Upland (UPX) is a non-fungible token (NFT) virtual property trading game where users can trade virtual real-estate using native UPX tokens or fiat money. The game was launched in July 2018. It uses its metaverse, and its users can buy virtual real-estate that corresponds to a real-world address. The token price and token supply will be valued as the project matures.
What Is Upland?
Upland is a metaverse game that makes use of blockchain technology to allow users to trade NFTs with its UPX tokens, which leads to forming a virtual economy. The Upland blockchain and token are developed by the EOS blockchain team. The game is built on the EOS blockchain, a blockchain that provides a suitable permission system and processing speed for mass usage. UPX is a token that is also built on the EOS blockchain.
What is UPX?
UPX is the native currency used in Upland economy. It is used in all purposes, like minting properties, purchasing NFTs in Upland Store as well as powering in-game activities such as travels, marketplace transactions, etc. Simply put, every kind of transactions in Upland depends on UPX.
It should be noted that UPX is a utility token used in-game to trade or own NFTs. Although Upland’s ecosystem is built on EOS blockchain and all transactions within the game is real and recorded on a blockchain, UPX is not tradable outside the Upland ecosystem. However, all in-game NFTs are fully tradable.
How to earn UPX?
Upland gives all new comers a small amount of UPX. It helps them but their first properties. All the properties in Upland earn their owners some passive UPX at a rate of 14.7% of the base mint price. Note that the rate increases if the owners place their properties in collections.
Besides, Upland allows Uplanders to earn UPX by trading properties and NFTs on open Markets. Uplnders usually mint properties and NFTs at initial prices, create exclusive collections, and later sell them at higher prices in open markets.
The game also provides the chance to earn UPX from the visitors to a property. This fee is charged as the fee people pay to send their block explorer to other neighborhoods or cities. Owners of properties that are located in highly trafficked areas such as airports or train stations can make higher UPX earnings. That is why location is so important.
What could the UPX token used for?
UPX is only purchasable in game. The token is minted during monthly rewards distribution to users who own at least one property. Further, users can buy UPX with USD to purchase properties. As a result, when users need more UPX to buy properties, token supply increases thorough paying fiat money in exchange of UPX.
Upland allows users to purchase virtual real estate that reflect real world addresses. Therefore, Upland NFTs are scarce since real world addresses are limited. The value of NFTs (or the properties) is determined by the liquidation of the UPX market. In other words, the supply and demand of UPX affect the NFT prices.
P2P UPX transfers
Upland players can transfer UPX by navigating to the profile of another player and selecting ‘Send UPX’. Besides, players also can search for the profile of a specific player directly from Upland App. Find the ‘Quick Menu’ and choose ‘Player Search’ icon. A window opens and you can see the Player Search features.
Once you select a player, click on the ‘Send UPX’ on the profile page to start the transfer process. Remember that the visitors cannot take the process. Then, if the profile is not for a visitor to Upland, input the amount of UPX you wish to transfer, check the details, confirm it, and click ‘Send UPX’ to complete the transfer. When the transaction is complete, you receive a notification.
What are the restrictions on UPX transfer?
UPX Transfers are only available for players who are Uplanders or above. It means that visitors are not able to send or receive UPXs. Besides, identity verification is required for Uplanders to get to the service. Uplanders need to verify their identities at Tilia.
There are also some limitations to UPX transfer. All UPX owned by an Uplander is subject to a 60-day cooldown period before it becomes transferrable. There is also a minimum of 20 UPX for transfer.
All UPX transfers are subject to 2-factor authentication and Captcha. It ensures higher levels of security for Uplanders. Therefore, players need to enable 2FA before transferring UPXs.
Marketplace Fee
Just like other Upland transactions, UPX transfer is charged with %10 marketplace transaction fee. However, the sender is required to pay %5 of the fee and the remaining %5 will be paid by the receiver.
What Does Upland Offer?
