In May, it was revealed that long-standing community member RED had been appointed the official Alien Worlds Scribe. An avid gamer, former Syndicate Custodian on multiple planets, and passionate writer of fiction, RED was deemed the best person to oversee the Fandom website and vet the expected tidal wave of lore contributions. An impression he has more than upheld since stepping up to the plate and assuming the role.
From Prince of Persia to Planetary Syndicate
RED plays an important role in our community-driven metaverse, bringing creativity, commitment and an extensive working knowledge of Alien Worlds to the lore review process. But just who is RED, anyway? And what brought him to this curious corner of the internet in the first place?
“I've been a gamer for a good 30 years maybe, if not more,” says RED. “The very first game I ever played was Prince of Persia on an old MSI machine. And obviously throughout the years I progressed along the various games that were released, some favorites being Diablo, more recently The Witcher.
“Four years ago I discovered blockchain, subsequently came across Alien Worlds and started mining. But it was such a foreign concept to me; I got a bit overwhelmed and backed out. Later, I rediscovered it and had a better understanding of its depth and beauty, in terms of what it actually is on the blockchain. I had been playing Our Planet and diving more into the collectible side of things. Upon my reentry into Alien Worlds, I realized it also has a lot of collectible value too. Since then, it’s been an exploration, really.”
As with many other players, mining represented the gateway to an immersive world populated by Planetary Syndicates, NFTs, tournaments, events, and projects developed by third-party developers like mini-games and collections.
“The expensiveness of the collection and collective that is Alien Worlds, in terms of gaming, is second to none,” says RED. “It’s taken the concept of an open world and really given the community and player a chance to build, interact with what is existing. But then also see where more can be fleshed out, and what else can be done in this open world blockchain framework.”
One of the things the blockchain framework allows for is decentralized governance: weekly elections see Custodians ascend to Planetary Syndicates, from which they manage Trilium budgets and fund their own content. RED, for his part, has been a Custodian on both Eyeke and Veles, and also worked with Kavian and Naron in other capacities. “There’s a culture and a storied culture on each of these planets and Syndicates,” he says.
“I’m actually really looking forward to the Syndicates putting out stories about how they perceive their own planet, because the cultural differences will become very evident within their chosen narratives and characters and races. Neri, for instance, has for a while been home to the cryptomonKeys, a sizable community of blockchain enthusiasts and NFT collectors. I’m certain there are numerous creative individuals who could create lovely story arcs of how the simian race ended up on planet Neri.
“They have a very interesting community on Magor too. It was initially a mining hub, so one can sort of see these mining communities or colonies springing up. Lately Magor’s been developing some fantastic games and other things. So they could almost represent, between them and Kavian, Megacorps within the greater Alien Worlds ecosystem. Again, I’m excited for stories to come out from the planets themselves.”
Signing the Scribe
RED’s background, coupled with his interest in comics, sci-fi and fiction, made him an obvious candidate for the role of Scribe. His experience and passion also made him a valuable voice in the evolution of tokenized lore, which empowers players to create their own stories – and vote on-chain to ensure they become canon.
Tokenized lore is about tokenizing parts of intellectual property (IP) in a way that hasn’t been done before, making community members the custodians of stories at the heart of a transmedia franchise. Conversing with RED, it’s obvious that stories are his stock-in-trade.
“The first story-led game that really hooked me was Phantasmagoria which was released on seven or nine CDs, you played your way through this haunted little town,” he remembers with a grin. “The narrative and grippiness of the story and the actual narration of the thing was… I was quite young at the time and should not have been playing that! But nonetheless (laughs). It made a dramatic impact on me and I’ve been told by many people that I am a storyteller and I’ve been writing fiction for a very long time.”
So, how did the Scribe position actually come about?
“In and of itself, it’s a support position for the community and of the community,” clarifies RED. “It came about from me being active in the root initial phases of tokenized lore. I was a Custodian on Eyeke when the hints and underground tinglings of tokenized lore started. Realizing the scope of what it meant for the community and for Alien Worlds the game, I very quickly voiced my desire to be involved.
