I entered the WAX ecosystem because I'm interested in NFTs and it's one of the best off-ETH options.
https://wax.atomichub.io/market
So to make NFTs you need some WAX (the coin) for RAM. Transactions in this ecosystem charge you for the CPU and Network usage and for the RAM you use. CPU and NET replenish themselves in time and are staked, RAM doesn't and has to be bought. You have some amount of the three gifted by the system at the beginning, but it's just to get you started.
“Ok... where do I get WAX?” Was my next question after setting up my wallet—the default is a cloud wallet provided by the system, which is very powerful. You can access pretty much any part of the wax ecosystem from there.
https://wallet.wax.io/dashboard
I could buy it, or I could play to get it. How cool is that? “Let's play then”, I said.
I looked at the list of games and the one that called my eye was Alien Worlds. It was something many people were talking about, so it was somewhat familiar.
So what's Alien Worlds in a nutshell?
https://play.alienworlds.io/ You are a miner and need to mine something called TLM, which is actually a token in the WAX ecosystem. You also find NFTs in the process from time to time, those can be tools that help you mine more efficiently, or additional stuff (weapons and minions) that will be useful in future stages of the game.
There are different planets to choose from and inside each planet different parcels. Each parcel is own by someone (some are for sale too; they are, you guess it, NFTs), and you pay a percentage of your earnings to the owner of the parcel.
To mine you need tools (again some more NFTs). By default you get a shovel, which doesn't give much TLM and then you can buy other equipment (or, if you get lucky, mine it) using WAX, the main coin of the ecosystem, and mine a lot more per turn. The equipment are also NFTs. I was gifted tools and other NFTs by @TrocProcLock (I recommend that you follow him here on PUBLISH0X and Noise, he is very cool) and one other person I can't remember (if you read this, please let me know and I will add you). Talking with people at Noise, they also directed me to do a combo of the same type to create a cheap but good mining system with three drills. I will add the reference to the video on how to do it at the end. Unfortunately I can't recommend this place for information about Alien Worlds at this time as it's been discouraged by the owners.
So what do you actually have to do once all the choices are made?
Essentially you have to click three times every five minutes. The times can vary depending on the tools and the plot.
It doesn't sound too exciting, does it?
Well, it is once you realize that you get “money” each time you do that. Yes, the TLM that you mine, can be transformed into WAX, the coin I was looking for to mint the NFTs. WAX can also be transformed into other coins or fiat, or use to buy additional NFTs. Alien Worlds' NFTs can be used to increase efficiency, can be sold in the NFT marketplace or can be staked in R-planet for a profit.
Can you get rich doing this?
You could, in 30 years or so? (I'm just wild-guessing, didn't make any numbers for this). I mean, don't quit your J.O.B. yet. It's not an amount that can pay bills. But it does add up and it has some interesting elements attached.
Now, the first TLM that you get will have to go into WAX to reinforce CPU, NET and RAM. The amounts you have by default are not enough to pay for the transactions you make with this whole process if you get excited (each click is a transaction, pretty much), so you might run into problems at the beginning as I did.
My first 2.5 WAX went to CPU/NET and one more went to RAM. From there I didn't need to add much more so far.
The amount that goes to RAM is a payment, but the one that goes to CPU is staking. For that you can claim daily rewards. The amount you claim comes in two different forms, one that is staked automatically and you need to vote, and the other that goes to your liquid WAX.
You control staking, claiming etc, from here:
https://wax.bloks.io/wallet
What to do with the non used NFTs? R-Planet
With the non used NFT's you have three options: hold them, sell them or stake them. I haven't sold any on the marketplace so I'm going to tell you only about R-planet, which is what I do so far.
R-planet is listed in the dapps page of your wallet as a game.
And, I guess, it is a game. I haven't played it yet, so I can't say anything about it. What I did do was staking: https://rplanet.io/staking When you go to the staking page, there are many other games and “stuff” that you can stake and claim Aether as reward, the token for R-Planet. In particular, for example, you have CrytoStache NFTs there, and of course, Alien Worlds'. Alien Worlds NFTs are not too valuable for the system, but they do have value and everything counts. When you stake them you can't use them, so be careful and don't stake pieces that you will need, like your main character and the tools you use.
Aether accumulates when the NFTs are staked and you don't need to claim it or lose it, like it happens with other staked rewards, it just keeps adding up. With Aether you can buy NFT's from R-Planet. That's an option I'm considering but haven't done yet. Or you can trade it into TLM or WAX.
The last piece of the puzzle: Alcor exchange
Alcor is an interesting exchange because you can add your own pairs within certain ecosystems. This
https://wax.alcor.exchange/swap?output=WAX-eosio.token&input=TLM-alien.worlds will take you directly to the pair TLM to WAX. You will need to connect your wallet. Look on the right upper corner.
Playing with the dropdown tabs you will see that Aether-TLM and Aether-WAX are also there.
I'm not sure why, but Alcor doesn't seem to have the wild fluctuation speed of other exchanges, so it makes the choice of making the exchange or not easier. I look at the charts and change it when it's low, and so far I haven't done anything if it's high. But I'm considering trading the pairs: WAX-TLM and TLM-Aether back and forth when I see clear highs and lows and see if I can accumulate WAX that way. The pair WAX-Aether can also be done, but it's a bit more complicated because of the disparity in values.
Wrapping it all together: What would be the daily procedure?
Mine TLM and hopefully NFTs in Alien Worlds every 5 min (or the times of your system).
Once a day...
Go to R-Planet. See if there are more NFTs (you will see them here before than in Alien Worlds, you can also see them in your wallet).
If there are and they are not useful immediately, stake them.
If you have staked tokens, claim the Aether.
Go to Alcor.
Change the Aether into TLM if it's a dip. Keep it as is if not.
Change TLM into WAX if it's a dip. Wait for a better moment if not.
Go to blocks.io
Claim your staked prizes. Choose to stake or not to stake some more. It will depend on what you want to do with your WAX, claiming the staked WAX could have a delay.
If you want to do trading or want to buy NFTs it's better to have liquid WAX, of you don't plan to use it for a while, it's probably better to stake it—always leave some liquid to buy RAM if necessary.
My numbers
I've playing Alien Worlds for a week or so at an easy pace. Here are my numbers:
As you see it's not a get rich fast system if you use it as intended. But it is a very interesting way to learn about crypto, NFTs and trading in a fun and cost effective way.
Well, this is it. Do you play Alien Worlds? What is your experience so far? Any comment, correction, experience is very welcome.
