The Ice Dragons have arrived, and it’s time to transform Las Vegas into a realm of frozen power and mythical beasts. We’re excited to announce the Ice Dragons Property Decor Contest, where players can showcase their decorating skills and compete for exclusive in-game prizes.

Whether you’re a seasoned designer or new to decorating, this is your chance to craft an Ice Dragons-themed property worthy of the title “Model Home.” Not only will participating in this contest showcase your creativity, but it will also boost your Builder Score and reward you with exclusive prizes that contribute to your Collector Score.

If you’re looking to prestige your account and establish yourself as a top designer in Upland, this is the perfect opportunity to do so.

How to Enter

Choose Your Property — Select one property in Las Vegas to enter into the contest. Only properties in this city are eligible.

Register Your Property — Officially enter the contest by placing a “Count Me In” map asset on your property in Las Vegas. This step is essential to secure your spot in the competition.

Summon the Ice Dragons — Once registered, get creative. Use as many map assets as you like to design and decorate your property in the Ice Dragons theme.

“Count Me In” Map Asset Sale

To participate in the contest, you’ll need the “Count Me In” map asset. Placing this asset on your property automatically registers it into the contest.

Each purchase includes one random “Count Me In” map asset. You can enter multiple properties by placing assets on different properties, but you can only win once.

Registration Start: Wednesday, February 12th at 9 AM PT
Sale Start: Thursday, February 13th at 9 AM PT
Price: 2,000 UPX
Quantity: 1,000 available

Leaderboard

To help track progress and ensure every frozen fortress gets noticed, we will introduce a Leaderboard.

Properties with more map assets will naturally appear higher on the leaderboard, increasing their visibility during judging. Adding a frost season ornament to your structure earns you 5 bonus points, giving you an edge in standing out.

However, placement on the leaderboard will not determine the winners. Final decisions will be based on creativity, theme execution, and design quality, as determined by the Upland team, not just the quantity of assets used.

Frost Map Asset Decor Contest

Timeline & Prizes

Contest Duration: Thursday, February 13th, 9 AM PT — Thursday, February 20th, 9 AM PT

Judging Period: Begins immediately after the contest ends

Winners Announced: Within 48 hours of the contest deadline

Top 3 Properties:

• Glaciate Dragon Block Explorer — A mythical and exclusive Block Explorer
• Model Home Badge — A special badge signifying your elite status as a top property designer
• Model Home Pin — A prestigious in-game marker that identifies your property as a “Model Home”

Top 25 Properties

• Glaciate Dragon Block Explorer — A mythical and exclusive Block Explorer

The Model Home Pin properties must maintain a high level of visual appeal. While these properties can be sold, the new owner must uphold the quality standard to retain the pin. Upland reserves the right to remove the pin if upkeep requirements are not met.

Embrace the Power of the Ice Dragons

This is your chance to leave your mark on Las Vegas and showcase your Ice Dragon-inspired creativity. Whether you go for ancient icy ruins, a dragon’s lair, or a frozen battleground, let your imagination take flight.

Remember, not only will participating in this contest showcase your creativity, but it will also boost your Builder Score and reward you with exclusive prizes that contribute to your Collector Score. If you’re looking to prestige your account and establish yourself as a top designer in Upland, this is the perfect opportunity.

Register your property, start decorating, and create an Ice Dragons masterpiece that will captivate the Upland community. We can’t wait to see what you summon.

Introducing the Ice Dragons Property Decor Contest! was originally published in Upland on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It seems like the metaverse is growing and changing every day, and we’re eager to support that growth in any way possible. As you all know, we are firm in our belief that User-Generated Content (UGC) will be a critical component to the development of the Upland ecosystem. As evidenced by our recent Winter Holiday Ornament Contest, our community clearly possesses the talent and expertise to design incredible high-quality content. As such, we are excited to announce that we will be continuing to expand our UGC efforts with the introduction of the Master Builders Contest, starting TODAY!

For the very first time, we will be tasking our community with designing unique Structure NFTs for each city in Upland. This means that there will be 16 brand new Structure NFT models that are unique to each city across the Metaverse! In our continued effort to rebuild the world, it’s important that we create opportunities to distinguish each city by its unique history, culture, and architecture. The Master Builders Contest is just the first step in bringing that vision to life!

The Contest

Players will be required to submit a polished 3D model for any Upland city of their choice; players will be limited to 1 model submission for each city. The model should accurately reflect aspects of each city’s real-world counterpart and should borrow architectural elements of buildings in that city. It’s important to remember that players are not required to design any specific buildings that exist in the real world, and are encouraged to use their imagination to capture the essence of each city.

For the sake of simplicity, we will be grouping this competition into Phases, and each Phase will include a new set of cities that players can design for. Refer to the “Contest Schedule” below to see which cities belong to which stages in addition to deadlines for each.

We also encourage players to collaborate and share each others’ designs in the #master-builders channel in Discord!

The Future of User-Generated Structure Design

Each UGC contest we host is an opportunity to demo how we introduce this type of content into Upland. Moving forward, we envision three primary pathways for players to introduce new structures into the Metaverse:

• Designing Replicas of the Real-World; these are buildings that match 1:1 with their real-world counterparts.
• Contributing to a City or Neighborhood; these are buildings that will be specific to neighborhoods and cities across the Metaverse.
• Selling Blueprints through Metaventures; these are designs for unique structures that players can purchase from other Uplanders via a new type of Metaventure.

It’s important to remember that all user-submitted designs will require approval from the Upland team in order to maintain a coherent design philosophy. Over the next year, we will significantly expand support for UGC to allow for players to have a real impact on the overall look and feel of the Metaverse.

