Note: This is a series of articles detailing the vision and roadmap of the LE7EL network. More articles will follow soon. If you feel you align with the vision, consider to join us in realizing it!
A New Digital Realm
Elon Musk dreams of Mars, but what if our next frontier isn’t in space but within the confines of a digital universe? Something that is more familiar, and relatable — something we are not bound to physically, but can dive in and out of throughout our day. A place where value is added for everyone, connections flourish, and understanding deepens — more humane than anything we’ve ever imagined. Let’s still call this place “the metaverse”, despite the term has been abused and misunderstood.
Many Dimensions
The metaverse isn’t just a concept; it’s a digital universe-in-the-making — a new kind of internet, based on immersive 3D experiences and applications. Think of it this way: ‘metaverses’ form the backbone, while ‘worlds’, like planets, are the places and apps we explore within them — all while using our single identity. These worlds can be games, or any kind of virtual experiences. Numerous metaverses will have their big bang moments, but only a handful will truly flourish due to inherent laws of power. Yet, within these, thousands of worlds will exist, all separate and sovereign, but all intricately interconnected.
The Governance Debate
This new realm won’t work its way till existence without its debates. Some metaverses will bow to corporations, shareholders, and potential censorship, controlling every move you make. There will also be decentralized metaverses, that are nowhere and everywhere at the same time, operating on P2P servers, blockchains, and other Web3 infrastructure.
Enter the LE7EL network.
Stakeholders
First, let’s define the stakeholders of the LE7EL network:
- Players: The adventurers, navigating virtual worlds;
- Creators: The visionaries, creating such worlds;
- Operators: The guardians, operating P2P infrastructure that worlds run on;
- Contributors: The architects, developing the software that all other stakeholders need.
Protocols & Tools
The dark matter of the LE7EL metaverse will long term consist of certain essential network infrastructure (“protocol”) powered by the network’s $L7L token, acting as a payment, incentive and coordination mechanism:
- P2P Server Network that makes any world or app resistant to censorship while being more cost effective to use;
- P2P Blockchain Network that can host all of the network’s Web3 tools and capture fees from their usage;
- P2P Web3 Infrastructure Network consisting of NFTs, DIDs, DAO tooling, marketplaces, tokens and smart contracts that facilitate decentralization, interoperability and sovereign user ownership (read more about our tooling and Polygon grant here);
- P2P Marketplace for efficient exchange and monetization of NFTs, tokens and other tools and assets.
The great thing about open source protocols, is that each problem only needs to be solved once — meaning, you can integrate (or fork) your way towards the goal without needing to develop everything from scratch, and all at once.
On top of this censorship resistant infrastructure, any kind of game engine or SDK can operate (“tools”), such as the ones the network already has integrated with:
- Unreal SDK that creators can use to build any kind of multiplayer experience, eventually with powerful generative AI capabilities;
- Unreal Client that creators can use to publish their experiences to their audience directly from web using deeplinks using their own branded launcher.
In addition to that, any kind of wallet can be used with the network, including the kind of wallet we see as a core necessity for mainstream onboarding:
- Web3 Wallet that let users control their identity and assets without dealing with keys, gas or bridging.
The network does not depend on any certain wallet, game engine or publishing platform, as such it’s resistant against censorship and unfair value extraction from corporations like Apple, Epic Games or Valve. If such control occur, due to the inherent interoperability of the network’s assets, users will be able to migrate with their identity and belongings to other alternatives within or outside of the LE7EL network.
Together, the protocols and tools aim to serve as the fundamental infrastructure for worlds that are:
- Of higher quality; they produce more value for end users;
- Easier to create, by creators or even players;
- Easier to access; jump between worlds and apps in a seamless fashion on any device;
- More cost effective to operate than using e.g. AWS for server hosting
- Resistant to corporate censorship and control;
- Part of the new open financial system that we know as Web3, without sacrificing UX
Small Dedicated Worlds
The LE7EL network will not gain initial traction through a huge game hit being built on top of it, instead it will start off with small dedicated worlds built by independent Creators tailored very specific usecases (or even experiments) within verticals such as indie gaming, art, history, retail, real estate, HR, education and healthcare. After a number of niche usecases have been proven to have their existential rights on top of the LE7EL network, we can expect bigger, more ambitious and more diverse usecases, including bigger game titles, to see their light. The whole point would be to prove that the network is able to act as a scalable, uncorrupted and resilient infrastructure for virtual worlds based on predictable, transparent rules and mechanisms, the same way Bitcoin does for money. The rails for our second dimension of existence should not be controlled by a single corporation or a government, the same way global currency should not.
