[DRAFT][GF: Phase 1 Proposal] Parcel

📜 Grant Proposals Grants Council
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Project name: Parcel

Author name and contact info (please provide a reliable point of contact for the project):

Noah Gaynor (noah@meetparcel.com) (@noahgaynor TG/TW)

I understand that I will be required to provide additional KYC information to the Optimism Foundation to receive this grant: Yes

I understand that I will be expected to following the public grant reporting requirements outlined here: Yes

L2 recipient address: 0xF95CeD2c9a8defD9378208aD84019866a3787233

Which Voting Cycle are you applying for?: 10

Which sub-committee should review your proposal? (Builders Grants, Growth Experiment Grants): Growth Experiment Grants

Project description (please explain how your project works): Parcel is the marketplace for the next generation of gaming, designed to serve anyone seeking interactive virtual experiences. The platform enables users to buy and sell in-game items including rare collectibles, land, and other NFTs that have utility across web3 games and virtual worlds in the metaverse.

Our product offering:

1. Marketplace (B2C) — We currently support over 20 games & virtual worlds on ETH, and are in the process of integrating Optimism and other L2s now. We aggregate listings from every major ETH-based marketplace and will add liquidity from the major L2 marketplaces as well.

2. White-Label Marketplace (B2B) — A fully customizable, white-label, version of our marketplace can be hosted on a game’s own site (White-Label Marketplace | Parcel)

3. In addition, Parcel has an educational product called Parcel Learn that provides a range of articles to educate people at all stages of their metaverse journey. This covers everything from the basics of the metaverse & web3, to new web3 games/worlds, to in-depth research reports about trends in the market. (Parcel Learn)

Website: https://www.parcel.so

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/parcelnft

Discord/Discourse/Community: Parcel

Other relevant links (including any demos): https://instagram.com/parcelnft
Parcel - YouTube

Additional team member info (please link): Ian Mukherjee – Co-Founder & CPO (https://twitter.com/roomakdoteth)
Samson Schirmer – Head of Research (https://twitter.com/willow__talk)

Please link to any previous projects the team has meaningfully contributed to: Some cool projects we’ve done at Parcel:
- Creatorverse Buildathon (Parcel Creatorverse Buildathon)
- Metaverse Fashion Week (https://twitter.com/ParcelNFT/status/1507489137582120960?s=20)

Relevant usage metrics (TVL, transactions, volume, unique addresses, etc. Optimism metrics preferred; please link to public sources such as Dune Analytics, etc.): * We are beginning to gather LOIs with games to 1) power their marketplaces with our white-label solution, and/or 2) be their primary sale launchpad & distribution channel.
* We’ve had hundreds of thousands of visitors to our site since launching in July 2021. We started as an aggregator of virtual real estate listings. We consistently saw 25%–30% click-through-rates to third-party marketplaces like OpenSea.
* Last week we revealed our v2 product on parcel.so which facilitates the entire purchase and sale of the NFT, while still aggregating listings from every major marketplace! The new product acts as a showpiece for games to see how their marketplace could look.
* We’ve grown our community to over 25K strong across social channels
* We had over 200 of the metaverse’s top creators sign up on Parcel Creatorverse (Parcel Creatorverse)

Competitors, peers, or similar projects (please link): White-Label Marketplaces (B2B):
* Venly (Fully customizable, fully integrated NFT market | Venly)
* Mozart (https://mozart.xyz/)
* Stardust (Stardust Market)

Gaming & Metaverse Marketplaces (B2C):
* Fractal (https://www.fractal.is/)
* Gamestop (https://nft.gamestop.com/)
* MetaHood (https://metahood.xyz/)
* MagicEden (https://magiceden.io/)
* Aqua (https://aqua.xyz/)

Is/will this project be open sourced?: In the Future

Optimism native?: No

Date of deployment/expected deployment on Optimism: 3/15/2023

What is the problem statement this proposal hopes to solve for the Optimism ecosystem?: Optimism (OP) is a fantastic solution for web3 games that would like to build their games on Ethereum but need faster speed and lower gas for transactions. Despite this, OP has struggled to attract new games and game developers to their ecosystem. The purpose of this proposal is to generate more user growth and network utilization for existing games and support upcoming game developers interested in building within the OP ecosystem.

How does your proposal offer a value proposition solving the above problem?: Parcel will reward end-users of OP buying or selling in-game assets through either our B2C marketplace (parcel.so) or a white-label version on a game partner’s site. Through these trading incentives, Parcel will expose new users to the OP community and increase transactions on the OP network.

Why will this solution be a source of growth for the Optimism ecosystem?: Gaming is currently underrepresented in the OP ecosystem and web3 gaming is poised for a big year with many highly anticipated games launching. As gaming interest grows in the OP ecosystem, Parcel is ready to support those games in a variety of ways such as:
- White-label marketplace solutions
- Primary and secondary asset sales
- Content marketing
- Data indexing and transformation pipelines

Has your project previously applied for an OP grant?: No

Number of OP tokens requested: 150,000 OP

Did the project apply for or receive OP tokens through the Foundation Partner Fund?: No

If OP tokens were requested from the Foundation Partner Fund, what was the amount?: n/a

How much will your project match in co-incentives? (not required but recommended, when applicable): 1,000 OP

How will the OP tokens be distributed? (please include % allocated to different initiatives such as user rewards/marketing/liquidity mining. Please also include a justification as to why each of these initiatives align with the problem statement this proposal is solving.): The total OP token pool will be allocated equally amongst the first ten (10) OP-based games launching NFT collections on Parcel. This ensures that not all rewards will go to only a few early games. Instead, more games will be incentivized to join the OP ecosystem over a longer period of time, while making a bigger splash at launch.

