What is Decentraland? (MANA and LAND)


    Decentraland is an Ethereum-powered virtual world that aims to be the “first-ever” digital universe owned by its users.

    The capability to create one’s own digital world has been one of the greatest feats brought by the modern gaming industry, as well as metaverse platforms. But even with millions of gamers already hooked on this concept, the missing pieces of ownership rights and monetization remain out of sight. 

    Fortunately, a decentralized virtual game stepped up to the challenge by combining the success of digital world-building, the wonders of crypto, and a DAO structure to bring players to a new level of virtual world immersion and gaming experience.

    Background 

    Decentraland was created by Esteban Ordano and Ariel Mellich in 2015 through the Decentralized Foundation. The team behind the game launched a successful ICO in 2017 that has raised 86,206 ETH, which was equivalent to $26 million at that time, and enabled them to catapult the game into new heights. 

    Before launching the platform, they had already built a decentralized autonomous organization to eventually transfer the management of the virtual world to the gamers. 

    What is Decentraland?

    Decentraland is an Ethereum-powered virtual world that aims to be the “first-ever” digital universe owned by its users. In this world, users can either create, experience, and above all, earn from their applications and digital content. 

    LAND, MANA, and DISTRICT are some of the most important aspects of Decentraland, and users will spend most of their time acquiring and developing these assets while exploring this 3D virtual world. 

    LAND is a non-fungible token (NFT) that functions as a traversable 3D space divided into parcels that can be permanently owned by platform users. 

    MANA, meanwhile, is the cryptocurrency token of Decentraland while DISTRICT is an organized parcel of lands grouped together to facilitate communities with common interests. 

    Wallet and Fees 

    Decentraland recommends using the MetaMask wallet to connect to its virtual world and a Ledger hardware wallet to protect users’ wallet information. Like any decentralized platform, a crypto wallet in Decentraland is considered a users’ account, which means that there’s no need for them to execute any complementary log-in. 

    The platform currently runs LAND-related transactions exclusively on the Ethereum blockchain, but its other asset, called Wearables, allows users to choose between Ethereum and Polygon

    Users are reminded that each platform requires different ways of paying for Decentraland assets. Ethereum requires gas fees paid in ETH while Polygon requires MATIC tokens. Both platforms are compatible with each other as Polygon was made to be Ethereum’s Layer-2 scaling solution. 

    How To Swap Ether for MANA? 

    1. Open Decentraland’s Settings page and click the ‘Buy More’ button, which can be found beside the MANA balance. 

    2. Once done, a user will be transferred to KyberSwap, a token swapping platform, where users can immediately convert their Ether to MANA. 

    3. In KyberSwap, a user needs to set the amount of MANA he likes to receive or the amount of ETH he wants to convert and click the ‘Swap Now’ button. 

    4. Confirm the transaction on the Ethereum client and wait for the network verification. 

    Decentraland Marketplace 

    Decentraland Marketplace is where users can buy, sell, transfer and search on-chain assets that can further boost their progress in the game. 

    They can also sell or purchase estates of LAND, wearables, and even unique names, giving users a wide range of options to fast track their progress and earn from their assets. 

    How To View Items For Sale? 

    To see all the available Decentraland assets for sale, all users have to do is: 

    1. Select the Browse tab 
    1. Search by Criteria to find a specific item 
    1. Filter assets by name to better improve searching results 

    How To Buy Decentraland Assets? 

    1. Browse for LAND, Estates, and wearables through names and criteria for better searching in the marketplace. Once done, click the item for sale to view its details. 

    2. Click the ‘Buy’ button on its detail page. 

    3. Just like with the ETH-MANA swapping, confirm the transaction with the Ethereum client and wait for the network verification. 

    4. For first-time buyers at the Decentraland Marketplace, they will be prompted by the platform to confirm a one-time transaction to be able to facilitate MANA payments. 

    How To Place a Bid on Items? 

    The process for bidding on Decentraland items is the same as buying assets, and users are reminded that they are allowed to place bids on items that are not for sale. To quickly see all the items not for sale, simply untoggling ‘ON SALE.’

    And just like with first-time buyers, first-time bidders will also be prompted by Decentraland to confirm a one-time transaction, this time, to be able to facilitate the bidding process. 

    To check the complete list of open and pending bids, click the ‘My Bids’ button at the top navigation bar. 

    Changing bid prices are also allowed in the platform, and it can be done by simply selecting the ‘Update’ button; once clicked, users will also see the bids placed by other users on their items. 

    How To Sell a Parcel or Estate? 

    1. Click the ‘My Assets’ button and open the detail page. 

    2. Once on the detail page, click the ‘Sell’ button. 

    3. Enter the desired price and expiration date and select the ‘List for Sale’ button and type again the price for confirmation. 

    4. Confirm the transaction on the Ethereum client and wait for network verification. 

    5. Prices can always be changed without cancelling and placing an item for sale all over again. Simply click the ‘Update’ button on the Estate or Parcel’s details page to modify the price. 

    How To Transfer LAND? 

    1. Click the ‘My Assets’ button, open the details page of the parcel or Estate desired to be transferred, and select ‘Transfer.’ 

    2. Enter the recipient’s Ethereum wallet address and select ‘Submit’. Again, confirm the transaction on the Ethereum client and wait for network verification. 

    What is a Decentralized ‘SCENE’? 

    Decentrland users wouldn’t be just passive users inside the platform as they can also create their own experiences and tools to make their stay more exciting inside this digital universe. 

    One of the aspects they can create is called SCENE, a customized experience that can be built either on one or several parcels of LAND. 

    Some examples of ‘Scenes’: 

    Each ‘Scene,’ which is already a world in itself, is displayed next to the other players. And what’s even greater is that users can walk from each Scene, giving them diversified experiences while playing the game. But tools from each Scene cannot be transferred from the other Scenes, a restriction that some players might find limiting. 

    Tools For Creating Decentraland Scenes 

    Users can create their customized Decentralized scenes, whether they have a thorough knowledge of coding or not, giving all players a chance to leverage the platform’s creation feature. Here are the ready tools at their disposal: 

    1. The Builder – An easy-to-use drag and drop editor that can be used even without coding experience, and users can simply select from the wide range of readily available items on the tool’s list.  

    2. Decentralized SDK – This tool is made for players who want to create more impressive Scenes in Decentraland, and since it’s more advanced, it requires coding experience from its users. Players can learn how to use the platform’s software development kit on this link to grasp its technical aspects better. 

    Conclusion

    Decentraland is a big leap from the traditional build-your-own-world games that lack genuine ownership and real-world income generation. By combining all these concepts into one virtual world, plus more, it aims to provide gamers with immersive gameplay by letting their creativity and economic wits run their progress in the game. 



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