The Upland game is designed to be quite user-friendly so that both gaming enthusiasts and cryptocurrency beginners can easily join and play. It is available on PC and mobile platforms. As players have the chance to earn real money, they are encouraged to play because most systems in traditional games do not let users earn money. Users simply need to provide their email addresses and complete their first mission to receive 3 thousand UPX as a starting bonus if they wish to join the game. After that, they will need to buy UPX tokens to acquire the in-game real estate.
The in-game assets are in the form of NFTs so that, based on the unique features of NFTs, users do truly own the properties and no third party can change or remove them as the owners. Furthermore, Upland provides different ways to value its NFTs. Currently, Upland players can trade their assets within the game for USD or they may treat their NFTs as collectibles and keep them forever. The game also provides the chance to purchase in-game properties based on the real-world properties that users might have an emotional attachment to.
SIGN UP IN UPLANDHow Does Upland Work?
It seems a simple process. Basically, users obtain UPX tokens with fiat currency, buy virtual properties, collect earnings, upgrade their properties to increase earnings, and trade their properties for fiat.
However, the sale of assets is the only way to cash out UPX tokens. It is possible for users to sell their properties in exchange for fiat. On the other hand, Upland releases UPX tokens monthly to motivate users to hold their assets. These monthly earnings are sent to the users’ UPX accounts.
The game provides using UPX tokens or fiat money to buy real estate NFTs. Users are acquired to verify their identity before selling assets for fiat. When users successfully sell their real estates, the fiat earnings can be transferred to Paypal from their digital wallets.
“Collection” is another term in the game which names a quest designed by the game creator. The return on UPX tokens raises when players acquire all properties under a selected collection. However, completion of a collection is getting harder to accomplish due to limitation or high price of some properties. Users may have to negotiate with the owners to buy these rare properties.
Users should visit the Upland marketplace if they wish to hunt real-estate NFTs. Each user is also given an explorer robot which moves to other neighborhoods to discover new areas within the game. Moreover, the marketplace enables users to sell assets and respond to offers.
Upland users are divided to two groups called “Visitors” and “Uplanders”. Let’s check each group.
- Visitors: Visitors in Upland has multiple EOS accounts which allows them experience the game. If a guest user is inactive for seven days, the game will recycle the account for other visitors to use. Recycled accounts are cleared of ownership of tokens and real estate. Visitors must renew their visa to upland every 7 days to continue exploring the metaverse.
- Uplanders: “Uplander” refers to the users whose value of tokens and real estate reaches at least 10 thousand UPX tokens. When a user has above 10 thousand UPX, they will receive a registered EOS account. As a result, NFTs will be wholly owned by that user as per the blockchain record.
Upland Desktop Gameplay
Upland Mobile Gameplay
How to pick a city?
When you are done with creating an account in Upland, a window opens up on your screen which requires you to choose a virtual city to start with. Upland constantly grows the number of virtual cities it offers and each new area has its own unique qualities and communities.
Each city has a starting property price to be considered first. New players are recommended to start with a more affordable city to start their journey. New players can avoid extra charges by choosing a proper city so that they do not have to pay for transportation fees to travel to another city.
Besides, each city is priced differently as the prices are based on the real-world market conditions. Therefore, prices are based on the average price per UP2 in a given neighborhood in the desired city.
New comers always receive a suggestion to buy an affordable piece of land at their first step. They may get more UPX and choose a more expensive land than what the window suggests.
How to buy properties in Upland?
There are three gameplay pillars (play, earn, collect) in the game. Properties could be described as a virtual counterpart of real-world properties. Location is the most important factor in defining the value of a property. For example, properties in a financial district are usually more expensive than the ones located in the sub-urban areas.
At the present time, properties are only items that can be bought, sold and traded among players. Supply and demand directly influences the market price of each property that could be either higher or lower than the original minting price. The owner of each property receives a rent of 17.3% of the initial minting price. The basic rent can be boosted by completing collections.
