Blockchain Ballers Club is a set of generative NFT Ballers on the Solana blockchain that can hoop it up in virtual basketball games. The Ballers have both traits and skills that apply to their performance in the game.
How many Ballers are there?
There are a maximum of 534 Ballers in the Genesis Collection.
What do you mean by Genesis Collection?
These Genesis Ballers will be the first to be able to participate in Hardwood, the Blockchain Ballers game where your Ballers will use their skills to dominate the basketball metaverse in simulated games against other Ballers. These Genesis Ballers will have a never to be used again look and skill boost. As early, foundational members of the community you will be able to help shape the future of the league.
Will there be additional Ballers?
There are future plans to release a collection of Season One Ballers as the game and leagues are built out to allow the community to grow. The specifics of that release are subject to change as we work with the existing community to build the project.
What do you mean by “virtual basketball games”?
Blockchain Ballers Club is centered around creating community driven leagues and games utilizing the Baller PFPs. Players will be able to enter their Ballers into leagues, brackets, and pick-up games which will be simulated based on the skills of the Ballers.
How do skills work?
In addition to traits, there are 7 skills: Points, 3-Pointers, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, and X-Factor. These skill scores were programmatically assigned to the Ballers on generation. Then any skill boosts based on traits assigned to the Baller were applied (e.g. a boost to rebounds for a Baller wearing a hard hat). The skills are used to calculate the individual Baller performance in the simulated games. Ballers skill levels can increase by hitting the gym to train or by gaining more experience playing in games. Regardless of Baller skill boosts from traits, each category has a maximum score of 10. Each category has a score range of 1-10 (70 total) normalized against a 100 point scale. The generation yielded a high score of 97 and a low score of 21.
1. Points
a. The Baller’s 2-Point scoring prowess such as dunks, layups, and jump shots.
2. 3-Pointers
a. The Baller’s skill in making 3-Pointers. Baller’s with higher values in this category will also attempt more 3-Point shots.
3. Rebounds
a. The Baller’s skill in pulling down offensive and defensive rebounds. Baller's with high rebounding skills will have more rebounds when their team or opponent misses a 2 or 3-Point shot.
4. Assists
a. The Baller’s assist skill will increase the shooting percentage of his teammates. It will also reduce the incidence of turnovers committed by the Baller.
5. Steals
a. The Baller’s skill in forcing turnovers against their opponent.
6. Blocks
a. The Baller’s skill in blocking and affecting opponent’s shots.
7. X-Factor
a. Secret sauce.
What’s the ‘X-Factor’ skill?
You’ll just have to stick around to find out.
How do ratings work?
Players are assigned a skill rating from 1-10 for each of the seven skill categories. Based on the total skill of the Baller, the players are assigned tiers ranging from rookie to legend.
How are the tiers assigned?
Based on the Baller’s total skill level, the Ballers fall into one of five tiers, ranging from Rookie to Legend. The distribution of those tiers is outlined below:
• Legend - (0.81%) score 91 and above
• Superstar - (4.34%) score 81-90
• All Star - (18.64%) score 67-80
• Rising Star - (61.96%) score 46-66
• Rookie - (14.24%) score 45 or below
As Baller skills improve, the Baller improves in tier. In future seasons, there will be an aging mechanism to increase and decrease Baller skills over time.
What traits are there?
Each Baller has a unique combination of traits and some traits provide boosts to the Baller’s skill as well. There are a total of 12 traits, and there are easter eggs hidden within these visible attributes. Included within the clothing category, there are 92 different basketball jerseys Ballers may wear. Each jersey pays homage to real-life basketball stars and provides the Baller with a skill boost honoring that star’s oncourt skill. Not every Baller will have every trait. For example, not all Ballers have tattoos or eyewear.
Minting for the Genesis Collection begins August 17, 2022 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET and our virtual basketball game ‘Hardwood’ will launch shortly after. Ballers cost 1 SOL.
Note: The Genesis Collection will consist of 534 Ballers.
Building ◎n Solana
We’ve built our project on Solana for several reasons. Solana allows near instant transactions with practically zero transaction fees, which gives Blockchain Ballers increased flexibility in designing mechanics, which include staking/unstaking, claiming rewards, and sending airdrops as compared to building on other blockchains. Games built on other blockchains often suffer from issues wherein participation becomes cost-prohibitive due to gas fees involved in executing smart contracts. On Solana, participating in Web3 games is more open to more cost-sensitive participants as the friction from these fees is virtually eliminated.
