Transcription of the AMA on June 6, 2024

On June 6th, our second AMA of the year took place, featuring Lebnan Nader, CEO of Stables, Constantin Garreau, founder of Stables, Renaud El Ghozi, Head of Product & Gaming, Jérémy Coste, Head of Community & Marketing, and Sylvain Willekens, Game Designer. We've compiled this transcript for you to be up-to-date on all the upcoming exciting changes to the Stables platform!

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Transcription of the AMA on June 6, 2024:

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Introduction de l'AMA

My name is Lebnan, I've been with Stables for three months now, three months and a few days to be precise. My background is in video games. So, I founded a company that creates video games. And then, I founded another company that develops software for sports betting and horse racing. So, if you will, my experience is somewhat focused on video games and horse racing. So, I have a bit of knowledge in this field, you could say. For the past three months, we haven't done many updates. We've been quite busy fine-tuning our vision, strategy, and next steps. We have a lot, a lot, a lot of things we want to do. We'll start slowly. We'll begin with the screens that Jérémy will present, which we're testing now, featuring new types of games and races. We'll also continue to expand internationally. So, we're actively collaborating with several countries in Europe and Asia. And maybe in a few months, also in America, to truly have something international. We aim to add many horses, many users, to organize races, competitions, etc.

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So in the short term, right now we're already starting to make changes—we've begun improving the points that the community requested, like mass registrations, checking results, etc. In the medium term, it's about expanding Stables in France and moving towards other countries to build communities there, attract players there, and notably, include horses from other countries. Looking long-term, in essence, Stables is becoming a global player. We aim to have four or five continents using Stables, with players interested in real-life NFTs, real-life horses, playing together. Today's idea is to evolve this platform into something more advanced, allowing people to create their own races, invite others they know or don't know, and play together. So that's a bit of what we're doing. Today, we'll start sharing what we've changed over these last three months, and I also want to apologize to the community. We've listened to a lot of feedback on what needs to change, and we've decided that all of this will be ready very soon. I'll let you take over for the presentation after, Jérémy. But yes, essentially, it's about improving the experience today, then expanding beyond France and going international.

Jérémy:

So indeed, we chose to do a massive overhaul instead of small, quick weekly additions. In this presentation, I will go through the future screens of the game. It will be easier to understand the course of the race from the players' point of view and thus have less of that feeling of not understanding the entire race, like being in the middle of the race and then suddenly dropping to the last place in the last 100 meters, wondering what happened, thinking it's not working, there are bugs, etc. This will facilitate that understanding. So this is the first step which is quite nice, I think, in any case, in terms of the course, it will be pretty cool to be able to follow the race of your horse like this. And this is coming with the next release as well; it's a first step. As we said, we will keep you informed on where we are heading.

Don't hesitate to either write in the chat or... I don't know if we can raise our hand. We can't raise our hand, but otherwise, those who have microphones, interrupt me if you have a question at any point. There aren't many slides. There are five or six slides. So don't hesitate either in the chat or cut me off, and it will be fine like that. We presented the roadmap a few days ago with the update. What I am going to do here is go through, with the screens that are developed or under development for other features, what corresponds to the text of the roadmap, and I will visually translate it to show what it looks like.

One of the first elements for us that is important... So obviously everything goes hand in hand. Obviously, I will present to you the new login screen that will be there. Obviously, if the game is not good behind it, there won't be any magic either. We won't have millions of players. What I mean by that is that everything goes hand in hand in what we do. So it's very important, this story of this screen that I present to you here, which is the login screen.

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For current players, it's certainly a bit less interesting because you are already onboarded and have access. But for future players, it's extremely important because we analyze connection statistics, visit statistics, and so on. If we look at last year's Mint, the Drop, where most of you were present, the statistics show that 60% of people stopped at the Wallet connection step. This is a crucial moment in onboarding people, and it's a point where we lose most players because they were asking, "What is a Wallet? What should I do?"

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Therefore, it was extremely important for us to offer a much easier experience for a new player. And that's what I’m presenting on the screen here. It's not just this screen; there will be many more screens after this. But it's about having an option, when you arrive on Stables, to connect in one click with Google Sign-In or use a traditional username and password method. Obviously, at some point, if people buy NFTs, they will need to connect their Wallet. But in any case, it’s not the first step because that’s what is very inconvenient at the moment. 

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So with the new onboarding, we will have this interface that allows easy connection with Google or login with a username and password. All of this goes along with other onboarding screens that follow, which I won’t present today but could show you later, allowing players to be onboarded quite easily and choose their first horse, the first free horse. 

Currently, and today, we sent you free horses, but a new player arriving on the platform will have a choice. There are four free horses, one with two endurance points, one with two speed points, one with two spirit points, and one with two mental points. This offers a choice so the user can feel like... and not just feel like, but actually choose the first horse they will have in the game.

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So there it is, the onboarding is completely redone, whether it’s on the game screens, but it will also be done by email. Today, we have emails that... well, they exist, we do all onboarding on day J, J plus 1, J plus 2, J plus 7, to tell people, connect, you have a tutorial, that sort of thing. But in any case, it goes hand in hand with these screens. So this is the first very important thing, the ability to welcome new players. Does anyone have anything to say about this? How would I like us to interact?

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So for this, OK, continue. So, here, we enter the game screen. There will be two screens. There will be this screen and the next screen. They go together.