“The position was open to the community, we all put our hats in. I was very glad I got it because since getting involved in Alien Worlds I’ve had this vision of the scope being filled by various creators’ creations; different communities and the worlds they build. I already had this overarching narrative scope which just positioned me ideally. The love of story and lore has helped me to help other writers and creators in crafting their stories, and how it all ties into the beauty that is Alien Worlds.”
As the individual tasked with maintaining the Alien Worlds Fandom and reviewing community lore submissions, the Scribe must be intimately familiar with the foundational lore produced by celebrated sci-fi author Kevin J. Anderson. After all, it’s the Scribe’s job to make sure new stories respect the building blocks and iterate upon them. So, what does the review process look like?
“I’m the first contact point for the community, so my job is to look at the story, read it through a couple of times, and see how well the writer understands the foundational lore. And how much they tied in with existing elements of that, or where they chose to expand on elements.
“I also look for further expanse within the story arc, to allow the writer to continue fleshing out their part of Alien Worlds,” RED adds. “There needs to be scope for it to be done in such a way that other people can contribute to certain storylines and continue the evolution.”
After RED’s initial review, he provides feedback to the writer based on the above. “If I feel it needs some further structured feedback I will pass it to the lore librarian, Lalothen, who manages the final review process and assigns pieces a scoring from zero to three. That also factors into the reward process of stories, if they are submitted into the canon bank, essentially.”
The Future of Tokenized Lore
It is still early days for tokenized lore but it’s clear that RED has high hopes, believing that while initially it will appeal to “a certain smaller demographic,” over time it could become a foundation for an all-encompassing transmedia franchise. “I can actually see bigger IPs like Star Wars and Marvel eventually getting on board,” he says confidently. “And we would essentially then be the pioneers of this particular trend, which I think will be a lasting trend.
“The appeal is there, and as pioneers, the scope of growth and exploration allows us to genuinely create something the world’s never seen. The fact that it’s all on-chain makes it so much better, and people don’t even really see that. But it’s there and it supports the infrastructure, it supports this massive intergalactic, interdimensional entity that people from across the world have created. Or are creating, are going to create.”
That creative process is ongoing, and AI is playing its part – not only by helping writers to craft stories but also generate art. What does the Scribe think when a piece of AI-generated lore comes across his desk?
“There is definitely space for AI within the lore creation process overall, and we’ve seen an influx of people submitting purely AI-created pieces which are fairly easy to pick up. Those tend to lack the soul that a piece needs to actually fit the overarching narrative or space. It needs to be able to connect to human readers and it doesn’t necessarily do that. But if creators think creatively and use AI in sparing, specific places, it can lend a great hand.”
RED references Lynx, the Large Language Model (LLM) trained on Alien Worlds lore, which he calls “a brilliant tool for idea generation” and “character or scene instances” which writers can expand upon themselves. “Lynx is creative but not to the extent where it could entirely replace a human,” he explains.
And what advice would RED give to would-be lore writers?
“Familiarize yourself with what there is: read the tokenized lore book, think about the characters, all the different races and cultures. Really find your inspiration from that for your initial entry point. And craft something you think could be an expansion. The expansion can go in either direction in terms of the timeline: you don’t have to be current or think about the future, you can also write from a historical vantage.
“If you’re going for something more future-based or present, your informational resources would be… your mind (laughs). But be creative. Explore what there is throughout the game, like the different planets, the tokenized lore book, a lot of the NFTs also have lore and story. Hop onto the Fandom for a one-stop shop. I’d say about 80% of the official proposed canon is there. Oh, and get in touch with me. I’m open to chatting and guiding and assisting you making your entry point into the realms of lore.”
Before our chat ends, RED has a final word to offer on tokenized lore and its possible trajectory.
“The transmedia success doors have been opened by tokenized lore. Now that other games and entities like LightningWorks and Battlefleet Armageddon are entering in and developing their lore, more and more lore will be laid down. As that builds, people will find different ways to express themselves – Alien Worlds allows for that. It’s the freedom of creation.”
With those words, the Scribe retreats into the shadows to review more lore entries. If you’re interested in submitting Alien Worlds fiction and helping to shape our metaverse, use the Lore Creation Grant Submission Form: snippets should be between 1,000 and 2,000 words to maintain impact. You can also reach out to RED on Telegram at @OrderWorks_Studio and find him in the Alien Worlds Discord server under the handle red.orderworks.