Building on
the launch of RPG Achievements, and deprecating
GWC Credits, today we are making
INK balances visible to
all registered members. With transactions dating back as far as 2005,
INK is part of a larger vision for RPG and its community of storytellers.
INK is the first step in
a major economic initiative, which aims to create a self-sustaining economy for RPG by creating income opportunities for writers, artists, storytellers, and creators of all sorts. This is the beginning of a long journey, so we need your help — read along and get tuned in!
Viewing Your INK BalanceYour
INK balance is always visible on the top right-hand corner of the RPG interface, and can be clicked to view a history of transactions associated with your account. Transactions with memos often have direct links to the context in which they were created, so don't hesitate to click around and
explore.
Private Assets, Public LedgersINK is a
digital commodity that operates on
a public ledger. This means that all transactions are public, making it easy to verify their correctness. Not unlike
Bitcoin,
INK uses a
peer-to-peer network to secure its transactions using a shared database known as
a blockchain — combined with some clever mathematics, this means
only you can spend your money.
Selling Virtual PropertyAfter
12 years of worldbuilding,
INK allows authors to sell their virtual assets for a currency that empowers them (
INK!) to build even greater worlds. Our first public experiment is in allowing users to sell locations over which they hold sovereignty. All RPG users can create their own virtual worlds and offer portions of them for sale via
the RPG Marketplace.
Tipping & GiftingOne of the features we've been testing in collaboration with
the Beta Testers is
Tipping, which allows you to donate small amounts of
INK to writers in forum threads. While this is only our first use of the all-new Asset system, we will be rolling this feature out to more areas of the site based on your feedback.
You can find an example of the tip button at the bottom of this post... all thanks appreciated! ;)
Bug BountiesAs we're still in the beta testing phase, RPG is keen to find any vulnerabilities in the system before our public launch to a wider audience. As such, we will be making
Bug Bounties available to verified bug reports which identify any previously-unknown incorrect behavior in the
INK system. All verified bug reports will also result in the submitter being awarded
the unique "Bug Hunter" medal (worth 25
INK at the time of writing).
Please submit bug reports to the following email address:
security@roleplaygateway.comWhy a digital currency?By adopting a stable monetary policy, communities like RPG can form cooperative networks which are unilaterally incentivized to preserve the value they secure. For our goals, we're going to use
INK as a medium-of-exchange for the community, allowing content creators to publish and sell their own resources on a peer-to-peer network,
without any trusted third parties. This means you'll have
complete freedom over your money, with
no bank or government controlling your income.
On RPG, the value we're securing is
over two decades of writing, storytelling, and worldbuilding — something we've been stringent about maintaining, through careful backups and diligent maintenance. We'll be starting with this use case, expanding our network to include redundant archives, real-time synchronized copies, and dedicated clients for both the desktop and mobile platforms.
We have an incredibly positive view about the future of digital commerce and cryptofinance in general, and believe that by empowering our users, we can build something worthy of replacing the existing server-based Web. If you're interested in the larger vision, check out
the Fabric Protocol!
Previously:-
What makes a good currency?, 2016
-
What is Bitcoin?, 2016
Next StepsAs a private, member-only currency, we will be making adjustments to
INK as we move towards a public launch including backdating existing Achievements, balancing the
INK rewards, and adding new features that use this new form of asset. Once we've dotted all of
is and crossed all of our
ts, we'll flip the switch and turn this thing on.
We need your feedback, so head over to
the Feedback Forum and make your thoughts known! We're
very excited about the future of digital assets, and now you have your own special part to play in
a global revolution.
Onwards to the edge, RPG!