A land where the sun never sets and the citizens never sleep. It is a place where there are no earthquakes nor wildfires that can destroy your property. It's a place where the citizens go out of their ways to make visitors feel welcomed.
It's a place where players come as visitors and stay as citizens!
It's a place called Upland!
But this article is not about that. It's about the anticipation of the upcoming holidays and why Christmas came early to Upland!
It has been reported that gamers want real-world value in virtual goods obtained in games (Vorhaus Advisors: 63% of gamers want virtual goods with real-world value)
This is after all the reason why play-to-earn is gaining popularity and to some, it's a potential to make a side income and maybe even make enough to live on, especially in developing countries. I'd read somewhere where a family in the Philippines were doing just that but for the life of me, I couldn't find that article. If you know where the news or article, do share it in the comment section.
I digress and let's get back to Upland, specifically New York City in Upland.
Unlike, San Francisco and Fresno, New York City started out without any collections being announced although the collections themselves have already been coded in the EOS Blockchain. These collections were to be announced piecemeal after hitting certain criteria.
On Thursday, 17 December at 10 am PT, an announcement was made
Over the next few days we will be revealing the first 3 NYC collections!
The first NYC collection will be unlocked on Friday at 10am PT.
The second NYC collection will be unlocked on Saturday at 2pm.
The third NYC collection will be unlocked on Sunday at 5pm.
Remember if you have NYC properties on the marketplace, you may want to be cognizant of the timing of the reveals, so you can adjust your asking price in case your property has been impacted by the new information.
Immediately, this announcement has gotten Uplanders buzzing with excitement and speculating on what these collections will be.
You see, the criteria for the collections is that it has to be already SOLD OUT. What this means is that the 3 collections to be announced will be either coming from a SOLD OUT neighborhood or landmark. And these collections can boost the earnings of these properties anywhere between 1.15x to over 3x boosts.
Let's say you have a property that has a minting (i.e. original price & not secondary purchase price) price of 10,000 UPX (UPX is the in-game currency with a value of approximately 1 UPX = USD$1). The normal monthly earnings will be 144 UPX.
And if this property is part of a collection, on top of a one time award, the earnings boosted will be multiplied by a specified factor tied to the collection.
The Collections
1st NYC Collections: Little Italy
This is part of the 'Exclusive Collection' with a one time bonus of 9,500 UPX and a boosted earnings of 2x. You need to own 2 properties in the Little Italy neighborhood to qualify. There are a total of 504 properties in the Little Italy neighborhood.
Using an example of a property with a mint price of 10,000 UPX, then on top of getting the 9,500 UPX reward, your monthly total boosted earnings for 2 properties for a complete collection will be 576 UPX (144 UPX * 2 properties * 2x boosted earnings). I let you calculate the total ROI for this 'investment' since the 9,500 UPX almost cover the cost of one of your property.
This is assuming your mint cost for each property is 10,000 UPX. The mint price for Little Italy ranges from 5,040 UPX with a monthly boosted earning of 145.16 UPX (property address: 185 Lafayette St) to 452,160 UPX with a monthly boosted earning of 13,022.20 UPX (property address: 256 Mulberry St).
2nd NYC Collections: Financial District
This 2nd collection is also part of the 'Exclusive Collection'. However, this one has a one time bonus of 9,900 UPX and a boosted earnings of 2.29x. You'll need to own 3 properties in the Financial District neighborhood to qualify. There are a total of 522 properties in the Financial District neighborhood.
The mint price for Financial District ranges from 2,400 UPX with a monthly boosted earning of 79.14UPX (property address: 22 Maiden Ln) to 1,588,800 UPX with a monthly boosted earning of 52,392.27 UPX (property address: 80 Gold St).
3rd NYC Collections: Last Act
Last Act is an 'Ultra Rare Collection' and the 3rd collection that was unlocked as part of the announcement made on 17 December. This 'Ultra Rare Collection' has a massive one time bonus of 50,000 UPX and a boosted earnings of 2.8x. Like the Financial District Collection, you'll need to own 3 NYC Broadway Theatres to qualify for the Last Act collection. The listings can be found at the New York Theatre Guide. There are only a total of 36 properties that fall into this collection, hence the Ultra-Rare label. Most of these properties are located in the Theater District.