It is very easy to buy properties. In Upland players face minted and unminted properties. Unminted properties are not sold yet, so if a player buy an unminted property, they directly buy it from the game. Minted properties are owned by other players and other players may send offers to see if the owner wants to sell it. Players need to have the correct amount of UPX in their wallet to buy an unminted property. Fair State Act (FSA) are properties developed in the game to help new players finding affordable properties. Only players with Visitor or Uplander Status are allowed to buy FSAs. Such feature gives new players a chance to buy properties in areas of high demand. Players with the Uplander status may buy such properties for a cheap price and then sell them on the marketplace at a higher price.
How to sell properties in Upland?
If you are about to sell your NFT property in Upland, you need to decide on your asking price. It is a good idea to check the prices of NFT lands in your neighborhood by clicking on the Nearby properties icon or using community tools to check the available data on Lands. Nearby Property icon shows all the NFT lands for sale in the area the block explorer moves. Use your camera view to see the location of the properties. However, if you wish to list your NFT land on a secondary market, you are required to be an Uplander. The prices will be fixed on the secondary market both in UPX and USD. If you choose to list your NFT property in USD and directly sell it in the currency, then join the NFT-to USD program.
You may already know that Fair State Act (FSA) is a property developed to help new players find affordable properties. Some new players buy unminted FSA properties and sell them to Pro and higher-level players on the marketplace. Here, they should consider the inventory of the unminted property, its value and the collection value it may own.
There are some tools like UP2Land that helps estimate property prices based on neighborhoods. Besides, players are advised to keep in contact with Upland community to stay up to date with all Upland Events.
How to develop properties in Upland?
In May 2021, Upland allowed its landowners to construct various buildings on their properties using Property Development options. Players may use these structures as their homes, businesses, arcades, galleries, etc. There are also a variety of custom models for Landmarks and pathways for players to design and construct their models.
Later in June 2021, Upland provided its users a chance to design their own user-generated content in the metaverse. The team offered three models of real-life homes in its metaverse. Due to the positive results from players, Upland permanently considered its user-generated content a massive part of its metaverse.
What is Spark?
Spark is the currency that powers the development of any 3D object built in Upland metaverse. It can produce all inanimate objects, including Structure digital assets (buildings), outdoor decor items, and many more. Players can earn Spark by leveling up their Upland status, winning in-game challenges, and participating in treasure hunts provided weekly.
Besides, players can use Spark to go shopping in Upland Store. Spark is not tradable as a currency and can only be used for staking on buildings in-progress.
How to stake Spark?
Players need to stake their Spark to construct a building. They need to lock up their Spark while the building is in progress. Players are able to remove their Spark at any time if they stand the construction progress halt. A Structure Digital Asset is priced in “Spark Hours” (aka, SpH) and has a maximum amount of Spark that can be staked at any given time during construction.
The size and type of the structure define the amount SpH (Spark Hours) required. The actual construction time of a structure is a variable function of the time needed to construct it in real life. It is necessary to know that constructing buildings in the metaverse requires significant time and resources, unlike casual builder games where construction may be super-fast.
Spark will be one of the most valuable resources for the metaverse economy. Various types of 3D digital assets will be introduced to Upland, and each will require Spark to build. Therefore, Upland has the plan to introduce Spark Exchange. This allows players to hire Spark from others if they seek to speed up construction. Players may lease their Spark and earn UPX, which can then be used to mint properties and other digital assets.
Vanilla Mode in Upland
Vanilla Mode includes certain cities while the details of collections are minted to the blockchain prior the release. It means that collections are not at launch for cities released in Vanilla Mode and, therefore, players can make guess about the properties that may belong to a collection just before the official reveal. These properties are called ciphered. Players can see the ciphered properties but are not allowed to gain the details until the public announcement. However, the ciphered includes some details such as the internal ID of the collection, name of the collection, description of the properties and full addresses.
when the collections are revealed, unminted collection properties are locked for a short time to allow players to see the collection keys and confirm the collection on the blockchain. All the unminted properties that match the given collection are repriced according to the collection level they belong to. As the prices are reset, the properties unlock and players are allowed to mine them.
