Virtual Items

In Paydirt, items have two possible manifestations: Game Item and Non-Fungible Token (NFT). Some items can be in both states at the same time, while others can only be in one or the other.

Game Items

Game items are familiar to every gamer. They are the digital or virtual manifestation of the items within a game seen and experienced as objects in the game world or player inventory which are typically stored in a file on the user's device or within a centralized database in the cloud.

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

Non-Fungible Tokens (hereafter, NFTs) are uniquely identified tokens associated with data or content that is stored on or referenced from a blockchain such as Ethereum. Because the NFT data consists of metadata which can be stored on-chain and off-chain, it can be used to represent game items, similar to a file or database. However, unlike a file or database, the blockchain storage mechanism provides additional security guarantees and permanence while the NFT standard provides interoperability within a shared ecosystem.

Blockchain-enabled Items

Some game items in Paydirt are blockchain-enabled. This means they may have additional features for those who link their blockchain wallet to their game account. Items that are blockchain-enabled will be specially marked in their item description within the game. Blockchain-enabled items in Paydirt come in two types: Corporeal and Ephemeral.

Corporeal

Corporeal items can only exist in one form or the other at any one time: game item or NFT. A NFT of this type must be converted into its associated game item to be actively used within the game. These types of blockchain-enabled items can be converted via the port (see Import & Export). Corporeal items can only be used, dropped or traded in game item form.

Ephemeral

Ephemeral items can exist in both game item form and NFT form at the same time. Merely possessing the NFT in the wallet linked with the player's game account is all that is needed to gain the associated game item in the player's inventory. However, the game item for this type of blockchain-enabled item is merely a proxy for the NFT and as such, it cannot be traded or dropped, and it is only accessible as long as the NFT is contained within the blockchain wallet linked to the user's game account.