Hi - Everyone!
In the spirit of a similar interest list that I was maintaining for the Metaverse Working Group, I have decided to start working on a similar list for my massive ApeCoin Community Engagement proposal.
In case you didn’t yet read my aforementioned proposal, now would be a good time to do so. It’s massive, and contains a lot of supplement data in the follow-up comments.
AIP-487: ApeCoin Community Engagement Platform
Culled from the proposal, below you will find detailed info on the team positions.
TEAM SUMMARY
The ACE project is completely separate from the Ape Foundation and Working Groups. The team is a completely separate entity.
The ACE project is going to be run lean and mean - like an indie dev project.
In addition to using third-party teams where as-needed, the core ACE team will comprise of up to up to 30 people, ramping up as-needed. The team will be split into 4 specialty groups.
Except where absolutely necessary, every member of the team will be engaged on a full-time work-for-hire contract - with a 12-month minimum term (renewable as-needed).
After the job postings go online, the application process will be managed through an online form where details and resume info will be collected. Preference will be given to qualified and experienced ApeCoin DAO community members. If you hold 1 $APE, that means you’re in the DAO - and that makes you eligible.
All individual contractors and teams will be subject to a third-party KYC/KYB background check.
In the interest of time, the Project Director will first hire the Project Manager and Project Asst. Manager, as well as engage third-party studios to commence the ground work for both ApeID and ApeCoin Online Worlds online platform.
All four aspects of this ACE project will be tasked in parallel.
TEAM POSITIONS
| LEADS | MEMBER |
|---|---|
| Project Director | Derek Smart |
| Project Manager | TBD |
| Project Assistant Manager + BizDev | TBD |
| DEV CORE | MEMBER |
|---|---|
| Team Lead | TBD |
| Team Co-Lead | TBD |
| Team Member x 4 | TBD |
| CONTENT CORE | MEMBER |
|---|---|
| Team Lead | TBD |
| Team Co-Lead | TBD |
| Team Member x 4 | TBD |
| COMMUNITY / SOCIAL | MEMBER |
|---|---|
| Team Lead | TBD |
| Team Co-Lead | TBD |
| Team Member x 4 | TBD |
As the ACE proposal is currently going through the DAO proposal process, I have addressed a litany of reasons why I have chosen to go this [voting] route instead of through the Banana Bill, which you can read more about below.
AIP-454: The BANANA Bill: Apes Gotta Eat
Though I am still having behind-the-scenes discussions about the pros and cons of going through the voting process as opposed to the Banana Bill, I have made my reasons (at least the ones that I have chosen to make public) for going the former route known. You can read about that below:
WHY ISN'T THIS PUT THROUGH THE $100M BANANA BILL?
Several reasons. Below are the primary ones:
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I envision it as a decentralized initiative for the ApeCoin community and one in which all can participate, while having a voice throughout the process. And that voice can be expressed in many ways, ranging from being on a team, being an external tester of what is being created, to participating in Tally or Snapshot votes (as part of the ACE portal) for specific features and initiatives, creating prefab asset packs for inclusion and sale in AOW etc. My vision is for this to be a collaborative initiative.
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Many proposals have come through our DAO, and even with the amazing success of ThankApe, our community is still stagnant, lacking cohesion, participation and cooperation befitting an engaged community. As a lifelong gamer and game dev, I know all too well the benefits of an engaged and prosperous community.
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Similarly, any projects going through the Banana Bill are likely to remain behind closed doors until such time as they are unveiled. And even then, they are likely to engage the community differently because those projects are by external teams and with no relationship to the DAO community at large.
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While I am well aware that this proposal is likely to fail at vote, it is one that contains some similarities to my 3-project (two games + DePIN) Web3 portfolio currently targeted on a pre-existing chain. My point being, I’m doing this already anyway - but for a different target audience and chain. And in that regard, it is no different from any middleware or platform that is created for specific target and purpose. For example: In AIP-418, Sequence created the ApeBuilder platform, while the recently passed AIP-433 ApeExpress is a suite of tools for building various initiatives on ApeChain.
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And even if this proposal fails to pass, the ideas presented will remain as a roadmap so that perhaps some ideas presented here can be adopted in some fashion down the road by other teams. e.g. the ApeID is one which I believe is worth creating. But then the question becomes, what utility will it have? -
I had also informed Jordan (Banana Bill) that while I have no plans or intentions of deploying my Web3 portfolio on ApeChain due to timing, risks etc. I would still try to find a way to assist in the efforts to make ApeChain a success - whatever form that takes. And so, the massive scope of this ACE proposal is the culmination of those ideas.
