When you first arrive as a Visitor in Upland, you encounter a diverse range of block explorers cruising across the map. I am Many More. Initially my player name (and now my custom-made block explorer avatar), represented my fascination with gathering real world oddities and reworking discarded objects to create something new. In a digital sense it was more about accumulating crypto but has grown into a passion for collecting many more properties! Both block explorers and properties, amongst other digital commodities, are actually marketable NFTs uniquely minted to each player once purchased or won.
Upland never sleeps
To the newcomer, Upland may well appear like an interactive game of Monopoly, appealing to budding capitalists keen to dominate the digital real estate market, and yet it is so much more. Like the crypto markets, Upland never sleeps. It’s a global Dapp that game players can partake in 24/7, as often and for as long as they choose. As a consequence, the platform can induce highly addictive behavior often with commensurate rewards - don’t tell me I didn’t warn you! More on this in my Part 2 instalment.
What? You mean I have to talk to people?
Perfectly mirroring game play is a dynamic Discord server, populated by the same eclectic, diverse and often gregarious multitude of characters who happen to be real people with generous hearts and sharp minds. Unpacking the community interaction and game play possibilities that arise from participating in the Discord, is a mammoth task best left for my Part 3 instalment. Suffice to say, playing Upland is a rewarding but relatively superficial experience if you don’t take the time to tune in to the buzz on a variety of Discord channels and resources created by awesome contributors to the network. Ask a question and OGs will clamber over each other to answer you as best they can. Heck, they’ll usually offer magnanimous assistance to enable Visitors to graduate to Uplander status and beyond. If Upland were a hand, the community is it's glove.
Growing with the game
This win/win, more-the-merrier attitude was transformational in terms of my online growth. Last October I was a nervous Discord Newbie. Now I have developed a multitude of connections with such a variety of players and feel confident to navigate my way around the platform to find information and collaborate with like-minds. It’s a revelation when you realize that you are growing hand-in-hand with a game. Upland, even in it’s Beta phase has experienced exponential growth in it’s relatively short life. It’s developers continue to astound me with their relentless push toward and even accelerate the pace of improvement, engagement and innovation (see the Roadmap 2021... even aspects of that have been brought forward). Likewise, after such a steep and continuous learning curve, I can hardly recognize the player I once was.
Moving Forward
Just like your block explorer, in Upland you are always moving forward. You miss your daily spawn free treasure hunt, get pipped at the post in a competition or flash-challenge, have a property you desperately covet mint before your very eyes... well guess what? Just like in life, you have to “suck it up” and move on. Endless new possibilities await those who simply dive in, tune in and have a go.
