NFTs, NFT Drop Teams, Investing

People are *Really* Stretching NFT Roadmap Amenities These Days — A Look at NFT Utility

How much utility is really needed?

I’ve been on a LOT of NFT drop teams now — sometimes “just” as the generative art coder, sometimes as a full-on web3 dev, and sometimes as a team member involved in all of the drop planning. (And sometimes a mix of all that.) Clearly, one agenda item that always dominates discussions would be the roadmap.

I was just reading one today — one for a massive sure-sell-out drop that I’d talked with about doing their art. (I didn’t wind up working with them, but I kept an eye on them nonetheless. You know how you either hit it off with people or you don’t sometimes? Well … we didn’t. The main guy was absolutely rude to my team, and frankly to his own, and noticeably dismissive to any women who spoke up during the call. He also didn’t value any of the services I had to offer. Not going to call them out, though, as I just don’t care to.)

Anyway, their roadmap is basically the following. I’ll list a paraphrase of what the roadmap item is, and then my translation of what it means:

1. We are launching the project. (Translation: No benefit. Should it be part of your roadmap to include “we are launching”? Personally, I’m not a fan — and I’m not just saying that because I didn’t hit it off with the drop owner here. If you’re including “launch” as a roadmap item, it screams that you need more roadmap content.)
2. We will do the NFT drop. (Translation: No benefit. Once again, this is absolutely obvious for a generative NFT set. “We are doing the NFT drop” is not a benefit at all, to anyone. I mean, yes, an NFT drop needs NFTs, but again this is making something out of nothing.)
3. The NFT drop will be available on OpenSea. (Translation: No benefit. Wow, thank you, Captain Obvious! lol, third strike in a row — another zero-benefit item that the drop has positioned as a major milestone. Having a collection on OpenSea is not anything special at all; it’s super-basic, and a fundamental aspect of ALL NFT drops. Just like having a collection on LooksRare and/or ensuring you’re on Coinbase NFT once that rolls out. If you say that you’re going to make your NFTs available on OpenSea, you’re actually saying that you know nothing about NFTs at all.)
4. We will have IRL events. (Two IRL events mentioned. Okay, I’ll concede that IRL meetings do belong on a roadmap, although these items alone should not usually be enough utility to power an entire NFT drop (unless that is the whole point of the drop). IMHO, NFTs should have solid utility beyond a couple of IRL events. Otherwise, there is no reason for anyone to hold unless they simply want to attend one of these events. Bottom line: IRL events are good and welcome, but not enough. So, let’s see what else they have planned for holders.)
5. Access to Merch. (Translation: Your NFT entitles you to buy more stuff from us. I get the merch thing, as I see it all the time on roadmaps. But, it’s also kinda-sorta not really a benefit, unless maybe you’re a giant like Nike or some iconic designer — a brand with a fanatical collector base. For the rest of us, saying you will have merch is one of those “lite” benefits for NFT drops. Yes, it’s cool, but you’re really just offering people stuff for sale. IDK … just not a fan, I guess. Yes, put it on there, but not as a main holder benefit.)
6. We are going to TRY to MAYBE use some of the imagery in other media. (Translation: ???? Literally, this major roadmap item said almost nothing. I just don’t see how this could be thought to excite anyone. We have to remember that NFT drops are going to be increasingly monitored by those who will look to regulate the industry. NFT teams know this, and I think this is why we’re seeing vague promises on roadmaps. After all, if you make promises you never intend to keep, that’s a rug (and people are going to jail for that lately). So, there’s a non-committal attitude emerging— not just here in this example roadmap, but everywhere.)
7. Metaverse “surprises.” (Translation: Maybe we’re going to do something in the Sandbox or Decentraland? But, like, we’re not sure what. Again, absolutely vague — and yet thousands of fans seemingly have no issue with this. One thing I’ll say, though, is that the “metaverse” is an easy add-on to roadmaps. I mean, when you really think about it, there really isn’t always a TON of amazing utility that one can do with NFTs. Usually, it’s just a few things — and often simple things that, amazingly, this example drop did not even list, even as they were clearly desperate to list anything at all. I’m speaking of things like “great art” by some emergent artist, or an “amazing community” of people united by various issues, subject areas, etc. … or a charitable cause. Not that there’s no charitable cause here, at the moment. Back to the metaverse, though… A lot of drops really have no solid plans here. They just know that they should be there in some fashion. Few notable exceptions exist, but I’d point out Sandhelm, for example, as one of them, as they’ve built out a massive roleplaying experience for the Sandbox. For most others, “metaverse” usually means they have bought some virtual land, or plan to, and they’re not sure what to do with it. Which is fine … but it’s not a solid holder benefit until you make plans.)
8. TBA (Translation: We know we want three more major benefits, even if the above were somewhat lackluster, so that we have 10 listed. But, we can’t be bothered to plan anything further at the moment. xd)
9. TBA (Translation: EEK… two more???!!! Coming soon.)
10. TBA (Translation: ZOMG… one more. We swear we’ll think of something.)