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You know it as well as I do, currently, races are a season. That is to say, a season has started. There is one race per day. And that's it. We are going to introduce, as you can see at the bottom of the screen and will see even better in the next screen, a concept of a daily race that will run alongside the seasonal races. You can see on this screen here, the top part of the screen. So this is going to be the screens of the new game update, which will replace the ones you currently know. It will be very optimized for desktop. It will also be optimized for mobile. Obviously, on mobile, the screens are a bit more compact and smaller. But on desktop, it will really look like this. So the top part is dedicated to the season. As you know, each season, we try to incorporate new features. But in any case, it remains daily races or maybe every two days. We'll see what we do for the summer season. But the top part of the screen dedicated to the seasonal race, you will find all the information about the current race with the new feature on the right, which is the leaderboard.

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Daily races will run alongside the season races. Daily races can be... Well, we're going to start small, maybe with 10, and then we can go up to 20, 30 per day, 40, 50. The concept is quite different from the season races. You know the season races: 3000 horses register for the race of the day, and then we create 300 echoes of 10 horses each. Daily races will be more like lobbies. If you've played Counter Strike, Call of Duty, all those games, when you join a match, you join a lobby somewhere. And in fact, daily races will be lobbies. For example, the first one will be a lobby of 7 players. The second will be a lobby of 7 horses, then a lobby of 4 horses, 4 horses, 7 horses, 4 horses. We will be able to adjust with a lot of parameters. We can adjust the number of horses in the race. We can adjust, of course, the entry fee, the distances, etc. That's not new. But for example, we can say that for this race, instead of having 3 or 4 winners, there will actually be only one winner. It will be a Winner Takes All. So the entry fee is 100 S-Points, and the winner takes it all.

We can have races that are only accessible to certain levels of horses. We can have races, for example, where the entry fee is 50 S-Points, but you don't win any S-Points at the end. You only win XP, and the XP will be boosted. For example, 50 S-Points for entry, the first place gets 300 XP instead of the usual 20 or 30. The second place gets 200 XP. The third place gets 5 XP. So, you can strategize by saying, "I want my horse to gain XP to reach certain races reserved for specific horses." In return, you don't win S-Points, but you gain XP. Yes, Zombie, that's kind of it. We are inspired by that. These mechanics are interesting for people with very diverse profiles. Some want to gamble a lot. Some want to have more chances of winning but smaller prizes. Some want to win everything. That's the spirit of it.

There will be these races throughout the day. We will try to divide them into 6-hour or 4-hour pairs, I think. So, we will have 4 blocks during the day. These races will renew throughout the day. We can adjust whether we do them only in the morning or only in the afternoon. So, these races will be open permanently. Permanently, of course, until they are filled. Once they are filled, the race starts. But we will have this available in a kind of service mode. All day long, a player can find a race that suits them. So, that's it.

So, this is the summary page for these races. The analytics pages are nice. They work well. It's not, of course, directly integrated into the game, which is a bit more problematic. But this one is the page that will be directly in the game, allowing you to see the complete history of these races and thus analyze the results, watch replays, see how much you've won, and see what types of races you've participated in over the past 7 days, 30 days. We will have a complete history of all these races. We talked about the new home page features and mass registration.

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Lebnan :

If you give me a moment, Jérémy, on this specific screen, we’ll start with something quite basic like the one indicated here in front of me. It will be simple; we'll see the color of our horse, and we’ll track the horse relative to the others. From this point, until we implement the 3D, the 3D will be an addition. So, we’ll leave it as it is and add the 3D. There will be an option for the player to either watch it like this or in 3D. Also, it's important to mention that this version will be continuously updated.

We'll start with something very basic like this, and then we'll begin adding the distances between the horses, in meters, in centimeters, etc. We’ll also start showing the distance to the finish line, maybe the speed of the horse, and the time the horse finishes. So, we’ll make something that is very simple yet packed with information. The player can see exactly what’s happening. Today, with the current rendering, we know there’s an algorithm behind it; we know all that, but we don’t see it. With this new system, we’ll be able to see everything happening in our race with full transparency.

Jeremy :

Exactly, so that's the plan for this rendering. There will also be some things removed and others reworked. Always with the aim of streamlining the player's experience. Today, we understand that the screens for claiming points and XP are pretty and cute, but when you have 10-15 horses to manage after each race, it becomes a bit complicated. I think everyone would appreciate a "claim all" button so you can retrieve everything with one click. What we're going to do is simply remove these screens. There will be a notification system, and everything will be distributed automatically. XP will be distributed, points will be credited, and this will make for a much better experience for the players. You will be notified in some way, and there will be a place where you can see how much XP you've earned, so you understand what you've gained, but there won't be this blocking system anymore. Right now, we have these pop-ups at the beginning of each race, reminding us of points to claim from the previous race or even races from two days ago. It's a bit complicated. People sometimes miss one or two races and think they've won something, but it turns out it was from race three or before. So, all this will be removed, making it much more fluid. After a race, we'll have summaries of what we've won, but without those blocking screens. Another aspect, still with the goal of streamlining the experience, is the strategy editing. We are convinced that this is a very strategic element in the game process, being able to see and adapt to your opponents' strategies. But in the current format, as Miguelito mentioned in the chat, it adds extra clicks. In a game where we want more strategy, we'll keep this in mind. However, in the current game format, it adds friction and more steps on our end when creating races. We need to set aside time for players to edit strategies. Ultimately, it was used mainly by players with many horses who understood the game better. We'll keep it in mind for now, but it will be removed in the next release, further streamlining the game experience. Other points to be reworked: Initially, the attribute re-roll will be removed and replaced later, likely by the end of the year, with another system. We'll discuss it in detail later. We are not entirely satisfied with how the re-roll works currently.

