Back in the beginning of 2020 a completely different play-to-earn game was quietly launched, Train of the Century. There was quite a lot of quiet insider buzz in the prelaunch phase, with those in the know on TOC getting first dibs on train stations, lucrative income generators as well as whitelisting for special pricing on NFT packs. Unlike many other NFT games at the time, which either borrowed from a Dungeons & Dragons format (which later became known as the Pokemon card model), or plain old turn-based shoot-em up games, Trains was bit more involved with choices, equipment, NPC-characters and general environment of running a profitable train run.
At first, TOC was very much about establishing its economy. Every train run, if one had a decent locomotive and cars with cargo to carry provided an ample reward of Tocium, the in-game token, which could then be converted out to WAX. For the most part, even if one wasn't a big time station owner or whale with a mithic train setup, you could still easily pull down 10 to 15 WAX a day off of Train runs and just moving around the map. The same is still technically true today, even with required repairs, in-game economy variations, and different run rewards, at least in terms of 10,000 to 15,000 Tocium. Add in the fact that a player can also stake Train NFTs at stations, generating additional Tocium daily, and the game was doing pretty well for players for months.
However, in the last three months, something has decidedly slipped. Part of the expectation of the game was that it was going to eventually open up additional levels in different timezones, ergo the name Train of the Century. While this is still on track, and specialized engine part adds in-game are currently being sold, the time of when that expansion release will happen is still pending any anyone's guess. Instead, the game designers have chose to add in random reward interactions (show up at the right station and get an reward NFT), run mods (basic boosts for luck and power that you pay for), and some additional staking for station owners. Well, that's fine and dandy, but unfortunately, the relationship between Tocium and WAX slipped badly. As a result, getting 1 WAX per 600 Tocium is now 5,000 Tocium. At the same time, new packs are still running in the range of $140 for a decent NFT bundle purchase. In short, Trains is getting stale, unrewarding, and losing players. But the cost of entry or sustaining seems tone-deaf.
Most station owners are still in place, but many of the lower level players are moving on, unable to generate much in terms of tokens for the purposes of staying on board and doing runs. While the game devs might argue, well who cares, we make our money on the station owners and whales, it seems to be falling into the same old trap seen in Farmer's World, Arena of Glory, Million on Mars, and others. The hell with the masses, just cater to the big spenders, and all will be well. Unfortunately, all is not well. The game seems to be dying a slow death in the case of Trains, similar to the others.
So how to save an online, multi-player game on a downward spiral?
Part of the issue is engagement. Most blockchain games these days rely on Discord to generate their momentum and audience. As long as there seems to be a bulk of faithful, the game will take care of itself, right? Well, sometimes. Audiences have to be constantly cultivated. People are downright fickle, especially online, and as any YouTuber or Twitcher knows, you're only as good as your last episode. That means, if a game wants to regularly generate new traction, particularly with Discord, it's going to need a professional marketing team, or at least a social media manager. It sounds like a hoity-toity title in words only. However, folks who know what they are doing with social media channels are constantly pushing feed and keeping the audience monster happy and fed, and that translates into attention and loyalty when call-to-actions come up for expected engagement.
Second, the price point needs to reflect a long-term perspective of operation, not a quick, run-to-the-bank rug pull or FOMO plan. Unfortunately, the NFT world, whether it be WAX or OPENSEA or other formats coalesces fear and anxiety of missing out. So, myths build up that if folks don't get into the first big purchase, they miss out on big values to flip those same NFTs to the secondary market. This is a half truth. First, most professional flippers I know have a pretty dedicated system, including bots, to catch those sales early. They are also spending hours and days researching the next big project, as well as analyzing sales on the secondary market daily. That's practically a full-time job with all that's involved. While some are very good at it, the bulk of them I have found are actually living under someone else's roof, so they have the time to afford to chase projects. The rest of folks who work a fulltime day don't. So, focus more on calendars and projects that make sense, like Taco for example, than on the next rumor. Taco works tremendously well; it provides a price point for different players, focuses on a wide market instead of just top spenders, and it has a well-established NFT plan for folks to research. No surprise, while it's not going to win instant gold, Taco NFTs are going to eventually pay off.
I can't say the same for Trains right now. The price point is too separated from the game and internal income model now. What would make more sense for continuation is a lower-price pack with maybe fewer NFTs, 1 to 3, for $5-$20, and with a build or blend connection to higher levels. That would probably generate new income channels faster on Nefty and similar as well as re-start interest in the game for noobies trying Trains for the first time. Instead, Trains continues to push high price-point packs, getting stuck with inventory that doesn't sell and a game devaluing as the weeks go by.
Third, enhancement and expansions need to be a regular thing, both in terms of driving marketing communication as well as re-engaging loyal, existing customers. Whether it be Warcraft Online or Eve Online or CyberPunk today and Destiny or even Minecraft, what brings people back is expansions of the play environment. Literally, it's practically screaming for a facelift in trains. There is only so many runs one can make until you have visited every stations, every run, and every reward. In fact, I've gotten so bored, now I'm thinking of just staking every station and then sitting back and do nothing for 15 days. of course, that's a lot of runs on every re-stake cycle (urrg). Even Trains' devs know they need expansions and new changes, but the time to delivery is far too long, especially for a turn-based blockchain game. There literally hasn't been a serious facelift on the game since it launched. Some will argue well what about this dialogue and what about that add-on? That's not a facelift; those are little cosmetics. You want people to engage properly? Build into your game planning serious expansion at least once every 18 months.
I liked Trains; I thought it was a nice change from the usual blubber of blockchain games out there. However, I'm really fearful it's stuck in a rut now and unable to pull itself back out. I know the crypto winter has depressed things as well, but recessions and similar have never stopped good video-gaming. In fact, they tend to contribute to sales as folks can't do much else but sit around at home on their off time. Here's to hoping the facelift happens soon. Otherwise, Trains is going to just be a bunch of empty rails going nowhere quick.