Community Voting

After the Upland team has completed their initial review process, we will invite the community to cast votes on their favorite models for each city. The top vote-getter for each city will have their model introduced into the Upland Metaverse!

Please keep in mind that some models may not make it to the voting stage due to various problems with their submitted models. All players will have one opportunity to fix any rejected models before submissions close, however, if their resubmissions still have issues, they may be excluded from voting.

Rewards

Having your own Structure NFT in Upland is no small feat, and we would like to reward each contest winner in an appropriate manner. Each winner will get naming rights to their model and will be perpetually inscribed on the model’s description. Additionally, winners will also receive the highly exclusive “Master Builder” badge, in addition to 1 Spark and 100k UPX!

Submission Guidelines

Submission Must Use an Upland Official Template

Players must utilize the provided Upland’s Official ‘Structure’ Blender template file as their base. Please refer to the Style Guide for additional information on how to design your models.

Official Structure Template

Structure NFT Style-Guide

Note: .Blend files will be the ONLY 3D file type that we support.

Model Must Reflect the Real-World

Model must reflect the real world and should mimic the style of structures within the city’s real-world location. The scale, footprint, and height of each model must all match the real world and should not contain fantasy-based elements.

Finally, all models must pass Upland’s QA Checklist included in the Submission Form. Click the relevant link below to submit your model!

Submit a San Francisco Model

Submit an Oakland Model

Submit a Santa Clara Model

Submit a Fresno Model

Contest Schedule

Phase 1: San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Clara, & Fresno

Phase 2: Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Cleveland, & Chicago

Phase 3: Nashville, New Orleans, Kansas City, & Rutherford

Phase 4: Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, & Staten Island

Week 1 (2.21)

Tuesday (2.22):

• Phase 1 Submissions Open

Week 2 (2.28)

Free Week:

• Work on your designs! The window for submissions gets smaller later on so be sure to plan accordingly!

Week 3 (3.7)

Wednesday (3.9):

• Phase 1 Submissions Close at 11:59 PM PT

Friday (3.11):

• Phase 2 Submissions Open

Sunday (3.13):

• Phase 1 Re-Submissions Close at 11:59 PM PT

Week 4 (3.14)

Tuesday (3.15):

• Phase 1 Voting Begins

Wednesday (3.9)

• Phase 1 Voting Ends at 11:59 PM PT
• Phase 2 Submissions Close at 11:59 PM PT

Thursday (3.10)

• Phase 1 Winners are Announced to the Community

Friday (3.11)

• Phase 3 Submissions Open

Sunday (3.20)

• Phase 2 Re-Submissions Close 11:59 PM PT

Week 5 (3.21)

Tuesday (3.22)

• Phase 2 Voting Begins

Wednesday (3.23)

• Phase 2 Voting Ends at 11:59 PM PT
• Phase 3 Submissions Close at 11:59 PM PT

Thursday (3.24)

• Phase 2 Winners are Announced to the Community

Friday (3.25)

• Phase 4 Submissions Open

Sunday (3.27)

• Phase 3 Re-Submissions Close 11:59 PM PT

Week 6 (3.28)

Tuesday (3.29)

• Phase 3 Voting Begins

Wednesday (3.30)

• Phase 3 Voting Ends at 11:59 PM PT
• Phase 4 Submissions Close at 11:59 PM PT

Thursday (3.31)

• Phase 3 Winners are Announced to the Community

Sunday (4.3)

• Phase 4 Re-Submissions Close 11:59 PM PT

Week 7 (4.4)

Tuesday (4.5)

• Phase 4 Voting Begins (2 Days)

Wednesday (4.6)

• Phase 4 Voting Ends at 11:59 PM PT

Thursday (4.7)

• Phase 4 Winners are Announced to the Community

Note: The above timeline is subject to change pending operational constraints.

The Master Builders Contest was originally published in Upland on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Going where no metaverse has gone before — Upland enters the next chapter of establishing a self-sustained economy…

Upland is quickly becoming an economic powerhouse, consistently setting records in active users as well as the secondary market trading activity. In just the past 30 days, players have traded a whopping 330k properties for a combined value of 6.2B UPX ($6.2M USD), all of this alongside players earning a staggering $600k USD via the NFT-to-USD program (over $2.6M USD earned by players since program’s launch). The rate at which players exchange value in terms of UPX and USD, or “Monetary Velocity,” is rapidly growing, which indicates that the Upland economy is thriving with activity.

As we prepare for this new phase of the economy, we are working on a variety of updates to strengthen the value of UPX and support the growth of the metaverse. These changes include UPX transfers, the first adjustment to property earnings, removal of the $10k sales cap, cooldowns on collection rewards, a cap on uncollected earnings, and login Spark rewards. These are exciting economic developments that will usher Upland into a new era, however, the core of this economic revolution is none other than Metaventures!

The Upland team is actively preparing for the arrival of the Block Explorer Shop beta, which will allow a select group of players to start selling their Block Explorers in virtual shops throughout the metaverse. The Block Explorer Shop Beta will most likely hit the metaverse over the course of the coming week.

“Play-to-earn” in Upland is taking on a whole new meaning as these economic developments will enable an entirely new way to interact with and benefit from the Upland economy.

TL;DR

1. The Upland Economy is Entering a New Phase
2. Metaventures, the Block Explorer Beta Begins Soon
3. Economy Updates; UPX Transfers, Earnings Adjustment, Collection Bonus Holding Periods, $10k Sales Cap Removal, Login Spark Rewards, Uncollected Earnings Accumulation Cap

What are Metaventures?