Sylvain, would you like to add a couple of minutes about the re-roll? Why aren't we completely satisfied with how it works right now?

Sylvain :

Yes, absolutely. The main reason is related to your first point about claiming S Points. It's the same idea, really. Interrupting your journey is a problem. We understand that being able to adjust your horses' attribute points is important to you. However, it disrupts your experience. Our initial work aims to streamline the experience, so this needed to change. We are fully aware that it's the most effective way for you to interact with your horses. That's why this feature isn't going away at all. We already have a lot of ideas on how it will be reintegrated.

Jeremy :

Great, thank you, Sylvain, for the explanation. That will be reworked. The Horse Profile will also be reworked and completely recreated. The Horse Profile is the page that summarizes your horse's career earnings, progress, and all that. Currently, it is quite underused because it is not very effective in the way it was designed at the beginning of the project, and the project has evolved a lot. So, we need to update this page. It will be recreated, and in the meantime, I believe it will disappear temporarily, but it will reappear in a better form, so nothing will be lost on that front. I think we have... Go ahead, Renaud. I think I'll hand it over to you... So, everything we presented here will be released at the beginning of June, in about 3-4 weeks, by the end of June or beginning of July. We’ll specify the exact date when we get closer. Renaud, I’ll let you take over from here, or even say a few words about... it's your work, after all. Everything that has been done here is managed by Renaud. I’ve presented it, but I'll let you add a few words about what I’ve just presented.

Renaud :

Sure, thank you very much for the presentation, Jérémy. I hope you found it clear. I see in the chat that some of you were less appreciative, but we believe this is the right direction. In fact, we're convinced of it. Before the end of June, we aim to put this new experience in your hands. This includes more races, more interesting races, more diversity, easier horse registration, better representation of results, and a better depiction of the race itself. It's a big package and a real renewal of the experience we're offering you. I'll take my technical hat on for a moment. The challenge was also technical, to provide us with a solid foundation to build on. Let's talk about the future because what we presented isn't the start of the journey; it's what is currently in development and testing. Some things are already ready, so we're confident about that, which is why we're presenting it to you. Looking further ahead, we have two major stages: the first at the end of the summer and the second a bit later in the year. The first big investment is in what we call Peer-to-Peer User Generated Races. What does that mean? These are races created by players. We want to give you the ability to create your own races, set your entry fees, determine the prize distribution, and invite players you know or make it public on the platform. We believe this project is also your project, and giving you the capacity to create races rewards the most interesting, active, and engaged players on the platform. It also amplifies the project's reach. We're in the design phase, thinking about how we can provide something simple yet versatile and customizable to make sense in your experience. It's a huge topic for us, and we'll discuss it more before it launches, possibly getting some feedback from you to ensure it resonates well. The second aspect is player profiles. When we talk about races between players, created by players for players, it makes sense to have player profiles to know who you're up against. This profile will let you see achievements, the horses in the player's stable, and more. It's a social component. Some of you have asked about guilds, for example, and how to project ourselves in that direction. For us, it's the first step towards moving from a model where horses compete to a model where horse owners, stables, and real individuals compete. It's more exciting to beat Sylvain than his horse, and I'm eager to create races and see if I can beat you guys with my little horse. The third element of this end-of-summer update is the algorithm. I know this has been a topic for a while, and I won't look at the chat to avoid seeing frustration about the algorithm. We'll revisit this subject. We know the algorithm can present disparities compared to real life, and sometimes certain information isn't entirely clear. We'll refine the algorithm to restore value to expertise and reduce the weight of chance. We'll discuss this further if needed. Associated with this new algorithm, we’re also providing new strategic choices. The idea is for you to always have three choices but more options to improve your gaming experience and the diversity of races. We feel we've exhausted our current options. We know what to take for short races. How can we add diversity and strategic direction? By adding more strategic choices. These choices won’t be immediately available to everyone but will be gradually unlocked, keeping you engaged and exploring the game’s depth. These are the four main components of the next production release, expected at the end of summer or early fall. Now, looking at the longer term, we have two major topics of interest. The first is the possibility of renting out horses. We know we have both large stable owners and smaller stable owners in our community. We also have players with few horses who’d like to experience more. We're considering allowing some players to rent out their horses under a revenue-sharing model. This means if the horse wins, the earnings are shared. This gives large stables a form of passive income and new players a chance to explore different types of horses and enjoy the game more. Certainly, thank you for the comprehensive presentation, Jérémy. I hope you found everything clear. Based on the chat feedback, it seems some of you were less enthusiastic, but we firmly believe this is the right direction and we are convinced of it. So, before the end of June, we aim to implement this new experience, which includes more races, more interesting races, greater diversity, easier horse registration, better result representation, and an improved depiction of the races. This is a substantial package and represents a true renewal of the experience we are offering you.

I'll briefly outline the plan:

End of June Update:
More races with increased diversity
Easier registration for your horses
Better visualization of race results and the races themselves
A smoother overall experience

End of Summer Update:
Peer-to-Peer User Generated Races: Players can create their own races
Set entry fees and prize distributions
Invite specific players or make races public
Rewards for active and engaged players
Enhance the project's reach and player involvement
Player Profiles: View achievements, horse stables, and more
Adds a social component to the game
Enables competition between individual players and their stables
First step towards a more social and competitive environment
Algorithm Refinement: Improve the algorithm to reduce the impact of chance
Increase the value of player expertise
New strategic choices for players
Enhance game diversity and strategy
Gradually unlock new options for a progressive learning curve

Long-Term Goals:
Horse Rental: Allow players to rent out their horses under a revenue-sharing model
Provide large stable owners with passive income
Enable new players to experience more of the game
Achievements: Implement achievement mechanics to provide progression in the game
Reward players for completing certain actions
Maintain player interest and engagement over time

Summary:

End of June: Update with more races, easier registration, and improved race visualization.
End of Summer: Peer-to-Peer Races, Player Profiles, Algorithm Refinement, and New Strategic Choices.
Long-Term: Horse Rental and Achievement Systems.
I hope this summary was clear. Jérémy, I'll hand it back to you.