Connecting the Dots
As the network evolves, portals and virtual assistants will eventually link independent worlds together. In your ordinary life, you engage in many different activities over the course of a day — and the same you will do in the metaverse — all while using your identity and assets. To bring awareness to players about diverse worlds — instead of one entity acting as a centralized marketing hub — creators will buy and sell traffic at their own will, connecting players and worlds together. And as players jump between worlds, they’ll know exactly how they can use their identities and assets in each world.
World entries and in-world purchases of world passes and items are seamless — with no classic Web3 complexities. Players transact with Creators using their cards and off-chain points utilizing fiat-to-crypto gateways under the hood that ensure that the network gets its commission in crypto— and if things like network rewards, sovereign asset ownership and trading are important for either the player or the creator, players can acquire or mint their off-chain assets as NFTs or tokens and use marketplaces that facilitate trading of those.
As the industry still has important challenges to solve when it comes to Web3 UX, we think that for now the default approach should be to reserve complex Web3 operations for the more professional stakeholders such as operators and creators, but keep it as an option for players while keeping them fully informed about their pros and cons.
Economic Incentives
Let’s look at how the network produces and receives value in a sustainable way.
As stated earlier, the network is powered by the $L7L token, acting as a payment, incentive and coordination mechanism.
On the demand side, $L7L is bonded by server and blockchain node operators taking part in the network. Creators pay $L7L fees to the network based on usage of such nodes or transaction commissions on player purchases such as game passes or items (using fiat-to-crypto gateways), depending on the nature of their world and what monetization model they choose. Contributors bond $L7L to stay whitelisted as contributors. In addition to that, any stakeholder that want to receive network rewards, need to lease an on-chain domain with certain yearly network fees paid in $L7L.
On the supply side, all stakeholders are eligible to receive network rewards based on fair and neutral metrics underpinning their on-chain reputation with the network, called “levels”.
These rewards are based on each stakeholder’s $L7L utilization, meaning how much $L7L have been bonded, burned or paid as a result of their activity. These network rewards are funded by the demand side explained above, as well as the yearly inflation that the supply will have until max supply is reached. And over time, these mechanisms will seek to ensure that demand remains continuously larger than the supply. Longer term, the network will consider a more democratic rewards system if it is able to develop an open source algorithm that tracks and rewards non-financial activity.
Governance
Did we say that the network will not be subject to corporation control? You’re right, that’s the whole point. Which means that as a stakeholder, you govern the network with your “level” as a weight.
The goal is to use formal governance only to tune the network’s economic parameters and align the whole LE7EL community on its vision and strategy.
We’re Building Something Good for Humanity
In essence, the metaverse isn’t just another tech buzzword; it’s the portal to our future — a future where we navigate between the tangible and the digital, where our online lives become as enriching, if not more, than our physical ones. And we believe that if we empower creators with the right tools based on fair, transparent, neutral rules and incentives, they will in the end create valuable experiences for you and me.
And as you realize by now, LE7EL’s thesis is that the interconnected “metaverse” or the new internet if you will, sees signs of coming into fruition already, but that the world needs more solid open metaverse initiatives.
But wait! It’s already happening, we’re live and evolving:
LE7EL is in a public beta, with a working product, over 140 worlds published, over 200 paying users and over 4000 quests performed:
Web app: https://le7el.com
Desktop app (PC): https://le7el.com/download/
Join our network as a Player, Creator, Contributor or Operator: https://discord.gg/le7el
Thanks for reading, and again, please consider your participation if you feel you align with our vision.
— The LE7EL team
