Text-based AMA sessions

Ask Me Anything sessions conducted by others

Note: Community member | Interviewer | Maxi | Pano

Club Dinero - 06.04.2023

Welcome @kusamaximalist happy to have you here to discuss your project. First let's have you introduce yourself, and your role in Degenerous DAO.

Happy to be here. I'm the founder of DeGenerous, alongside Panopticus (an OG Baghunter). We both loved trading this market, met each other, shared ideas, and conceptualized the idea for DeGenerous in Kenya to try to do something cool :)

Nice, two based founders I must say. So why don't you go ahead and give us an overview of what your project is about and the vision you have for it.

Right, well I feel like your pinned overview is great, but basically we're trying to make the world a better place by giving fundraising / charity utility through NFTs in the digital world, we want to gamify the whole process, let people flex their contributions, get something out of it, etc and thus incentivize it. We're also truly innovating with NFTs as we plan to have a community-controlled story where each NFT can vote, and thus influence its development as well as the general lore's development.

Thats great stuff tbh, got to love a righteous cause like that. Most charity projects have fallen way short in crypto, how do you intend to ensure yours is different?

Nobody has the credibility we do. My partner Pano is the Governor of Lions Club International Foundation - the largest service organization in the world (millions of members, billions of dollars donated...). He made a $100k donation to fund a service trip in Kenya I was a part of and literally watched him hold the keynote speech at the biggest UN compound in the world. We will bring in big partners into this space

Wow. That's genuinely impressive and no small feat. So your project isn't just about charity but also fundraising of other types?

Yup cause they're all bommers haha but Pano managed to bring them to Kenya, we drank together, and convinced them to accept this new world they were not familair at all. It's about charity and gaming, narrative governance, etc. Ideally, we reach a point where our collection is big enough and gaming/metaverse events scalable enough that we can add utility to other collections that plan to fundraise for charity through a decentralized platform we hope to build - where every fundraiser is checked and voted on to be rug-proof :)

Aha ok, makes sense. Love it. So this is all done through NFTs which you've launched and are currently on sale correct?

Yup.

Could you perhaps go into some detail on what these NFTs are and how you intend to gamify the charity fundraising & what other aspects might come into play? Paint a picture for us with an example lets say.

The NFTs are called Inception Arks. Out of these Arks, you'll unlock Potentials - 1k unique avatars which will be completely evolvable. As you participate in gaming events, collect resources, and vote, you'll be able to unlock new traits, and thus new votes, as well as different stotylines. Gamification of charity comes later (step 1 is doing this first $125k donation) but for example an avatar could equip a special gem (cosmetics flexing in front of others) onto them for donating $500.

That's epic, so it's like a NFT that evolves with you as you partake in real life activities surrounding your charity efforts.

Yup.

That's something totally unique that I think hasn't been seen yet in the space, with the majority of NFTs being limited to profile pictures or wearables/equippables in game items and so on. What sort of gaming events do you envision for these NFTs?

The idea is to have a hundred different events really. We've already had a few NFT projects approach us asking us if we want to collaborate to use their gaming event, but the main focus is building events that are tied into the lore in popular Web2 games. So for example could use a game where you have to shoot zombies, and it's a flashback from before the planet died and the avatars fled with their arks (to fight AI overlords etc).

Interesting, curious to see how that plays out.

Btw here's a video on YouTube for anyone interestred - explaining Narrative Governance. The speaker isn't real, it's AI we made use a Kenyan accept to reflect some of our work haha paying attention to details.

I will have to dig in to this video later thanks. Ok so maybe you can tell us, where/how does one go about acquiring one of these NFTs?

So far we've sold 10 neons through auctions (selling for up to $11k) on Polkadot's leading NFT marketplace - Raresama. We will open up our purchase page on Exosama Network for whitelisted addresses tonight, but due to this AMA, we've extended the deadline for manual purchases via Ethereum and Moonbeam until tomorrow. If you wish to participate, you can sign-up using this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe2FCmxMO8H9-Pa9oWR-PkfU3x0PoT2zXt74MEnN3ijnBF_rA/viewform

Excellent thanks.

