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Big news for Lunacia as we see the release for Axie Experience Point (AXP) which is a system that allows Axies to level up by using the Axies in games. But what impact might it have on Axie Infinity: Origins and the whole Axie ecosystem in general? Here I make some bold predictions and spectulations based on certain assumptions and what we know about the AXP system.
tldr:
Players may put more focus on a few Axies leading to less Axies turnover and fewer market transactions
Scholars may be recruited to grind AXP and ascended Axies can be sold for profit
Origins could be more fun if more players play with non-optimal ascended Axies compared to facing near-optimal teams most of the time on the Arena
AXP may allow players to develop deeper emotional connections with their Axies which could help with player retention and add to the fun of playing
AXP has huge potential in linking games within the Axie ecosystem but Sky Mavis should be careful if how they manage AXP gains across games
In brief, AXP are experience points that Axies earn by playing games. AXP allows Axies to level up and ascend. Ascension will allow your Axies to upgrade their parts (though parts upgrade has not been implemented yet at the time of writing). More details on AXP can be found in the official Axie blog post.
Currently, most top players play with the newly bred Axies that are optimal for the current meta. New Axies are constantly being bred which can immediately be used on the leaderboard at the highest level. This means most top players play with different sets of Axies across Seasons and Eras. This probably applies to a lot of serious players or even casual players who want to try out new strategies. This means a lot of players buy and sell Axies frequently every Season and Era.
If the AXP parts upgrade system works similarly to that for the Starter Axies, it could be mean that ascended Axies could have a competitive advantage over freshly bred Axies. If that is the case, it would mean that many players will stick with the Axies they ascended and less likely to buy newly bred Axies as it takes time and effort (and will cost AXS) to ascend newly bred Axies. This could potentially lead to a drop in Axie trading in the marketplace.
Assuming that AXP stays on the Axies after being traded, another thing that could happen is that we may see “scholars” coming in / recruited to grind for AXP. Players that are looking for profit can potentially grind AXP and sell the ascended Axies for profit assuming that top players will pay for ascended Axies on the marketplace as the meta shifts.
Given how long it takes to ascend Axies (in the timeframe of months to get to level 30), it is unlikely that many top players will have optimal ascended Axies by the end of the season. I can imagine it will make life even more difficult for pro players who make a living from competing as they have to invest more on buying ascended Axies that are close to optimal.
If it gets to a point where ascended Axies with non-optimal parts are more competitive than freshly bred Axies with optimal parts for a certain meta in Origins, I can imagine that it would make the Arena a lot more diverse as we will see most people using their non-optimal ascended Axies as opposed to now where most players have largely similar Axies for a certain archetype. This should increase the diversity in the Arena which makes it less repetitive and more fun.
While the AXP system may make things more difficult for the pros who compete for prize, I think the AXP system is a great additional for casual players. I personal like the AXP system as it builds stronger connections and bonds between players and their Axies. Before the AXP system, players tend to just buy and/or breed new Axies for the new meta and with their old out-of-meta Axies often sold or left in inventory untouched. It was difficult to build an emotional connection with the Axies you fight with because they are often replaced as the meta shifts.
With the introduction of the AXP system, assuming that ascended Axies are stronger than freshly bred Axies, the behaviour of players will likely change to focussing on ascending a small number of Axies. As time and effort are required to ascend Axies, an emotional connection will form between the players and their Axies as they go through different gameplays together for an extended period of time. Currently the max level is 30, which is projected to take more than 2 months to achieve, it would mean that there is a sense of progress with every game play as you earn AXP with your Axies. This is very important for player engagement. Without the sense of progress, e.g. during off-seasons before the AXP system, players have little incentive to continue playing.
I do hope that we will hear more about the actual effects for Axie ascension in Origins (or other Axie games) soon because gaining AXP has to have some effects for it to be a driving force for players to play. Leveling up your Pokemons makes them stronger and that is why we grind so hard to level up or Pokemons.