“Metaventures” is an all-encompassing term for player-owned shops in the Upland metaverse. Metaventures will exist for every category of NFT in Upland including Block Explorers, Legits, Structure Ornaments, Outdoor Decor, Portal-Uploaded NFTs, and much more. Eventually, any willing player will be able to open their own store in Upland to engage customers with both UPX and USD, further strengthening the “Play-to-Earn” model.

The goal of Metaventures is to encourage players to leverage their in-game assets, creative skills, and ingenuity to create lucrative opportunities in the Upland metaverse. We’re just getting started, but eventually, there will be a diverse set of Metaventures that enable players to sell their own in-game content, act as a broker on behalf of other players, lend in-game assets, and more!

The Block Explorer Shop Beta

The first type of Metaventure to launch in the metaverse will be Block Explorer Shops, starting with a closed beta period for players who were selected early on in the year. This trial period will give us an opportunity to test features and measure performance in order to better prepare for the global release for all players.

While this trial period is active, Block Explorer Shops will not be subject to any additional fees beyond standard marketplace transaction fees. However, once Metaventures are opened to the public, all in-game shops will be subject to the “Venture Dues,” which means that all shops will pay a variable monthly fee in UPX.

Looking ahead to the launch of vehicles in Upland, we wanted to share a bit of news about some new utility for Block Explorer NFTs. Rather than introduce a new category of NFT, we will be adding trainable driving traits for all Block Explorer NFTs in Upland, meaning that Block Explorers will act as the actual drivers for vehicles in the metaverse. While we can’t share more details at this time, this added utility creates unique value for Block Explorers, further bolstering every Uplanders’ asset portfolio.

How it Works

Metaventures will be identifiable on the map with orange markers; similar to how properties are displayed (green, blue, etc.). At the appropriate zoom level, players will see a 3D pawn that hovers above the structure in addition to a button indicating where Metaventures are currently active, allowing the player to click into the shop and view its inventory.

Once inside, players will see a shop with custom branding created by Metaventure Owners. Players can select each item to view additional details such as the current owner, mint number, series name, description, and more. After making a purchase, the NFT will automatically be transferred to the buyer and earnings will be deposited to the Metaventure owner. Please note that it may take up to 5 minutes for the blockchain transaction to fully execute.

Near-Term Features

Initially, Metaventure entrepreneurs will only be able to list their own assets for sale in UPX, soon to be followed by the ability to list assets for USD. In addition, we are also working on the ability to list items on behalf of other players, enabling shop owners to act as a broker in the metaverse.

After these features are deployed, each entrepreneur will also have the freedom to manually set commission rates for other players who wish to list their items in their store. For example, the shop owner can collect a 5% commission on sales of other players’ NFTs, which will be paid to the shop owner at the time of purchase.

Updates to the Upland Economy and Monetary Policy

The arrival of Metaventures means that the Upland economy is rapidly maturing, which highlights the need to reexamine economic mechanisms to support the tremendous growth of the metaverse. While the following changes won’t be going live just yet, we wanted to prepare the community for the following updates so they can adjust their strategies accordingly.

UPX Transfers

Soon, players will be able to transfer UPX directly to other players in Upland! This feature will first launch as a 3-month pilot program to ensure fair use of the mechanic. All players who wish to transfer UPX will need to be KYC’d, and each transaction will be subject to the 10% community pool fee (5% for each party). Some additional restrictions may be added to prevent fraudulent activity and maintain the health of the economy.

UPX transfers are strictly meant to support in-game activities which do not involve the exchange of currency. Among these activities are UPX payments for Upland-related services, augmenting of in-game trades, community initiatives, and gifting or tipping in UPX.

Property Earnings Adjustment

UPX is the bedrock of the Upland economy, and it’s critical that we uphold the strength of UPX as an in-game currency. Property earnings were initially designed as an incentive to kickstart the economy, however, now that the economy is thriving and UPX transfers are on the horizon, it’s important to reexamine the distribution of these rewards.

Per the Upland whitepaper, “The more decentralized transactions occur, the less the economy needs to rely on centralized subsidies. Therefore, Upland expects that payouts via the pools will decrease in the future.” As such, base yearly property earnings will be adjusted to 14.7% (from 17.3%) in approximately 1 month; we will give a clear heads up before this change takes place.

To ensure the health of the economy, these values may be adjusted (up, down or unchanged) on a regular basis–starting with a quarterly review process–based on market conditions and economic activity. Long-term, the Upland team plans to delegate this authority to an independent third party to ensure the fairness of UPX distribution.

$10k NFT-to-USD Cap Removal

Currently, players are restricted to a maximum of $10,000 for USD-based marketplace transactions, which imposes limitations on economic activity. In order to grow beyond these limitations, we plan to remove this cap to promote more freedom in secondary markets.

To accommodate this change, any sale above $10k will require the buyer to have a pre-loaded USD balance in their Upland account. So, if a player wishes to buy a property above the $10k cap, they will have to transfer the full amount in USD to their Upland USD account (operated by Tilia) before purchasing.

Collection Holding Requirements for Awards

Collections are one of the core mechanics of buying and holding property in Upland, allowing players to mix and match their holdings to boost their yields significantly. With the large influx of activity, we felt it necessary to revisit these mechanics to prevent current and future abuse of these bonuses. As such, we will be introducing a holding period to collection bonuses, meaning that above a certain reward threshold, players will have to hold the collection for a fixed period of time before they can collect their one-time UPX bonus.

Uncollected Earnings Accumulation Cap

Upland is moving from a passive earnings model towards a more active earnings mechanism. Consequently, we will be introducing a cap on the accumulation of uncollected earnings. Engaged players have a more significant impact on the economy compared to lapsed players, as such, we want to ensure that all players remain a working part of the ecosystem.