Thank you for supporting us. The more giga brains (such as a lot of dinero people are) we gather together and connect through this the better :)

No problem. I think that covers my personal questions for you. Let's open it up to the community, and let them throw some questions at you.

Wen DGRS token ser?

Haha no plans for a token right now although the ticker is cool eh. Moonsama didn't have a plan for a token either when it first started ;)

I see some familiar members in the team, mainly Panos and Vani. I know you briefly discussed yourself and Panos but could you tell us more about the wider team members backgrounds?

Right so we have 10 experienced team members. Vani is our lead dev, alongside grandma and sniff, and we have all sorts of positions as we prepare for the future e.g. biz dev Peter Shekleton is the director of BitGo which is one of the biggest companies in crypto, managing dozens if not hundreds of billions of dollars. Everyone on the team has verified experience, including me as I led a platform to 1M users a few years back, and now we've gathered for this greater cause :)

Really excited for this project, are there any other NFT collections that you are going to work with and can you give us some examples of which?

We've had a ton approach us, will focus on that once the sale and distribution are complete. GLMR Apes is a great one that invited us for a gaming event where you play to donate but also saw some cool games on Ethereum.

From how long you have been planning DegenerousDAO and the vision?

Pano and I have had regular calls developing ideas for at least 6 months now. We might use some of those more innovative ideas to lead DeGenerous to. But we've really conceptualized the idea of doing the charity side once I came to Kenya and got the motivation.

How you meet Pano? Who tells the idea to make DeGeneres?

I met him in Kenya. He's the storywriter behind it as he's more experienced there, since he wrote books, managed huge gaming guilds, and made half a million dollars playing a single game in 4 months haha.

Can you dive deeper in what the government progressions will look like? And what influence this has on the collection?

We will have a subpage on our website. Right now, our lead artist is working on the design where it's as if you're in one of these arks / spaceships, and the buttons are different votes... The plan is that in the future you will need to participate in gaming events to earn Imaginarion and thus have access to the votes, and each vote will lead to a completely different vote next time. Also, each week before the vote you'll be able to watch short AI-animated videos, and more so it'll be like a movie.

How you named it as DeGenerous?

DEGEN, GENEROUS = generous degens. That's what we are eh.

How these organized events will be connected to the evolving of the ARKs and Governance participance?

For example there can be an event where all DeMagis have to gather together, and beat Quarchons, then once that's done you as a Quarchon avatar will have the option to vote whether you want to try to betray Quarchons, or fight back immediately, or go into the jungle to try to meet The Architect... Just talking shit but yeah some examples.

Will the lore progress as a group decision governance or will there also be individual lores (for example Potentials)?

Both. Each decision impacts both your own lore and the general lore. So for example if you vote to go into a war, the war won't happen unless it has over 50% of the votes, but you can get a 'fiery' trait showing your character.

Are you planning on having invited artists for collabs in the project?

Yeah we already had some collabs with different artists, always open to explore new things;)

Astar Degens - 28.03.2023

Hello degens of Astar Network! Today we will have a very important guest. Kusamaximalist from @DEGENerous DAO is with us. Welcome @kusamaximalist. It's great to see you here.

We would also like to extend a warm welcome to @neurolanche who will be assisting me in conducting this AMA. Thank you for your help.

Hey hey. Sick to be here with such a great community.

Thank you for coming to share a bit about your personal stories and the history of DegenerousDAO, especially considering the project's significant goal of truly transforming the lives of those who need it most. We would like you to begin by introducing yourselve and sharing a bit about your history in the blockchain universe and DOTSAMA.

Thanks, so for those that don't know me I've been a big Dotsama supporter for years, and started my twitter account in 2021 to help show their vision and tech to the world. I've been promoting all kinds of big projects on Polkadot, including Astar, but my main point in the bear has been Moonsama. I just love the power NFTs can have with social communities, GameFi, etc.

A question of our degen legend @rarara "Founder Panopticus' PFP was photographed in the United Nations speech seat. Who is he?"

Haha let's get him those AMA writing rights so he can answer the Q. I'll just say I personally watched him hold the keynote speech at the UN.

Welcome ser! @Panopticus introduce yourself and the UN photo.