For Origins, it would be amazing to see parts upgrade not only be a 1-dimensional increase in power level but with multiple options to upgrade to (becoming something like a simple skill tree, say choose between dealing more damage or applying debuff) or as an additional version of the part that can be interchanged with the original part (e.g. a Shield card upgraded to have the option to be a Heal card which players can choose between the two versions depending on the meta).
My next hope is more controversial but I hope that there is no limit to the max level of Axies. There are certainly a lot of problems that comes with unlimited leveling both from the developer and from the players point of view. Players may feel that the grind is endless which can cause fatigue. For developer, it is not easy to balance the game where leveling is unlimited, e.g. how much more power should an Axie have after a certain level of ascension. The reason for my hope for unlimited leveling is that we need some ways to keep the players engaged with theirs Axies after they reach max level. Perhaps some sorts of unlocking cosmetics as Axies continue to level up might work while keeping game balance unaffected.
It is a dream for many Lunacians to be able to play with their favourite Axies across different games and leveling up as we play. Web3 makes it easier to build such an ecosystem but it is not going to be easy once there are multiple games involved. It will be a big task for Sky Mavis to balance and control the rate of AXP gain across different games to ensure fairness across all games in the ecosystem. Sky Mavis should be careful in how they use AXP as a tool to manipulate player behaviour. While it could be an interesting way to incentivise players to try out new games by boosting AXP gains from those games, it can easily backfire if it provides too much of an unfair disadvantage to other games.
The AXP system is a huge step forward in making Axie a much more fun and engaging gaming ecosystem. While it is still at a very early stage and it currently has not much actual impact on gameplay, the potential is huge and it is down to Sky Mavis to build on the platform that they have and expand the possibilities with the right execution.
If you find this post informative and would like to see more, consider hitting the subscribe button, check out my Youtube channel, and use my lunacian code: maurice for a little support!
Lunacian code: maurice
https://www.youtube.com/@maurice_ccy
https://www.twitch.tv/mauriceccy
Big news for Lunacia as we see the release for Axie Experience Point (AXP) which is a system that allows Axies to level up by using the Axies in games. But what impact might it have on Axie Infinity: Origins and the whole Axie ecosystem in general? Here I make some bold predictions and spectulations based on certain assumptions and what we know about the AXP system.
tldr:
Players may put more focus on a few Axies leading to less Axies turnover and fewer market transactions
Scholars may be recruited to grind AXP and ascended Axies can be sold for profit
Origins could be more fun if more players play with non-optimal ascended Axies compared to facing near-optimal teams most of the time on the Arena
AXP may allow players to develop deeper emotional connections with their Axies which could help with player retention and add to the fun of playing
AXP has huge potential in linking games within the Axie ecosystem but Sky Mavis should be careful if how they manage AXP gains across games
In brief, AXP are experience points that Axies earn by playing games. AXP allows Axies to level up and ascend. Ascension will allow your Axies to upgrade their parts (though parts upgrade has not been implemented yet at the time of writing). More details on AXP can be found in the official Axie blog post.
Currently, most top players play with the newly bred Axies that are optimal for the current meta. New Axies are constantly being bred which can immediately be used on the leaderboard at the highest level. This means most top players play with different sets of Axies across Seasons and Eras. This probably applies to a lot of serious players or even casual players who want to try out new strategies. This means a lot of players buy and sell Axies frequently every Season and Era.
If the AXP parts upgrade system works similarly to that for the Starter Axies, it could be mean that ascended Axies could have a competitive advantage over freshly bred Axies. If that is the case, it would mean that many players will stick with the Axies they ascended and less likely to buy newly bred Axies as it takes time and effort (and will cost AXS) to ascend newly bred Axies. This could potentially lead to a drop in Axie trading in the marketplace.
Assuming that AXP stays on the Axies after being traded, another thing that could happen is that we may see “scholars” coming in / recruited to grind for AXP. Players that are looking for profit can potentially grind AXP and sell the ascended Axies for profit assuming that top players will pay for ascended Axies on the marketplace as the meta shifts.