Upland Block Explorers
Avatars are almost always used to identify a player among others in online games. Avatars are customizable to a certain degree making them unique. Like other games, Upland also makes use of avatars for player and first introduced avatars in October 2019 and named them block explorers. Block explorer are designed to move in nearby blocks and neighborhoods and find pieces of land with the best price. Upland is planning to release block explorer shops where players can trade special explorers or sell their own explorers to others.
UDA Swapping
Recently, Upland has allowed its players to leverage their portfolio of Upland Digital Assets (UDAs) and run 1:1 trades with others. Therefore, players can trade an Ornament for a Block Explorer, Legit for an Ornament, Block Explorer for Legit, etc.
How to swap UDA?
Players need to put an offer on an Uplander’s Legit, Ornament, or Block Explorer to start swapping. They should go to their profiles by either clicking on their Block Explorer or visiting an owned property and selecting their name.
Once they access their profile, they need to select the “Assets” button to see a list of their current assets. They can search for the UDA they would prefer to swap for and select the desired item.
On the UDA view window, players have the chance to submit their offer via the green “Submit Offer” button. Then, they must select the asset they wish to include in their trade to submit the offer. If the offer is accepted, the new UDA will be added to their asset wallet under the relevant category.
How does the movement system work?
As the avatars move through the blocks, they provide information about lands to purchase by visitors and Uplanders. Further, the game provides some traits to enhance their movement:
- Sends: Since the block explore moves slowly in the blocks, SENDS option acts as the fuel for visiting other properties in Upland. Remember that you have to spend some UPX if you wish to use SENDS item. However, the usual movement of block explorer is free and does not use any of your SENDS choices. Currently, there are 11 sends at once and use up to 40 sends per day. You only need to click the arrow o send your explorer.
- Trails: Block explorer show a marked trail which clarifies the last visited block. It is a shadow like line appearing after your block explorer from its starting point. Following the trails also you get the chance to see the last discovered properties. After a certain period of time the trail will vanish.
- Travel in cities: Upland map includes US west coast and east coast hubs. San Fransisco was the first city established in 2019. Later Fresno, Clovis and Oakland were added to the map. New Yourk City, including Manhatan and Brooklyn, also established the east coast hub in 2020. To make travels between cites possible, Upland developed the idea of using buses, trains, or airports in exchange of some UPX.
Completing Collections in Upland
Upland’s collection refers to a series of properties matching certain criteria or actions. Owning a collection or doing an action associated with that provides the user with a one-time UPX reward. In addition, during the completion of the collection, the properties earn the rents in UPX.
Now, let’s learn how to complete a collection. Click the … icon at the bottom of the screen to check various menus and select Collections. Here, you see your properties and the criteria states, for example “Own 3 properties in Chicago”. Once you have bought the required number of properties, click on Edit Collection and select the properties there or you may follow the process every time you got one land. As your collection completes, you receive UPX reward. Also, the yield boost increases to 1.1X for the properties in that collection. The more serious collections grant rewards of over 10,000 UPX and can boost the properties in it by 2X or even 3X.
Remember that collections have certain criteria in different cities. In San Francisco, collections were set ahead of time and never changed nor were permanent collections added. In New York City, the collections were pre-encrypted on the blockchain. Therefore, always check for the criteria where you own a land.
Upland Treasure hunts
If you look for more fun with Upland, go for treasure hunting and make some UPX. Just one of the three categories, or tiers, for treasure hunting:
- Standard: everyone can participate for free once every 24 hours. A second try in a day costs 100 UPX. Race against the clock to find the treasure.
- Limited: is open to both Visitor (freemium) accounts as well as Uplander and above.
- Exclusive: open only to Uplanders. The treasure will not be a standard chest with predetermined UPX, but a piñata you need to tap the UPX out of!
Standard treasure hunts spawn at user request, but Limited and Exclusive spawn rapidly. you see a countdown on Treasure Hunt 5 minutes left to respawn.
