Utility of Gems
The primary purpose of the Gems is to serve as an in-game currency which players need to spend whenever they want to mint a new asset to the blockchain, to make a primary sale purchase or to vote on important game decisions.
Use Case #1: Gems are needed to mint gaming NFTs
Creating a blockchain asset in Guild of Guardians is a ‘premium’ action which requires Gems.
Examples of in-game activities which involve minting new blockchain assets include:
Merging (combining several heroes of one rarity tier to create one hero in a higher rarity tier)
Crafting (working together with your guild to collect resources to craft tradable items)
Ascension (upgrading a hero to 'add a star' and increase it's level cap)
Whenever Gems are spent to create a new asset, all Gems spent are moved into a Rewards Pool to be distributed back to Gems holders (see Use Case #3 below)
The Gem cost of minting a particular NFT will increase with each NFT minted. This is to encourage the early use of Gems and serves as a mechanism to regulate the supply of assets and avoid the scenario the market being ‘flooded’ with items.
Use Case #2: Gems are needed to buy assets from a primary sale
Whenever a player purchases an asset in a primary sale, 20% of the sale value must be paid for in Gems and sent to a “rewards pool”.
To simplify the user experience, we will likely allow the purchase to occur in a single transaction, and automatically purchase Gems from a DEX and transfer those Gems to the rewards pool on the player’s behalf.
Use Case #3: Gems are distributed back to players via an "Active Staking" Rewards Pool
Gems spent to mint new assets or buy new assets will be sent to the “Rewards Pool”
Gems in the rewards pool will be given away via “active staking”, where players must stake and actively participate in the game to receive rewards. There will be two stages of “active staking” based on implementation timelines and development.
Active Staking Stage 1: Vote + Stake
Gems in the reward pool are distributed to everyone who votes on meaningful game decisions.
The developer will decide what decisions get put to a vote. Examples topics include awarding development grants or changing the reward weighting for player rewards.
Any vote will be considered binding if it passes the prescribed minimum requirements, for example 80% acceptance.
Gems holders must both stake and vote in order to earn rewards, with rewards being proportional to the amount they have staked. Gems may be subject to transfer restrictions.
Active Staking Stage 2: Play + Stake
In the long-term we plan to distribute Gems in the reward pool to everyone who “plays the game” instead of everyone who votes. This structure will be designed to grow and enhance the overall game and economy for all participants.
Gem holders must also stake to receive rewards, with total rewards proportional to the amount of Gems they stake. Gems rewards may be subject to transfer restrictions.
The definition of “plays the game” is intended to require active participation, and for example may include in-game achievements that require 30 minutes of play time per week.
To build a more cooperative community, Gem holders will be able to delegate their “plays the game” work to other players in exchange for sharing a percentage of their Gems rewards. Implementing this change may require passing a community vote.
Use Case #4: Used for Governance and Voting
Our objective for the Gem is to have increasing decentralisation of governance decisions, which means that as the game matures we expect to assign more and more decisions to Gem holders.
Examples include but are not limited to: setting liquidity mining incentives and distribution rates per pool, adjusting marketplace fees for trading, adjusting the Gem cost of purchasing assets, adjusting the player reward rates for different in-game actions, etc
