TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
As we come close to our launch, we sit down with our CTO Mo Khalifa to get an understanding of what the NOR platform provides that no other gaming platform does.
“We have created an industry-first platform that gives the power back to the user by harnessing decentralised technology. The user data and in-game items are truly owned by the player, not stored on a server owned by the company. The platform works seamlessly as any other platform and we don’t have any extra plugins for the user to add, no wallets, etc. We have also built an in-game economy that hasn’t been seen before. We don’t use tradable coins on the open market. We keep it fair and square for the player.” – Mo Khalifa
WHAT'S NEW?
“The latest feature we have is our matchmaking system which doesn’t require the user to wait in a game lobby until other players join. It’s all done seamlessly and quickly to give the player a better experience. This was made possible by a long period of detailed research and development to find a solution that will work and make this dream a reality.
NOR is collaborating with Holochain and Rain to create a web3 and dweb game economy and ecosystem. We are building a decentralized platform with a series of games that keeps player data transparent, and is scalable across web, mobile, and desktop, with aligned incentives for players and metagamers.
The NOR platform is the decentralized gaming and metagaming access point. Login looks like web2 but actually connects to your local keys– meaning all participants are fully in control of their data. This identity connects to various gaming systems and stores player data on a distributed network.”
TOURNAMENTS
“The NOR tournament system sells tickets and offers player entries, rewarding both metagamers and players upon tournament completion. This utilizes web3 and dweb technologies for a transparent, low-friction system. NOR, Holochain, and Rain are working together to extend this world of competitive gaming/esports. Platform, ID, tickets, tournaments, game stadia, rewards, contracting and more are in the works for 2024. Additional functionality like asset crafting, player souls, extensible onchain asset economy, onchain game energy and currencies are in the works. Stay tuned.”
-MO KHALIFA, CTO
Reintroducing Khora
Back when we started this whole thing, our entire game world was built around the city of Khora. Micah and his writing team came up with a bunch of other names–The Immortal City, City Prime, the Beginning of all Beginnings, the End of All Endings, etc–but I’ve always called it Khora. There’s plenty of lore posted in our Discord channel (if you haven’t joined, please do) about the life of Khorics, detailing their immortal existences and how they keep themselves sane through the unending eons.
I envisioned Khorics as near-humans cursed with immortality. They can die in a physical sense (and they often do) but they always return to Khora, reborn through the Coalescent. Immortality is their prison. It drives them insane, even as they attempt to lose themselves in unchecked hedonism.
Play Keeps Khorics Sane
Of course hedonism has many forms, and Khorics tried it all before settling on play. Play offers a distraction from immortality because play can be structured to mirror what Khorics miss most of all: the ability to permanently die. Play offers a discrete beginning, middle, and end.
Play used to be what made videogames so much fun. Death used to matter in videogames but when games became what they are now, death didn’t matter. Endless lives, endless save points, endless grinding–we players became immortal. And immortality became our curse, just like the Khorics.
So play is the only thing that keeps Khorics sane and they build their existence around it. The city of Khora is their playground. We hope it becomes yours.
Enter the Arena Perilous
Pompeii had the Amphitheater, Rome had the Coliseum, London has the O2, Ahmedabad has the Motera Stadium, and Khora has the Arena Perilous.
Every important game is held in the Arena Perilous, including our first game FASTER. The Arena is a mutable space capable of housing any type of game at any scale, from a single field to a self-contained sea to a vast urban landscape spanning hundreds of square miles. FASTER uses a track that weaves through the city of Khora. The Arena Perilous in this instance has knit itself to the Khorics streets, proof of its limitless forms.
Brooks Brown
CEO, Consortium9