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Jeremy :

Sure, here's the translation of your request:

Great, that was, I think, very clear. We started 45 minutes ago, and now we'll move on to questions from the community. The community has already asked questions on Discord. Feel free to ask some in the chat now if you'd like; afterwards, we'll have an open mic session where you can raise your hand, and we'll give you the floor if needed. I already have questions, so let's start with you, Lebnan.

We've talked several times on Discord and in our communications about fundraising. How's it going? Maybe start by telling me a little about the Tezos Foundation, but also our fundraising efforts—how does a fundraiser work, where are we going, what do we want to achieve?

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Lebnan :

So today, the Tezos Foundation really likes the project. So we started talking with them and, I think the whole team shares my view, we're big fans of Tezos. It's very fast, it doesn't cost much, it's green energy. The team is nice, etc. So we needed to work with a technical team that helps us validate our tech stack, our technology, that helps us improve our technology, and there are some news that haven't been shared yet, they'll be shared a bit later, which will help us transform what we have into a token. So I know there's a big topic on how to have the S-Point off-chain, another S-Point on-chain, how to do the swap, etc. So we're working quite a bit with Tezos on the whole strategy, on tokenization, and as a result, in discussions, Tezos was quite interested in coming into the capital. To note here that we weren't in the process of raising funds, it was really discussions like that with the Tezos teams, and so we were open, we'd like to have a strong technical partner like Tezos in our capital, and we discussed it, we did a valuation of Stables and they came in. Today, I can't communicate the amount yet because we haven't finalized all the signatures yet. It takes time, it takes time with lawyers, papers, all that, but everything is confirmed, everything is good, so it will be signed very soon and we will announce the details. But yes, for today, Tezos, we've welcomed them into our capital, they are partners, and so tonight we have the first meeting with the Stables board and we've invited Tezos to attend, so we can start discussing.

Jeremy :

Great, thank you, very clear response. I'll continue. So, obviously, the goal is to get more players into the game. Could you tell us a bit more about our goals? What are our player-related objectives? What are we planning?

Lebnan :

Today, I believe our game is really designed for people who are well-versed in Web 3 and want to be players in this domain. I'll also take the opportunity to answer a question from the chat. Our goal today is to welcome all players, whether they are familiar with Web 3 or not. Let me give you two examples. If I'm new to the game, without a digital wallet or much knowledge of Web 3, I could borrow a horse from someone like Miguelito. If I play and win, I'll share the winnings with him. So, I can participate even without buying an NFT or setting up a wallet, simply by actively playing.

The second point concerns Web 3 players who are currently buying NFTs and participating with their horses in the game. We need to open this up and expand it. In the short term, we'll open the platform to all players, whether they connect with a wallet or not. Then, as mentioned earlier, we'll begin working with new horse racing organizers. Currently, we're working with PMU for horse racing in France, and we're in discussions with over five other countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia. We aim to expand this to include around fifteen countries. We'll open the platform to new players and horses, as illustrated with an example. As a Lebanese, suppose we want to work with the Lebanese PMU to introduce 2,000 horses that will be turned into NFTs and added to the platform, to promote Stables in Lebanon in partnership with the local PMU. This is part of our medium to long-term plans.

In the long term, our ultimate vision is to have multiple countries represented on the platform, with horses from different nations. A French player could buy a Japanese horse, a Japanese player could buy an American horse, and so on. We want people to engage in international competitions, creating a truly global community. By early to mid-next year, our goal is to be active in more than 2, 3, or even 4 countries across different continents, with not just 6,666 French horses, but also 20,000 horses from various countries, while remaining committed to real horses. We want to offer users the opportunity to play every day, whether in daily races for practice, in seasons to determine the best, or by creating their own races and inviting other players to participate. In summary, today we're opening the platform to everyone, whether they are familiar with Web 3 or not. Tomorrow, we'll attract new users and horses from other European countries. In the coming weeks, we hope to attract several countries and up to 20,000 to 25,000 horses, with a high number of active users, perhaps up to 150,000. We'll work with horse racing organizers to promote and attract more participants. This is our vision for the future, using the three aspects of races to offer users the opportunity to create, participate, and train. It will be a vibrant and dynamic experience, 24 hours a day.

Jeremy :

Sure, thank you. A quick update on the team. How many people are on the team? How many people are working on the project?

Lebnan :

Since March until today, we've grown to about twenty team members. The teams are spread between Paris, well, in France because not everyone is in Paris, and Beirut. The people we've added to our team have significant experience in video games, design, and a small but impactful presence in marketing that helps Jérémy drive everything forward. So yes, we're around twenty, and we're still looking to add two to three more technically-oriented individuals to accelerate our technical developments. Currently, we have a strong technical team, but it's not very large, consisting of four members. We'd like to add two to three more to expand the team and speed up our progress. In terms of technical profiles, we're looking for full-stack developers, DevOps specialists, individuals skilled in backend and frontend development, gaming experience with Unity 3D, Unreal Engine for 3D racing, and of course, experience with Web 3 technologies.

