Forgotten Runes | Part 1 | The Dark Horse of Storytelling NFTs
Forgotten Runes Wizards Cult (FRWC) is quietly speed running its way to being a multi-media fantasy IP franchise that could one day surpass GOT, Lord of the Rings, etc.
TL;DR:
FRWC is tapping into the latent creativity of a global community of writers, illustrators, animators, show-runners, and game developers.
Together, the community is world-building at break-neck speed while sharing in the commercial (& creative) rights to franchise' IP in a way only made possible by blockchain technology.
In terms of competitive/growth advantages, ponder: AirBnB vs Hilton, Amazon vs Shopping Malls, YouTube vs Cable.
Diving Deeper:
- The 🤯 value of our favorite stories
- The Achilles heel of the legacy IP franchise model
- FRWC Genesis Story
- Traction Highlights
- Ways to Get Involved
The 🤯 value of our favorite stories
Achilles heel of the legacy IP franchise model
Lone-Crazy-Genius (LCG) Problem
Reliance on LCGs (ie. GRR Martin, George Lucas, etc.) to spend years/decades building up a critical mass of IP (100s - 1,000s of original characters, map locations, and stories) without much/any commercial or community validation along the way until one day (maybe) selling commercial rights to a an Ultra Powerful Distribution Co (UPDC) = a major bottleneck for original world-building content.
The rarity of LCGs is understandable given that, in practice, one can imagine the undertaking often feeling like…
However, the successes of Airbnd, Tik Tok, and Etsy have made clear that there are millions of brilliant and enterprising creators in this world.
They may not be crazy enough to attempt building an entire world from scratch, but when given the right tools, incentives, and community support, their sparks of creative genius can be unleashed.
FRWC Genesis Story
Last year, Magic Machine (the team behind FRWC) released part of a world map and laid out a vision for a “collaborative legendarium” (ie. an open-source world-building ecosystem).
People loved it, and on June 30th, 2021 the flagship collection of 10K unique wizard NFTs were all summoned (ie. minted) within 30 mins. These wizards were the first inhabitants of the ever expanding “Runiverse”.
Traction Highlights
Book of Lore + Community Generated Content
While Magic Machine provides a high-level meta-narrative, the owner of each character has commercial rights* to their IP and has creative freedom to craft any stories they’d like using their character(s). Owners are encouraged to contribute their stories (on-chain) to The Book of Lore and create off-chain expressions as they please.
*Owners keep 100% of any aggregate revenue they generate (selling merch, books, or other spinoff projects) up to $5M, after which a 20% revenue share with Magic Machine kicks in.
TV Series
An 8 1-hour episode being developed by Derek Kolstad (creator of John Wick) and produced by Titmouse Studios. The trailor bellow is narrated by Kristian Nairn (ie. Hodor from Game of Thrones).
The show likely won't air until 2024/2025, with Netflix having first rights per their relationship with Titmouse.
MMORPG
The "Create-to-Earn" Runiverse game is currently being developed by a team of 35+ game industustry vets at Bisonic. Alpha expected to be released this winter and fully playable game Q1 2023.
Note: "Building a game!" was an extremely common promise on NFT project's roadmaps during the 2021 NFT boom... most didn't even attempt to deliver... a handful have built what amount to gameified yield farms (slotmachine esque)... none have actually followed through on building fun / engaging World-of-Warcraft like game.
Comic Book
As if a TV series, MMORPG, and CGC-driven "Book of Lore" wasn't enough, Magic Machine has also released a Comic book series, handing out thousands of free physical copies at IRL events already this year.
NOTE: The teams working on these expressions take inspiration from entries in the “Book of Lore” to select characters / lore to feature.
In so doing, a low-rarity NFT could conceivably be elevated in status to be as valuable as an “ultra-rare” in the collection.
This is aligns with one of FRWC's guiding principles - "Lore not Floor".
Ways to get involved
Buy a Character
NFTs from the collection can be purchased from the secondary market on Forgotten Market, OpenSea, or LooksRare.
The 3 primary character collections (ie. fellow inhabitants of the emergent Runiverse) include...
- Flagship characters. At the time of writing, the supply = 9,326 and the collection floor price is ~1 ETH (~$1,300)
- More premium collection as they are created by "burning" a Wizard NFT with a Sacred Flame NFT. ATM, the supply is 674 and the current floor = 2.8 ETH (~$3,500)
- Provide the most cost effective entry with a supply of 16,000 and a current floor = .27 ETH (~$300)
For context: the market leader in the “Storytelling NFTs” category, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), has a supply of 10,000 and current floor price of 79 ETH (~$100K).
Disclaimer
I hold multiple Forgotten Runes NFTs. Investing in digital assets is extremely risky. Personal opinions only - NFA.
