What is Upland? It’s a game, a Metaverse, a place that you can own virtual properties based on real addresses. Well, this article is not about what Upland is. You’ll probably find plenty of these articles from other writer’s in conjunction with the UplandPublish0x writing contest.
This is an invitation from the author into a day of his life in the Upland Metaverse.
A typical day in Upland
Before I begin, let me show you a typical day in Upland. Depending on how active you are, you may check into the Metaverse a few times a day to collect earnings, do some trades, and maybe purchase some properties. You may also head to the Upland Discord to get news, announcements, and updates from the Upland team. If you have time, then it’s likely spent building rapport with other players in the various Upland Discord channels. It is also here that you negotiate trades, and speculates on properties and collections. New players often find good help and invaluable tips from veteran players in these channels too.
Some days are more engaging than others as there are Flash Challenges, In-game contests with UPX the in-game currency to be won. Other days, there are Auctions for properties & NFTs, limited editions NFTs to be won or bought.
The busiest days are when there are contests involving communities of players, such as the recently concluded Neighborhood wars. From my experience, the busiest day is when a collection is announced, especially if there are still un-minted properties that fit into the announced collection. There will be a spike in the volume where players try to purchase to complete the collection and hence enabling them higher earnings from the properties.
Reality Check: One Man’s Meat…
But let me stop you here before you get all excited and then discover that this was not what you like. If you are the typical Type A person and nothing but a First-Person Shoot-‘em-up can satiate your need for action, then this may not be the right game for you. You are better off sticking to shoot-‘em-up games. To you, Upland will be a snail-paced, watching the paint dry game. However, to others like me, it’s heaven-sent because I don’t like to be rushed and get the feeling of being pushed into subway trains so to speak. But that's just me. What I'm trying to say is that for now, it may not be fast enough for you. But if you stick around long enough, and the furiously fast car race is around the city is launched...well, that is another story and the good thing is that in a beta stage, your voice is heard on how the game progresses.
In this article, you get invited into the life of UplandDood on one of his days participating in an official Upland event organized by members of the Upland community. This is a historical first.
Let’s get into it.
SF Movie Tour: The Invitation & Registration
On February 2nd, I received a notice that there will be a San Francisco Movie Tour, hosted by Upland Nights! Registration for the tour was from 8th – 11th February. The tour itself started at 5.30 pm PT on 11th February, one hour after registration closed.
I registered on the first day of registration and waited eagerly for the tour. As I have made New York my home base, I’ll need to travel to San Francisco to participate in this Movie Tour.
SF Movie Tour: Flight to San Francisco
I’d decided to travel a day earlier so on 10th February; I headed to JFK airport to catch my flight to San Francisco. In the Upland Metaverse, the flight from New York to San Francisco takes around 40 minutes. Yes, it’s fast. Such are the perks in Upland. I’ll share with you the mechanics of getting your tickets and on a flight at the end of the day when we fly back to New York. So do stick around till the end.
Once I arrived in San Francisco, I let my Block Explorer (a floating representation of the UplandDood in the Upland Metaverse) roam around San Francisco while I get back to IRL and wait for the tour to start.
Welcome to the SF Movie Tour
IRL, it was a busy day on 11th February so I joined the tour a little late. By the time I started, there were no less than 50 who’d already started before me. I stopped counting the numbers after 50. Last I checked there were around 300 or so who took part in the tour.
Altogether, there were 9 stops in this SF Movie Tour. The Tour started at 2640 Steiner St. Do you recognize this address? It was made famous by a Robin Williams movie. This property in the Upland Metaverse is owned by MRMONOPOLY and he has listed it for sale at 2,500,000 UPX (equivalent to USD2,500). Yes, the first stop was the location of the house for the movie Mrs. Doubtfire.
The second stop was 999 California St, a filming location in the 1968 movie, Bullit. Do read the description of the stop below. This virtual piece of real estate is owned by BRETGERBER. It’s listed for sale at 590,000 UPX (USD590 equivalent)
I’d say that if we haven’t heard of the next movie, the 1971’s Dirty Harry, then we have been living in a cave. A famous scene in the movie was shot at 555 California St. In the Upland Metaverse, this property is owned by THANKMELATER.
