From "Neo Pets" to Dragginz: A New Chapter in Web3 Gaming

In November 1999, a web-based virtual pet game called "Neopets" burst onto the scene. Players can nurture and take care of cartoon pets, chat and play games with them, and trade items using in-game virtual currency. The founders, Adam Powell and Donna Williams, were still students at the University of Nottingham at the time, and their initial goal was simply to "keep college students entertained, possibly making some money through advertisements."

In the early days when internet technology was just becoming popular and competition was scarce, "Neo Pets" quickly became a sensation. Within a month, daily active users reached 600,000. At its peak, monthly active users hit 140 million, with 5 billion page views. A few months later, it secured significant investment.

However, the pressure to generate revenue has forced the team to shift its focus towards inserting sponsored advertisements, which contradicts Adam's belief that "game content is greater than profit." After being acquired and leaving "Neo Pets," Adam and Donna founded Meteor Games in 2007, launching several successful games such as "Paradise Island."

In 2020, with the rise of blockchain games, Adam announced the development of a new game called Dragginz. This is a game built on the Internet Computer blockchain, described as "Neopets meets Minecraft", blending pet raising and open-world elements.

Although Dragginz has not yet become a big hit, its governance token SNS-1 has sparked heated discussions in the IC community after rising from 1 ICP to a peak of 830 ICP. Many people hope it can rival the "Neo Pets" of the past.

Donna Powell stated that Dragginz is their third attempt at the original concept of "Neo Pets," which was considered for construction in Web3 as early as 2014. The game will be a free MMO where players own dragon eggs that can be hatched and evolved into pets, allowing for adventures or trading in a vast world.

Regarding the doubts raised by the NFT elements, Donna explained that the NFTs in Dragginz are different from regular images. For example, each part of a pet is an NFT, and players need to collect them all to use. Spells can also be made into NFTs for sale. The development team does not profit directly from NFT sales but hopes they will become a part of the game economy.

In terms of token economics, Dragginz adopts the existing SNS-1 token and plans to rename it to DKP. The total supply will be adjusted from 10,000 to 1 billion, with no inflation or deflation mechanisms in place. Staking DKP will provide in-game rewards, but not token rewards. The team retains 52% of the voting rights to control the game content.

Dragginz is expected to launch in the second half of 2024 or early 2025. The development team aims to create a game with outstanding content that attracts players worldwide, without the need for cryptocurrency knowledge. They believe that Web3 games are a natural development trend, and high-quality games will eventually attract mainstream players.