ZedX.
To say I’m shocked would be an understatement.
I expected major changes were coming.
I expected the complete rebuild of the game and I expected that most, if not all bred horses were never going to be part of a rebuilt Zed. (The population is just too big)
But Genesis horses not being part of the new ZedX?
I never saw that coming!
Thinking back to the early days of Zed Run, when I would tune in to every podcast or stream, I recall co-founder “Ebs” discussing the appeal of the game.
He spoke about people getting attached to their horse’s.
They were more than just NFT’s.
I remember my first horse; I still have it.
I remember my wife and I deciding to invest in a breeding pair of Z1’s which cost us a hefty sum.
We went on to purchase a breeding pair of every Genesis horse type and they all still reside in our stable.
I remember the first horse our family stable bred; my daughter named it.
I still have that horse to.
Yes, it’s a sad day for our legacy Zed horses.
Today the hammer dropped, and we learnt that they will soon cease to exist.
All that will remain will be the memories of their time in a digital world that was brought to life by the amazing community I have been so lucky to be a part of.
So, what about the future?
Is the death of our beloved horses the death of Zed?
When contemplating this, I think about what first drew me in to Zed Run.
The dream of owning and managing a stable.
Building blood lines, breeding champions and glory on the track.
And of course, the allure of making money too.
I won’t sugar coat it; today’s news was brutal, I never expected a proverbial bullet in the head of my Z1’s.
BUT there was also renewed hope for the future.
I think we can all agree our game wasn’t scalable in its current form.
I think a clean slate under new leadership is the bold action that was needed to bring back the dream of Zed Run.
Nir clearly has his eyes on the future and the resume to make ZedX a successful reality.
For VHS and for Zed this is the exactly what the doctor ordered.
To be honest I feel Zed is probably positioned for success more so now than it has been in a long time.
BUT, I’m purely speaking about the success of the company VHS and the game ZedX.
If Nir can build a successful game the question for us as legacy players is “how much of that success will we share in?”
AND the answer to that question hangs on how the “reward formula” is calculated.
If you missed the AMA, basically there will be a formula that calculates how current and past players will be compensated with rewards or game assets in ZedX.
It was mentioned today that game engagement ie racing and breeding are key factors in the reward formula.
Guest speakers made a strong case for incorporating other factors such as long-term support of the game and money invested.
I think Nir took that on board.
He spoke about sharing this journey of transition with us and I believe that is exactly how it should be.
There are thousands of holders of legacy Zed horses, and my hope is that they become the “Genesis” community members for Zed X.
With that in mind I would like Nir and the team to consider the following suggestions when creating the rewards formula.
I would also suggest sharing the formula as soon as is possible to show the community that they really are part of the new Zed and are not being left behind.
Genesis Horses: I would urge the team to offer comparable level horses to owners of Genesis horses.
I would scale the rewards from Z1 to Z10.
Bred horses: I would suggest that bred horses receive some reward.
Perhaps tiered using a money earnt scale so that those with the highest earnings (ie value) receive the higher rewards.
Engagement: I would suggest that past and present game engagement is rewarded.
Perhaps a higher weight going to ongoing engagement to incentivize continued playing of the game BUT those that supported the game in the past should also be rewarded providing they still own legacy horses.
I would also consider offering ZedX asset vouchers as prizes in the remaining season finals to further incentivize people to continue playing Zed and to join ZedX.
On top of this I believe paid racing history should far outweigh any free racing history in the reward calculations.
Tool and content creators: I would suggest those that have put major time and effort in to building tools for Zed or created content for Zed should be offered incentives to continue that work in Zed X.
These guys enrich the ecosystem and would be very much missed.
In summing up, we are at a crossroads here.
There is much change ahead.
I’m eager to hear more about things like “spectator rewarded engagement”
Such a thing combined with a mobile app could be the ingredient that scales ZedX and brings with it advertiser funded prize pools.
Perhaps wagering is incorporated into that equation too.
At the center of that product are the stable owners breeding and racing.
Such a thought again takes me back to why I was first drawn to Zed all those years ago.
I’m ready to share this new journey with the team and I’m sure many other stables are too.
As long as we can step from Zed Run into Zed X with a stable that reflects what we built in the previous game. (Or variations of the previous game)
In this regard the importance of the reward formula cannot be understated.
It’s a big challenge but the team must get this right.
I stand by to hear more about the future.
Until then it’s back to the track for me as my horse’s race toward the sunset.
*Since posting this article Zed Run have addressed many of the points I discussed.
You can read their blog regarding the rewards formula and other information CLICK HERE