Friday, July 10, 2020

Prospectors (Part One)


Prospectors
Prospectors is an online, massive multiplayer, economic strategy cryptogame whereby players interact with each other "economically" via the control of three workers (no more, no less).

You can choose to play the game at a basic, "peon" level, by just sending your workers out to work for others (for a fee/wage), or you can choose to make them farm for raw resources on "free/unrented" plots, then sell to other players at a price (that you deem worthy of the time spent).

At an intermediate and advanced level, you can also opt to "rent" plots of land (to hoard specific raw resources), harvest those (cornered) resources to sell them for a generous profit, or perhaps even construct buildings to turn those raw resources into more useful materials and/or end products, then finally sell those instead.

Has that caught your attention? Then read on...

EOS or Wax?
Since this is a cryptogame, it will naturally be operating upon a "specific" cryptocurrency blockchain. In the case of Prospectors, this can be either "EOS" or "Wax" depending on the server you choose.

Prospectors - Wild West ServerProspectors - Yukon Server

Gameplay-wise, both the servers are exactly the same and it doesn't really matter which one you choose. However, if you look at it in terms of the economy, Wild West will be slightly more "mature" than compared to Yukon since it has gone "live" for a much longer period of time.

Conversely, since Yukon is "younger" (at the time of this post), the chances of you having a breakthrough and getting ahead of the pack is much higher (as the cartels have not yet had the time/chance to deeply entrench themselves into the economy).

But if you ask me, rather than choosing one or the other, I'ld recommend that you take the time to set up an account on each server.

Note that the game states explicitly (in its "Terms of Use") that you can only own ONE account per server. Any more than that will result in a ban.

The reason for this recommendation is actually two-fold. The first reason is due to the inherent structure of the EOS cryptocurrency blockchain.

As a player just starting out and without any EOS in your "bareboned" crypto account, you will most certainly encounter a "RAM" insufficiency when trying to "convert" the in-game gold into PGL (and vice-versa), when staking/unstaking your PGL at the in-game local bank (to earn some interest), when trying to claim your interest as well as when trying to sell your PGL for some EOS.

However, to overcome this "RAM" problem, you will need some EOS to "buy" some of that "RAM" that you need in the first place. See the catch-22 here?

So in order to resolve this dilemma, you will need to leverage upon the "Wax" blockchain, which is less harsh for a player just starting to dabble into cryptocurrencies, make use of it to sell off the PGL (for Wax), then exchange the Wax for EOS to buy the much needed "RAM".

I will explain the process in due time.

The second reason is, in truth, less legitimate and more about expediency. By the same token that two heads are better than one, six workers are indeed better than three (in Prospectors).

You will be able to gather in-game gold twice as fast, unlimit your account twice as fast and thereby break your way into the intermediate/advanced level twice as fast.

Not only that, you will also be able to take advantage of both sides (EOS and Wax), factor in the price discrepancies and determine which blockchain offers you the better price for your PGL.

Setting Up Your Accounts
Assuming that your someone totally new to cryptocurrencies and do not yet own any cryptos whatsoever, the best and most logical wallets that I recommend for you to use for this cryptogame is, Wax Cloud and Wombat.

Wax Crypto - Wax Cloud AccountEOS Crypto - Wombat Account

This is because of its extremely low entry requirements, which only needs you to have a "Google", "Facebook" or "Twitter" account. Furthermore, because Prospectors (on EOS) will require you to log in with a "Google" or "Facebook" account, I would highly suggest that you use either one or the other for the creation of your Wax Cloud as well as Wombat accounts.

The Peculiarities of EOS & Wax
Another reason for recommending these two wallets is due to the peculiarities of the EOS and Wax blockchains.

Wax Crypto - Ram CPU NetEOS Crypto - Ram CPU Net

Both of these blockchains require the use of a certain amount of RAM, CPU and/or NET in order to sign off the actions that you perform in Prospectors. For instance, the equipping/taking off of tools, moving/ordering your workers around and buying/selling of resources and items.

In addition to that, there is actually also a minimum cost that you need to pay upfront in order to create your EOS and Wax crypto accounts.

Wax Cloud and Wombat not only waives the account creation cost for you, but also allocates/stakes a generous amount of CPU and NET towards those accounts (for Wax) or provides unlimited play in Prospectors (for Wombat).

However one thing you will need to note is that, as a result of this, although you do have control of your account, you are not in total control of it (as you do not know the actual "Seed Phrase/Private Key" to the accounts).

EOS Wax - Keys

For your Wax Cloud account, the actual owner appears to be "managed.wax @active". Not quite sure what that means, but I reckon that it is an account that Wax Cloud owns and have control of. And as far as I can see, there appears to be no way for you to redeem the private key to the account.

For your Wombat account, the owner appears to be a randomly generated one. And as far as I know, the private key to the account is encrypted and stored in your "Google Drive" (if you've used a Google account when creating it).

By paying Wombat a one time unlock fee (in EOS), you can unencrypt and redeem the private key to your account. This can be found under "Settings", "Keys & Accounts" in your Wombat wallet.

Due to the above reason, I would recommend that you only hold small amounts of EOS or Wax in those accounts. Treat those accounts as a "hot/disposable" wallet and strive to create another backup account to hold the rest of your EOS/Wax. One in which the private key is only known to you alone.

Sunday, July 5, 2020

Cryptocurrency Primer

Way back in 2017, I remembered myself having made a rambling post about cryptocurrencies. Back then, I was pretty skeptical about them. I found them clunky and hard to use, not to mention that there were hardly much uses for them except for sending them back and forth between people.

Now come 2020, although my stance on them still has not changed, I've found that there are way, way more of these cryptocurrencies sprouting compared to back then. And whilst many of them could possibly be duds (and might just be there to sucker your coins out of you), there are some that have piqued my interest.

