Man, what a journey it's been…
Two years ago, I tweeted asking for suggestions on which early-access blockchain games I should check out. The responses, as you'd expect in November '23, screamed Shrapnel, Pirate Nation, Fableborne, and Deadrop—the most promising titles of the time.
A lone comment stood out to me. There was no shill, no token, no call to action, just the handle of a game:
@PlayWildcard.
At the time, I had just bought a gaming PC but didn't play many PC games. My primary hardware was a PS4 Pro. I also hated my previous experiences with MOBAs and hadn't touched a TCG other than Parallel in a decade.
However, I still wanted to check out the game for several reasons; most of them came back to, you guessed it, the Bettners!
I spent a large portion of my childhood (and still to this day) playing Age of Empires and Age of Mythology, and when I was diagnosed with an extreme medical condition, Words with Friends was how I connected with friends and family while in the hospital. Also, at the time, I could count on one hand the number of times a founder of anything had reached out and asked me to try their product. At the very least, I figured I owed it to the Bettners to give Wildcard a shot.
So, I FAFO'd and showed up to watch a playtest—at worst, I'd lose 30 minutes to an hour of my day. Boy, were my expectations off…
I went in half expecting to leave the playtest, delete the server, and go about my day, but instead, the exact opposite occurred.
I watched one match and then asked for a playtest key. Without knowing the controls, I jumped in and felt that feeling I hadn't felt with a game in so many years…like Geralt slaying the last Crone, like the Lone Wanderer killing Lanius Legate. I was now Locke of House Chronos.
I fell so deeply in love with the game, despite the limitations and bugs that come with any early access build, that I showed up to every playtest three days a week.
Eventually, I was asked if I wanted to join a small cohort of players who would help playtest development builds and influence the game design. It was an absolute no-brainer, and the next thing I knew, I was in Brad's Bunch.
Being a part of Brad's Bunch has been one of the most remarkable experiences of my life. It sounds cheezy, but watching champions and summons start in concept art and then come to life before your eyes is quite magical.
This past summer, I had to take some time away for surgery. The Wildcard team found out, and the next thing I knew, I had a Wildcard care package in my mailbox.
Some time passed, I kept playing and cracked 150 in-game hours, and then
@ThousandsTV was announced, along with its exhibition series.
I was thrilled when the team asked me to participate in EX 1, and I was honestly shocked that I kept getting invited back after how poorly I played. To my even greater astonishment, a few short weeks later, I was asked if I'd be willing to travel out west for an EX.
Next week, I leave for Vegas to compete with
@Dragoonneth against
@TeamLiquid at LVL UP, where we will be representing Brad's Bunch and I'm freaking pumped!
One thing I struggle with a lot is getting overly focused on short-term stressors rather than believing in the journey. Reflecting on where Wildcard has taken me is a good lesson on the latter.
If you made it this far, go follow @ShadyShiba_
@LeahsWildWorld @TheOnlyRemyD @MadCuzBradley — they will likely be both happy and confused to see an influx of new followers lol