Players will now be required to log in and collect their earnings before their accumulated earnings reach a certain threshold; variable by Upland status. This does not mean that Upland is placing a cap on how much players can earn. Rather, it is a cap on how much UPX can go uncollected before it stops accumulating. In other words, if the accumulation cap is 500,000 UPX, earnings will stop accruing until the player claims their UPX. This means that the most engaged players will always have access to their full earnings potential, while lapsed players may miss out on some rewards.

Spark Log In Bonus

Since Spark went live back in June, it has rapidly become a crucial resource for the development of the metaverse. The Upland team is constantly reviewing new mechanisms to allow players to earn Spark for playing the game. In the near future, all players will be eligible for a Spark login bonus. For example, if a player logs in consecutively for 7 days, they will receive a variable Spark bonus; subject to adjustments in balance of supply and demand of Spark.

This new feature matches our goal of steadily injecting Spark into the economy to incentivize building activity while rewarding the most active participants of the metaverse. Using Spark as a reward mechanism also relieves the pressure on UPX as the sole economic incentive in the Upland metaverse.

Final Thoughts

This is all a lot to take in, but these concepts should help clarify our vision for a thriving metaverse. We are incredibly excited about the future of Upland and are looking forward to this new phase of the economy. Thank you all for your continued support, onward and upward!

It’s All About the Economy was originally published in Upland on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It goes without saying that 2021 has been a tremendous year of growth for the Upland metaverse. Our player base has grown significantly, marketplace activity is higher than ever before, and we’ve launched a wealth of new features and activities for the community. However, there’s still tons of work to be done, and we’re incredibly excited about what the future holds.

You may have noticed that our website Roadmap recently received a bit of a facelift. Our goal was to better-set expectations about what we’re currently working on, and what our objectives are for the future. Please keep in mind that our Roadmap is under constant development, so the targets listed may change from time to time.

Today, we’d like to share some additional details about what we’ve been up to over the past several months, as well as what players can look forward to for the remainder of 2021. Following today’s update, we will be hosting an AMA featuring co-founders Dirk Lueth and Idan Zuckerman to provide more context on the recent Roadmap developments and to answer any questions the community may have. The AMA will take place next Wednesday, November 24th, at 11:00 AM PT on YouTube.

2021 Highlights

This year has been nothing short of insane. We’re seen tremendous user growth and activity and have hit on some key milestones for the development of the metaverse.

Toward the end of May, we began to greatly expand the Property-to-USD Program (now NFT-to-USD) with our partners at Tilia, and have since allowed thousands of players to extract real-world value from their in-game assets. Most recently, we have expanded the program to automatically add all players who are Uplanders and above! To date, players have earned over $1.8M USD since the program went live.

Back in June, we launched the Spark Token and introduced Property Development into the metaverse, allowing players to construct building NFTs on top of their owned properties. Since then, players have constructed thousands of buildings across the metaverse which are primed for future use as Metaventures, Player Homes, Galleries, and more!

In August, we took the first steps towards launching the NFT Portal, which will enable players to port their gaming assets both in and out of the Upland metaverse. Currently, in Beta, the NFT Portal will be expanded to support multiple blockchains and asset types.

In September, we announced our collaboration with the NFLPA to introduce the likeness of over 2,000 football into the Upland metaverse. Players can now acquire a brand new class of NFTs known as “Upland Legits” from their favorite football players exclusively in Upland.

Later, in October, we followed this up with a collaboration with Spirit Halloween to introduce a variety of wonderfully spooky NFTs, allowing us to introduce yet another class of NFT, the Structure Ornament.

Already this month, we’ve announced our Series A Fundraise of $18M USD, deployed UNFT Swaps to allow players to exchange their NFT goods in-app, have launched our new Marketplace Analytics, and have detailed future plans for City Tiers, Metaventures, and more!

Additional Highlights

• Introduced New Security Measures (Captcha & 2FA)
• Completed Various Infrastructure Improvements to Support Growth at Scale
• Replacement of the DFuse Platform with Proprietary Technology for Mirroring Blockchain Data
• Expanded the Metaverse from 3 Cities to 14 Cities
• Minted over 2M Property NFTs with over 100,000 property owners
• Helped Players Earn over $1.8M USD
• Achieved Hundreds of Thousands of Monthly Active Players
• Facilitated an Average of ~63,000,00 UPX in Daily Transaction Volume
• Achieved an Average of ~4,300 Trades in Daily Trading Volume
• Tokenized Block Explorers as NFTs
• Launched the NFT Asset Wallet
• Tripled the Size of the Upland Team (We’re Hiring!)

All this and so much more. We are incredibly thankful to work with such a passionate and engaged community, and while we are excited about our progress, there is much work to be done… So, on to Q4!

What We’re Working on in the Remainder of Q4

The following projects are currently in development, some of these items will be delivered in Q4, while others will be likely delivered in Q1 of 2022…

UNFT Swaps (In-Progress)

UNFT (Upland NFTs) Swaps enable the exchange of digital goods between players. Players can trade any 1 NFT for any other NFT, including Legits, Ornaments, and Block Explorers (coming soon). This allows players to leverage a greater part of their NFT portfolio to create unique and interesting trades with other Uplanders.

Property Collection Updates

Property Collections have not changed for quite some time, meaning that some mechanics are a bit outdated, such as the chips that appear on Block Explorers. There are a variety of planned improvements that will create a better user experience, both visually and mechanically. Among these improvements are a new visual representation of the profile chips, new collection bonus requirements, and new leaderboards to highlight progress. Updates to Property Collections likely won’t be delivered until next year, but development will be started in Q4.

