<aside> 🥳 We are thrilled to announce that Wildcard is entering the next phase of development, as we begin the transition from Pre-Alpha to Alpha Status. To celebrate this milestone (and to help us test the game and the new Fanbase platform!), we are inviting the community to join us for an exciting series of Live Events that we’re calling the Wildcard Pre-Alpha Playtest Series.*
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The Wildcard Pre-Alpha Playtest Series will feature all new builds of the game, with major refinements to core gameplay systems and mechanics. We’ve reimagined the entire sequence of a match, introducing Goalies that defend each players’ base, and redesigned scoring for more thrilling, dramatic plays.
An expanded meta introduces Wildcard’s third House: Malus, their new Champion Ragna, dozens of new Summons, and the reimagined Venue, Frostburn Arena. The team has also worked hard to improve all aspects of gameplay, from champion control and combat to Summon AI and abilities, alongside global improvements to visuals, lighting, audio, UI, and online features.
Wildcard also elevates the viewing experience via deep, real-time integration between players, viewers, and fans. Over the past year, we have utilized Discord to prototype these experimental new features, such as in-game viewer presence during the live stream. These prototypes have helped us “find the fun”, and have led to dramatic growth in the size of our Discord community and a surge in playtest attendance and participation.
Now we are taking the next step, introducing the next generation of audience interaction features and rewards. And for the first time ever, these playtests will be running exclusively on a pre-alpha version of a brand new, crypto-enabled community streaming platform and protocol, called Fanbase*.
** naming things is hard and legal told us that Fanbase isn't available, dammit.*
Fanbase* is a new web and mobile app/platform, designed to elevate community connection, live streaming, and online audience interaction. It combines the best parts of Discord Stages and Twitch, and introduces thrilling new features that bring the audience directly into the game. Fanbase* empowers creators and fans to share in the amazing content and value they create together.
The Fanbase* Platform, an upcoming decentralized, token-powered streaming platform, runs on the Fanbase* Protocol, both of which are are open source and governed by the Fanbase* Foundation, with initial development and ops support from Fanbase* Labs, a subsidiary of The Wildcard Alliance.
Wildcard leverages Fanbase* to deliver the best version of Wildcard Live Events, the backbone of Wildcard’s social experience. These Live Events are the signature celebrations that bring the entire Wildcard universe together, uniting us as players and competitors, fans and spectators, to celebrate the thrill, spectacle, and camaraderie of competition.
Wildcard is the flagship game on Fanbase.*
The Wildcard Pre-Alpha Playtest Series will consist of [8 Live Events over a 4 week span], running exclusively on the new Fanbase* Platform. These events will bring users together from all over the world to help us playtest these exciting new Platform and Protocol features.
During the Pre-Alpha Series, Users will earn Points by playing, viewing, and collecting. Points will accumulate over the course of the Series, unlocking unique and valuable Rewards that will be distributed throughout the Series. Importantly, everyone who participates in these playtests - creators, competitors, communities, collectors and chat - will all earn Points and Rewards, just by showing up!
Our vision for Wildcard has always been to create a game that is as fun to watch as it is to play. To fulfill this vision we need a new platform that is the best place to watch games.
That place doesn’t exist today; existing platforms are too closed, too centralized, and benefit too few. They don’t empower developers or the amazing content creators (especially the long tail) to craft the best live entertainment possible.