The Future
Is Virtual
Every hour spent raiding, farming and trading online wasn't wasted. It was preparation.
When blockchains emerged, digital-native gamers didn't see abstract protocols. They saw the natural evolution of the internet — an evolution they'd been familiar with since they were children. It clicked and made experiential sense immediately.
The mechanics are familiar: scarce digital assets, community governance, reputation systems, complex economic incentives — and most importantly, having fun online with your friends in guilds (group chats).
The most successful crypto founders aren't just building protocols. They're drawing from thousands of hours of hands-on experience in vast online virtual economies. They don't imagine how digital economies work; they've lived them.
The future is online, and it belongs to those who are online.
It belongs to those who have learned to see the opportunities in the virtual worlds. It belongs to those who can build cults online around shared beliefs.
"Twitter is not real life" — maybe. But it is the future, and I've been making life-long friends and partners through accounts for over six years.
Runescape taught me much about what is possible — about life, about the internet and online spaces. Digital scarcity can lead to real-life value; virtual communities can be more powerful than real-life ones. In Venezuela, people farmed Runescape gold to make ends meet when the real economy faltered. That was eye-opening.
The distinction between online and real life gets blurrier every day. Every hour spent raiding, farming, trading, messaging and building on games wasn't wasted — it was preparation for the future of open-source finance, of consumer experiences, of network states.
Today's "waste of time" is tomorrow's billion-dollar consumer experience. What the smartest kids spend their spare hours on today gets mass-adopted tomorrow. Time spent in-game was the 21st-century apprenticeship.
— GRITCULT