Editor’s note: The following story was written by Neomi. Neomi is a writer from China with experience covering art, music, culture, technology and travel. Bitcoin.com news allowed her to enter the blockchain-based metaverse experience field to capture the pioneer’s feeling of entering this new reality.

Decentraland, day one: I need a hat

When I first entered Decentraland, I wanted to keep a low profile, so I created my own profile picture: a bald guy in a black suit and a pair of black sunglasses. However, within ten minutes of my exploration, I met ten other players who looked exactly like me. We may have one thing in common-we all can’t afford suitable hats. I heard that people invested millions of dollars in NFT in Metaverse, but they were just too scared to check prices. It can be said that I found things very expensive-even hats.

In order to look slightly different from the other bald guys in Metaverse, I need to work on some assets. I ended up in a game zone where everyone was digging for meteors to get gems. At first, I didn’t understand why people stood motionless as if their internet was dead, but then I realized that they were doing the same mining activities as mine. Some even floated in the air, they climbed up their meteors, and other players couldn’t see them.This experience is designed to create an atmosphere of enthusiasm and tolerance, so that each player has his own meteor to work, just like an episode Black mirrorOtherwise, the mine is likely to become a battle royale arena where players use pickaxes to beat each other when competing for resources.

An important difference between blockchain-based Metaverse and MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) is ownership. Metaverse belongs to a dispersed network of players. Of course, the developers created the platform, but they do not have the ultimate rights to all the content or the ultimate creation rights to the field like more standardized games. No matter what you have in Metaverse, it belongs to you—for example, the hat I still can’t make with those gems, and it took me a whole night to get it.

I really don’t remember whether I worked so hard in the game last time to level up or to collect low-level equipment. But this time, (not) the excitement is a bit different. Knowing that everything you have in this game actually belongs to you-through the immutability of the blockchain-is a game changer. This further made me realize that the meta universe is not a utopia. Everything here is hard-won (except for some free, airdropped NFTs). Either you are already “crypto-rich” and can buy ready-made items, or you have enough talent to create your own products and sell them to others. The mediocre Muggles need to find their place in this new world, lest they feel too incompetent.

Decentraland, day two: experience

As a cultured person who enjoys a noise-free space, when I saw the Spanish Museum on the map, I immediately decided to jump in and take a look. I imagined an Andalusian-style building with an exhibition of NFT paintings by the New Dada movement. In Metaverse reality, I spent a long time trying to reach the top of the building, chasing the promised free NFT by jumping and falling countless times on some moving blue platforms.

However, before starting my Super Mario-style jumping adventure, I have to choose whether I am against Facebook or support Facebook.This is great: the original resistance from within the Decentraland metaverse, designed to convey the key information and real voice of the real metaverse: we don’t want to be like Ready player one. I really didn’t expect this kind of resistance to rise so quickly in Decentraland. However, after another thought, it’s time.

What enhances the experience is that when I finally reach the top of the building, I have to choose from a box of red hearts or a box of tomatoes—throwing at the face of Mark Zuckerberg. Meta CEO’s face is printed on all six faces of the rotating cube floating in the air. In fact, in some user-generated experiences, the graphics may look a bit rough, possibly because I am using an old laptop. But this is not the point. The point is that I am really happy playing this game and successfully threw my tomato into the Zucker cup. Now I am waiting for the free NFT to arrive.

Back to graphics, the infrastructure for amazing creation already exists. In some experiences, the visual effects and graphics are actually very impressive. If you have a larger screen with a higher resolution, so much the better. The flowing clouds and the blue sky reflect such delicate light and shadow on the glass floor, just like a beautiful oil painting. The futuristic skyscrapers and cyberpunk aircraft make you feel like you are in the center of new Tokyo. Similarly, having beautiful CGI and Mass Effect level graphics is not the main goal of Metaverse. Ownership, experience and freedom are.

It is worth mentioning that many interesting experiences such as resistance provided by the Spanish Museum are time-limited.El Meta eventInteresting tomato throwing event, live broadcast from November 6th to 26th. When I went back to take a few selfies, the entire setup was gone, only an empty museum with the same anti/professional poster wall pasted on the glass.

By the way, after two nights of mining, I still haven’t put a hat on myself. But I did guide the six ghosts back to their graves in Halloween Town. And I learned that you don’t need an expensive hat to have fun in Metaverse.

Decentraland, day three: Sotheby’s and Spicy Pandas

It’s interesting to scroll down where you are interested in Decentraland. There are many places that look very attractive (or even mysterious). Even before I first entered Decentraland, Sotheby’s Natively Digital gallery was on my to-do list. In order to show due respect to the art and brand name, I decided to create a new avatar. There is still no hat, but the new avatar has at least hair.

I am there. Who would have thought that one day I would appear in the famous Sotheby’s auction house in a high school sailor suit and dumpling bag without being judged? Only in Metaverse. At this stage, unless there are special events, there are not many areas that can be explored in the Sotheby’s building. The installation art on the theme of toilet paper shortage is very interesting. It even seemed that Sotheby’s building was looted, and the reception area was in a mess.

Another Decentraland landmark on my list is Chinatown-Dragon City. I think that, like the Chinatown that can be seen everywhere in the real world, it was built by the Chinese and looks real—not an orientalized Chinese fantasy.

But then I saw from above that the yin and yang shaped hot pot looked like a cooked panda. The other panda in the non-spicy hot pot seemed to be enjoying himself, while the hapless one was already cooked to medium heat. I wish I now have a virtual phone that I can take a selfie with the cooked panda and post it somewhere on Decentraland social media.

Finally, a brief description about the eternal life of Yuanjie. Jumping into the (shallow) water near Dragon City will not kill you. In fact, I tried some adventurous things and would definitely kill a character in RPG, and the character in Decentraland doesn’t seem to die. period. Therefore, when I was too lazy to take the elevator or down the dazzling, winding stairs, I jumped from the ten-story building and landed gracefully on the ground like an Olympic gymnastics gold medalist. This tiny detail is actually very powerful and liberating.

The Metaverse World has no boundaries and no fear. Not being afraid is the first step in free exploration.

The high-rise temples in Longcheng are absolutely gorgeous, with many details. I didn’t hear any traditional Chinese music in the background, so I had to check if my internet was too slow. But you know, for me, the essence of Chinatown is authentic food. However, in the meta-universe, smell and taste experience are unlikely to be included anytime soon. So, it’s time to order some fried noodles.

What do you think of Neomi’s first adventure in Metaverse? Would you throw red hearts or tomatoes at Zuckerberg? Please let us know in the comments section below.

Image Source: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wikimedia Commons