Original Author: Jinji Kumquat, Mingzin

Original editor: Mingzin

Produced by: Twitter @N_SpaceDAO

The world of web3.0 can be defined as the space formed by virtual reality and augmented reality, realizing the power to define "reality" and deduce its digital presentation. However, the intricate relationship between this "realistic simulation" and the physical world inevitably creates great ambiguity with reality. Prior to this, games such as "Call of Duty" and "Battlefield" had already blurred the boundaries between the real world and the virtual world by confusing real large-scale events (such as wars).

With the iterative innovation of novel gameplay in the blockchain field, the emergence of a new business model has also prompted the rise of gamefi. GameFi is the product of the transformation of the game industry to "new rentier capitalism". It adopts a fully capitalized business model to obtain profits. In gamefi1.0, because the entertainment of the incentive mechanism is greatly reduced, players are also forced to transform into ruthless "gold machines" driven by the temptation of capital; this is also in a sense It exacerbates the collective anxiety of players and users in the virtual world, and the game has changed from an entertainment product (or has deeper learning and sociality) to a mechanical operation-like bondage in disguise.

Different from gamefi1.0, gamefi2.0 games represented by STEPN are starting to improve the offline scalability and social attributes of virtual space, and the intercommunication between virtual and physical spaces. Through the embodiment of spiritual value, the trio of sports concepts and social attributes, STEPN users satisfy the long-neglected psychological demands of dual identity anxiety in the virtual world and the physical world in the context of gamefi1.0, so as to complete the consensus culture and integrity of landing building.

STEPN tries to solve the contradictions and contradictions symbolized by traditional gamefi entertainment and investment. Return on investment is the primary purpose of gamefi 1.0, which has long had the following problems:

-Funds generally lack a long-term economic model, and the value of NFT and the number of users cannot avoid the long-term slow decline after peaking.

- The core value of game experience and innovation, cultural construction and community are ignored, and become a short-term profiteering speculative tool for economic gains, causing a break with the value of the physical world.

Through the marketing of attitude towards life, STEPN provides users with the possibility to obtain satisfaction through actual sports in the real world, instead of passively obtaining pleasure through consumption - making money and exercising, both economic and spiritual satisfaction. This also reminds gamefi2.0 that in addition to the richness of games and economic rewards, it also pays attention to the establishment of community value and feelings.

secondary title

X to earn, transfer of core value X

1. Socialization: long-term multi-level consumption

Different from gamefi1.0's emphasis on play-to-earn short-term benefits, in gamefi2.0 represented by STEPN, the game props (NFT) in it can not only appear in the secondary market as a form of transaction between players (different attributes Running shoes), and assist players to complete identity verification through marketing lifestyle, and pay attention to their social attributes. By integrating the non-virtual gaming experience, social interaction and consumption are jointly driven.

“With Game-Fi, STEPN aims to nudge millions toward a healthier lifestyle, combat climate change and connect the public to Web 3.0, all while simultaneously hinging on it’s Social-Fi aspect to build a long-lasting platform fostering user generated Web 3.0 content.”

"Through Game-Fi, STEPN aims to drive millions of people to live healthier lifestyles, prevent climate change, and connect ordinary people to Web 3.0. At the same time relying on its Social-Fi to build a long-term platform to Cultivate user-generated Web 3.0 content."

The STEPN white paper has declared its uniqueness - a healthy, low-carbon lifestyle, and the establishment of a socialfi platform. The collaboration method of web3.0 is community-based. The long-term and good operation of gamefi needs to rely on multi-level consumption based on a benign community culture, rather than just providing an investment product as a short-term speculative tool. The far-reaching significance of the community represents the gathering of a group of users with similar values ​​and choices. Under such joint collaboration requirements, the source of the game's sense of gain must shift from service to value and emotional empowerment and support.

2. Value Projection: Anxiety of Common Cultural Background and Spiritual Needs of Body Consciousness

Unlike gamefi1.0, which emphasized the value of external assets, gamefi2.0, on this basis, did not forget to accurately turn the spearhead to the inside of the characters—a postmodern anxiety and spiritual desert with a common cultural background. People no longer believe in a bright future, and their personal state is more inclined to nihility and suspension. In order to deal with this unpredictable sense of postmodern crisis, people regard the only body in the physical world that can prove their subjectivity as their last bastion.

NFT PFP projects such as mfers, which describe this loss and provide psychological compensatory satisfaction in the virtual world, have been successful, and the gamefi2.0 represented by STEPN, which fights this loss and grasps self-worth in the physical world, must also work. Examining all successful projects, only with this shared and same spiritual culture as the background can it be favored by a large number of users and create a high-viscosity community. Different from GameFi1.0, GameFi2.0 simultaneously satisfies the characteristics of making money, giving spiritual satisfaction and retaining the authenticity of the physical world.

The essence of this pursuit of self-worth is the absence of "I"-Gerard Pomier described it as: "I have become a tourist of my own life, a visitor to the museum of self-existence", while The virtual world intensifies the nature of this separation: we sit in front of the computer, constantly package our self-image on the Internet by joining online communities and making speeches, and discipline ourselves from the perspective of bystanders, but we cannot give Any more essential, creative, long-term and realistic satisfaction for users in the real world - an excellent gamefi2.0 game just provides such a possibility, instead of passively pursuing value to fill the spiritual void, but It is the sovereign consciousness to actively create and control one's own body.