Do your best to find the treasure when a treasure hunt is “active”. Treasure are invisible until discovered. As the hunt gets active, click on any minted property in the area your explorer locates and make sure the “Treasure” button is active in its menu. Also, follow “arrow hints” pointing in the direction of the treasure. As your explorer gets closer to the treasure, the arrows change in size and color as you get closer and change to a red dot on a property where the treasure is. When the explorer gets close enough, at a point a window will pop up and you can collect the treasure. You are not the only user to chase the treasure, so be quick on the competition!
How to travel to other Upland cities?
Upland provides buses, trains and airport terminals to allow players move between cities. However, the choice of transportation depends on the availability in the perspective cities. Players need to buy tickets for train and airplane travel, which is paid in UPX.
In the case of trains, players need to bring their block explorer into discovery rage of train terminal to buy ticket; though, players need to directly visit airport terminals to get tickets. When the block explorer reaches the location, players need to choose the terminal icon and open the flight menu from a popup window. Then decide about the destination and pay for the flight type.
In most cases, airport terminals are owned by players and the price could be relatively high compared to trains. Terminals support the maximum number of possible daily visits depending on the size of the terminal. If a terminal reaches the limit, players have to visit another terminal to travel. Bus service is limited to few big cities in Upland.
UNFT Swapping
Players may improve their portfolio of Upland NFTs (UNFTs) in a 1-for-1 trades with others and trade ornaments, block explorer, legit and any other asset between themselves. Players are required to click on a player’s block explorer or visit their properties and place an offer on an Uplander’s Legit, Ornament, or Block Explorer.
Then, player should select the Assets button and check their list to find a desired asset they like to swamp for. As the NFT is shown, the player can submit the offer by clicking Submit offer button. If the offer is accepted, the NFT will be automatically added to asset wallet of the new owner.
The NFT-to-USD program
Upland team has introduced its NFT-to-USD program, in corporation with Tilia Pay, to allow its users list any property directly for US Dollars. This program enables paying for a property you wish to purchase or sell with US Dollar deposits instead of UPX. NFT-to-USD program only supports property sale at the time being; however, Upland team is expanding the program to support all types of NFTs used with Upland Metaverse.
Upland players are automatically added to NFT-to-USD program if they are uplanders. Notice that the only way to acquire fresh properties is using UPX to mint them. Players stack UPX and watch for new city release to mint fresh properties. Later they list their asset on secondary market for USD and change their UPX to Dollars.
Players must notice that they are not allowed to sell their properties on NFT-to-USD program for a fixed period after minting or purchasing the property. The period will be 30 days for uplanders, 14 days for pro players and 7 days for directors.
Understanding the properties with colors
There are two primary categories with properties in Upland: minted and unminted. Minted properties are already owned by players while the unminted ones are not. Upland makes use of color-codes to help players make better understanding of the environment.
Bright green properties represent the properties which are unlocked but still unminted. If they are minted, they belong to their first owners. It means that the bright green properties are purchased directly from Upland. The prices are based on the real world market. Players just need to click on the property and pay the price in UPX and the property in minted on the blockchain.
FSA properties (or Fair Start Act) help the new players get started with the Metaverse. FSAs are reserved for the new players and, therefore, are less expensive then already minted properties. These FSA assets are only available to new comers to Upland Metaverse.
Dark Green properties are the ones already minted and owned by Uplanders. These properties are available on secondary markets for purchase. Owners manually set the price of their minted properties either on UPX or USD. Note that owners must become Uplanders (not visitors) to be able to sell their dark green properties.
Blue properties show the minted properties that are owned by players; however, they are not listed on the secondary market on sale. Upland makes it possible to send offers to the owners of the blue properties to see either they accept or refuse to sell them.
Dark Blue properties show players minted properties so that all properties owned by a player are distinguished in dark blue.
Gray properties, on the other hand, are the ones that are still locked and never minted on the blockchain. Sometimes properties are damaged or broken so they get locked until the problem is fixed and they can be released for minting. Besides, some certain properties are reserved in each area for future auctions and sales.