Block Explorer Shops Beta

Metaventures (previously player-owned businesses) are a core component for the development of the metaverse economy and will enable players to leverage their assets for the opportunity to earn UPX and USD. The first iteration of Metaventures will be Block Explorer Shops. Shops will be entirely player-run and will be subject to the Venture Dues model (after the Beta is complete), which is a variable fee on businesses to encourage competition and promote diversity of businesses; this will be implemented after a period of testing and observation.

Eventually, any player will be able to open a business, so long as they are committed to the sustained growth of that business. Long-term, the Venture Dues model will ensure that business owners must stay active participants of the open marketplace, as inactive businesses will likely be pushed out due to the inability to pay their fees. Players will be free to sell their own Block Explorers or list them on behalf of other Uplanders in exchange for a commission. This development creates an exciting new opportunity to earn in the metaverse and is a critical component of the growth of the Upland economy.

NFLPA Memento Primary Markets

NFLPA Memento Primary Markets introduces location-based minting events to the Upland metaverse. This means that players can travel to football Stadiums across the metaverse to register for an opportunity to mint the rarest and most exclusive NFLPA Legits. Players can register for the team of their choice and will be placed into a queue among other registered participants. All players will always have a slim chance of being selected to mint the Memento of their choice, however, players can boost their odds by building up their Fan Scores. All NFLPA Legits have Fan Points assigned to them which depends on the player, Legit type, and which games Mementos are from. Fan Points can also be boosted by placing Legits into collections.

NFLPA Essentials Primary Markets

NFLPA Essentials Primary Markets introduces the ability to purchase Essentials in team stadiums across the metaverse. Essentials are common-rarity items that are not limited by mint number, but rather by season. Once Essential Primary markets go live, players will be able to visit any stadium during the season to mint an Essential for the player of their choice. Later down the line, players will be able to burn their essentials to create Replicas of rare Mementos.

NFT Portal (Reclaim Uploads)

Earlier this year, we went into Beta for the NFT Portal feature, allowing players to import select assets from the WAX blockchain directly into the Upland metaverse. Reclaim Uploads allows players to export these assets back to the blockchain of origin. Soon, this program will expand to bridge Upland to multiple popular blockchains in the crypto ecosystem.

Meta Car Designs

Designs for the META car brand are the first step towards launching a suite of NFT cars to be introduced into the Upland metaverse. Cars will enable new modes of travel, new businesses, and a wealth of other games and activities.

Developer Relations Team Setup

3rd Party Developer relations is a crucial step towards evolving the metaverse, allowing users to create, build, and impact the world in completely new and unique ways. The Developer Relations team will be a critical step forward in bringing this program to life. Expect to see additional developments in the coming months about how to apply as a 3rd party developer, and what to expect as a member of this innovative program.

Closing Thoughts

Our goals for the remainder of 2021 are ambitious, but we are eager for the challenge ahead. Thank you all for being integral members of the Upland community, we look forward to creating a better metaverse for all!

Q4 Roadmap Updates was originally published in Upland on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Winter Holiday season is right around the corner, and this year we’re making it a priority to help everyone get in the holiday spirit. This means that the holiday season in Upland will be powered almost entirely by user-generated content! Starting today, we will be accepting submissions for 2 new user-generated competitions for the Holiday season. Players will be able to design both their own video experiences, as well as their own Ornament NFTs to be included in the Upland metaverse!

The Holiday Ornament Contest

First up is the Holiday Ornament Contest, where users can submit their own custom 3D Ornament models for the exclusive opportunity to have their Ornaments sold in the Upland store! All players will be eligible to submit an Ornament of their own design. All valid submissions will then be reviewed by the Upland team to ensure quality and to prevent IP violations.

After the team has reviewed all submissions, we will select the highest quality models and allow the community (Uplanders+) to vote on which models should be introduced into the metaverse. Our goal is to accept 3 Ornament designs for each model type in Upland, for a total of 21 winners! Players are eligible to submit multiple designs and can potentially have more than one model win. These Ornaments will, of course, be reusable in future holiday seasons to come.

Players with the winning models will have the rare opportunity to have their Ornaments sold directly in the Upland store and will receive 70% of the UPX revenue generated from their sales. Pricing will be determined by the Upland team based on the circulation of model types.

This contest is an important step forward in facilitating a user-generated metaverse. The results of our last model competition were nothing short of amazing, and we’re incredibly excited to see what the community can produce this time around.

Ornament Specs

Specs for Holiday Ornaments have been provided below, alongside a sample Blender file that players can work off of. Everything in the provided sample that is Black and White is just an example. Players are free to work off of what we have provided or go entirely off-script.

We also highly encourage everyone to collaborate in the #holiday-creations discord channel to get help/feedback on your models, or maybe even find someone to work with!

• Number of Polygons: < 50,000 Polygons
• Format: GLTF, BLEND
• Rules: Upland only publishes creator-owned material. Please do not submit any creative work that uses already-existing characters — Image characters or otherwise — as they will automatically be declined. No mature content. That means no nudity, drugs, violence, profanity, etc.

Download the Sample File

Click Here to Submit a Holiday Ornament

Players can start submitting Ornaments today, and entries will close on Friday, December 3rd, at 11:59 PM PT. If there are issues with your submission, the Upland team will reach out and give you an opportunity to fix any errors.

Holiday Video Experiences

Show us your creativity and take us on a Winter Holiday journey! Starting today, players can start submitting custom videos that Uplanders can enjoy as they explore the city. Each video can be placed on a property which will be represented by a button that allows for any passing explorer to stop by and check it out.

You’re free to create any kind of experience you like, whether it’s a light show, holiday animation, or whatever else you can imagine!

