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The Vision | REP, Powered by GalaChain

The Vision | REP, Powered by GalaChain

by | Jul 20, 2023 | Gala Games

REP shares its vision for the future of social media, powered by GalaChain

As recently announced in THIS BLOG, REP is coming to GalaChain. It’s already built on a NEAR testnet, and its full features will blow you away once integrated with the max power of Gala Games’ blockchain.

Today, we’re pleased to share REP’s extensive Vision Paper, published as a downloadable PDF through THIS LINK.

We hope this Vision Paper informs our community about the intentions behind REP, as well as the outlined plans for execution of this groundbreaking web3 social network.

The Future of REP on GalaChain

As we build REP on GalaChain and roll it out in the months ahead, our intention is to demonstrate its capabilities by creating Gala Friends, the Gala Games social network you deserve.

We’re incredibly tempted to share all our treasure hunt plans with you in advance, but that would probably spoil the fun, so we’ll try to stay strong… Looking at you, BitBender.

We’ll leave you today with a letter from REP founder Neil Haran, also added as a foreword to the REP Vision Paper. Thanks as always for being part of this community!

Vision Paper Letter

It was back in 2002 when my journey in video game development began. Working with giants like Vivendi, Electronic Arts, and LucasFilm, I contributed to major titles like Simpsons Hit & Run, Hulk, and Scarface. The year 2008 presented an important crossroad in my career — choosing between Blizzard and Zynga. My choice was swayed during an interview with Eric Schiermeyer, now founder and CEO of Gala Games, and I took the Zynga path.

That choice gave me invaluable insight into gamification’s impact, a lesson that would later become instrumental in my blockchain initiatives. But there was a darker side, and by 2010, I had seen enough. With a desire to contribute positively to the gaming world, I launched my own gaming company, focusing on educational games. We brought to life a game called Rawbots which was a game to help kids learn physics, programming and robotics. This venture was intense, thrilling, and exhausting, and eventually, it led me to a new arena — blockchain.

Over the years, my activist side found purpose in the world of blockchain technology. I aimed to create simple, user-friendly interfaces to bring this groundbreaking technology to the masses. The vision? Next-gen social networks. The foundation? Gamification and cooperation.

I’ve always been drawn to the idea of using gamification to inspire positive societal behavior, like the ‘pay it forward’ ethos — an idea that resonated deeply with me. This passion, combined with my commitment to usability, drew me back to collaborating with Eric Schiermeyer. He understood the importance of building interfaces so simple they could be called “stupid simple”, a philosophy we adopted at Zynga.

Alongside these ventures, I’ve been an observer and critic of social media’s monopolistic and exploitative practices. A particular turning point was when Mark Zuckerberg revealed his stark hypocrisy regarding personal data privacy. His cavalier attitude towards our rights motivated me to cut ties with Facebook, a decision I’ve never regretted.

As I see the ongoing war between Twitter and Threads, it is clear to me that the need for a privacy-respecting, censorship-resistant, fully on-chain social network is paramount. A platform where users truly own their data. This belief drives my work with Gala Games.

The gamified social network we’re building will not only connect Gala Games, Gala film & music, and anything NFT related but also provide a seamless experience for users navigating the metaverse. We’re also paving the way for NFT interoperability across games. Imagine being able to find Spider Tanks NFTs not only on Earth, but also in our game Rawbots with its billions of star systems. You could find spider tank weapons on some planets, which could also be integrated as robot parts within Rawbots.

Embarking on this journey with Gala Games is truly exhilarating. We’re dedicated to ensuring that you truly own your digital experience, and we can’t wait to unveil what we’re putting together. Welcome to the future of social media. Welcome to REP.

Neil Haran
Founder and CEO, REP

Vision Paper

Gala Games Throws Immersive SDCC Party, with Demos, Branded Food Trucks and More!

Gala Games Throws Immersive SDCC Party, with Demos, Branded Food Trucks and More!

by | Jul 20, 2023 | Gala Games

The San Diego convention couldn’t possibly fit all this excitement, so we’re renting out the iconic brewery down the street!

This year, Gala Games is throwing a party you won’t forget. From July 20–22, we’re transforming the Mission Brewery Tasting Room at 131 14th Street into a magical immersive experience we call Club Clandestine. It’s a place where SDCC gamer guests in the know can escape the madness for a bit and let their imaginations wander in a world of fun, games, and camaraderie.

The Daytime Party

Our party kicks off on Thursday from 2–6pm PT, and continues on Friday and Saturday from 12–4pm PT. We’re going all-out with mouth-watering tacos from Taco Love, served right out of one of at least two majestic Gala Games Taco Trucks. Picture this: incredible games, delicious tacos, refreshing Gala Games branded brews, and a community of gamers just as passionate as you. Sounds like the perfect party, doesn’t it?

And ice cream! Almost forgot to mention the ice cream!