Jeremy :

Renaud, I'm coming back to you to discuss gaming a bit. There was talk at one point about breeding, being able to pair two horses and have them produce another horse. Is that still on the table? Can you tell us about it?

So, I can talk about it. Is it still on the table? Well, not in the short term, anyway.

Renaud :

Basically, our focus regarding horses is to continue transforming real horses into NFTs. This is where our value proposition lies and what we commonly refer to as our differentiation. It means we have intellectual property rights over the real horses. As Lebnan mentioned, this is why we collaborate closely with PMU and will continue to do so. Therefore, breeding, which involves creating 100% virtual horses (offspring of horses), is less relevant in this context. Hence, we have been leaning towards the medium-term experience of leasing NFT horses, as I presented earlier, rather than pursuing the breeding concept that was previously discussed.

Jeremy :

Thank you. Let's move on to items, the famous ones. Can you also tell us a few words about them? What is our vision regarding this? And why don't people have items yet?

Renaud :

You noticed, for those who were attentive, that I didn't mention items in the presentation of the three major releases or updates of the game. Items will come later in the gameplay. Again, if we realize that they don't fit into the project, we will communicate that and explore how we can transform them into something else. I am convinced that items, as they are, have value in our gaming experience and resonate strongly. The fact is we're not there yet. And I believe what we've presented is more important. Actually, it's not just belief; I'm convinced that what we've presented is more crucial right now than focusing on items.

Jeremy :

Okay. Very clear on that. We also saw questions about sponsorship come up. What is your viewpoint on that?

Renaud :

Sponsorship, what is it? It's about earning a reward when I invite someone to the platform. Personally, I am once again convinced that player-created races with the ability to invite others constitute a form of sponsorship. If I create a race and invite Sylvain, who doesn't have a horse on the platform, and he creates an account, buys points, plays, etc., that's a form of sponsorship. Especially if I set up a small fee and take a percentage of the race winnings. So, this sponsorship mechanic, in my opinion, is highly interesting.

Moreover, if we can integrate what we can call viral mechanics, meaning how to naturally bring people into the game within the player's experience and not something external like "I give you 3 points because you invited 3 people," that's even better. That's mainly what we're trying to think about.

So, sponsorship is super interesting, but not in the short term. First, let's focus on making sure people want to create races and invite others to participate in those races. Once we achieve that, we'll have cracked something interesting.

Jeremy :

Great. Sylvain, my attention turns to you; you won't miss an explanation on the algorithm. Well, of course, players feel that there isn't much coherence between the statistics, race results, terrain types, and distance. Can you clarify this for us? Maybe not the specifics of the algorithm itself, but why is it so unclear for players?

Sylvain :

Yes, absolutely. So, initially, to avoid making a response too lengthy, I'll focus on what I see as the three main issues and provide an example, because there are many aspects we could discuss, but this approach should simplify things. From my perspective, the first element contributing to a sense of inconsistency is randomness. Currently, we feel that randomness in our game plays too significant a role. It's not necessarily the dominant factor, but it occupies more space than we intend. Specifically, there's a mechanic in the game's algorithm that evaluates your horse's performance over 100 meters. Your horse might achieve a critical success or a critical failure during this stretch. What does this mean? It means that regardless of all other factors in the game, randomness decides whether your horse will perform at its best or worst over 100 meters. This element is being phased out in the new algorithm. This randomness also manifests through other elements, but I'll stick to this example to keep it concise.

Another area of concern is understanding and the lack of feedback. When you watch a race, there are several elements present in the game and mentioned in strategy descriptions that you can't observe directly. For instance, let's take the "fougueux" state as an example. What is the "fougueux" state? It's an acceleration of your horse dependent on its "fougueux" attribute. Currently, there's no way for you to visibly notice this acceleration. We are fully aware of this issue and will work on improving it. For example, it would be less frustrating if you knew that the horse behind you overtook because it was accelerating. You can immediately see how this would be less frustrating, right?

Lastly, there's also an aspect of balancing and possibly rethinking certain elements. For instance, as I mentioned earlier regarding the "fougueux" state, the acceleration it provides currently gives a bonus that's too significant compared to the possible results over 100 meters for a horse. These are aspects we need to revisit. As Renaud already mentioned, it's good to identify these issues, but currently, we are actively working on a new algorithm.

Jeremy :

In your opinion, what are the current mechanics that are implemented which can encourage inviting players to stay in the game and continue playing?

Renaud:

Firstly, we need to step back a bit, meaning we started with one race and then gradually added more races. We've put a lot of effort into refining this productization, especially the race experience. We launched seasons, introduced races with the Tezos guys a few months ago, and now the new version includes Daily Races, easier registration, and better race representation. We firmly believe this is positive—positive for you and positive for attracting new players.

The second point is that this was somewhat mandatory, something we had to do to pave the way for player-versus-player races and new strategies. I truly think this will inject new life into the game, adding fun back into it. Sylvain and I occasionally discuss the level of fun we're aiming for with what we're doing, and I really believe this will reintroduce that fun factor.

Moreover, now anyone can join the game by the end of June, even without a wallet. They can create an account, get a horse to start playing, and buy S-Points with their credit card. I also think this will help democratize access to the game.

So, a great gaming experience, a solid product, combined with efforts primarily led by the NAN to approach other federations, acquire new horses, and gain support for communication in different countries—there's no reason why this shouldn't work. We're here because we believe in it. So, we'll do everything to make it work.