The Winter Holiday Tour

Every player that submits an experience will also have a shot at being selected to be a part of the Winter Holiday Tour. This is a truly unique tour, as it’s powered entirely by user-generated content! There’s no better chance to show off your artistic prowess, and only the best will be selected for this exclusive tour, so be sure to bring your A-game.

Video Specs

• Size: 1080×1920 (ONLY Videos in Portrait Orientation will be Accepted)
• Format: .MP4 (H.264 Format, No Compression)
• Duration: 10 to 180 seconds
• FPS: 30
• Audio: Not required, but encouraged!
• Rules: Upland only publishes creator-owned material. Please do not submit any creative work that uses already-existing characters — Image characters or otherwise — as they will automatically be declined. No mature content. That means no nudity, drugs, violence, profanity, etc.

Click to Here to Submit a Video Experience

Players can start submitting experiences today, and entries will close on Friday, December 3rd, at 11:59 PM PT. If there are issues with your submission, the Upland team will reach out and give you an opportunity to fix any errors.

This Holiday season in Upland will be a celebration for the ages, we can’t wait to see what our wonderful community creates!

Winter Holiday Contests was originally published in Upland on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

These days it seems like Upland is developing at an incredible pace, and we’re excited to share some updates regarding player-owned businesses, which we will now be referring to as “Metaventures!” This change also signifies a shift away from our previous businesses model, for which we have identified several flaws in promoting healthy economic principles. As such, we will be introducing the “Venture Dues” fee model that will have implications on how players launch and maintain their Metaventures in the future.

The Businesses License Model

The original model would have required all players to obtain a Business License NFT for them to leverage or lease to other players. Players could then use the issued Business License NFT (by business-type) that would enable them to operate within a specific city. On paper, this model seems to make sense, but after careful review, it became clear that this model came with some significant limitations.

Limitations to the Original Model

Under the previous model, only certain players would have had the opportunity to open up businesses, which would require subjective approval from the Upland team to sign off on their activities. In addition, this meant that the player would have been required to pay an upfront fee for access to operate a business without having a chance to first test the market. Issuing Business License NFTs for a given city also proved problematic, as it meant that we could effectively close off access after a certain number of licenses were already in circulation. Not to mention the challenges of how those licenses were distributed as well as what the parameters for acceptance were.

Players also would have been likely to speculate on the value of their Business License NFTs and would maintain the freedom to sit on their license without actually ever putting it to use. Because players own their assets in Upland, there would have been no way for Upland to interfere. To put things simply, there would have been no way to properly regulate distribution, as our only option would be to issue more licenses, which could potentially overinflate the number of business licenses available.

Overall, this model offered high barriers to entry, significant upfront costs, invited speculation, and discouraged competition. The Venture Dues model aims to eliminate these concerns to create a healthier, self-regulating marketplace.

The Venture Dues Model

To mitigate the concerns listed above, we will be employing the “Venture Dues” model, which will encourage open competition, eliminate the aforementioned barriers to entry, and ensure healthy marketplace activity on an ongoing basis.

Each month, owners of Metaventures will be required to pay a variable fee that is calculated based on the median UPX contribution made from business owners (of the same type in the same locale) to the Upland Community Pool. As with all secondary marketplace transactions, buyers and sellers will always be obligated to pay a small fee to the Community Pool of UPX; which is subsequently redistributed to the community via property earnings and other activities. Players who transact via Metaventures will be subject to the same marketplace fees, and each owner’s dues will be based on a percentage of the median contributions of those fees.

The fee structure will be a sliding scale based on how many of each business type exists within a locale (each city). If there are only a few Metaventures in a locale, the percentage of the median contribution due will be lower until the optimal number of businesses is reached. Once this threshold is crossed, fees will increase exponentially for each business that enters past that threshold. This means that opening a business beyond this threshold will increase fees for all business owners of the same type in the same locale. Each city will have its own optimal capacity for Metaventures, which will be aided by our new city tiering system. The below table is an example of what this model might look like. For example, if the median contribution to the Community Pool is 500k UPX, each business owner will be required to pay 50k UPX in the next month; assuming the optimal capacity for Metaventures.

Note: The above numbers are examples. Final numbers will be different and bespoke to each business type.

Benefits to the New Model

The Venture Dues model will offer any player the opportunity to open their own Metaventure in Upland, and their success will be solely dependent on their ability to scale and grow. The goal is to encourage healthy competition amongst business owners, and introduce diminishing returns if the market becomes oversaturated. Owners will also have the option of moving their Metaventures to avoid high fees and capitalize on developing markets.

As with all metaverse mechanics, we’ll be carefully monitoring the results of this new model and will make any necessary adjustments to best suit the needs of our metaverse entrepreneurs. Venture Dues also has the added benefit of ensuring that the metaverse is useful as a whole, and marketplace activity doesn’t become siloed to the largest cities and markets. More than anything, this means that Metaventures will mostly be self-regulated, and will require little interference from the Upland team. In other words, we’re leaving things in the hands of the community and the free market.

Looking Ahead

As we inch closer to the launch of Metaventures, please keep in mind that the above is still a work in progress, and there may be some minor tweaks prior to this feature going live. Our plan is to first enable Metaventures for our Businesses Beta group, and then open up things to the public after we’ve had sufficient time to measure the results. As such, the first Block Explorer shops to appear in the metaverse will not operate under this fee structure at release.

With the goal of launching Block Explorer shops in the near future, we are incredibly excited to add this new, dynamic system to the Upland ecosystem. Ultimately, Metaventures is a groundbreaking development that will enable players to engage with the Upland metaverse in ways unlike any other game on the market. We can’t wait to get Metaventures into the hands of our metaverse entrepreneurs to see what they can accomplish!