3. Spiritual value creates higher happiness: from play-to-earn to play-with-earn

Everyone is in the anxiety of a lifestyle constructed by symbols. Consumerism, through the continuous extension and expansion of values ​​such as "greed" and "jealousy", stimulates consumers' human weaknesses with longer feedback time and higher thresholds. . However, as human beings, we need to constantly ask ourselves to pursue higher quality, higher level and more likely to have long-term satisfaction and benefit value. In terms of appeal, we must move from quantity demand to quality pursuit, and then focus on spiritual satisfaction. Only by continuously producing products that can attract users to project spiritual value and encourage users to reconstruct value can they attract and retain a large number of users. This value must point to the user's self-worth identification.

Through the STEPN gamified fitness mechanism, people can obtain direct and simple spiritual satisfaction: physical exercise constantly gives users a sense of value to become better through exercise, which is in line with postmodern people's pursuit of better and better through constantly denying themselves. Spiritual needs - good, better, the goal is always in the future. This quest for betterness in turn reinforces the desire for the value of health.

According to the philosopher Mill's theory of happiness levels, to achieve low-level happiness only needs to use low-level faculties to achieve animal desires similar to "lust", "gluttony" and so on, so it is easy to realize; Happiness is the opposite, with longer feedback cycles and deeper satisfaction.

Gamefi1.0 emphasizes return on investment, and the happiness gained tends to satisfy external needs (money, tokens). The core of this kind of happiness is to avoid pain and create an atmosphere of low-level happiness. The sense of acquisition gained by gamefi2.0 represented by STEPN (letmespeak is also a good example) is deeper and reflected in the richness of the spiritual core, and this value is reflected in the body, symbols, web3.0 and The web2.0 world has value. In the process of exercise, users take the initiative to master the body and create spiritual value, gain profits and resist the sense of post-modern crisis.

The existence of extrinsic value "urges" or "temptes" players to invest, while intrinsic value is the fundamental feature that drives players to engage in emotional investment and long-term participation; the endowment of this value must be real, personal, and Human emotions can be shared.

4. Post-epidemic era: sports, low threshold, real world value

STEPN encourages users to walk, jog and run to earn tokens and participate in transactions. It not only caters to people's needs for sports in the post-epidemic era, but also further participates in users' spiritual pursuit of health and self-discipline. The extremely low participation threshold also makes STEPN a game mechanism that everyone needs and easy to use.

Since its launch in December 2021, STEPN users have grown exponentially, from 1,500 daily active users in January 2022 to close to 100,000. Rely primarily on its incentives — loyal users can earn hundreds of dollars a day. The charm of STEPN is far more than that. The global epidemic has caused people to be in a sub-health state for a long time, and the promotion of body shape by online media has led to a surge in demand for fitness exercises.

The "2021 Fitness Trend Report" pointed out that weight loss is still the core appeal of exercise. The essence is still the desire for body mastery and personal value under post-modern anxiety, while the home isolation caused by the global epidemic has intensified people's needs for outdoors, health, sports, shaping and appearance. According to a Strava research report, walkers will total more than 668 million miles in 2021, setting a record for the platform, while the number of active users of walking/running apps such as Go Jauntly, Nike Run Club and MapMyWalk has doubled in recent years increase. Walking has even become fashionable — the #hotgirlwalk hashtag on TikTok encourages users to walk about 4 miles outside every day, and the hashtag has more than 80 million views on TikTok.

5. Externalization of symbolic value, conspicuous consumption, and social class needs

In the context of web3.0, symbols become personal capital, and symbols are materialized instead of bodies, becoming a symbol of user identity and a way for users to realize themselves. The consumption process also reflects the process of displaying social identity and status symbols called "conspicuous consumption" by American sociologist Veblen. Consumption creates and reproduces differences and inequalities at the same time as it creates a general consumer mass. In fact, the differentiation of consumption is a reflection of the differentiation of society, of classes, and of the field of social action.

What cannot be ignored in the success of STEPN is the blessing of socialfi features in the future. The success of socialfi lies not only in the fact that users can trade or make friends with other encrypted users, but in that it successfully expands user identities. A means of physical fitness is also a symbol of cultural habits within the solidarity class in the real world.

The pursuit of fitness by most of the middle class with capital has changed the public's perception of consumer fitness - through the purchase of NFT running shoes for fitness, capital investment in gamefi2.0 will help build a healthy financial situation and excellent personal development prospects Image, in the symbolic context of web3.0 layered according to tokens, fitness connected to the real world has become a source of competitiveness for non-homogeneous users.

How to empower a good gamefi2.0 game? From obtaining entertainment services to the gamefi1.0 trading platform that emphasizes asset attributes, gamefi2.0 has opened up a new possibility: that is, to provide players with unlimited pursuit and value projection in real life and themselves. Create the satisfaction you get. In both the physical world and the virtual world, the player's needs for social interaction, the increase of intangible assets and the affirmation of self-worth can be met.

source:

source:

Mill, J. S. (1863) Utilitarianism . London, Parker, son, and Bourn.

Li Yongming: "China's Fitness Trends in 2021", "Sports Research", December 2020.

Qin Qinglin, "Angels of Postmodernity", East China Normal University Press, July 2020. Pommier, G. (2000) Les corps angéliques de la post-modernité.

https://whitepaper.stepn.com/