Jeremy :

Super, I have two more questions for you, and then we'll move on to questions about the token, Jonoom, and the law. We've received a lot of feedback from players asking, "What's the point of leveling up my horse, especially since during the season there's matchmaking? Why would I be incentivized to level up my horse?" So, if we're wondering about the current interest in leveling up a horse, I'll address this question.

The objective of leveling up without a horse, the intention behind it, is primarily to specialize it. Today, this is achieved through four attribute points. Tomorrow, the goal is to ensure that leveling up your horse on Stables, as an owner of a stable, makes a significant impact. How do you feel this impact? Both accounts and horses will unlock new features. Earlier, we talked about new strategies, and I explained in the chat that these would be rolled out gradually. This is part of the answer to that question.

Next, regarding the part about the leaderboard, I saw messages on Discord. There were questions about why a level 8 horse was the highest on the leaderboard. What you need to understand is that horses of the same level compete against each other. Actually, what is valued in the leaderboard as it's presented to you today is whether a horse in a specific level range performs well or not. However, one thing we might consider is whether we should create more specific leaderboards dedicated to certain types of races or level ranges. These are certainly topics we are also thinking about.

Jérémy:

Sure. Question for you, Renaud. Will NFT attributes be valued, implying the Unchained attributes and where the Elaborate attributes are involved?

Renaud :

In this work around the chain, it's also great news to have Tezos as a partner. They will be able to assist and support us. In fact, we need to differentiate a bit between the elaborate attributes that significantly enhance the horse's performance, despite their rarity, and the more cosmetic aspects of NFTs. Specifically, having three elaborate attributes increases the horse's performance by approximately 10%. So, in reality, this adds significant value and is already valued accordingly. Conversely, the physical traits are currently purely cosmetic and do not have much impact in the game. Therefore, we don't have any particular intention to enhance their value beyond that. However, it remains a topic in the back of our minds. It's not our immediate focus at the moment. Let's be very clear about that. So, we'll probably have the opportunity to discuss this further in other forums. Thank you.

Jeremy :

Super. Constantin, you know what I'm going to talk about. You know what we're going to call you, Mr. Jonum. The community often discusses it. Even we often discuss this famous token, this famous S-Point. Can we tokenize it? Can we monetize it? We also know that there have been advancements in the law. Players have noticed this. Could you give us a little overview of what has been happening recently on this topic? Also, could you remind us how a law works? What is voted on? What happens after the vote?

Constantin :

I'd be happy to. Just to recap a bit, I'll mainly address Jonum. Later on, we might discuss with Nathan what we can share about the token as well, because there's still some qualification work to be done. First, regarding the legal framework: for over a year now, we've been working with various other sector actors to define a legal framework. As you know, from the beginning, we've been advocating for clarity. We need rules of the game to excel, to play well. About a year ago, we initiated significant work with several sector actors and the government. A law was passed at the end of 2023 called SREN, focusing on digital space security. It encompasses many other topics—not just Jonum, but also cloud issues, matters related to adult content, and a range of other subjects. This law was passed, and at the beginning of 2024, there were initially several constitutional challenges. Certain political groups felt the law as voted was not in line with the constitution—that's the first point.

The second point is that there was a gap between the law text passed by the Senate and that passed by the Assembly. In early 2024, there were two stages: first, parliamentary work where senators and deputies collaborated, discussed, and agreed upon a law text. This text was then reviewed by the Constitutional Council to ensure its constitutionality. It was recently validated; at the beginning of May, the law was deemed consistent. There were a few mentions of issues not related to us that were modified, but overall, the law was deemed consistent and thus promulgated—meaning the law is now active. That's the first topic. This law allows us to distribute rewards of various types: crypto rewards, monetizable digital items, gifts in different forms, digital or otherwise, and what we call VIP experiences, experiences related to the domain, etc. So, that's what we are allowed to do.

However, the law specifies that certain elements must be mentioned and framed in decrees. Thus, decrees will be drafted specifying the types of rewards allowed. Moreover, for a player to benefit from such rewards, specific entitlements will be defined. There will likely be a cap per player on the rewards they can receive in a year. The drafting of these decrees is currently ongoing—I was in a meeting on this topic this afternoon. However, there's still work to be done; the decrees aren't finalized yet. It's a lengthy, painstaking process, but we're nearly there. So, I remember mentioning at UNAMA, I believe, toward the end of 2023 that this is something that I think will unfold by autumn 2024. I still think that's the case. After the law was validated by the Constitutional Council, the teams working on it are a bit less rushed. For them, they've completed their task, so drafting the subjects around the law is less of a priority. Additionally, there are many political issues circulating right now. So, we're pushing hard with a lot of energy to move things forward as quickly as possible. However, it's not yet entirely finalized. Yes, the law was passed, and yes, it was promulgated. But we still can't rely on the law to do everything we want to do. Therefore, we need to continue working on it and pushing forward. That's what we're doing, collaborating with various other actors and groups of actors. So, I hope to give you further updates very soon on this matter.

Jeremy :

Lebnan, do you want to follow up a bit on the token?