Introducing Metaventures & Venture Dues was originally published in Upland on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As Upland continues to grow and mature, it’s important that we continually re-evaluate our strategy to ensure our grand vision for the metaverse. As such, we are excited to announce that the City Tier system is receiving an overhaul to account for the dynamic nature of cities across the globe. Moving forward, each city we release will be classified under this new system which will have implications on FSA allocations, Send Fees, Landmarks, and more.

The Original City Tier System

In the early days of the metaverse, we elected to release cities under a simple tier system. Cities were categorized as either “High,” “Mid,” or “Low” tier cities, and this status influenced the amount of FSA properties to be released, as well as the send feeds for each city. Initially, this model was sufficient as properties were available in only a select number of cities, and the economy had yet to really mature. As we released more cities, it became apparent that attempting to fit some of these cities into this mold was becoming more and more difficult. In other words, we were trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Cities are a unique expression of lifestyle, status, and culture, and our new model will allow us to better represent what each city is known for.

The New City Tier System

Simply speaking, cities will be classified using a matrix that qualifies each city under 3 core factors, including:

• Size; Number of Overall Properties + Area
• Price; Average Real-World Prices of Properties
• Icon Factor; Measure of the City’s Status

Each city is scored 1–3 for each of these factors to determine the overall tier. For example, Manhattan is a world-renowned city known for high property prices but is actually on the smaller end in terms of size. As such, Manhattan would be classified as a 1–3–1 City. While its icon factor and property prices are certainly among the top cities in the world, it falters in terms of overall size.

This new system will have implications on all city factors including airports and travel, number of collections, FSA allocation, treasure hunt rewards, send fees, and landmark pricing. While this system accounts for a much wider degree of variability, there may still be instances where a city doesn’t perfectly fit the definition for any given tier of city. To account for this, each factor has a variable range that should resolve a majority of these cases. Even still, this new system is intended to serve as a framework for how future cities will be released, meaning there may be instances where we have to go off-script.

*FSA Allocation is subject to change depending on size, Hub inventory, and Hub adjacency.

City Hubs

Recently, we have begun to identify cities that should be classified as Hubs; cities that carry significant cultural meaning and have a widespread economic impact. Each Hub will maintain its own variety of cities that exist as a part of that Hub’s sphere of influence. Current examples are Oakland in San Francisco, or Brooklyn and Staten Island in New York. These cities are significant enough to stand on their own, each with their own culture and history. However, these cities also exist as extensions of Hub cities like San Francisco and Manhattan.

In the real world, many people live in cities that are adjacent to major cities to capitalize on the economic incentives; cheaper property and better working wages. As Upland is an extension of the real world, it only makes sense that economic activity is more dynamic around its Hub cities. This means the decision to release new cities will be based on both overall market supply as well as local market supply. In other words, city Hubs with very few available properties for minting are prime candidates for future expansion cities.

Landmarks

At one time, Landmark sales were a major event for the Upland metaverse, but these days, it’s just another day in the park. We have a large inventory of Landmarks, and they belong in the hands of the players. This means a move away from the Landmark Auction “event,” and a move towards a regular schedule of Landmark sales, auctions, and competitions. However, keep in mind that some major Landmarks with global cultural impact will still be celebrated. Players who are seeking to acquire Landmarks should keep an eye on our official schedule of Landmark Events which will be published in the very near future.

Treasure Hunts

As mentioned above, the new city tier system will also affect UPX rewards from treasure hunts in each city. To accommodate the dynamic nature of each city, we will be revisiting treasure reward tiers for all cities in Upland. You may have noticed that there are a few new tiers for send fees that correlate with the tier of the city. Treasure Hunt rewards are also closely tied to the send fees, which means new tiers of Hunt rewards will align directly with these fees moving forward.

Closing Thoughts

Upland’s growth has been astounding, and while we are proud of the foundation we’ve built. It’s important that we continue to revisit old mechanics to ensure their alignment with our vision for the metaverse. We thank you all for being an integral part of the vibrant Upland Community.

City Tiers Update was originally published in Upland on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

UNFT Swapping is getting an Update! Last week, we announced that players could start trading the NFLPA Legits for other NFLPA Legits. Today, we are expanding this feature to include Structure Ornaments, as well as Spirit Legits. Players can now leverage a greater part of their portfolio to create unique and interesting trades with other Uplanders.

This is an important step forward as it enables trade between different types of NFTs for the first time in the metaverse. This means that trading an Ornament for an NFLPA/Spirit Legit (and vice versa) is now possible!

How to Initiate a Swap

To initiate a swap, you’ll need to place an offer on an Uplander’s Legit or Ornament. To do so, click on the target player’s block explorer to open up their profile window. Once inside, click on the “Assets” button, this will allow you to see what assets the player is currently holding on to. Find the NFT you’d like to swap for and select the item you wish to acquire. Once the NFT is opened up, you will have the option to submit an offer via the “Submit Offer” button. Select the asset you’d like to include in your trade to submit your offer. If the offer is accepted, the new NFT will appear in your asset wallet under “NFLPA Legits.”

Future Swapping Updates

Now that players can swap NFLPA Legits, Spirit Legits, and Ornaments interchangeably, the next step will be to introduce Block Explorers to this list! We are actively working on the deployment of Block Explorer swaps and will have an update for you guys as soon as it’s ready, so stay tuned for further updates.

Other Updates: Referral Bonuses

Future referral bonuses will now have a bonus rewards cap of 100,000 UPX. In other words, once your friend has become an Uplander, we will match their first purchase and split it as a bonus between you and them, up to a maximum of 100,000 UPX (50,000 UPX each)

UNFT Swapping Update was originally published in Upland on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hey Uplanders, now that Swapping is live, we wanted to share some updates on the variety of NFLPA Legits Collections that will be available at launch. Collections are still under development, but we wanted to provide collection details to the community to better inform their swapping strategies. More details on the delivery of NFLPA Legits will be shared as they become available.