The mint price for this collection starts from 22,500 UPX with a monthly boosted earning of 907.20 UPX (Golden Theater at 251 W 44th St) to 1,246,820 UPX with a monthly boosted earning of 50,271.79 UPX (Radio City Music Hall: 1260 Avenue of the Americas).
The Property Value
For properties that are not a part of the announced collection, the value is dependent on player strategy, perceived value, and also based on speculations.
So, it is possible to find owners selling below the mint price to raise capital and liquidity. Obviously, these under-mint-priced sales are not speculative properties that are perceived to command a higher valuation.
However, for properties that are in a collection neighborhood, there's an assured effect and that is, regardless of whether an owner has enough property to be qualified for a collection, the collection itself will boost the secondary market value.
Secondary Market Value: Little Italy
After these first 3 collections announcement, the minimum markup for a Little Italy property is 320% for 240 Centre St (Mint Price: 216,000 UPX, Sale Price: 690,000 UPX). The next available property for sale has a markup of 438%! This does not include 2 properties for sale in USD (for the 30 owners that are in the Fiat-Out beta testing). One 19,440 UPX property is on sale for USD112 and another 36,000 UPX property for USD263.
Secondary Market Value: Financial District
For the Financial District, properties listed for sale have a markup starting from 325% (132 Nassau St: Mint Price: 60,960 UPX, Sale Price: 198,120 UPX). At the time of writing, there were 5 properties listed between 325% and 400%. After these 5 properties, the markups are from 500% upwards.
Three properties were listed for sale in USD, ranging from USD220 to USD711.
Secondary Market Value: Last Act (Broadway Theatres)
The collection consists of theatres located in 4 different neighborhoods - Hell's Kitchen, Midtown, Lincoln Square, and with the majority of the theatres found in the Theater District.
Unlike the Little Italy & Financial District collections that have a direct impact on the value of properties within those neighborhoods, the 'Last Act Collection' only affects the value of the 36 Broadway Theatres addresses and not the entire neighborhood.
Want to take a guess how much the value of these Ultra-rare properties are in the secondary market? Hang on to your seat. Okay, ready? The lowest markup on listed properties at the time of writing starts at 1,067%! It may or may not sell at this current price but in time, and as the Upland Game gain traction, there will be players who will be willing to spend to complete a collection. After all, the properties are coded in the EOS blockchain and the players have true ownership.
Is this for you?
Well, if you're thinking of making a fast buck, then this is not for you. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Sorry to bring you back to reality. Speaking of reality, this Upland Game is based on real-life addresses. The perceived value and the supply and demand will ultimately determine the price of any property. Yes, just like in real life.
As in real life, it takes money to make money. I'm sure you can conclude from the above examples that the higher valued properties in the collection are making higher earnings. Simply put, USD1 with a multiplier of 3x only gives you USD3, and USD1000 with a multiplier of 3x makes you USD3000.
However, nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. There are inspirational stories that are more an exception than the rule. Read here about one here (One red paper clip). See, the thing is it took him one year to trade up to a house.
What I'm saying is that you can play for free. You can move up fast and possibly get good 'passive' earnings relatively fast with the right strategy and collaborations. Again, this is more an exception than the rule. Has anyone done it in the Upland Game? Yes. Has anyone failed? I'm sure. This is life.
Is there something that can help you move up faster? Yes. If you use a referral link, then you will get an additional 50% UPX on your first purchase of UPX. Believe me, this helps a lot. Though you can use any referral links, I do hope you will consider using mine. And if you contact me through my Twitter link, I'll assist you with the onboarding. Information is power.
Here's my link - https://discover.upland.me/UplandDood. I'm a UCN (Upland Contributor Network) member and Joat at Upland Hub.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Upland.me, the game developer. Any content provided by our bloggers or authors is of their opinion and is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or anyone.