Lebnan :

Yes. So, we're currently working on... There are three points actually regarding the token. We all agree and believe that our S-Points need to have a way to be exchanged, liquidated, etc. So, we're working on three points. The first point is the technology. The second point is the game economy. The third point is legality. So, in terms of technology, we've had, it seems to me, a workshop with Tezos the day before yesterday to determine all of that. We'll continue with them in two weeks to make Chinese decisions and start. We've also talked with our developers. We've all put in the details and we're going to start. So, the tech part is not very difficult. The game economy, so we all agree that this token, we don't want it to be a speculative token. We don't want it to be a token that dances up and down. We want it to be a token that serves the game, that is for the game, for the players, for exchanging between players, etc. So, we're also finalizing the game economy regarding S-Points and the new token. The third point is legality. So, for legality, we've made an appointment with lawyers who specialize in what is organization, what is the legality of decryptos, in short. We had a first meeting. The second meeting will be around the end of June. So, it won't be a meeting, it will be a workshop to really get into the details of legality. So, we're obviously working a lot with Constantin to understand what we can do, what we can't do for Sagestep. So, today, Jeremy, I confirm that we're heading in this direction. I confirm that we all agree that we need to turn S-Points into something a little more liquid. We're working on the three points. I don't have many updates yet. I admit that our focus for the past three months has been on the product, the new designs, new ideas, etc. Today, we've started to focus on the token. So, on these three points, we'll have updates by the end of June. We'll be able to see more clearly when it can be done, when it can be released, what the final economy will be, what the legality will be, etc. So yes, I confirm that we're on track, but I can't confirm the exact dates yet or even the somewhat approximate dates. But I can say that by, normally, by the end of the year, we should have something, either concrete or on its way to being concrete. Thank you, very comprehensive response. It's been a little over an hour since we started. If you want to raise your hand, if anyone has any last questions, we might take two or three questions.

Jeremy :

I think we've already covered a lot among ourselves regarding what we've presented, but especially the questions that came from the community. Don't hesitate to raise your hand now. I'll give you the floor. Alright, let's go. Sheridan is here. I've invited you to speak.

Community question:

Hello everyone. Hello. Actually, I've been here since the beginning. I didn't join in midway, so I've been here from the start. Some of you might know me, I suppose, including the veterans. I'm here to help. I'm part of this group. Personally, I see two big issues with this whole setup. I love the project idea. I'm really into it. Truly, I love it. It's a field I'm somewhat involved in—not in racing, but more in the equestrian world. There are two things bothering me. Firstly, everything takes time. I don't know if I'm alone in thinking this. I understand that everything takes time, generally speaking, we all agree on that. But honestly, it's taking a lot of time. It takes time in development. It takes time in every aspect, in ideas, even to get information. I know there are contracts, as you've explained. There's no issue with that. But it's the time factor. I think some people are running out of patience. Personally, I only have one horse. I'm not a big player, but I have one horse. I have the horse you created for free. I'm enjoying it a bit with both. Indeed, for reasons of fairness and all that... Maybe it sounds simple, but we need something to spark a little interest. Right now, it feels like we're just... I'm at a loss for words. Maybe you've talked about it, I'm not sure. We need something to generate a little interest. It doesn't necessarily have to be monetary. Everyone is here for the money, we get it. But why not create a little shop? We have a ranch. In this ranch, we earn S-Points. We can spend them. Honestly, I have over 12,000 S-Points now. I started with just 2,000. I've managed things quite well. But in reality, I'm doing nothing with them. Except spending them just to start more races. But I'm not investing them. Just to finish up, then I'll leave you. Maybe just create a little shop where we can buy a ranch. In this ranch, we can put our horse in there. Maybe let it rest for a while. This will help it level up a bit. I'm not talking about crazy stuff. But at least, give it a break. Because a horse that plays every day should naturally get tired. But make players buy little things. We're swiping our credit cards. It hasn't been my case. We're swiping our credit cards for S-Points. Meanwhile, apart from starting races, that's all it does. I can't see myself even inviting friends. Because I've mentioned it to them. But they've said, "I'll spend, but then what?" Right now, there's nothing. But it'll come. I think you need to do a little something. I'm not asking for something grandiose. No, we don't care about that. But just highlight something we could create. A little shop, a ranch. I mean, a ranch. These things don't matter. But for example, something like hay bales. It gives a small percentage boost. Like, mentally, because it's eaten well. We buy, I don't know, a new... Or even a larger plot for it to rest. I don't know, a bigger paddock. It can grow. We put 2 or 3 twins next to it. I don't know, I don't care. Maybe you have plenty of ideas. But anyway, bring the thing to life and give us things to burn in respawn. Because honestly, I know there are... Maybe there's no issue like this. Thank you very much, anyway.

Lebnan :

So, first of all, how do you manage to have... You start with 200 points and now you have 12,000, 20,000, I don't know how many. So you'll have to teach us how you're throwing your strategy. We're very curious. Haha. To answer the other questions, I completely agree with you. I think Stables started with an idea. It continued with a drop that was very successful. It continued with a platform that is starting to engage people, get them involved in races. Today, Stables is developing to become a game. When we say becoming a game, it means there's a whole economy behind it, a whole game design behind it. I don't think we need to worry. We will find many solutions and many ways to spend points, but not just spend them—truly enjoy spending time, participating, and engaging. I know Sylvain also has a great game design team today working on lots of ideas. So all of this will gradually come to light. I agree with you 100% that we've taken a lot of time. We had the choice to make small changes gradually or to hold back just a little bit. And bam, by the end of June, early July, we'll have something that will really address over 80% of all the details and questions. You've waited a lot. Thank you. If you can wait a few more weeks, we'll discuss again after the launch, after the relaunch, in a few weeks, we'll be there.

Community question:

Thank you very much anyway for listening to me.

Lebnan :

Thank you Sheridan, thank you.

Jeremy :

I'll take one or two more questions. Do I have someone? I think so. Invited to speak. And then we'll close; it's already been an hour, almost half an hour, 15 minutes.