Among many things, I am a motivational speaker and District Governor for Lions International, the worlds largest service organization. I regularly travel all over the world giving speeches about how to better serve humanity through volunteerism. The Lions helped write the NGO charter for the United Nations when it was founded so we work with them regularly. With a $100,000 personal donation, I recently funded a service trip to Kenya that served 25,000 people over the course of 10 days. Maxi came along to check out what Lions do, and got the chance to see the incredible work first hand. It was there that the core ideas behind this project were formed after he saw me give a presentation as the keynote speaker at the United Nations there.

And that wasn't just one of the big 4 UN compounds in the world, it was THE biggest haha was pretty cool seeing it all. Lots of inspirational work.

Taking the opportunity, we would also like to delve deeper into the story and the driving factors that led you to establish DegenerousDAO. Could you please share with us the key moments, experiences, or inspirations that motivated you to create this organization?

I never liked donating money to charity (only items, volunteering hours) because I don't know where it's going really, I know at least some of it will fund some white collar salaries. But, I've been pretty close with Pano for the past 12 months, we've had many calls discussing numerous innovative ideas (some of which we'll incorporate with our gaming and storytelling), and I was following his work with Lions. He convinced me to come to Kenya with him and that's where we conceptualized the idea as I saw it's a truly unique charity foundation where 100% of the funds are given directly to people in need, since logistical costs are being covered by membership fees.

On the NFT side of things, I personally believe that there hasn’t ever truly been a project that utilizes lore and story possibilities to the fullest extent of what the technology could allow. I’m a big fan of the old BioWare RPGs where you could make a decision in a game that would shape the future of not just the story but your character itself. I wanted to be able to create a world and a project that we could do that with - and that was the Genesis for the concept of narrative governance that we are developing with this project. We, as human beings, are influence by every decision we’ve ever made. It makes us who we are. Why can’t our NFTs do the same as well?

You know that blockchain has been used for different purposes since its existence. How did you come up with the idea of ​​moving charities to the blockchain? What do you aim for with the Degenerous Dao? In short, what is the Degenerous Dao? Is it an Nft project? Or is it more?

Charity is one of the best usecases for blockchain technology in my opinion. I've spent the past yeatsdeveloping ideas including many more Web3 inclusive models for other industries (besides a Web2 platform I led to 1M users) as I think we're far from the potential we could reach. However, I've reject lucrative deals to work on this since in my opinion it can make the biggest sustainable change. You can read in detail as to how blockchain x charity make sense here - https://degenerousdao.com/motivation. We want to build a big platform, making social good NFTs where people care about their characters progress and flex their contributions in multiple games and metaverses we're working on. DeGenerous is much more than a simple NFT project. The main collection is Potentials which will be unlocked out of the Inception Arks we are minting but we want to expand on it. They will govern and be able to attend an international service trip we will be funding and organizing TOGETHER.

As maxi is typing a practical response to this question, I wanted to take a moment to give a shout out to Donnie Big Bags - and the Raresama foundation that he’s put together for the Moonsama ecosystem. I’ve worked in charities and non profits my entire life, but it was through that ecosystem that I got the chance to see what was truly possible in action. Donnie funded a dog rescue clinic in Thailand and it was inspirational to see the combination of degenerate Baghunters and the chance to make a difference in this world. That act of generosity helped plant the seed for what was possible. They just raised another $100,000 for the Kenyan wildlife trust with their Wildsama release. The Exosama network is quickly become THE go to place for the collaboration between charities and the blockchain.

Sorry if I'm a slow writer maybe we can talk on the next AMA haha I really wanna work with these vibrant communities such as yours and connect them in a common digital world. Maybe Pano can go on about what we plan to do with the NFT progression, Narrative Governance, and the innovative stuff we wanna do on the NFT-side?

In a bear run where most of NFT projects fail and sometimes gone into oblivion, how will your project stand the test of times?

We will stand the test of times by constantly building with innovative models. NFT projects fail when they can't keep the fun constant. Imagine if you'd have to follow an AI story, talk with chatbots, follow a movie (Story Nodes with AI-animated short videos), and vote every single week, besides participating in game events every week to collect & burn Imaginarion to be able to progress in the story, influence the lore, and try to beat the rest... Just a glimpse of what we're doing...

What are evolving NFTs? Could you explain the idea?