But it doesn’t stop there. We’re offering party guests a complimentary pack of several NFTs from participating Gala Games, along with exclusive sale prices on certain items. The Club Clandestine party is the hub of all things Gala Games throughout the weekend — a place for relaxation, play, and meeting fellow Gala Gamers. It’s not just a party, it’s the ultimate Gala Games IRL experience, just a quick stroll from the main event.

The Nighttime Party

Gala Gold members are invited to a special VIP party on Friday evening, from 6–11pm at Club Clandestine. You should have already received an email. If you have joined Gold more recently than yesterday and are planning to attend this party, let us know in Discord and we’ll make sure you have the “ticket.”

Got the too-far-from-San Diego blues? Don’t worry, you’ll find plenty of excitement as a Gala Gamer right there at home, with more games to play, more things to do and more prizes to chase.

Everyone at home should check out Thursday’s special on-location episode of Ahead of the Game with BitBender, straight from Club Clandestine at 4pm PT. That’s right during the first day’s open hours, so guests might even have opportunities to appear on the show!

Set a notification for tomorrow’s show:

Ahead of the Game Ep. 09
A special ON LOCATION episode from Club Clandestine😎, an immersive IRL party we created down the street from SDCC…www.youtube.com

The Games

At Gala Games, we’re not just about throwing epic parties; we’re serious about our games too. That’s exactly why relocating to the SDCC neighborhood for the event. With this massive close-by venue, we’ll showcase our incredible AAA games that blend cutting-edge technology and web3 empowerment.

Let’s take a closer look at each of our main showcase titles for this event, and why each of them is so special to us and our community.

Last Expedition

Fans of Last Expedition will be especially excited, because we’ve got an amazing new build for guests to explore. Yep, this is the Unreal 5 version, the same build that you may have seen leaked by our own Jason “BitBender” Brink during one of his weekly streams.

Update Added 7/20/23

The 4th Operator’s license bundle sale just kicked off on July 20th! 1000 Operator’s license bundles are available. Learn more at the blog below:

The 4th Bundle — Last Expedition
Last Expedition Node Operator’s licenses are available once again in limited supply, along with a new Hunter’s Pack…blog.gala.games

This time, in addition to the Operator’s license bundle, the team has also released a new bundle package called the Hunter’s Early Access Pack, which includes an Early Access Token that will soon unlock access to the latest build.

We’re proud of the cutting edge AAA quality that oozes from every play and view of Last Expedition. Others are just as amazed, and we’re excited to join the illustrious lineup of Comic-Con Panels. The panel will delve into the game with a lineup of its creators on Saturday afternoon.

Spider Tanks

Spider Tanks is live and completely free, and if you haven’t played yet, you may be missing out on your next hobby. The pvp tank brawler has arena esports written all over it, and the web3 ownership aspects powered by GalaChain absolutely knock this game out of the park.

Did you know that anyone can start to earn SILK for playing Spider Tanks for free? It’s true. The development team has been working hard to create a sustainable economic system, and it is working. New players can borrow Tanks, while Tank owners can use their Drop Pods to lend out their Tanks, sharing the rewards.

Another incredible ability of GalaChain demonstrated by Spider Tanks is on-chain item upgrades, which allow players the freedom to grind their way to permanently increased stats on their NFT items!

We suggest you all start playing Spider Tanks ASAP, so you can be ready skillswise when all the serious competition arrives. The guests at our SDCC Mission Brewery party will get to experience it for themselves in one of our multiple gaming lounges.

The Walking Dead: Empires

We’re opening up a brand new test build of The Walking Dead: Empires to the entire community throughout Comic-Con. Come, explore the thrilling world of AMC’s The Walking Dead in the post-apocalyptic survival MMO alongside your fellow gamers.

This playtest is live from July 20th-July 23rd, the duration of San Diego Comic-Con. If you really think about it, the folks at home are the real winners here– they’ll have plenty of time to dig in over the three day playtest.

The party will also feature playables of mobile-first games Champions Arena and Eternal Paradox. Sorry, no open community playtests for those this time, but our other mobile titles, Meow Match and Dragon Strike: Puzzle RPG are fully live and playable right now!

Ahead of the Game — On Location

Come hang out with BitBender in person!

Since the regular scheduled weekly show falls right into the first day of our Club Clandestine party at Mission Brewery, and since BitBender will be there in the flesh… We’ll bring you a live on-location show, straight from the party. That way you can see what you’re missing 😂. Seriously though, Jason live streaming from the party is your best chance of getting some killer leaks.

Set a notification for this special 4pm PT Thursday episode at the link below.

Ahead of the Game Ep. 09
A special ON LOCATION episode from Club Clandestine😎, an immersive IRL party we created down the street from SDCC…youtube.com

Specials and Sales

Let’s be honest here. We’re giving Club Clandestine party guests all sorts of swag and opportunities. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of you are missing out.

We can only assume the exclusive insider info will leak naturally when necessary. 😉

When SDCC 2023 starts, so does your Gala Games long weekend of playtest fun.

Rumor has it there will be a discount code going around the convention for 10–50% certain Gala Games items in the store. Hope that code doesn’t get out.