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To me, it’s not relevant if this proposal is funded directly by the DAO or through the Banana Bill because it’s all money from the same treasury. Except, the decision to fund something like this is in the hands of the community voting gauntlet - currently controlled by whales who are likely to kill it anyway.
In the interest of timing and expediency, as I mentioned in the AIP, the project will utilize experienced third-party teams as well as established middleware tech to do most of the heavy lifting on this project. And during the course of the dev members of the community who join and/or engage, will be able to get training on the various systems being built. Specifically on the main core project, ApeCoin Online Worlds which is an always-on, 24-7 live service platform.
More importantly, though these are paid positions, as a live service project, starting from the alpha and right through release, all holders of $APE, automatically community members, by linking a wallet with $APE, are able to play test the environment, the events, UI/UX etc. And in that regard, we’ll also get to put our Discourse Beta Tester custom badge (as per AIP-300) to good use, and which I also expect to use within the AOW as part of the ApeID identity, making it easy to identify such testers within the environment.
ACE isn’t an amateur project. I don’t make those.
While to the layman it may seem like an ambitious and massive project, that’s understandable. But I have never - ever - made a small project. Even as a project with 4 main parts, ACE is no different from any massive game project that myself or others have worked on, and which can take several years and millions of Dollars to make. In fact the DePIN tech that I am planning to use as one of the middleware to power AOW, is derived from tech that I built years ago for a massive project which was never commercially released. And it’s the same tech currently being used to develop my primary Web3 projects being deployed on another platform. It just works.
I am 100% confident that we can build this.
You can read more about the project timelines below.
PROJECT TIMELINES
| PROJECT | TIMELINE |
|---|---|
| ACE Platform Portal | Q4/24 |
| APEID + Rewards System | Q4/24 |
| APECOIN Online Worlds MVP | Q4/24 - Q1/25 |
| APECOIN Online Worlds Alpha | Q2/25 |
| APECOIN Online Worlds Beta | Q3/25 |
| APECOIN Online Worlds Release | TBD |
| AOW Utility Token | TBD |
THIS PROJECT’S DEV LIFE CYCLES
| PHASE | PURPOSE | TESTING |
|---|---|---|
| MVP | Prototyping + Proof Of Concept | Team + Select Testers (small) |
| ALPHA | Most features implemented | Team + Select Testers (large) |
| BETA | Mostly Feature Complete | Team + Select Testers (wide) |
| RELEASE CANDIDATE | Almost Complete | Team + Select Testers (wider) |
| RELEASE | Fully Complete + Deployment Ready | Public |
NOTES:
- As previously mentioned, this is a 4-prong project in which all tasks are done in parallel.
- Dates above are delta from receiving AIP funding.
- No work can be started unless and until the funds are received.
- A final release date is TBD because there are lot of factors that can affect the final launch of project. In fact, it could remain in beta or release candidate for an indefinite period of time.
As you can see, like most projects - it’s going online long after ApeChain mainnet goes live, and which thus far, we have no insight as to what is launching on the chain when it goes live, and whether or not they’re impactful or just immediately forgotten by Sun down. Regardless, as I type this, there’s literally zero hype or noise about ApeChain. And if that’s worrying to me - as it currently is - then it should absolutely be worrying to you. I’ve been doing this for a very - very - long time, and I’ve seen all the trends.
And in case you missed it, you should probably read these:
The point is that we don’t [yet] know what’s coming on ApeChain, when, how - nor what they are.
And we absolutely cannot rely on just Yuga to carry ApeChain. We just can’t. For a chain that’s already behind the curve and late to the party, bold and long-term plays - not short-term gimmicks - are the best path forward. Which is why I designed this ACE project - while not caring about who actually builds it - if not us. But then, why would anyone build something of this scope and cost for ApeChain and not for some other chain that already has traction, community and tech? Whatever answer you come up with leads to one conclusion: our community needs to build this.
Anyway, if you like the project, and are interested in joining the core ACE team, please take a look at the positions above, and show your interest by posting in the comments below or send me a private message on Telegram so that we can get the discussion going. As we will not be putting up an official application page unless and until funding is secured for the project, there is no need to post as much detail as you would a resume. For now, something like this would suffice:
“I am an experienced 2D/3D artist interested in joining the ACE team.”
That said, I have been talking to a few interested community members, and thus far I have added @ZastrowBradley to the core leadership team. You can also get in touch with him on Telegram.
More to come.