Owing to the strength of the network, NFTs on Solana have seen parabolic growth, rising from a total market cap of virtually zero in July 2021 to $1.8 billion a year later. Despite that impressive growth, the comparable figure on Ethereum stands ten-times that at $18 billion. Furthermore, according to a Kraken Intelligence report in June 2022, there were more daily active SOL wallets (965K) than BTC (925K) and ETH (440K) and we believe there is still significant room for wider adoption. More active wallets will increase the chance to realize our vision of building the next generation of virtual sports.
What traits are there?
Each Baller has a unique combination of traits and some traits provide boosts to the Baller’s skill as well. There are a total of 12 traits and these are highlighted in blue below. Included within the clothing category, there are 93 different basketball jerseys Ballers may wear. Each jersey pays homage to real-life basketball stars and provides the Baller with a skill boost honoring that star’s on-court skill. Not every Baller will have every trait. For example, not all Ballers have tattoos or eyewear.
1. Baller
a. Male Base
i. Male Gold (+1 to all skill categories)
b. Female Base
i. Female Gold (+1 to all skill categories)
c. Goat Base (+2 to all skill categories) 2. Expression
a. Angry, Bored (+1 Rebounds), Diamond Hero, Game 6 (+1 Points and Rebounds), Golden Hero, Happy, Laughing, Smug
3. Tattoo
a. Anchor, Fighter, Rex, Spiderweb (+1 Steals), Sunny Day, The Boulder, Three Dollars, WAGMI (+1 Assists), Year of the Tiger
4. Eyewear
a. Aviators, Cobras, Glasses, Goggles (+1 Steals), Laser (+1 3-Pointers), Monocle, Red Pill (+1 Assists), Sunglasses
5. Hair - Black, Blond, Brown, Red
a. Afro, Braids, Captain Galaxy (+1 Assists), Chad, Circus Rob (+1 Steals), Cornrows, Crew Cut, Curly, Double Boxer Braids, Dreads, En Fuego (+1 3-Pointers), Fade, Flattop, Long, Man Bun, Mohawk, Ponytail, Short, The Worm (+1 Rebounds), Undercut
6. Clothing
a. Arm Sleeve + Tank (+1 3-Pointers), Astronaut, bb T-Shirt, Black Tuxedo , Blockchain Gladiator (+1 Blocks), Bomber Jacket, Camo Jacket, Finisher Jacket (+1 Points), Guayabera, Hoodie - (Charcoal, Red, or Blue), Jungle, Silicon Valley, Solana T-Shirt, Sports Bra - (Multi Color or Neon), Peacoat, Tank Top, Tie Dye T-Shirt, Turtleneck and Blazer, Jersey (93 unique jerseys with different skill boosts) 7. Necklace
a. bb Diamond Pennant, Choker, Diamond Chain, Evil Eye (+1 Blocks), Gold Chain, Gold Medal, Headphone - (Blue, Gold, or Red), Lion Head Pennant (+1 Steals), Megalodon Tooth, Solana Chain
8. Facial Hair - Black, Blond, Brown, Red
a. 5 O'Clock Shadow, Beard, Chinstrap, Goatee, Mustache, Sol Patch, The Beard (+1 Points) 9. Mouth
a. Chew Guard (+1 3-Pointers), Cigar
10. Headwear
a. bb Visor, Beanie, Bucket Hat (+1 3-Pointers), Cap - Backward, Cap - Forward, Captain Hat (+1 Assists), Cowboy Hat, Crown, Crypto Bandana, Durag, Hard Hat (+1 Rebounds), Headband, Laurel Wreath, Solana Halo, PhD Sauce (+1 Steals), Sun Hat (+1 Blocks) 11. Earring
a. bb, Diamond Stud, Dream Catcher (+1 Blocks), Lightning Bolt (+1 Steals), Multi, Sky Hoop (+1 Points), Solana Rings, Tahitian Pearl
12. Background
a. bb Orange, Caliente Red, Championship Gold, Deep Blue Sea, Fresh Mint, Latte, Regal Purple, Solana Gradient, South Beach, Superbsonic Green