaming. NFTs and gaming are a new change that the gaming industry has to get used to. One of the mistakes that traditional publishers and game companies have made is they have tried to take NFTs and crypto and shoehorned them into traditional gaming. That isn’t going to work.

The stuff that’s coming in the future, the newer NFT games are going to have to adapt. They are going to have to evolve in the same way that microtransactions games evolve like Fortnite and all of those free-to-play games. There needs to be a new gaming paradigm for NFT games. That’s what’s going to happen in the coming years as more traditional companies realize that they can’t take crypto and NFT and stick it into a traditional game. It requires new types of gaming.

I feel like these are new franchises. A company like yours could get acquired by one of the big gaming companies in the future.

That’s going to be big in the space as well. Some of the bigger publishers and bigger games companies have tried to build their own thing. Now, they are realizing that they have to look at experts that have been in the field for the last few years rather than trying to build stuff on their own. It’s the same as they did, they acquired Mobile Studios. BIG Games company didn’t just start making mobile games. They looked at the mobile producers. They started acquiring them and building out their expertise.

What advice do you have for those entering this new world or this space?

I would say anyone that’s traditionally a gamer or games developer that wants to get in first needs to understand the space, what is NFTs and crypto. They need to try to work through a lot of the negativity that’s around the space, a lot of the negative press and understand the technical details and specifics and figure out how that applies to their craft. They need to figure out how they can apply that to the gaming skills they have rather than trying to see it as an extension of making more money or an extension of the financial aspect because that isn’t always going to work on the gaming side.

Check out AlwaysGeeky Games. It’s great talking to you.

Thank you. It’s nice to talk to you.

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I’m at NFT LA with Clint Rodriguez from No Limits Crypto. What’s going on?

How are you doing?

I’m good. How’s NFT LA for you?

It has been an incredible experience. The energy has been amazing to start and it’s cool to be part of an emerging space. You go to a lot of conferences, hear a lot about what’s going on now and this conference has been about the future. It has been interesting to see what everybody is bringing and how hopeful everyone is for the future. Everybody is here on a whim and a dream.

There needs to be a new gaming paradigm for NFT games. Click To Tweet

Are you a video game designer or developer?

I’m in insights and strategy at the mobile game company, Jam City. I help inform some of the strategies around the play to earn game champions’ ascension. I have a couple of other side projects as well. One is called Hoops Association, which is based around ticket concierge service to basketball games, as well as some charity work in LA around basketball. Another is a pet project of my partner and me called No Limits Crypto, which is in the adult space. It’s about as big of divergence as you can get.

What does it mean it’s in the adult space?

Yet needed, right?

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I’m at NFT LA with Cholo from Play It Forward DAO. Thanks for joining us.

Thanks. I’m happy to be here.

How is the conference going for you?

Why DAO for this?

What is coming up? What are you excited about?

Also, getting hired by your DAO network.

Yeah, for the next guild.

How do NFTs play into all this?

What about the token?

That’s it. I’m happy to have you.

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Important Links

• Shira Lazar – LinkedIn

• Atlas Space

• @TheAtlasSpace – Twitter

• AlwaysGeeky Games

• Voxies

• EdgeOfNFT.com/koii

• No Limits Crypto

• Jam City

• Hoops Association

• EdgeOfNFT.com/masterworks

• Masterworks.io/disclaimer

• Play It Forward DAO

• @PIF_DAO – Twitter

• Discord – Play It Forward DAO

• Telegram – Play It Forward DAO

• EdgeOfNFT.com/discord

• EdgeOfNFT.com/ar

• Spotify – Edge of NFT

• iTunes – Edge of NFT

About Cholo Maputol

A fervent believer in the ability of gaming to transform and improve the human condition – mentally, emotionally, socially, and now financially with the advent of blockchain gaming. Play It Forward is our contribution to push the envelope between the current state and what’s possible

Former banker turned crypto degen – blockchain technology is rewriting the rules of every metagame, including TradFi/banking, and I am continuously fascinated by the pace of change in the space

About Clint Rodriguez

A dynamic market influencer who develops modern, innovative communications strategies for individuals, start-ups and large organizations across markets and diverse demographics.

Feel free to take a look at my portfolio at: https://www.clippings.me/clintonrodriguez

About Pinar Oncu

I come from urban design background with geographic information systems specialisation. After graduation, I’m focused in software and technology development. I worked with various programming languages, databases and GIS softwares for developing analyses tools and 2D&3D geographic simulations.

Today, I’m focused in Extended Realities (XR) development. I’m the CEO and one of the co-founders of AtlasOffice. In AtlasOffice; 3D immersive business social platform, remote-working teams get together at their private office space through their PCs, VR devices and web. (www.theatlas.space)

In my Pinar-time, I like researching about cosmology and neuroscience, how humans perceive and interpret the reality, themselves and the space around them. I’m a scout leader sinceI have 2006. I swim, do traditional archery and kickbox. I like learning new alphabets, song lyrics in languages I have no idea about, writing with my opposite hand. My favorite tea is always “The weirdest one you have, please”. My favorite path back home is always the other street that I’ve never passed before.

About Steven Ball

CEO and Founder of AlwayGeeky Games. A Montreal based games studio that is bringing the latest Web 3.0 and blockchain powered gaming to players. Empowering gamers with full ownership rights to their digital assets, true player driven economies and powerful tokenomics to drive the future advancements in gaming.

Previously I have worked at multiple AAA studios as an online architect, designer and team manager for back-end services and servers that are used to power online, interactive, connected and mobile experiences across all games within an international AAA games studio, working on some of the highest quality video game franchises and IPs in the industry, such as Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Watch Dogs.

Experienced as a highly skilled games programmer with knowledge and experience of working in a variety of different languages and varying programming roles. Experience on all major platforms and detailed knowledge of their technical specifications and limitation.

• 15+ years experience in the video game industry.

• Specialties: Online, Services, Back-end Architecture, Gameplay, Graphics, User Interface and Frontend, Core Tech, Physics, CMS, Asset Pipelines, Build Processes.

• Platform experience includes: Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Xbox360, Sony Playstation 5, Sony Playstation 4, Sony Playstation 3, PC, Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation 2, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS and various mobile platforms including iPhone, Android.

• Core technologies include: C#, C++, JSON, XML, RESTful services, MSSQL, MongoDB, Javscript, Node.js, Cassandra, Redis, Cloud Technologies, AWS, IIS, Nginx, API management software, Windows, and Linux development.