The grand Change

[Jamie Bondason]

Server costs remain a significant challenge, and the original game closed due to sustainability concerns. To ensure longevity, we need a model that supports Smallverse over the long term.

Bare in mind that the original game also incurred costs relating to physical real estate (renting/maintaining office space/utilities/etc.) and competitive wages for an entire team in a country where the minimum wage has constantly been among the most generous in the world, New Zealand. Whilst I agree that server costs are a concerned for most online services, I assume office costs aren't a concern for the SV team, and also assume that most of the upkeep of the game is done on a volunteer basis, with only a few people actually receiving any financial reimbursement for their work on the game, so two big drains on revenue are already eliminated. Therefore, it's not particularly worrisome, I think, at this point, that the game will suddenly see a massive financial downfall, as long as server costs don't outweigh the revenue currently generated by the existing packages on offer. So I'm not entirely sure if a gigantic overhaul is needed or warranted, especially one in which player's effectively become an asset for the game to exploit*, as opposed to the game working to create the best experience for the players.

*I say exploit as a lot of the proposal is based on players taking some sort of role in the upkeep and future of the game, where the game's survival becomes more of a chore and overlooks any enjoyment they may get out of the game as a hobby, which may actually cost the game players in the long-term and could drive the game "out of business" faster than the current model.

Sure, this small verse isn't perfect, the game has a few bugs, technologically it's not really advanced much beyond its original 2008-2018 run but there are lots of "Rewritten" versions of games that are enjoying long prosperity on a basis of nostalgia, keeping the charm of the original game, while adding periodic updates to keep things fresh and players engaged. I don't experience many bugs if at all, especially since the game has gone public, and would surmise that lag and the like are more down to the player's set-up as opposed to huge issues with the game.

TLDR - I'm just not sure a model where turning a hobby (playing the game) into a job (making money, renting out RAM space, NFTs, etc.) is all that effective, especially since the original game saw very few of its paid workers engage with the game in a meaningful way. When the hobby becomes a job, you run the risk of turning your player base away from the game which would be the real financial catastrophe for Smallverse in its current iteration.

[Johny Caddy]

676d97deab67a41edd4d17fd @Jamie Bondason, thank you for a genuinely well-articulated and respectful response. This is exactly the caliber of discussion this community needs, and you raise some very valid points.
You are completely right that the lack of corporate overhead (like the old NZ offices) reduces the immediate financial strain. However, relying heavily on a volunteer basis is actually a project's biggest long-term vulnerability. Passion is a powerful engine, but volunteers inevitably face burnout. Real life, families, and bills eventually take priority. To ensure SmallVerse survives and evolves for decades, these developers deserve to be compensated for their thousands of hours of hard work. A self-sustaining Web3 economy turns a fragile volunteer project into a stable, funded studio.

Regarding the valid fear of turning a hobby into a "chore" or exploiting players: this is a crucial point. My proposal is the exact opposite of exploitation. Right now, players sink hundreds of dollars into a game with a 100% loss rate. That is a sunk cost.
By integrating Web3, we aren't turning playing into a "job", we are turning players from mere consumers into Stakeholders.

Imagine if highly valuable collectibles or Premium Virtual Spaces (Houses) acted as active nodes in the economy. If you own a premium space and host events, the smart contract automatically rewards you with a small percentage of the economy's volume generated in your room. If you hold a rare "Genesis" collectible, it passively generates a small yield of $VERSE over time. Or simply, if you acquire a rare collectible and its value appreciates over the years, you finally have the true freedom to sell it on the open market for liquid $VERSE, rewarding your foresight.
It is 100% optional and passive. Nobody is forced to participate. If a player just wants to decorate their room and chat using classic systems, their experience remains completely untouched. But for the veterans who invest massive amounts of time and capital, this system finally gives them a return on their passion.

I don't want to change the nostalgic soul of this game. I just want to build a financial fortress around it, so the servers don't suddenly go dark when the volunteers can no longer afford to work for free. 🤝

[Ligeia Tepes]

Yes Johny , I lagged when there were like 200 players trying to get into a room to get their gift from santa and everyone had on their wears Some lag is normal in any game. However I rarely ever lag, yes I lagged that one time lol . I have good internet and a good gaming computer and I do fine 99% of the time. If they are adding something and that causes us to lag for a short while that's not the end of the world .I don't want to host events in my spaces for real life money. That's not why I am here and that is not why I joined SW. You are trying to change this game to be how you want it, instead of playing it for how it already is. If you are that passionate about this proposal then why not make a game like that elsewhere, I find it really interesting why someone would come into a game and then right away want to change the game. Who even does that? When you first made this post you hadn't even been here a month and was already trying to change things. I think the dev's are doing fine and Im sure the game will improve given time, but hopefully none of this crypto stuff because if so many people will leave.