The fourth stop was 447 Battery St. for the movie Joy Luck Club. I’ll let you read the in-game tour details on the significance of this address.
Moving on with the movie tour, I stopped at 23rd 7th Avenue. This location was chosen to represent the Star Fleet Headquarters in the movie - Star Trek Into Darkness. This virtual address in Upland is owned by AUSTINEDDY.
I had now completed more than half the tour. I’ll let the in-game tour descriptions complete the remaining 4 stops in the tour as seen in the following images.
6th Stop: BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (Address: 15 Stone St. Owned by AGOODCUPPA)
7th Stop: INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (Address: 921 Fulton St. Owned by GAWBIE)
8th Stop: 48 HOURS (Address: 870 Market St. Owned by KENT)
9th Stop: ZODIAC (Address: 3487 Sacramento St. Owned by PHOENIXTAT)
This last stop concluded the SF Movie Tour by informing me that in the next few days, I’ll receive a limited edition film-themed block explorer which will be converted into an NFT in time to come.
SF Movie Tour: NFT, UPX & Spark Rewards for participating
At each stop of the tour, there was a treasure chest filled with UPX for me to collect. The treasure chests that I opened gave out UPX in the range of 50 UPX to 400 UPX. I was also fortunate enough to encounter a pinata filled with 4,800 UPX! Only 10% of the participants get this. All in all, I netted a total of 6,600 UPX!
This is on top of the limited edition Movie Block Explorer and 0.5 Spark drops that I get for participating. This Spark is a utility used for building on the property once the feature is launched.
Flight Back to New York
After the tour, I didn’t hang around in San Francisco as I miss New York. Off to the Airport where I go. Headed to San Francisco Airport’s Terminal 1, selected my destination, bought the ticket, and got on board the designated plane. The plane taxied on the runway, took off, and slowly climbed ... 1000, 2000, 3000 until it reached the cruising altitude of around 10000 feet. From there it was a nice 42 minutes and 40 seconds flight back to New York!
Motivation to Play: UplandDood’s View
In my opinion, there are as many reasons for playing the game as they are players. Most are in it for the long haul, buying properties to fit into a collection and earning additional income from the collection.
I do the same but I also derive satisfaction by learning about the city, its neighborhoods, and culture. I also buy properties that are not in any specific collection because I like the property or that it has an interesting history behind it. I’m not the only one doing this. I know of others who buy the virtual property of their old home.
I’m happy to say that I own the virtual address of Grant’s Tomb in New York City and also two of Andy Warhol’s apartments. I also owned the address where the modern Santa Claus was born! My point is that not many games present such an opportunity to its player. Ultimately, you decide if this is an idle game or not by your own action. I can tell you this much, I'd spent hundreds of hours doing property research on New York. Though I live nowhere near New York, I probably know as much as if not more about New York than an average New Yorker.
Thank you for joining me on this tour. I hope you had as much fun as I did. Now you can see why UplandDood lives full time in the Metaverse.
Do look me up if you ever decide to visit the Upland Metaverse. I’m in New York most of the time but I’m reachable on Twitter (@UplandDood).
If you like the sound of Upland, do sign up using this contest link and get 6000 UPX to start with.
Alternatively, do consider using discover.upland.me/UplandDood so that you can get an additional 50% UPX on your first purchase. This goes a long way in assisting you to gain some traction in the game if done right. I’ll be rewarded for referring you too. You are under no obligation to use my link. I’m just happy you spent the time to share my experience.
If you’re wondering if it is possible to play this game as a “Free-to-Play” game, wonder no more. It is possible. Also as a participant for this UplandPublish0x contest, Heruvim78 had written an article sharing how it is possible to do so. Read it here. Another participant, Minima had written an easy-to-follow basic introduction to the Upland Metaverse.
Additional Upland Articles by UplandDood
I’d written a few other articles on Upland. You can read them at your leisure:
- Upland: My Journey into a Metaverse
- Christmas Came Early: Close to 70,000 UPX bonus & up to 2.8x earnings
- Diamond District Collection: 19,750 UPX one-time bonus + 2.68 earning boost
- Wall St Collection: 50,000 UPX one-time award + 2.8x earning boost
- Upland Game NYC Collection Speculation
- The 10 Richest Uplanders in 2020
