Yesterday I did my first thread looking at my evolved, named, Gen 1 @poetslost.



Today I'm doing another🧵 going through all of my unnamed poets!  Let's get into it... ↓

#6154

I very nearly named this one - I loved the colours, the piercing eyes and the lips drawn together.

The new Gen 1 version is just something else, though.  The eyes stare into your soul, and the colours are incredible.  I'm a fan.

#6161

I find it really interesting that, whilst the Gen 0 version is very, very clearly looking forward, the new Gen 1 version is looking elsewhere.

The white patterns, and tree-branch shapes to the left of the new image are really interesting to me.

#6162

The initial Gen 0 version gave me teenage girl vibes, whilst the Gen 1 version is more of a sophisticated lady.

With improved, ornate spectacles, and a rounded visage - this is definitely an upgrade over the Gen 0 version, in my opinion!

#6164

I'm stunned by the simplicity of this one.  The Gen 1 version demonstrates further vibrance and detail, whilst remaining elegant and uncluttered.

I'm surprised by the clear colour contrast on the cheeks, however.  Where has that come from?  What does it signify?#

#6931

What was once blind, and unseeing, has opened its eyes to the world.

The dark, tangled hair of the original Gen 0 version has been replaced with cables and tubes and coloured cheeks, similar to #6164.

Is there a connection there?  I wonder.

#6932

I find the change in this one so, so interesting.  I loved the texture of the original Gen 0 version; the brush strokes and what seemed to be paint-splatters near his mouth.

The new version is much smoother, more finished. The clear curve of his forehead intrigues me!

#23453

This has got to be one of my favourite transformations.  The original Gen 0 version, in my head, was almost a crew member of The Seafarer.

But the Gen 1 version is just so different, and so incredible.  I loved the curved lines on the face, the baby blue augmentations...

#23454

Whilst Gen 0 blended into the background, becoming part of the darkness, the Gen 1 version of this poet is clearly contrasted, gaining shape, colour and emotion.

Again, we see those signature cheek-pads, albeit these ones are different in shape, almost suspended.  👀

#23456

Similar to #6161, I love how the Gen 1 version transforms the previously empty, white space into what seems to be some kind of pearlescent material, with detailed engravings.

The cybernetic augmentations fit so well with this one, but is she mid-way through assembly?!

#23463

This.  This has got to be one of my favourite transformations.

The former Gen 0 version, whilst interesting, doesn't have much about her.  Eyes closed.  Mouth closed.  Details unclear.

The Gen 1 version has character, and that surpised look is EVERYTHING.  I ❤️ it.

#23476

When I look at the Gen 1 version of this poet, I feel like we've caught him mid-build.

A robot being constructed to look human, steampunk cybernetics tweaking his expression and building the layers of his skin.  I wonder, how will the finished product look?

And last, but not least, #23477.

There's a very clear difference in expression here.  The Gen 0 version displays warmth, and a smile.

The Gen 1 version?  Not so much. He stares into the distance, past you and towards something more important.  What is it, I wonder?

I hope you've enjoyed this run-down of my various poets, and their transformations!  Please do feel free to comment with your own thoughts / interpretations re. any of the updates; I'd love to hear them!

Thanks again, @muratpak, and thanks @poetslost community! <3

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/opt1m3/03DEiX9

Lost Poets - Gen:1 - The Unnamed Poets

The more I look at these evolved Lost Poets (@poetslost), the more I love them.

Some look better than their originals.  For others, I prefer the OG look.

I thought it worth doing a 🧵  or two going through some of mine.  In this one, I'll look at my named poets!

THE SEAFARER

It'd be rude not to start with The Seafarer.  I recently ran a vote and 53% preferred the original, but it was close!

Me?  I like both, but the OG look will always be The Seafarer in my heart.  It was the spark and inspiration for his poem!


AWAKENED

Moving on to Awakened, my dear origin.  I'd written Awakened starting with the somewhat contorted face of my Gen 0 Origin ("mine twisted countenance"!).

That said, I absolutely adore the new version.  I love the augmented left eye!

MEDUSA

What can I say?  I'm in love with the Gen-1 Medusa.  Her hair has taken on a steampunk vibe, with slivering cables running throughout it, and seemingly an ornate headdress behind.  Incredible.

Those deep red lips threaten to entice and ensnare anyone who looks at her!

BREAD ON HEAD

Bread on head was created as a bit of a joke, bearing a large beige piece of bread on his head, and the words "its fashion sir".

I feel like Gen-1 has really embraced those words, turning his bread into a well-formed pancake which moulds across his head.    😅😆

BURAIZU HOWAITO DORAGAN

The deep blue eyes of my Gen-0 poet for this one captivated me, and inspired his nerdy nod to the "Blue Eyes White Dragon" of Yu-Gi-Oh fame.

