The shooting game Shrapnel recently released a new roadmap for 2024. I have been following this project since the end of 2023, so I would like to take this opportunity to review it for you!
Participation experience in the first half of 2024:
First of all, the most important event is the launch of closed beta in February. Players who participate in the closed beta and complete tasks can receive skin and token rewards. Similar to most game internal tests, Shrapnel had some problems when it first launched the server, such as delays in the server and matching system, and character card models. However, with each round of internal testing, we can clearly feel that these problems are being continuously optimized. Overall, the internal testing was smooth and there were no major problems. And I can feel that the game quality has great potential. I look forward to the launch of more game content and overall game optimization in the second half of the year to reduce game configurations.
Secondly, the team started to release co-branded skins for Avalanche, NeoTokyo, Gam3s.gg, SuperVerse, The BoDoggos and Alchemy, which are relatively well-known game track projects in the English area, in April. NFT holders all received airdrops. And players who hold a full set of NFTs also received a Bitcoin-themed pistol skin on the day of Bitcoin halving. This is also the most expensive skin on the mall. Floor price 10,000 SRHAP coins (700U)
At the community level, the team is gradually listening to community opinions. For example, Operator NFT has been falling since the internal beta began in February because there is no specific empowerment for players, and players often complain and give suggestions. Starting from the internal beta in May, the team took out 50% of the reward tokens originally given to all internal beta participants and gave them to NFT holders who completed the task. This change stopped NFT from falling and slowly rose. Early users also agreed with this change.
Other features such as the mall, pledge, and points system have no highlights or obvious flaws, so they will not be discussed.
Several important contents in the 2024 roadmap:
1. Sigma Skin
“Sigma skins will be a completely new type of skin. They will be extremely rare, have a completely different economic attribute than most of the current regular skins, and provide unique and generous rewards to the user! In order to maintain scarcity, each rarity of Sigma skin will have a specific maximum supply and can only be obtained through specific methods. The BTC pistol and shotgun skins will be classified as the first batch of Sigma skins.”
The author believes that the Sigma skin will most likely give the wearer a chance to obtain tokens or other rewards when using the weapon of this skin to kill enemies, open boxes, or evacuate.
This change is something the community has been looking forward to, because previous skins had neither clear powers nor maximum supply according to rarity, which led many players to doubt whether the Shrapnel team was capable of designing an economic model that fits the blockchain game. This feature dispelled players' doubts. Players' confidence is also reflected in the prices of these two skins. We can see that the prices of the skins have been rising since the launch of the store. The following figure shows the current lowest price orders for the two skins.
2. Blind Box System
“Players earn schematics by purchasing them from the Market, completing quests, finding them in the world, and as social engagement rewards. This new system replaces the fixed skin rewards for completing STX quests. The schematics are plugged into a 3D printer which destroys the schematic and converts it into items. As the game progresses, items can range from weapon skins to weapon charms and more (eventually including SHRAPs). The schematics are tradable and come with varying qualities.”
As a shooting game with so many cool skins, the ability to open blind boxes should be a must. Community players have suggested this for a long time, and now it is finally here.
To be honest, the skins in Shrapnel are very beautifully designed, and they use the Unreal 5 engine, which is very detailed. They are comparable to the mainstream shooting games on the market, such as CSGO and Call of Duty. Assuming that the game can indeed attract traditional game players to play and spend money after the public beta next year as the team expects, then these early skins and blind boxes will most likely increase in price. Secondly, the act of opening a blind box is attractive in itself. It can not only give away cheap small blind boxes to attract new users, but also increase the stickiness of old players through ultra-limited Sigma skins or commemorative skin blind boxes. Looking forward to it!
3. Two-player mode (built-in voice system)
"Two-player mode will allow players to create squads using the Epic Friends List. So you can invite friends from your Epic Friends List, or if you don't have friends to play with, you can go into the matchmaking system and we'll pair you with a player."
The two-player team will greatly enhance the playability of the game and the players' willingness to promote it. It is the basis for a large-scale entry into web2 promotion and cooperating with anchors to hold e-sports competitions.
4. Promotion system and e-sports competition plan
“Referral System: We will release a player referral system where any player can earn exclusive in-game items when they invite friends to participate in the Shrapnel ecosystem. We will also create a creator program through which high-quality content creators can become verified ambassadors, earn commissions from the store, and receive advanced rewards for introducing players from their audience.
E-sports competition plan: Once the continuous opening phase begins, we will organize offline competitive events in major cities around the world. We will also cooperate with game guilds, traditional e-sports teams and NFT communities to release joint skins, etc.
The announcement of these two plans indicates that the official will promote the game more vigorously in the second half of the year. The recommendation system can encourage existing players to promote the game spontaneously. Since the game configuration requirements are very high, most of the players are from high-net-worth groups in Europe, North America, and East Asia, and the author can feel that the core player group of Shrapnel is very loyal. If the e-sports competition can be successfully implemented, it will be of great help to the promotion of web2. Since the core team of Shrapnel comes from HBO (the producer of the American TV series Game of Thrones and Prison Break), and the micro-films and comic books they produce are of high quality, the author has reason to believe that their resources in the global entertainment industry are sufficient to realize the plan of e-sports competition.
Current drawbacks:
Hacks
Cheats are an inevitable hidden danger in shooting games. Since the rewards for NFT holders who participated in the internal test increased in May, many Chinese-speaking players began to use cheats during the internal test in June. You can also search for cheats for sale on Xianyu. The official has continued to ban accounts and stated that they will crack down on cheats. But I still hope that they can add anti-cheating measures from the bottom up as soon as possible, rather than simply banning accounts.
Token Consumption
The token price has been falling since March. On the one hand, it is mainly affected by the overall market and the overall shutdown of the blockchain game track. On the other hand, there is a lack of ways to consume tokens in the game. At present, there is no other strong and effective way to consume tokens except creating call signs and trading in the mall. Fortunately, the rewards given in each round of internal testing do not exceed 100,000 US dollars. So the selling pressure is not particularly large. In addition, the official extended the unlocking period for investors and teams in April, which shows that they still have a pattern and want to continue to expand the project. At least wait until 25 years after the public beta test in the traditional game circle. I hope that there will be enough traditional shooting game players at that time, and the game quality is high enough for them to spend money to buy skins or decorations in the game.
The Shrapnel team has been developing the game, while actively participating in the community and adopting some important opinions. Although the price of tokens and NFTs has continued to fall since March, it is mainly affected by the overall market and has stopped falling in recent weeks and has begun to rise slowly. The plan for the second half of 2024 is satisfactory. If it can be successfully implemented, it will most likely improve the quality of the game and the overall asset performance. Shrapnel has a promising future!
Roadmap English original
https://medium.com/@playSHRAPNEL/shrapnel-2024-and-beyond-fa68d5686e16
Roadmap Chinese translation
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzI2NzQ0Njg1OQ==&mid=2247484674&idx=1&sn=bed02b5eab4adddd86d9bd3a43e8f602&chksm=eafffa26dd8873301ed927bfaf5c665147dbf85e9e96aa7871e18d14bac6c0f6c70bbdd566b3&token=465325175&lang=zh_CN#rd