Securing Upland account
Since Upland assets have real world value, it seems essential to secure your account. Upland provides two-factor authentication on accounts. Players can easily improve their account security by choosing Authentication on setting menu and choose either SMS or Google Authentication for higher security. However, the latter option seems to be more secure.
The Upland team requires the players to secure their in-game assets with the best tools available, or the two-factor Authentication.
Who is in charge in Upland?
Three well-known people in the world of NFTs are supporting Upland. Dirk Lueth is a co-founder of Upland. Lueth has worked in the technology field for almost two decades. He has also worked as an advisor for multiple startups. Moreover, Lueth has also co-founded multiple startups with venture capital investment institutions, which amounted to millions of USD.
Mani Honigstein is another co-founder of Upland. Honigstein has been involved in the gaming industry for more than a decade. In the past 20 years. Honigstein has also worked in the CEO and advisor positions in multiple technology organizations.
Idan Zuckerman is the third co-founder of Upland. In the past, Zuckerman has worked as an analyst in IT for three years. He has also worked as a vice president of product for eight years and vice president of R&D for six years in various gaming companies.
SIGN UP IN UPLANDHow to join Upland community?
All the players, specially the new comers to Upland, are advised to join Upland Discord Community. The Discord provides an easy way to keep connected, communicate other Uplanders and Learn about the latest news and updates. Beginners to Upland may also learn a lot about the Metaverse and how to become successful in the game. The Discord community also includes the most professional traders in Upland which gives a good opportunity to all other interested in the game.
All first-hand information and announcements on Upland Discord. Furthermore, all ongoing events and challenges are also provided to players through this channel. Also, players may get informed on all activities in the Upland Metaverse through checking the Events Hub. Players should click on Calendar Icon to see the exact time and date of events and updates.
What Is the Future for Upland?
COVID-19 pandemic shifted the world increasingly online, so that lots of events such as gatherings, graduation and more are held virtually. Further, people seem to spend more time online for entertainment. This recent trend also encouraged major companies to develop their own metaverses, such as Epic Games, Facebook, and Microsoft. Therefore, Upland has much to gain in the future as metaverses gain traction and enter the mainstream. People sure find themselves amazed by spending time in Upland world while they are making money from their NFT assets.
Regarding NFTs, Upland sold one of their NFTs for $23 thousand USD last year. The prices of the NFTs will likely increase when the game becomes more popular. Moreover, Upland has several plans for NFT development. After introducing real estate, Upland team plans to add NFTs that imitate real-world objects to the game such as virtual cars, shops, and collectible cards.
In their assets, users are allowed to build structures and buildings and even develop rural areas within the game, just like in the real world. Moreover, brands will also get the chance to replicate their services from reality into the virtual world of Upland.
To the date, most of Upland’s real estate NFTs are created based on locations in the US. However, Upland is developing to make sure that NFT-based properties worldwide are available in the game. The pricing of property in Upland is determined by market conditions of the virtual and real world.
Last but not least, Upland plans to make the NFTs portable to other blockchains. To have the control over the game, decisions will become more decentralized as the in-game economy and ecosystem grow. Moreover, Upland intends to develop its API exclusively for third-party developers to provide a better gaming experience to its users.
Conclusion
It seems that NFTs and metaverse is getting to people’s everyday life. Many metaverse gaming services are introduced to the world. Upland is one of these games which provides its users with NFT-based properties which are mapped to real-world locations. Since the real world addresses are rare, the number of NFTs available is limited. In Upland, users can use fiat money to buy the native UPX token to acquire these virtual properties. Multiple factors impact pricing of in-game NFTs. These include UPX liquidity, real-world market conditions, and the availability of the properties.
Upland (UPX) is a non-fungible token (NFT) trading game where users can trade virtual real-estate using native UPX tokens or fiat money. The game was launched in July 2018. It uses its metaverse, and its users can buy virtual real-estate that corresponds to a real-world address. The token price and token supply will be valued as the project matures.