Those sea-blue eyes have been replaced in the Gen-1, and his face is rounder.  I love both but prefer the OG!

FARMER TED

With a hat like that, how could he be anything *but* a farmer, eh?  He has retained that look with the updated Gen-1 version, and everything is just that bit cleaner.

I really enjoy the additional details - the augmentations, the texture n the hat, the gold teeth.

LA FEMME DANGEREUSE

With a bit of a wink and a smouldering gaze, "La Femme Dangereuse" was a natural name for this poet.

The Gen-1 version takes that to another level, with a piercing stare and a sophisticated air.  I'm really loving the transformation for this particular poet!

JOYBOY

Anyone who watches One Piece will get the reference here...hopefully.

Joyboy's Gen-0 look had curly hair and an infectious (though toothy?!) smile!  The Gen-1 update is different, but I love the colours and circuitry.  An android, through and through!

THE CRAFTY SCHOLAR

With his bushy moustache and a cheeky grin, The Crafty Scholar originally gave me Shakespeare vibes - apt for a collection called Lost Poets!

The Gen-1 update is certainly more refined: he appears less cheeky and more serious, but still extremely scholarly!

THE SILENCED

Last but not least is "The Silenced".  His lips drawn together:  I decided to give this poet a name, but decided *not* to have him use his words.

I love the transformation.  He's giving me Dracula vibes, with dark, searching eyes, a black cape and...a horn?!  🦇

I hope you enjoyed this little run-down of my named Poets!  I'm continuing to enjoy watching this collection develop, and intrigued by the twists and turns that we'll see as it continues!

Thank you, @muratpak, and thank you, @poetslost community! <3

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/opt1m3/IMPt27O

Lost Poets - Gen:1 - The Named Poets

I thought I'd write a thread on how you can FIND a new NFT mint's CONTRACT ADDRESS before mint.

I've briefly discussed this in some of my other guides, but figured a short and sweet thread on this alone might be useful.  

Let's jump in! 🧵 ↓ 

  In order to find a contract, the first thing you'll need to know is what it'll be called.  That's usually the hardest part, but most contracts will reflect the name of the relevant NFT project.

Once you know that, you can *search* Etherscan for a contract with that name.

  How do you do that?  Let's go through it step-by-step.  First you'll want to get to Etherscan's dedicated page for the type of token you're looking for.  

Most NFTs will be ERC721, so:

(1) Go to EtherScan
(2) Hover over "Tokens"
(3) Click ERC721 Top Tokens

 Once you're on that page, you can helpfully see a list of all ERC721 tokens, sorted by TX volume over the last 24 hours. 

From here, you'll want to click the little spyglass, which opens a search bar, as shown below.

 Once you're there, you'll want to try combinations of the NFT name you're looking for.  Insert your search term and click "Find".

I usually start wide - so if, for example, I was looking for "GoblinGrlz" - I might just search "Goblin".

 Once you've done that, you'll be presented with a list of all contracts that match that term.  The crucial thing is that they're sorted by MOST RECENT.

 Now, you have to do a bit of digging.  There'll often be a number of similarly named contracts, and there might even be multiple contracts which have the name you're looking for.  

Be cautious of scam contracts, deployed by scammers deliberately trying to trick people.

  This is where you have to do a bit of due diligence.  At this point, I will usually check out the contract, by (1) clicking into the relevant token, and then (2) clicking the contract address.

You need to make yourself comfortable that you're looking at the right contract.

 How do you do that?  I tend to:

- look for signs in the contract that it has been authored by a known developer;

- look at the person who deployed the contract, and see if there's any link to the project; and

- check the time of deployment

 In the example above, I was 99% sure that I had found the correct @goblingrlzwtf contract because:

- the contract referenced NFTDoyler, who I knew was the developer for the contract; and

- it was deployed within about half an hour of the proposed mint time

 Ultimately, you need to do enough due diligence to make yourself happy that there's no risk in using the contract.  That'll be for you to assess in each case.

Most contracts are deployed very close to the drop time, unless there's been, for example, a prior WL mint.

 There's probably more I could go into on this, but hopefully that's enough to help you identify contracts ahead of a public mint, whilst providing some key things to think about when doing so!

Let me know if you have any questions! Likes / RTs all appreciated <3

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/opt1m3/paEyMSz

Public Mint Toolkit:  Finding the Contract Address

WarKittens ( @0xWarKittens) is a fairly new project that I've been keeping an eye on.  I have 10 of them.

It's led by two well-known members of the @AnonymiceNFT community, and it could just turn into one of the most interesting on-chain games we've seen.

A small🧵 , below (↓)

As a quick summary, there's 9500 kittens in total, built for war.