Completing Collections

Completing Collections will boost the Fan Points of your Legits while they are held in their respective collections. As such, completed collections will be a vital part of any football enthusiast’s trading strategy.

Each season you will have the opportunity to complete different collections for each of the 32 teams. Legits that are stored in a completed collection receive a boost that increases their Fan Point values. Each Legit can be added or removed to an eligible collection at any time, however, Legits can only be placed into one collection at a time.

NFLPA Legits Collection Details

Each team will have the following 14 collections available at launch for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, however, please note that the “Ultimate Fan” collection can not be completed until players start to autograph Legits in the future.

TRIPLE THREAT (Fan Points Boost Amount = 140%)

Own 3 Legits from different players.

CHAIN MOVERS (Fan Points Boost Amount = 200%)

Own 11 Legits from different players.

Collection must have one Legit for each of the following positions: C, QB, FB, RB, TE

Collection must have two Legits for each of the following positions: WR, OG, OT

DEFENDERS (Fan Points Boost Amount = 200%)

Own 11 Legits from different players.

Collection must have two Legits for each of the following positions: CB, DE, DT, S

Collection must have three Legits from any of the following positions: DB, LB

KICKERS CORNER (Fan Points Boost Amount = 230%)

Own 3 Legits from the same player.

Collection must have three Legits from any of the following positions: K, P, LS

Collection must include two Essentials and one Memento or Replica.

BALL HANDLER (Fan Points Boost Amount = 225%)

Own 3 Legits from the same player.

Collection must have Legits from any of the following positions: FB, RB, TE, WR

Collection must include two Essentials and one Memento or Replica.

CAPTAIN (Fan Points Boost Amount = 250%)

Own 3 Legits from the same player.

Collection must have Legits from the following position: QB

Collection must include two Essentials and one Memento or Replica.

HEAVYWEIGHT (Fan Points Boost Amount = 235%)

Own 3 Legits from the same player.

Collection must have Legits from any of the following positions: C, OT, OG, DT, DE

Collection must include two Essentials and one Memento or Replica.

BALL HAWK (Fan Points Boost Amount = 245%)

Own 3 Legits from the same player.

Collection must have Legits from any of the following positions: CB, DB, LB, S

Collection must include two Essentials and one Memento or Replica.

VARIANTS (Fan Points Boost Amount = 260%)

Own 3 Essential Variants.

FIRE (Fan Points Boost Amount = 285%)

Own 3 Mementos or Replicas with at least one fire stat.

AUTHENTIC (Fan Points Boost Amount = 270%)

Own 3 Mementos.

ULTIMATE FAN (Fan Points Boost Amount = 275%)

Own 3 autographed Legits.

TIME CAPSULE (Fan Points Boost Amount = 280%)

Own 3 Mementos or Replicas from the same winning game.

BALL HOG (Fan Points Boost Amount = 300%)

Own 2 Mementos or Replicas of a game ball.

NFLPA Legits Collections Update was originally published in Upland on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Starting this Monday, November 15th, at 9:00 AM PT the Thrifty Trader Challenge returns! Players will compete by selling properties (Fiat or UPX) in Nashville throughout the weekend in an attempt to make the best trades possible. Submissions will close on Wednesday, November 17th, at 11:59 PM PT and winners will be announced on Monday. Each player will be scored based on a few core metrics:

• Profit Margin; % value of the difference in purchase/last sale price
• Trading Volume; Volume of trades executed during the weekend
• Trading diversity; Number of unique players the seller is trading with

Note: Only players on the Selling side will be scored for this contest. Players will earn no points for making a savvy purchase and property swaps will not count.

Making Efficient Trades

Each one of these stats will influence every player’s overall Efficiency Value for the duration of the contest. This value is a weighted function of these three metrics. 15% of the score is derived from the Trading Volume, 15% from Trading Diversity, and 70% from the player’s Profit Margin. Only players who have a strong performance in all 3 categories will top the leaderboard. The goal of this competition is to reward players who are savvy marketplace traders, regardless of their Upland status. All players, large and small, have a realistic chance to win.

Note: These parameters will not change for this current iteration of the Thrifty Trader but they are subject to change in the future.

Players will be scored on every sale they make while the contest is live, so trade wisely! If you’re seeking trading partners, we recommend checking out the #bsts-nashville channel in Discord. Only trades taking place in Nashville will be counted for this contest.

Rewards

Trading is one of the fundamental activities in the Upland metaverse, so we wanted to make sure there’s enough of the Reward pie to go around. As such, the top 200 players with the highest Efficiency Values will win both Spark and UPX! Details below.

Tracking Results

As with the recent Ultimate Fan Challenge, this contest will have a leaderboard that will update periodically throughout the contest (about once a day). Keep track of the leaderboard to ensure your spot among the top players.

Mitigating Fraud

It’s to be expected that some players will attempt to take advantage of this type of competition to push themselves up the leaderboard. Be advised that we will be monitoring player activity very carefully. Any players suspected of fraudulent behavior will be subject to review by our data team. Offenders will be disqualified from the competition.

Please take note that this is the second iteration of this contest and we’ll be carefully monitoring the results to improve the competition in the future.

Registration

All players who wish to participate in the Thrifty Trader Contest must register for a chance to win. Sign-ups are open now and will close on Tuesday, November 16th, at 11:59 PM PT.

Click Here to Register

Thrifty Trader: Nashville was originally published in Upland on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.