This time around we are talking to Xuyang Zhao Creator of THEXII / CCO at Straight Fire
Professional background: 3D artist, digital design & 3D production. As senior digital designer, he has been involved in the design of many museums and large-scale exhibitions, such as Expo 2020 Dubai. He has also been working closely with gaming companies such as Epic, Crytek, Tencent, ByteDance, on how to use digital technologies to improve immersive experiences.
Chris: The THEXII NFTs represent zodiacs. It is interesting to note that you were able to create the 12 zodiacs into 12012 tokens? What are the unique traits and characteristics?
Xuyang: The concept of creating THEXII Zodiac is combining futuristic and natural elements. The 12 zodiac in this project are hand-draw sci-fi style designs, and the 12 zodiac together forms the full NFT collection. Each NFT combines different materials. We also feature the 5 elements (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth) in the NFTs to add a sense of fantasy. Besides 12000 unique NFTs, there are also 12 special edition NFTs (one of each Zodiac) paying tribute to specific pop culture genre.
Chris: So, what is your story for the development of THEXII NFT? How did you guys come together with the idea?
Xuyang: THEXII was created by me and photographer Jimmy on the Run, who were both born in Asia and lived in Europe for many years. The mutual experience of living in Asia and Europe has inspired us to create a story that originates from Asian culture while it can be easily understood worldwide.
We thought about many themes, in the end, we decided to use the Asian Zodiac. The Zodiacs naturally connect with everyone due to the birth year. Meanwhile, it is neutral and undefined. This gave us enough room to retell a more inclusive and much cooler story. That’s also why we use Roman numerals – XII to represent the 12 zodiacs in the name. Regarding to the art direction, Jimmy and I are both big ACG (Anime, Comics, Games) fans and we are constantly inspired by the Sci-fi movies, games, and Japanese Anime. Therefore, you can probably see a lot of ACG elements in the whole creation. We wanted to create a whole new style that would resonate with ACG fans all over the world.
Chris: Every NFT unlocks different levels of perks and benefits for the owner. What are these levels of perks? How does one reach those levels?
Xuyang: The perks and benefits include access to THEXII Archives, THEXII comics (digital/physical), physical merchandise, physical designer toys, several rounds of airdrops + giveaways. Besides that, the holders can eventually earn with the NFTs. Straight Fire, the web3 company behind THEXII, is developing an NFT social dApp that enables the holders to monetize in the metaverse with the "create-to-earn" and "share-to-earn" models.
To unlock the perks, you need to first join our community – THEXII Discord server and choose your role in the community:
- Explorer group: creatives/creators like 3d artists, illustrators, writers, developers who can contribute to developing the metaverse. Explorers will work closely with the core team to develop and shape THEXII-verse.
Explorers can unlock perks by contributing to the development, for instance designing the merch, building the worlds, writing lores, developing THEXII-verse functions, etc.
- Citizen group: all community members who are actively engaged in THEXII activities.
Citizens can unlock different levels of perks by engaging in community activities, for instance, voting on the development direction of the THEXII-verse.
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Chris: Consequently, there should be no minting limit for the users. How many of these 3D zodiac sign NFTs can one buy in one transaction?
Xuyang: Maximum 3 NFTs in one transaction
Chris: More importantly, what will be the price of each NFT? How much will be the gas?
Xuyang: The minting price is 0.2 ETH + gas fee.
Chris: THEXIIcommunity has 3 golden rules. What are those? Why do you have those? Also, how can one sign up to be a part of this community?
Xuyang: The 3 golden rules are:
- THEXII is a metaverse IP that is created for and owned by community;
- The foundation has been developed, now we invite all designers, artists, writers, creators and creatives to co-create THEXII-verse together;
- Together with the community we are defining the future of NFTs, the metaverse and Web3.
The core of the 3 golden rules is our belief in community-created IP. We believe that only cultural IPs/entertainment licenses that are deeply engaged,
created and owned by the community will show the greatest potential and vitality in the web3 era.
To be part of this community, follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/THEXIINFT
And join our discord server: https://discord.gg/f2Zn7k6H2U
Chris: In the end, please share your plans for the next 6 months of THEXII NFT. How do you propose to move forward?
Xuyang: The ultimate goal of THEXII is to create an IP with a bold worldview like Marvel Universe, League of Legends, World of Warcraft and so on, that has unlimited potentials to extend to different fields.
- We will use the first 2 months to develop the worldview, lores, and background stories with the community. As deliverables, we will bring in talented creatives to create comic books, build THEXII archives, design and produce physical designer toys for the communities. The community can understand and participate in the creation of the worlds as if it were a sneak peek at BTS.
- In the following 2 months, the NFT social dApp would be ready for the beta launch and testings so that THEXII holders can already earn with the NFTs. Based on the feature development progress of THEXII-verse, we will consider releasing the next set of THEXII NFT series to expand the gameplay of THEXII-verse. Meanwhile, we will take THEXII to ACG conferences, like Comic-Con International, Anime-Expo, to create more exposure to the public.
- In the long term, we will seek cross-over and cross-border collaborations with other IPs (NFT and non-NFT) and brands.
