A glimpse of virtual land in Cornucopias' Cardano Metaverse

Whether in the real world or one of the many emerging Cardano metaverses, land is the single most desirable asset anyone can own. The connection between human beings and land is ancient and powerful. 

This is why games like Magic the Gathering or Civilization rely on complex land (Mana/Terrain) mechanics to fuel the games’ forward progression and determine the winners.

Beautiful landscapes have inspired countless generations of artists and thrill-seekers alike. When human beings are not fighting over land, they are helping to cultivate it. Land serves as the foundation upon which our global economy is built, enabling food production, commerce, manufacturing, and supply chain logistics. 

Beautiful landscapes abound in Cornucopias' Cardano metaverse.

Effectively, land is essential to any pursuit that requires a place to gather or a space to craft or conduct business. Anyone who understands how to build success recognizes no surer route than real estate. 

That is… until the advent of virtual assets within the Metaverse as land parcel NFTs. Projects across all blockchain ecosystems have readily adopted NFT land sale models because they can be an incredible way to fund growth, and land NFTs are loaded with use cases for the holder. 

As the adoption of blockchain games and the Metaverse progresses, the necessity of NFT land sales will become increasingly evident in this space.

According to the 2021 Dapp Industry Report: “The price on average for virtual lands in The Sandbox, one of the essential metaverse players, surged almost 500% from the end of October. In November, virtual lands on The Sandbox were traded for $14,800 on average, a significant growth from October’s $2,500 average.”

The Sandbox isn’t the only metaverse project to see its virtual land offerings sell for astounding prices. The Dapp Industry Report states that in 2021, the Fashion Street Estate in Decentraland sold for $2.42 million (618,000 MANA) while a Genesis Plot from Axie Infinity sold for $2.33 million (550 ETH)!

Unfortunately, and without mentioning any names, other blockchains are prone to shutting down completely, have ridiculously high transaction fees that ruin the user’s experience, or have been hacked. These factors can make land acquisition in any given metaverse a difficult feat to accomplish. 

Enter CNFT land parcels in the collective Cardano Metaverse.

The Cardano blockchain is uniquely suited to meet the demands of Metaverse residents.

The Cornucopias metaverse is being built on Cardano, which is, in the words of Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, “the most advanced blockchain on Earth.” During a recent interview on Mornings with Maria, Charles Hoskinson’s, Cardano’s founder, explained why the Cardano blockchain is uniquely suited to meet the growing financial demands of our emergent and increasingly globalized cryptocurrency economy:

“In 2013, I helped co-found Ethereum, and there we had smart contracts. Suddenly we could do crowd sales, NFTs, DEXs, and all these things that you see today that are very exciting. But the problem with those technologies is that they don’t really scale. 

So when you start adding lots of uses, and you want to have a truly global system with millions, and eventually billions [of users] to solve real financial problems — whether it be microfinance in Africa, remittances in El Salvador, or be it global trade or ESG compliance — you just simply don’t have the technology to do that at the scale of millions to billions of people.

So what I did in 2015 is I took a step back and said, ‘Alright. Let’s start a company and do first principles research.’ We opened up labs everywhere: one in Tokyo, at Tokyo Tech, one at the University of Wyoming, another at the University of Edinburgh, and one at Athens… because I like the food… and we wrote 135 papers, mostly peer-reviewed.

It's true.

Then we built out the scientific backend, the scientific layer of the industry. We took those papers and transformed them into high-assurance code, the same type of code that you use for jets and rockets, code that can not fail. And we created a protocol called CARDANO. 

We launched it in 2017, it’s been up since then, and we now have three and a half million users all across the world, from Ethiopia, and Burundi to Kenya, the United States, and Japan.”

- Charles Hoskinson, Mornings with Maria Interview, 05/03/2022

The Cardano blockchain has been designed as a feasible response to the cryptocurrency trilemma: security vs. decentralization vs. scalability. The Cardano blockchain is built on peer-reviewed high-assurance code, making it secure, if not tamper-proof. 

It is highly decentralized across thousands of staking pools, with users evenly distributed. Finally, the adaptability and stability of the Ouroboros protocol allows Cardano to scale into the future.

For these reasons and many more, the Cardano blockchain is uniquely suited to provide the decentralized infrastructure powering Cornucopias’ metaverse and all our upcoming land sales. 