Community question:

Hi. Hello everyone, hello team. I just have a quick question. You mentioned that you wanted to open up to a lot more players in terms of the project, etc. When I was invited to the Hippodrome, I'll say it very clearly, at the Lyon Hippodrome, no staff member knew about the project, etc. I had already raised this with Jeremy. Have you developed the communication with the Hippodromes on this project, on the Stable project?

Lebnan :

So today, we're working with PMU to acquire the rights to use horses so that we can use their name, their history, etc. We're collaborating with the Hippodromes to offer VIP experiences; some people have won passes, etc. And we're also thinking about a system, as Jeremy mentioned earlier, to spend S-Points for VIP experiences. But I'm not very worried or surprised if the Lyon Hippodromes don't know about the project. In fact, if we really think about it, Stables is an alternative to betting with PMU. Today, Stables is offering an alternative to betting. Today, you can go to a bar, tobacco shop, or online or to a Hippodrome and pay to bet on a horse. What Stables is now offering is the opportunity to become a digital owner of a real-life horse. And it's you who owns a horse or many horses, organizing and entering your horses in races, etc. So, I see very differently what PMU does in terms of betting and what Stables does. Now, yes, we can do a better job of working with all the Hippodromes. Yes, Constantin, over to you.

Constantin:

So, actually, there has been work done to raise awareness among the Hippodromes about what Stables is, how it operates, etc. So, we've spent quite a bit of time with their teams. However, what must also be understood is that Hippodromes are primarily funded by horse racing betting revenue. Historically, that's how it operates. There are bets on horse races, a portion of which goes back to PMU, and PMU essentially acts as the cash register for those organizing the races. Therefore, collectively, we need to understand that in their minds, we could potentially be seen as a small threat. This is why some may not be very comfortable with this topic.

So, there's work to be done—it's a time-consuming effort, and we need to have a proposition that is genuinely accessible to those who are completely unfamiliar with it. Currently, in the Web3 gaming experience, for example, these changes are significant, as mentioned earlier. However, in the Web3 gaming experience, I'm not sure—so I see that some have been on board from Brittany or Lyon, etc. I imagine you've seen that in the Hippodrome audience, not everyone necessarily has a wallet, and the onboarding process may not be straightforward for them. So, we also need to be ready to welcome and properly guide them onboard

Therefore, I think this is an important point. Moving on to another question—I allow myself to go back to it—but regarding competition, I don't think we should fear competition. It means that—what? So, there you go. On the contrary, there should be a number of players shaking up this market a bit. I believe we have a somewhat unique proposition. So, no, no, we shouldn't fear competition. Competition means something is happening, and it forces us to push further, right? So, there you go.

So, first point on the Hippodromes—yes, work has been done, but we need to be ready to welcome everyone with open arms. And so far, we haven't been. And on the second topic, about competition, competition is necessary for it to work.

Community question:

OK, OK. Just a second small question, if you have the time. After that, I'm not sure if you...

Jérémy :

Go ahead, you'll be the last speaker.

Community question:

Okay, I see. I would also like to know about the rights you have regarding various horses in France. I asked this question before and got a vague answer. In the future, are you planning to partner with specific stable owners or have the right to choose any horse that will race in France?

Lebnan :

I'll try, I'll wish Constantin to really answer in detail, but that... In two names, Van Peck, it will depend on the countries. I'll leave it to Constantin for a better answer. Anyway, regarding France, I can answer you quite precisely, having negotiated the contracts.

Constantin :

So, in fact, we have contracts with the companies that organize the races. In France, it's France Gallo and Lautreau, the two companies that organize the races and manage the racetracks. These contracts give us the right to use all data related to the horses, including information about the owners, trainers, etc., and to use race data. This means all race results and elements related to race organization are data we are authorized to use. However, we do not have rights, for example, to use the image of the horse. That's why we don't use photos of the horses and instead use representations like those you see.

So that's the first point. Our idea is that this contractual model is quite clever because it avoids us having to negotiate with each individual horse owner to ask, "Would you agree, or not?" Instead, it's done in a centralized manner with the race organizing companies. The idea is to replicate this internationally, and then if adjustments are needed—for instance, in countries like England where each racetrack is managed by its Jockey Club that oversees races taking place there—then we'll adapt accordingly based on the local setup.

Also, we don't intend to develop specific partnerships with horse owners for a simple reason: it would create exceptions. So, there's that. However, it's true that some horse owners are more receptive to what we're doing, to this somewhat different and modern approach. And indeed, it's important to engage with them. We had an event a few months ago where we invited horse owners to share their stories and passion with us. So, yes, these are things we can do and implement. They are part of the strategies to make this accessible, indeed. Okay.

Jérémy :

OK. That seems like a good answer to me. Thank you, Vanpeck. Thank you very much for your input. Thank you, Constantin, for the response. Shall we wrap up here, Lebnan? Would you like to say a few final words?

Lebnan :

Actually, I'm very happy to discuss with everyone, and I'm truly passionate about this project. I believe we have the team, we have the ideas, we have the vision. I think we will succeed, but without the community, we won't get there. That's very direct, very clear. So, I invite everyone to always reach out to us. I know we communicate a lot on Discord. I invite everyone to also reach out to us on Twitter. And then, in a few weeks, we'll provide an update and take things step by step. But we're here, we're listening to you. We hope you love the project as much as we do. And well, that's about it. A big thank you to everyone and to the team. And have a great evening, everyone.

Jérémy :

Thank you, thank you Lebnan. Thank you Renaud, Constantin, Sylvain. And thank you to all the players who are here, who participated, who asked questions. We'll see you in the General FR chat. We're here to answer your questions. And again, thank you all. Have a good evening, goodbye.

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