[Johny Caddy]

683588266a17025b6251fbae Ligeia is becoming quite clear that your primary goal is simply to contradict me, considering you’ve shifted your excuses from "crypto pollutes" to telling me to "go make my own game." But let’s address the reality you are trying so hard to ignore.

First, you just admitted the server choked when a mere 200 players were trying to get into a room for an event. We all know rooms are capped at 20 people, meaning the server couldn't even handle basic instancing for a couple hundred concurrent users without lagging. In 2026, that is a critical infrastructure failure. You are turning a blind eye to the daily reality of this game: players constantly typing "I need to refresh," avatars randomly poofing, missions freezing midway, and people complaining about these exact issues across the forums.

You ask why I want to fix this game so soon. Here is a basic rule of business: you fix the roof when the sun is shining, not when the storm has already hit. You claim the game is doing fine, yet the community practically throws a festival every time one single new player joins, when a healthy virtual world should be welcoming dozens of new players every hour. If you read the other threads, people are actively complaining about the lack of engagement and questioning the project's sustainability. Even the "elite" veterans have quietly left or log in extremely rarely because the ecosystem is completely stagnant.

Let's also kill the myth of the "greedy gold rush." I am not a massive collector, nor am I an artist trying to get rich off this. The chance of a random player becoming a millionaire here is infinitesimal. Your underlying fear seems to be about copyright, likely because you prefer recreating existing IP. Here is the absolute beauty of this framework: it is 100% optional. Just as no one forces you to buy gold packs today, absolutely no one will force you to monetize your art. You can continue playing exactly as you do now, completely unaffected.

The actual goal is a secure, player-owned economy that gives the Developers and original creators the massive financial fuel they need to transform this fragile sandbox into a truly immersive, high-performance parallel world. We have the rare opportunity to build a much more authentic, living digital reality together,a space that actually feels like a second home rather than a struggling emulator. I want the team highly rewarded for their genius so they have the resources to keep this game alive for decades, offering comfort, security, and a profoundly better experience for the dedicated players who already spend real money here.

So, given the daily crashes, the bleeding player base, and the fact that my proposal is entirely optional, I have to ask: what exactly do you want? Is your goal really to proudly reign over an empty, lagging chat room until the servers inevitably go dark? Because that is the only future your hypocrisy is protecting.

[Johny Caddy]

683588266a17025b6251fbae You threaten that "people will leave," but human nature dictates the exact opposite: engagement and satisfaction skyrocket when people actually own what they build. We are not erasing the core game or the avatars you love; we are simply upgrading the canvas and deepening the interactions. History shows that once users experience the freedom and security of true ownership, they never go back to being mere renters. I am entirely confident that when the dust settles, even you will stay, adapt, and happily reap the benefits of a system that finally respects your time.

[Mango Juice]

i agree with Johny and Fey! :P

[Madison Foxworth]

This is an interesting idea!

[Queenie Geschbebster]

I haven't been playing as long as the veterans, but this world completely pulled me in,whether I'm just soaking up the crazy energy at the Rio Carnival or driving myself mad wondering what is actually under those floor doors in Easter Island lol. I am absolutely not the type to spend real money on games, mostly because it psychologically feels like throwing cash into a temporary illusion that could vanish overnight. But Johny’s idea of true ownership completely flipped a switch in my brain. If I had the deep, comforting security of knowing the spaces I decorate are permanently mine, I would instantly stop treating this like a casual distraction and fully embrace it as my actual parallel universe. I would feel the exact same personal pride buying and wearing a new outfit here as I do shopping in the real world, because my avatar would finally become a genuine, protected projection of who I actually am. Best of luck Johny, huge thanks to the dev team for everything you've built, and I am praying we get to see this incredible vision come to life!

[Nicole Ole]

Nor agree or disagree.