Various Additional Roadmap Standards

I’m not sure how inspiring the above roadmap was. And, truly, it’s not a rule that a roadmap is even necessary. The mfers managed a zero-roadmap (zero-anything, actually) sell-out (albeit from a crypto whale w/ 174k followers) with a healthy aftermarket (2.68 ETH floor as of today), and you occasionally see others. So, it’s tough to truly criticize anyone for a lacking roadmap, you know?!

That said, if you’re struggling because you’d like to offer some utility and value (likely because you’re not a celebrity or whale), then you can consider something from the go-to list:

• charitable cause tie-in — doesn’t need to be giant, but kicking a little sumthin-sumthin to a charity is generally seen as a positive, often done as a small % of primary sale and/or an ongoing small % of secondary royalties;
• art airdrops — a lot of drops do this, and people seem to enjoy bonus NFTs, even if they’re maybe done on Polygon, in their wallets;
• cool benefits for specific traits — reward specific traits, or specific combinations of traits, with prizes or something neat. Remember also that you can always do this throughout a drop — selecting different traits to reward people with things. This also spurs the secondary market! (Deck of Degeneracy does this — rewarding specific card holders with airdrops and prizes.)
• tokenomics — if you’re feeling more advanced, consider launching a coin and allowing staking of your NFTs;
• access to something cool — be it metaverse areas or maybe just some web site or Discord channel;
• funding something cool — use your imagination, but a community can definitely get behind a project (be it something IRL or a game, or… anything);
• community — a place to discuss various topics with others who also hold that topic dearly;
• community-direction — allowing community votes on various issues important to the drop;
• DAOs — building on the previous item, a DAO allows community governance. Much more complex, but popular;
• art collabs — growing in popularity, collab artworks make great airdrops and/or prizes for communities;
• brand collabs — partnering with IRL businesses for various purposes and merch (not so much a holder benefit, but this can demonstrate potential for the NFT drop brand to last a good while, and thus offer some idea of potential future value);
• contests — always a fun item and gets people motivated;
• raffles and prizes — check with your legal team on some of this, but the potential to win things is often an alluring draw for people;
• apps — I’m sure more of these will come along, but app/NFT interconnectivity will become a thing;
• IRL events — as stated above, these are popular. Try to think about geography, as the world is a big place, and your holders may be spread out worldwide (some comments on this utility here);
• free merch — not just “access” to merch, but actual stuff. For example, when we bought some of these Kitano dogs, the owner mailed us some amazing prints of them
• copyright — if you’re giving holders copyright, that’s something worth mentioning, especially if your art is top-quality;

What else? What are some examples of cool roadmap items that can be looked to for inspiration by NFT drop teams? LMK and I’ll add any applicable ones above. :-)