* Wait... What??? Isn't this supposed to be a gaming blog? So why is this bugger talking about cryptocurrencies!? *

Well, hold your horses and think for a moment.

Gaming blog talking about cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies, games.

Yup, the point of this silly old bugger's rant isn't about which cryptocurrency is good and/or valuable, ...but rather to talk about games, cryptogames (to be exact).

However, before we can truly jump into the games themselves, there...needs to be a certain basic level of literacy in cryptocurrencies. So hence, this "Cryptocurrency Primer" post of mine.

But don't worry, I'm not gonna go into the details of how they work. I mean, even I don't know how they work as I'm just another gamer, not a programmer duh.

Cryptocurrency 101
As far as this silly old bugger knows about the usage of a cryptocurrency, it seems to involve the installing of a software called a "wallet", in order to send and receive the cryptocurrency from.

Cryptocurrency Wallet
Bitcoin Electrum
Ethereum MetaMask
Tron TronLink
EOS Scatter

Now the list isn't meant to be exhaustive, and neither are each wallet unique to the cryptocurrency. They are just there as examples.

There are cryptocurrencies with more than one wallet available for you to install/use, and there are wallets which may be able to interact with more than one cryptocurrency. It all depends on their developers (of the wallets) as well as their popularity (of the cryptocurrencies), I suppose.

However (yes, another however), I must stress that you take the time to properly vet the wallet before you choose to install and use it. Check its reviews and also use something like VirusTotal to scan the file for viruses and malware, if possible, lest you install something nasty in your pc and/or phone.

Setting Up Of Your Wallet
Almost all of the wallets, regardless of the cryptocurrency, will prompt you for or give to you the following few key items (upon first installation).
  • Seed Phrase/Private Key
    A "Seed Phrase" is a set of words, usually 12 words long, that serves as the "key" to your "cryptocurrency account". Although they might seem random at first sight, they are typically derived from a wordlist/dictionary that the developers (of the wallet) have predetermined, when initially coding for the wallet. And because of that, a seed phrase generally only works with the same wallet software that created it.

    Example of a Seed Phrase
    witch collapse practice feed shame open despair creek road again ice least


    It is also important to note that the order of the words in a seed phrase is extremely critical. Accidentally mixing up the words can result in you accessing an entirely different crypto account (for better or for worse).

    If your thinking of trying out your luck, there can be upwards of thousands of words in that wordlist...so much so that the possible 12 word combinations that can come up are pretty astronomical.

    Depending on the wallet, your "key" can also come in the form of a long string of letters and numbers called a "Private Key".

    Example of a Private Key
    5JSWJuJZbjiCfHJbBFYAyYyvrsg6aVJRMnWXSByu9aZudskqZqU


    If it is in this form, there is a decent chance that you might be able to use this key to access your same crypto account, albeit using a different wallet software. This can prove to be useful in situations whereby the existing wallet software that you had been using (all this while) has been discontinued by its developers.

    But regardless of whichever form it comes in, your seed phrase or private key should only be kept and known to you alone. Anyone else who gains access to them will be able to "relieve" you of your precious cryptocurrency.
  • Crypto Address
    You can think of this as something like your "bank account number". You will need to give this "Crypto Address" to others in order to receive cryptocurrency from them. Likewise, they will need to give you theirs in order to receive cryptocurrency from you.

    Depending on the cryptocurrency, this address is sometimes randomly generated for you, while at other times, you as the user can freely choose how you wish to name yours (pending availability).

    Cryptocurrency Crypto Address
    Bitcoin 16xW7A6bSZTqzJuCBKrxJZuwbMgAyDayTZ
    Ethereum 0x4Cad189854d7f6d9da313D309ddedB32AebF3C87
    Tron TA86Fo7x6BWhHPZJW1AwWLYqpRAaR5kjFn
    EOS buladifu1eos

    It is of utmost importance (I cannot stress this enough), that you be extra sure of the address that your sending your cryptocurrency to. Do not, I repeat, do not send one type of cryptocurrency to the address of another type of cryptocurrency.

    Usually it will not work, since all the addresses are different in format, but on the rare chance that it does go through, then congratulations, you have just sent your cryptocurrency into the abyss...doomed to be lost forever.
  • Password
    This is just a regular password that you set to protect/lock your wallet. It is there to prevent others (whom may have physical access to your pc or phone) from running the wallet software itself and steal your cryptocurrency.

    And as far as this password goes, whenever you do something that requires you to reinput your seed phrase/private key (like uninstalling/reinstalling the wallet software or logging out of it), it will usually cause it to reset and the wallet software will probably ask you to set up a new one.
Blockchain Explorer
A blockchain is like a "ledger" that records all of the cryptocurrency accounts ever created as well as all of the transactions and events that ever occurred, for that particular cryptocurrency. Each cryptocurrency will typically have their own unique blockchain.

A blockchain explorer (usually a website of some sort) allows the user to perform searches (on the blockchain) to find specific accounts, transactions, etc, that may be of interest to the user.

Apart from that, the explorer also contains a trove of other data pertaining to the cryptocurrency, like whether the blockchain is "busy" at the moment, how many users have adopted to using the cryptocurrency, the average cost to perform a transaction and how long it would take for a transaction to go through.

Depending on the cryptocurrency, the provider of the blockchain explorer may sometimes also offer extra services like the creation of new cryptocurrency accounts, facilitate transactions for free or even avenues to purchase/earn some amount of the cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency Blockchain Explorer
Bitcoin Blockchain.com
Ethereum Etherscan.io
Tron Tronscan.org
EOS Bloks.io