Hello friends, I hope you are all well.
Since my last blog post the Zed X rewards formula was released and the points leaderboard went live.
Regardless of whether you are a fan of the rewards calculations or not that painful part of our transition is now complete.
We all know where we stand and we can position our stables for the Zed X evolution accordingly.
With that behind us, if you’re joining me at Zed X then it’s time to start focusing on the future.
This week’s AMA was a welcome step in a forward looking direction and I’m anticipating a lot more of that as the new game takes shape.
The AMA was mostly focused on the Zed X “roll out plan” and “Augments”.
These augments are part of the player agency aspect of the game we have been waiting to learn more about.
In other words we discovered more about the racing side of the game.
In this post I’ll discuss what was mentioned during the last AMA and in Discord after the stream had finished.
Before I dive in though, I first wanted to suggest a new more exciting name for augments.
How about “Strat Packs” ? (strategy packs).
So what do we know about augments so far?
Nick described them as follows “Augments are different items that you can attach to your horse that can provide a benefit while racing”
My understanding is that while breeding is the key to creating a good horse, augments are a strategic element that can improve or enhance your horses performance.
IE, in an evenly matched field the strategy of adding the right augments could give your horse the edge in a race.
It seems augments aren’t essential, if I’m right the more passive players will be happy as a well bred horse is always a well bred horse and it won’t need any augments.
However for players that want to be more active in the game they will be able to analyze and strategize and if they get things right they will be rewarded for it.
To begin with the team are considering 3 types of augments in Zed X.
1) Passive augments.
These will be the most standard/basic type of augment, a small boost to your horse that is easy to understand.
It might just impact the sprint speed, the entire speed or just the starting portion of the race.
This boost will automatically happen in every race.
2) Situational augments.
These will provide a boost or benefit to your horse but they first need to be triggered by certain conditions during a race.
For example your horse may need to be in last place in a race, it may need to be passed by other horses in a race or it may need to hold the lead for 3 seconds before the boost is triggered.
Nick says “Depending on what your horses racing style is you’ll want a very different augment to maximize the output of your horse”.
He also mentioned that the amount of times your augment could trigger in a race can vary as well.
3) Progressive augments.
These augments are triggered by your horses performance over 1 or more races.
For example your horse may need to go top 5 for 3 races in a row to trigger a progressive augment.
Initially I believe each horse will have space/slots for 3 augments, 1 of each type.
Each augment will have 1 feature though the team may expand this range further in the future.
In terms of how we access augments in the game;
It’s unconfirmed at this stage, but likely that they will be available on primary and secondary markets as well as being given out as rewards.
IE we buy from Zed X, we win in Zed X and we can sell/trade with each other.
Looking at what we learnt this week, I imagine augments are going to be a valuable tool if you want to compete at the very top of the game.
Breeding skill will be essential but when the best of the best face off for big money choosing the right augments and understanding what augments your opponent is likely to use could be important.
A game of chess between stables.
Lastly on the subject of augments, it should also be noted that they are a work in progress and the team are looking for feedback and suggestions on triggers and augments the community would like to see.
If you have a great idea for augments head over to Discord and let them know HERE
In other AMA news Nick shared a 5 phase roll out plan for Zed X.
Below are the phases. (We are currently in phase 1)
1) Internal testing.
Phase one is set to be the longest phase on the road to release and as the name suggests it’s based around internal testing and refinement before any type of public release.
2) Alpha phase.
Tentatively scheduled for October/November.
The Alpha phase will bring in the first small batch of players for game testing via a condensed version of Zed X seasons.
Limited spaces via application only.
(Application forms should be released prior to the next AMA)
3) Closed Beta phase.
Tentatively scheduled to take place by the end of the year.
This phase will open up the game to a larger test base.
4) The Open Beta phase.
This will be the first trial of complete Zed X seasons.
Running for either 1 or 2 full length seasons (60 days per season) this test will confirm the game functions perfectly.
5) Open Launch.
The full release of Zed X.
Further to the 5 phase roll out Nick and Caroline mentioned a more detailed public roadmap is in the works.
We’re told such a road map will be a lot easier to release once we first have more game context which is coming from future AMA’s.
There are also some behind the scenes visuals on the way!
(Personally I can’t wait to see what our new horses are going to look like)
Other interesting points from the AMA and Discord.
– Breeding mechanics.
It sounds as though the team have learnt the lessons of overpopulation from legacy Zed and have spent a great deal of time developing a formula that aims to keep the horse population well balanced.
We’ve discovered that every horse in Zed X will be able to breed a few times before it hits a “pre limit”.
Once it hits this limit it will require different tokens to unlock further breed slots.
These are earnt/created by burning other horses which puts in place limiting and deflationary measures.
It’s also been mentioned on Discord that a new breed doesn’t actually happen unless another horse retires first to open up a slot in the race pool.
I found this very interesting as it really ensures the population cannot explode past the amount of race pool spaces available.
Apparently breed auctions and bidding on each stud will remain live until a horse retires at which point the highest bid in the auction barn is settled and a foal is created.
If Zed X is in any way successful this may put quite a bit of upward pressure on the price of new breeds.
Imagine the anticipation of wanting to breed a new foal with these dynamics at play.
This leads me to ponder how many horses may retire from the race pool on any given week?
Perhaps 10%? Perhaps 5%?
This will limit weekly new breeds to the low hundreds at most and makes breeding quite special when compared to our current situation.
– Weekly/seasonal rewards.
On top of increasing their internal token balance from regular racing horses will also be competing for weekly and seasonal rewards.
– Straight tracks.
Initially Zed X horses will be racing on straight tracks.
– Mobile app.
The Zed X app will be a stand alone app available from Google/Apple stores to begin with.
The team are also exploring other avenues to offer Zed X and Zed Picks to the public by other means.
– Zed X economy.
The team are currently working on some visuals to better explain the Zed X in game economy with us.
As discussed by Ryan below:
Lastly, before signing off I wanted to give credit to Nick, Caroline and Ryan for their commitment to the communication side of Zed lately.
Keep up the great work guys!
Well, thanks for reading friends, I hope this blog was useful.
I’ll do my best to try and help keep the community up to date as Zed X evolves.
Full Zed X AMA below.