NFT projects will only succeed by building compelling worlds

NFT Projects: So what makes a good story-driven NFT project? Follow the next generation of storytellers into Web3 and you will discover the future of entertainment, writing producer and the Web3 day Bryce Anderson.

The NFT storytelling is here. Can you hear the meta shift?

NFT Projects: Looking for the Next Big Thing

From the moment I bought Bored Apes in April 2021, I have been waiting for the NFT storyteller revolution. As a film manager, I have spent the last 11 years reading hundreds of scripts, books and articles in search of The Next Thing. The next big multi-platform series like Pokémon, Star Wars or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Believe me when I tell you: It’s only a matter of time before a giant IP is launched from within Web3.

NFTs are special. Beneath the bad press and scams and silly images of animals, there is a fundamental organizing technology that is changing how people interact. Right now, NFTs are used for art, collectibles and community projects. Digital tokens will eventually become the invisible back end of countless tedious bureaucratic processes. But the greatest innovation of Web3, its disruptive promise, is that it allows us to easily formalize relationships that, for the history of the world, have been merely accidental.

NFT Projects: The Evolution of Fandom

Fandoms and fan communities have been around for years. They coalesce around something after it is created. An author writes a book, a director makes a movie, and those who like it get together so they can talk about it. Fandoms are great. They are funny. They build community.

But at the end of the day, fans are just avid consumers. Even when they are the primary marketing tool for a product, even when they contribute directly to a product’s success, the relationship between an entity and its fans only goes one way. They don’t share the credit. They do not share the income. And they do not have a defined path to contribute meaningfully.

NFTs flip this script and work backwards. Thousands of people can organize around an idea, promote an experience, and then participate in the product’s success. They don’t need to start a company. They don’t need to know everyone involved. And they just have to buy a token and dive in. A franchise will be built from content created by its own fanbase because that fanbase now has a way to make money itself.

This is the promise of NFTs. This is the storytelling revolution.

NFT Projects: Building Story Universes

The next evolution of Web3 will add complexity to what we have seen so far. The NFT projects that dominated the 2021 cycle tended to be light on history. This is not to dismiss their power as parts of branding. But as a film producer, mere branding is not enough. It’s hard to turn a single image into a viable piece of global, long-lasting IP.

The new generation of projects, emerging now and over the next few months, are in pursuit of a higher goal: the Universe of History.

Community building and world building are connected. It’s a stroke of luck we have as humans. Inside jokes and slang become shared stories and history, and eventually the basis of entire cultures. In Web3, creators must give their communities enough specificity to attract fans, and enough license for those fans to create more than the original vision. It’s like playing Dungeons & Dragons on a massive scale.

So, what makes a good story-driven NFT project? Here are some key features to look for and some questions to ask when evaluating a project:

1) It knows the difference between lore and narrative

History is a broad term. Conceptually, the entire story is divided into two parts: narrative and lore.

Lore is the structure of the world and culture. Narrative is a specific sequence of events that follows specific characters. Lore is the foundation and narrative is the house.

Lore has obvious long-term value in Web3. It is the essence of branding, and with strong, fully realized knowledge, fans will be inspired to contribute their own narratives to a Web3 project.

But very few Web3 projects attempt to tell. This is too bad, because narrative stories are the most effective way to introduce lore and set the rules for a story world. Narratives are also better at entertaining and recruiting audiences. It’s a big blind spot, and an opportunity for projects hoping to compete in media creation. Narrative draws people in, and good lore and narrative support each other.

The most successful NFT projects will build compelling, intricate, inspiring worlds that inspire their users to contribute narratives within the framework. They will provide the sandbox and invite users to build the sandcastles.

2) The world has a unique organizational concept

The basic organizing principle of any story universe is what makes it unique. It also usually makes for an interesting conflict. All too often, creators mistake genre for concept. A collection of beautifully illustrated elves and dwarves is a genre. A series of powerful rings that bind all people in Middle Earth is a concept. We have seen many web3 projects embrace specific genres, but very few with deeper conceptual development. This is changing.

3) The world contains multiple characters with different, compelling perspectives

Often, NFT projects build an entire collection around a single character. But a character is only one perspective on the world they live in. While they can be interesting, one character is not enough to carry an entire story universe.

Story universes that struggle to define compelling characters probably struggle with the concept. If your basic organizing principle is interesting – the characters that exist within that paradigm will be inherently interesting. You can check if your world is interesting by discarding all the characters you’ve already thought of and inventing new characters to tell stories about instead. If the world is still interesting, you’re on the right track.

4) If the project is successful, will this team know how to execute it?

Creating content is easy. Creating good content is hard. Dozens of NFT projects claim to make movies, TV or video games. What sets this project apart? Who are the founders? What experience do they have? Would you trust them with creative differences and million dollar budgets? Great artwork can come from anywhere, but it usually comes from people who know what they’re doing.

5) Does the team exclusively use NFT sales to fund their project?

Web3 presents creatives with exciting new ways to access capital to pursue their creative projects. This is great, but sometimes creators get blinded by the numbers and make less than healthy decisions. Traditional financial models still exist. Ask if a team is pursuing Web3 just to fund their project, or if Web3 offers other benefits that make it the best fit for their project.

6) Do they share the IP?

The NFT storytelling revolution exposes a gaping hole in US copyright law. Current systems do not take into account how users and creators in Web3 want to use and act on their content. Many projects are experimenting with different methods to work creatively within the existing system, and none of these methods have been tested in court.

You should read the terms and conditions of any project you wish to join. Some creators will choose to use their fans to launch their personal project, and others will share their IP to start a community project. Make sure you understand the terms before jumping in. More importantly, ensure that creators proactively consider their stance on copyright and licensing, as these details will have major effects on projects in the long term.

7) Do you like it? Does that surprise you?

The best judge of content is your gut. Don’t dedicate your time and energy to something that doesn’t make you happy or keep you interested. The best stories hook you by the navel and leave. They choose you and won’t let go.

NFT projects: The future of entertainment is collaborative

With every project we support, we’re looking to build the future of entertainment. Collaborate with fans to take stories beyond their traditional boundaries. And looking at ways to reward fan loyalty in previously impossible ways.

Web3 is already full of creative projects that tell compelling stories. I expect it will only increase as creatives from other industries realize the opportunities in this nascent space and embrace them. The future of entertainment is not about telling new stories to people — it’s about telling new stories with human beings.

About the author

Bryce Anderson is Production Manager at Clubhouse Pictures and Project Manager for Omega Runner, a soon-to-be-launched Web3 world-building project.

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