[Layla Renee]

I really support the vision behind this proposal. Smallverse has always been more than just a nostalgic game for many of us; it’s a community that people have invested time, creativity, and memories into. Seeing a plan that actually focuses on long-term sustainability instead of short-term fixes is refreshing.

The idea of creating a stronger economy, improving security, and giving players real ownership of their items shows real forward thinking. I also appreciate that the proposal considers developers, players, and the future of the game as a whole, not just one side.

Most importantly, it feels like this plan is about protecting Smallverse so it can continue to exist and grow, rather than slowly fading due to server costs or technical limitations.
I’m excited by the possibilities here and would definitely support the team exploring this further.

[Monica Danielle]

I 100% support this! Smallverse was a HUGE part of my life as a child, like many others I am sure, and now that it is back, I have been making it my mission to get back into it and play with regular life going on such as working and things now. I am so happy it is back. The nostalgia that I've gotten since I've gotten back on has been crazyyy and amazing. I never thought it coming back was even a possibility. I invested so much of my time into it and I truly feel it paid off then, lol. I love that it is back and I'd like for it to stay! I understand it is still somewhat new. I think these new ideas and such should be taken into consideration from those who play. I like that Johny includes how it can help everyoneee and not just for those who play, so that we feel it's fair all around. I look forward to seeing the changes and what is incorporated and to see where smallverse goes, I pray it's here to stay! You have my full support and thank you for bringing this to the forefront. We'd like to keep Smallverse and all of it's awesome staff and players! WE WANT TO SEE SMALLVERSE GROW INTO IT'S FULLEST POTENTIAL!

[Aisha Vilatra]

Lovely, idea!

[Ruzha Clay]

I genuinely think this would completely ruin the game.

[Johny Caddy]

69501b77a6b4fa651fab5e2d

Wow Ruzha, thank you for this perspective. You know what? You are absolutely right. I genuinely realize now that these suggestions would completely "ruin" the game as we know it today.
Let's look at exactly what this Web3 transition would ruin:

• It would ruin the "Connection closed inexplicably" errors that we all love so much.
• It would ruin the outdated graphics and the heavy server lag.
• It would ruin the gray-area economy and the constant shadow of copyright infringement.
• It would ruin the daily anxiety players feel, wondering if the server will just shut down tomorrow and take their money with it.
• It would ruin the illusion of the army of fake bot accounts (seeing 1400+ quick quest completions when we barely have 200-300 truly active players).
• It would ruin the Black Market where players constantly get scammed with zero protection.
• It would ruin that awful, gambling-like regret of investing hundreds or thousands of dollars into a game, only to feel like you threw your money into a void.
• It would ruin the developers' financial struggles, finally giving them the funding they need.
• It would ruinn the stagnation, the lack of innovation, and those dead hours of the day when the game feels completely deserted.

So yes, it would ruin all of that.
But jokes asid, this is a serious wake-up call for everyone. Out of the 84 friends I've made here since December,many of them VIPs, veterans, and hardcore collectors,20 haven't logged in for a week. The new players I brought in logged in once, saw the state of things, and said "no thanks." We are bleeding players.
If we actually implement this evolution, here is what we gain instead:

• True Digital Ownership: Your items and VIP status become tangible assets on a blockchain, giving you real control over your investments.
• A Self-Sustaining, Transparent Economy: Rewarding actual human engagement and creativity, permanently killing the bot farms and the shady black market.
• An Elevated Social Ecosystem: Attracting a mature, invested player base that wants to build a thriving community, raising the overall social intelligence and quality of interactions in the game.
• Guaranteed Longevity & Governance: A decentralized structre means the game cannot just "disappear" overnight. The community gets a real voice in its future.

We can either embrace innovation and watch SmallVerse reach its true potential, or we can keep things exactly the same and slowly fade away. I choose evolution.

[Mystie Raine]

Your vision for Smallverse resonates with me, Johny. The Web3 would not only addresses the critical challenges of sustainability and security but also every member of this community with true ownership and ongoing value. I feel your proposal to transform Smallverse into a player-driven community with innovative solutions like Soulbound Tokens and distributed computing reflects an understanding of both the game’s heritage and its future potential. This is exactly the kind of leadership that can preserve our shared memories while unlocking new opportunities for growth and creativity. I wholeheartedly support this initiative and look forward to seeing Smallverse evolve into a vibrant, sustainable world that honors its past and embraces the promise of tomorrow.