Poppin Puffins’ Mint | AUK History
Dear Colony, AUK Army, and Distinguished Puffins…
First off all, thank you so much for being probably the chillest, most supportive community on Terra right now. That is the way of the Puffin and the kind of community we want to build. Big influencers are talking on Twitter about how nice and welcoming the Puffins are. We have something TRULY SPECIAL here!! Second, I am sorry for not communicating better. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Every day there are 100 decisions to make, and multiple teams involved, and sometimes we might not get it right, and you can’t control everything. But we will learn from every success/failure and come back stronger. My ❤ is in this Colony.
A LITTLE [back] STORY
TheOlifants and I have been around the block. We both lived on the streets as artists for years, got f^#d over by the creative industry in big ways, and also worked professionally for projects and companies big and small. We’re not making decisions without careful consideration and experience. We know what it’s like to get rug pulled IRL. So we bring that experience to the table, and we will always try to make the best decision for The Colony. Because OUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT.
All over Twitter, people are talking about how awesome the Puffin art is. That’s because TheOlifants is a real-life legendary Graffiti artist who is dedicated to the project for the long term. And our focus is making high-quality collectible art as a foundation for future utility and experience. Some big collectors have nabbed a bunch of Puffins purely on the basis of the strong artwork. It’s something different on Terra. Those collectors aren’t asking us to burn anything because they believe in the art. We did some research.
The biggest projects in history did not have a time limit to their mint. Bored Apes did not have a mint limit, and it took a while for all the apes to be minted. But that only helped in the end. The biggest projects are the ones that grow their community organically, get their NFTs into as many hands as possible, while offering value. WE WANT TO DEDICATE OUR LIVES TO THIS. In the short term, burning NFTs might be good for flipping, but as a team, this will be our life for the next few years at least, working every day to build out experience and utility with top-shelf art.
There will only ever be 9873 Puffins. 9873 is the number we believe is the right amount for a strong community while remaining special. [as we all know this ended up as half and now Poppin Eels is set to fill the gap a little] If we were comfortable with selling out 9873 Puffins in 48 hours, are we against selling 9873 Puffins in 10 days, 30 days, 100 days? More time to get more Puffins in more hands means we have more time to promote the community and get our name out there. We all know Terra is going to be huge. 9873 is a drop in the bucket compared to the tidal wave that’s coming our way.
So we asked Random Earth about the feasibility of extending the mint. Because of the strength of our project, they offered us something unprecedented — to keep our mint open for longer. To be clear, we did not ask for 30 days, they just did that quickly without asking us. But that’s a small detail and I’m not angry because they are good guys working really hard and they really made sure our mint went smoothly. It comes down to the choice…
While burning is good for short term enthusiasm and price, we are thinking long term, and the long term success will come from getting as many Puffins as possible into as many hands as possible, growing the power of the community, and fomenting demand (increasing price) by creating great experiences and utility. That’s why we would like to extend the mint.
OGs — YOU SHALL BE REWARDED!! At the same time, we MUST reward those who were here early and invested in Poppin Puffins. Our idea is that those who minted in the original 48 hour mint period will be the ONLY PUFFINS EVER to receive the OG role, and be eligible for the first airdrop that will ONLY go to OG Puffins. In the future, we will also have more OG airdrops, experiences, and access. And I can’t wait to meet the OGs at Terra events around the world or at our Iceland Party in Fall 2021 (yes, this is gonna happen).
The other option? We stop the mint at 48 hours as planned. No OG role. Everyone who holds a Puffin will get all future airdrops, not just OG. Less puffins in less hands means a smaller community and less people to get out there and promote. We have less funds to develop great content and pay the creators we need like game developers. WAGMI: If we’re talking about $$$, trust me, our interests are aligned with the community. We want the price to go up 1000x, but the price can only truly go to the moon if there is real demand and a strong group of creators and minds behind the project.
[The strongest common element of every project that reaches the moon is a strong Discord community. Let’s pull together on the same team and goal. Resolved to remain Puffin awesome and Puffin strong.]
Adapted by ZymaPro