One of the flaws that projects run into is that there is such a long gap between the time that is needed to truly develop utility and when people actually mint the NFTs. As soon as you mint - the chorus of “Wen Wen Wen” begins. Since we’re hitting the ground running and doing something new with Narrative governance - your NFT comes first in an Inception Ark. it is a ship that contains the being that will become your Potential. Every week you will get the chance to participate in Story Node events that are a part of a community governed choose your own adventure style story called the Dischordian Saga. Every choice you make will be helping to influence the evolution of the traits your Potential possesses. Over the course of the first chapter of the story, you will be making decisions that add traits to your NFT causing it to evolve. When the art reveal happens, and your true potential is unlocked - it will have been shaped by the decisions you made along the way…and have traits and abilities and even knowledge…that are unique to your experiences.

Here’s a video that explains Narrative Governance https://youtu.be/GMGSSpqEE_A. Fun fact: This isn't real. It's an AI ambassador with a Kenyan accent reflecting some of our work. We really love our details haha.

As you know, funds in foundations are managed with a transparent management approach. How will you manage the money you collect after the Mint? What kind of transparent understanding do you have? Even though I trust you, there are too many people who don't know you. I would appreciate it if you could let us know how to manage this process. Not everyone sees eye to eye when it comes to charitable work, and causes. How will the DAO address these conflicts? How are charities vetted?

Thank god we're partnered with the largest service organization in the world (millions of members, billions of dollars donated) giving us credibility. Pano and I literally convinced the head of the organization (in-person when we were in Kenya) to start working on NFTs and crypto which was huge because they're all boomers lol. Lions show exactly where every single cent went and our DAO votes where the money goes. Then they can come on the service trip IRL and see it for themselves.

That’s the beautiful thing about the blockchain - everything is transparent. As far as the charity side works - it’s why we are working with Lions International. They have an impeccable record. They have 1.4 million members in 210 countries in the world. The donation we will be making will allow us to specify where every dollar goes as a part of an international service trip.

It's all vetted as Lions have dozens of thousands of clubs all over the world and we will work with these locals to make sure it all goes smoothly.

We are working with locals on the ground who are determining what the actual needs are. The worst thing you can do is Philanthropic Colonialism. Have outsiders try and determine what the needs of a community are. They will identify what their needs are - and we will then vote what to fund on that trip. That’s a video from the most recent trip we did - https://youtu.be/DT1rT2Xocs4.

As someone who really had a hard time as a child, what you did made me emotional. Thank you. And Our Degens is asking me. There is no date on the roadmap on your website. At what point on the roadmap are you currently?

Inception arks have been created on Raresama. We are currently doing the auctions for the 10 Neyons which are the rarest and most powerful in the collection. There was no team allocation for those - even we have to bid on them. They are being auctioned off one per day. They have 10x governance power, and 10x in game power. Once we finish that - mint happens. So we are on step 3 of the roadmap essentially.

We're currently auctioning off 10 neons on Raresama -https://raresama.com/nft/2109/0x1acb10dbd319da52d941dfec478f1aa2d118d7f7/5. First 5 went for aboout $5k each. Meanwhile, we're finishing up the whitelist and regular nft purchases ($175 each, should be finished in the next 10 days). Then, we can start. https://youtu.be/xvspASqYIQA

In the same direction, what can DegenerousDAO holders expect in the short, medium, and long term? Could you please share some insights into your plans, milestones, and goals for the project at each of these stages?

Short term - access to narrative governance and the ability to participate in the Dischordian Saga to evolve your NFT. Mid term - Unlocking your potential and beginning phase 2 of the Saga which will include some metaverse gaming experiences. Long term - the sky’s not even the limit because the moon has footprints on it.

When is mint date?

We will open up the mint any day now, maybe even tomorrow and it'll go on for a few days so everyone whitelisted has a chance. Then, sometime next week we will do a public sale with the little NFTs we should have left to create some chaos and try to break the platform.

We would like to express our immense gratitude to @kusamaximalist @Panopticus for coming to our Discord and presenting a project like DegenerousDAO. And @neurolanche to help me, and TY to all degens who will send questions.

Thanks for having us!

Thank you very much for having us! Hopefully we build good stuff together. And hope everyone had fun.