⭐ WL minters minted at 0.077 ETH (max 1 per WL, up to 2) on 20/04/2022.

⭐ The remainder were minted by way of a public sale at 0.088 ETH on 21/04/2022.

Stats from NFT Nerds below, as at the time of posting.

So what makes these kittens special?  In my eyes, a few things:

(1) They're all on-chain.  
(2) The art is top-tier - even low rarities look like 1/1s.
(3) The PvP mechanic allows you to steal traits from others.

Let's consider these in turn...

⛓️ ON-CHAIN ⛓️ 

The art on these beauties is entirely on-chain.  

Why is that important?  

Because most NFTs simply link to an image hosted elsewhere, whether on a centralised server, or something like IPFS or Arweave.  If that image is removed, you're not left with much.

With WarKittens, however, the art is built into your token.  How does this work?  

Check it out for yourself:

(1) Go to the contract on EtherScan (https://etherscan.io/address/0xc4771c27fb631ff6046845d06561bf20ef753dab#code)

(2) Click "Read Contract"

(3) Go to tokenURI

(4) Put in a token ID

(5) Click "Query"

You'll see a whole string of letters and numbers.  This is the entire kitten's metadata encoded in base64.

How do you read this? The easiest way is to just paste it directly into your browser's address bar, and it should convert this into your metadata.

If you then copy everything in quotation marks after "image:" and paste *that* directly into your browser's address bar, you'll then be presented with your little war-mongering kitten!

As all of this is built into the token directly, your WarKitten will be around as long as the ETH network is in existence.

Permanence is important.

🎨 ART 🎨 

Now ok, I get that taste in art is entirely subjective.  But these are some of the nicest looking, fully on-chain, NFTs that I've seen.

The colours are vibrant, the traits work well together, and some of the backgrounds are epic!  

Crucially, they're also cute AF.

Each of the pieces are rendered as 64 x 64 px pixel art.

Across the whole collection, there's more than 360+ on-chain traits, making the whole collection incredibly diverse.

I was surprised upon reveal to learn that some of the WarKittens above (the red one?!) were not actually 1/1s.  

In fact, there are no 1/1s in WarKittens.  And this is important because one of the key mechanics is the ability to STEAL any trait from another kitten...

⚔️ PVP MECHANICS ⚔️ 

Let's move onto that, since (as I see it), it's one of the most exciting features of the whole project.

The UI for the battle mechanic can all be found here:
https://warkittens.xyz/public#/

So the basic idea is that your kitten can either attack and defend.  

⚔️ If it's in "attack", it can steal others' traits, but it can also have its own traits stolen.

🛡️ If it's in "defend", your traits are safe!  But your NFT may become less "rare" as others seek new traits.

How does attacking work? 

(1) You choose a kitten to attack.
(2) You target one of its traits.

📈↑ - If you target a rarer trait than yours (or one that's equal), you have a ~25% success rate.

📉↓ - If you target a more common trait than yours, you have a ~40% success rate.

If you're successful in your attack, you SWAP traits with the NFT that you're targeting.  

So you can dynamically affect the rarity of other people's NFTs (provided they're in attack mode).

There's a few different cooldowns to be aware of, after you attempt to steal a trait.

⌛  You cannot attempt another attach for 5 minutes.

⌛  You cannot go into Defence mode for 20 minutes.

I think this is going to get really fun.  

I suspect we'll see the "rarest" kitties subject to many, many battles as people try to steal their traits in pursuit of their "perfect" kitten.

We're already seeing guilds forming with a pact not to attack each other.

There's no hard or fast rules as to how to play the game, so much of this will be left to the community, and it'll be fascinating to see how this all develops.

Will we see groups seeking their "grail" kittens, working together to steal traits, and then combine them?  

Will we see pacts formed, and traitors surfacing, as people race to create their perfect cocktail of traits?  It could get messy, and I'm here for it. 

And again, this all takes place on-chain.  There's even the possibility for the team to implement "spoils" to reward winners.

What's my strategy?  I won't give too much away, but I've got 10 WarKittens in total, and 3 with traits that I *really, really* like.

I'll probably be defending those 3 at the outset, and will use the remainder to get a bit of a feel for the warfront within the first few days!

I hope this has generally been useful as a little overview of the project, and some of its key features.

If you're interested in checking out the collection, you can find it on OpenSea here:

https://opensea.io/collection/warkittens

Disclaimer:  Please note that the purpose of this thread is to go through why I am - personally - excited about this project, and none of this should be taken as investment advice!

If you are tempted to get involved, please do make sure to do, and rely on, your own research.

See you all on the battlefield, WarKittens!  ❤️ 

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/opt1m3/twXWFvf5sRUA