Whereas other blockchains run the risk of going down for extended periods or are keen to slam users with prohibitively high transaction fees, Cardano metaverses have no such barriers to entry. 

Gamers will be free to securely and comfortably explore the virtual landscape of Cornucopias’ Cardano metaverse while engaging in the day-to-day activities available within the various themed zones.

Land, what is it good for? Absolutely everything in Cornucopias Cardano Metaverse.

Virtual land CNFTs are one of the most enticing aspects of Cornucopias’ Cardano metaverse. Plots acquired through land sales will allow owners to customize their gaming experiences while incentivizing imagination in a creative fusion of gaming and decentralized finance. 

Being a landowner on any metaverse comes with a repertoire of privileges and opportunities that regular metaverse gamers do not have access to.

Land NFTs unlock several monetization aspects within a metaverse game by facilitating a wide variety of virtual entrepreneurship opportunities. Like natural land, Cardano metaverse land within Cornucopias’ game will enable players to build their own homes, participate in an exciting metaverse economy, and much more. In the real world, land is a valuable source of materials. In the metaverse, land endows owners have exclusive access to in-game tokens, resources, and governance features. 

While the final details of what is doable with Cornucopias’ land CNFTs are still being developed, now is an excellent time to examine what land ownership in Cornucopias’ Cardano metaverse entails.

Once fully released, Cornucopias Cardano metaverse will consist of 12 Themed Zones housed within immense domes silently suspended in a vast, digital sky by advanced technology. 

Each Themed Zone is composed of a number of Land Sectors, which can be further divided into a preset number of Districts. Cornucopias’ first land sale will focus on Distract Land plots which will be available in one of three Themed Zones: the Life on the Farm Zone, the Wild West Zone, and the Eastern Zone. (NOTE: Wild West Zone, and Eastern Zone will not be playable in the first game release).

Cornucopias' first land mint will feature spacious District Land plots in Sector 1.

Districts are the main community-driven hubs of Cornucopias’ Cardano metaverse, where players will be able to establish a residence and socialize with other Cornucopians. 

District land plots are where all the early action will be: you’ll be able to trade your wares, quest for new materials, and craft unique equipment NFTs to use while adventuring. Furthermore, players who own a plot of District Land will be granted District Community Membership, which will enable enhanced play-to-earn opportunities within the budding District economies. 

For instance, District Land plot owners can demonstrate their dedication to the community by completing certain tasks and building residential properties which other players can rent. District Landowners will provide a valuable service to the community by building digital real estate within Cornucopias’ Cardano metaverse. 

Players who do not own District Land will be limited to how much they can play-to-earn. However, players who rent a room in a District Property owned by another player will receive official District Community Membership and thus enable all the play-to-earn opportunities within the District economy.

District Landowners can build workshops on their plots and provide a valuable service to the community.

Residential properties can be upgraded over time using an in-game currency. Upgraded residential properties will allow the owner to house more tenants, and thus collect more rents while at the same time providing an invaluable service for the community. Naturally, District Land plot owners will not be limited solely to residential properties. 

Landowners will have the option to build Merchant shops where they can conduct business, like selling commodities to buyers in need of a specific resource. Landowners will also be able to build Workshops where players from all across Cornucopias’ Cardano metaverse will be able to craft or repair their in-game assets. 

Additionally, once a District Land plot is properly built out, owners will have the option to create a farm and invite other players to tend the land and participate in Cornucopias’ metaverse economy. In short, District Landowners will be the small business owners and digital job creators of Cornucopias’ Cardano metaverse!

The opportunities that will be made possible by digital real-estate within Cornucopias’ Cardano metaverse are endless. This is just a quick glimpse at what could await District Land plot owners in the near future. COPIWatch will bring you updates as these details become solidified.

Actual game image of land in Cornucopias' Cardano metaverse.

Final Note

Any metaverse game worth its weight comes with a land sale. Land NFTs have been all the rage in the crypto world since 2021, when the NFT craze first took hold of the internet. Flash forward a year later, and everyone from hardcore blockchain nerds to residents new to the metaverse is still pining over the chance to scoop up some land. 

Cornucopians will soon have an opportunity to do the same. In future editions of COPIWatch, we’ll take a closer look at this subject as the community prepares for its first land sale.

Thank you for reading…