Crafting
Benefits and Use Cases
Feature Overview
Web3-enabled crafting can be leveraged to expand and optimize monetization opportunities while maintaining the traditional functionality and experience of a Web2 crafting system.
The crafting module allows seamless crafting of any combination of regular virtual items and NFT virtual items. The module can be used to create either a typical crafting system or an upgrade system - meaning games do not have to use convoluted web3 flows to allow players to craft or upgrade NFTs in-game.
Key Benefits
NFT & Regular Virtual Items: Players can combine NFTs and regular virtual items to craft unique NFTs, expanding monetization opportunities and engagement.
Upgradeable: The crafting system allows for upgrading non-consumable items, enhancing player progression and customization.
Flexible Crafting System: Upgrade, Breed, Craft, Fuse - the crafting module does it all. Developers can implement custom recipes and crafting mechanics to suit their game's design and monetization strategy.
Use Cases
Crafting & upgrade mechanics in games vary based on genre. For instance, in a fantasy RPG, players may gather rare materials to craft armour and weapons. In a simulation game players would likely use resources to upgrade buildings and improve production. Theming and flavour create unique experiences for players but the underlying functionality utilized behind the scenes is the same.
Monetization Strategies
In free-to-play games, recipes for extremely powerful items are often balanced so players must invest significant time or spend to acquire a particular ingredient.
For example, some crafting recipes could require an NFT that is a paid purchase, while the other recipe component is earned through regular gameplay. Once the player has the necessary ingredients, they simply craft a new NFT in-game like any other regular virtual item.
This approach increases both engagement and monetization as players collect the earnable recipe component and spend to acquire the premium recipe component. The method by which players acquire the free recipe ingredients can be specifically chosen to incentivize particular areas of the game. If a product goal is to increase ad-based revenue, recipe ingredients could be added as rewards for watching a certain number of ads.
Customizing NFTs via Crafting
Early Web3 games have had significant restrictions for players interacting with NFT game items - often the only way for a player to modify an NFT was to use it to "breed" a new NFT (essentially crafting with some randomization based on the 2 recipe ingredients, or "parents") or to "reveal" or "evolve" an NFT to a predetermined secondary form. These technical restrictions resulted in shallow gameplay systems compared to existing Web2 games.
Ready's crafting module allows players to interact with NFTs like regular game items. No more arbitrary restrictions caused by Web3 tech limitations!
Below are some examples of how the crafting module can be used for NFT weapon customization & upgrades in a first-person shooter.
Permanent Upgrade: An NFT pistol can be upgraded into different final versions based on the utilized parts, like a scoped pistol or a pistol featuring an under-barrel grenade launcher. This approach would be more likely used in FPS titles that also lean towards the RPG genre.
Ad Hoc Customization: Players can swap out different scopes, magazines, etc. for their NFT weapons. This approach can be seen in top-grossing titles like COD Mobile.
Cosmetic Customization: NFT Weapons can be customized with various skins that modify the appearance without altering the item stats.
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