I have only a few hundred obsessions. Two of them can synergize nicely.

The only crypto that I am interested in holding is BitShares.
The only multiplayer game that I play is called World War 2 Online.

_{Cornered Rat Software on the hunt for the next big idea}

It's actually one of the oldest Massively Multiplayer Online Games in existence, running since 2001. It is supported by a relatively small, but very tight-knit community of players who get their kicks by outsmarting the opposing army and then bragging about it. Sometimes this means a brute-force attack of a town with tanks, infantry and bombers, and sometimes it means watching how the opposing army has moved their brigades around the map, and the High Command players (those who have volunteered to play the role of battlefield or strategy leaders) must take advantage of a bad move.

There are so many facets to the game, it would be impossible to describe them all here. Log in and see: you will be very confused at the beginning. However, you will quickly find that every veteran player is happy to help you learn the ropes, and they will invite you to be a part of their battles. The game is not like most others out there today - you can't "pay-to-win". Subscribers pay about USD $15 per month to play, and your success in the game is based on nothing other than your skill.

• There is one, 24-hour, persistent map of western europe, and players can log in to fight, or watch the map from work using apps and online tools that monitor the game.
• There are squads of players: some who always play Allied, some who always play Axis, some who switch it up.
• There is an ONLINE FORUMS SYSTEM, where discussions about the game, or any other topic can occur.
• Awards and commendations (and medals) are given out by the High Command in the forums, and people can call each other out when the emotions get raw, they can give each other props on a great battle or they can grieve together when a player passes away (in real life). It is a really tight community, and everyone is looking for ways to improve the experience.

Scoring

Players start out as a lowly rifleman... unable to spawn any other equipment, until they have performed certain tasks or killed enough enemy players. When points are accumulated, the game tracks the player's progress, and levels them up when they have earned experience. Players keep ranking up thru the years (yes, I just said yeeeeeears), and they gain unofficial prestige based on how they perform ingame, and also how they behave towards the community as a whole.
The points system is extremely involved: some players just fight for a good time, not worrying about stats, but some players choose to concentrate on one or two certain aspects of the game, like becoming the best tanker or fighter pilot, or sub-machinegunner. These players can view their rankings against all the others in game, and they can refine their goals, so that they really do have something to lose when they get killed on the battlefield.

^{Campaign award for Top Axis Mortarman - Woohoo!}

Mind you, there isn't really anything these players EARN, other than honour and glory....

OR IS THERE?

Taking gaming rewards to the next level

Imagine now if you earned actual tradeable tokens from the points that you earn in-game? Imagine if you could use these tokens to buy things to trick out your account, like arm badges on your infantryman, or custom decals on your tanks, or a prestigious icon next to your name in-game? Like I said above, you cannot buy your way into the greatest fighter plane or finest tank, but what if you could use your accumulated point to buy cool things that made you stand out?

The trouble for Cornered Rat Software (the game developer) is that they are a TINY outfit compared to the other game studios out there, and their resources are extremely limited. They are working on introducing more content to the game at the moment, and redoing their scoring system to make this idea happen is simply out of the question. But... what if they DIDN'T need to redo everything? What if they could take their existing scoring database, and simply reward players with tradable tokens which could then be redeemed for cool virtual stuff? What would that look like?

Enter BitShares User-Issued Assets

In the BitShares decentralized exchange, the game developer (The Game) could create a UIA, and issue it as rewards points to players. Every player would be invited to create an account on the DEX, and players would then be able to trade the tokens amongst themselves, potentially discovering an actual PRICE for them. They would then be able to trade them back to The Game, redeeming them for rewards.

But wait, it gets better.

The Game could then give the players the option to purchase the tokens thru the BitShares DEX, in exchange for, say BitUSD. The players could be given the option to actually pay for their monthly subscription with the tokens. The tokens would actually develop their own value, based on how much they became useful to the gaming community.

How to do it?

This is all something which could be easily done, TODAY. The scoring database exists, and is closely followed by the community. What if, at the end of each week, the stats were tallied and tokens were issued based on kills, kill/death ratio, defensive actions, etc... There are things to do in the game that don't garner any points at all, like flying a load of paratroopers to their target, or driving an ammo truck to a pillboxed tank, or acting as High Command and manning the strategic aspect of the game.

With a BitShares UIA, ALL OF THESE ACTIONS COULD BE PROPERLY REWARDED

Prestigious awards, medals, are currently issued on The Game's forum system... What if each medal a player earned was accompanied by a set amount of these tokens? What if every time a player was the best at something for a campaign, they were rewarded with tokens? What if every time you handed ammo to another player, you got a fraction of a token? Do you see?

DO YOU SEE?!

Please tell me that you see. No other crypto system could be used to support something like this. We are talking about the need to create millions of tokens, and to allow them to be traded amongst players, and then back to The Game. The thing is: these tokens are just for fun, and they need to be allowed to grow and flourish on a mature exchange, so that the players can become used to holding them and trading them. ONLY THEN can they start to develop their own value, which players will then spend actual BitUSD on.

The costs are so low for this idea, and the potential rewards are so enormous. If there is a BitShares whale out there who would like to get in touch with The Game, please reach out to them. They are always looking for new ideas.