Given how long it takes to ascend Axies (in the timeframe of months to get to level 30), it is unlikely that many top players will have optimal ascended Axies by the end of the season. I can imagine it will make life even more difficult for pro players who make a living from competing as they have to invest more on buying ascended Axies that are close to optimal.
If it gets to a point where ascended Axies with non-optimal parts are more competitive than freshly bred Axies with optimal parts for a certain meta in Origins, I can imagine that it would make the Arena a lot more diverse as we will see most people using their non-optimal ascended Axies as opposed to now where most players have largely similar Axies for a certain archetype. This should increase the diversity in the Arena which makes it less repetitive and more fun.
While the AXP system may make things more difficult for the pros who compete for prize, I think the AXP system is a great additional for casual players. I personal like the AXP system as it builds stronger connections and bonds between players and their Axies. Before the AXP system, players tend to just buy and/or breed new Axies for the new meta and with their old out-of-meta Axies often sold or left in inventory untouched. It was difficult to build an emotional connection with the Axies you fight with because they are often replaced as the meta shifts.
With the introduction of the AXP system, assuming that ascended Axies are stronger than freshly bred Axies, the behaviour of players will likely change to focussing on ascending a small number of Axies. As time and effort are required to ascend Axies, an emotional connection will form between the players and their Axies as they go through different gameplays together for an extended period of time. Currently the max level is 30, which is projected to take more than 2 months to achieve, it would mean that there is a sense of progress with every game play as you earn AXP with your Axies. This is very important for player engagement. Without the sense of progress, e.g. during off-seasons before the AXP system, players have little incentive to continue playing.
I do hope that we will hear more about the actual effects for Axie ascension in Origins (or other Axie games) soon because gaining AXP has to have some effects for it to be a driving force for players to play. Leveling up your Pokemons makes them stronger and that is why we grind so hard to level up or Pokemons.
For Origins, it would be amazing to see parts upgrade not only be a 1-dimensional increase in power level but with multiple options to upgrade to (becoming something like a simple skill tree, say choose between dealing more damage or applying debuff) or as an additional version of the part that can be interchanged with the original part (e.g. a Shield card upgraded to have the option to be a Heal card which players can choose between the two versions depending on the meta).
My next hope is more controversial but I hope that there is no limit to the max level of Axies. There are certainly a lot of problems that comes with unlimited leveling both from the developer and from the players point of view. Players may feel that the grind is endless which can cause fatigue. For developer, it is not easy to balance the game where leveling is unlimited, e.g. how much more power should an Axie have after a certain level of ascension. The reason for my hope for unlimited leveling is that we need some ways to keep the players engaged with theirs Axies after they reach max level. Perhaps some sorts of unlocking cosmetics as Axies continue to level up might work while keeping game balance unaffected.
It is a dream for many Lunacians to be able to play with their favourite Axies across different games and leveling up as we play. Web3 makes it easier to build such an ecosystem but it is not going to be easy once there are multiple games involved. It will be a big task for Sky Mavis to balance and control the rate of AXP gain across different games to ensure fairness across all games in the ecosystem. Sky Mavis should be careful in how they use AXP as a tool to manipulate player behaviour. While it could be an interesting way to incentivise players to try out new games by boosting AXP gains from those games, it can easily backfire if it provides too much of an unfair disadvantage to other games.
The AXP system is a huge step forward in making Axie a much more fun and engaging gaming ecosystem. While it is still at a very early stage and it currently has not much actual impact on gameplay, the potential is huge and it is down to Sky Mavis to build on the platform that they have and expand the possibilities with the right execution.
If you find this post informative and would like to see more, consider hitting the subscribe button, check out my Youtube channel, and use my lunacian code: maurice for a little support!
Lunacian code: maurice
https://www.youtube.com/@maurice_ccy
https://www.twitch.tv/mauriceccy
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