- 95% of OP tokens go towards trading rewards
- 5% to marketing incentives

Over what period of time will the tokens be distributed for each initiative? Shorter timelines are preferable to longer timelines. Shorter timelines (on the order of weeks) allow teams to quickly demonstrate achievement of milestones, better facilitating additional grants via subsequent proposals: 95% to trading rewards – 14 days. Tokens will be distributed based on the trading volume within the first 14 days of a game’s initial collection mint.

5% to marketing incentives – 14 days. Tokens will be distributed based on engagement activities beginning 14 days before a game’s initial collection mint.

Please clearly define the milestones you expect to achieve in order to receive milestone based installments. Please consider how each milestone relates to incentivizing sustainable usage and liquidity on Optimism. Progress towards each milestone must be trackable: Since we plan to distribute approximately 15K OP per game launch, receiving the grant in three milestone installments of 50K OP each seems reasonable and ensures we are optimizing this allocation for benefit of the ecosystem.

Milestone 1 – 50K OP – for game launches 1-3 (~6 weeks duration)
Milestone 2 – 50K OP – for game launches 4-6 (~6 weeks duration)
Milestone 3 – 50K OP – for game launches 7-10 (~8 weeks duration)

While exact usage statistics will rely on the popularity of the game and demand for its items, we will track the metrics listed below. We view a successful game collection launch as one where Parcel has successfully and securely transacted the mint and distributed the OP rewards to ideally thousands (although realistically sometimes hundreds or dozens) of new players. We will track:
* Volume traded
* Number of wallets connected
* Number of wallets rewarded
* OP rewarded

Why will incentivized users and liquidity on Optimism remain after incentives dry up?: Gameplay! Direct users towards highest quality games and experiences on OP to keep them coming back.

Please provide any additional information that will facilitate accountability (smart contracts addresses relevant to the proposal, relevant organizational wallet addresses, etc.): parcelnft.eth (0xF95CeD2c9a8defD9378208aD84019866a3787233)

Confirm you have read and agree to the Eligibility Restrictions (here): I have read the Eligibility Restrictions and agree to abide by their conditions

3 Likes
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Very cool :sunglasses:
This is a great example what type of infrastructure Optimism needs to retain the users on the network. More projects that are similar or make Metaverse games accessible on OP will definitely lead to a more consistent usage on the network as the NFT & Gaming sector grows. The stickiness of the network relies on novelty collectibles and cultural web3 trends in the gaming world.

We saw a major decline in network activity after the OP quest ended recently. With enough of a presence from multiple brands like parcel that would offer incentives for using the network I could see this becoming more of a collaborative effort to drive traffic to OP. As opposed to the previous quests to reduce the load of work for OP Gov so they can focus on internal operations and continue to do what they do best!

2 Likes
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We need something like this is the NFT ecosystem on OP tremendously. I could really see OP as the network for gamers to build on, and we need a gaming marketplace suited to highlight NFT’s with unique utility and features, and a hub for game devs.

2 Likes
4

We wanted to provide some suggestions to help make this section as strong as possible. These suggestions are optional, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of anyone other than GFX. Most suggestions are to make the language for milestones clear and unambiguous. The suggestions below are merely to demonstrate what kinds of clarification would make this section stronger, and the applicant obviously knows their protocol and grant plan best.

Milestone 1: Distribute up to 50,000 OP for game launches 1-3 over a 6-week period. If [measurable metric] does not meet or exceed [goal], then Parcel will provide an updated distribution plan for the remaining OP. Parcel will provide documentation to the Grants Council to easily verify those metrics.

Milestone 2: Distribute up to 50,000 OP for game launches 4-6 over a 6-week period. If [measurable metric] does not meet or exceed [goal], then Parcel will provide an updated distribution plan for the remaining OP. Parcel will provide documentation to the Grants Council to easily verify those metrics.

Milestone 3: Distribute up to 50,000 OP for game launches 7-10 over a 6-week period.

Milestone 4: On the completion of all other milestones, Parcel will submit a brief summary of results to the Grants Council. This should be completed no later than 6 months after receipt of OP tokens, even if some milestones are incomplete.

CC: @Parcel

2 Likes
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Updated Milestones Section

Since we plan to distribute approximately 15K OP per game launch, receiving the grant in installments of 50K OP each seems reasonable and ensures we are optimizing this allocation for benefit of the ecosystem.

  • Milestone 1: Distribute up to 50,000 OP for game launches #1–3 over a 6-week period. If total sales volume in that period does not meet or exceed $150,000, then Parcel will provide an updated distribution plan for the remaining OP. Parcel will provide documentation to the Grants Council to easily verify those metrics.

  • Milestone 2: Distribute up to 50,000 OP for game launches #4–6 over a 6-week period. If total sales volume in that period does not meet or exceed $150,000, then Parcel will provide an updated distribution plan for the remaining OP. Parcel will provide documentation to the Grants Council to easily verify those metrics.

  • Milestone 3: Distribute up to 50,000 OP for game launches #7–10 over a 6-week period.

  • Milestone 4: On the completion of all other milestones, Parcel will submit a brief summary of results to the Grants Council. This should be completed no later than 6 months after receipt of OP tokens, even if some milestones are incomplete.

While exact usage statistics will rely on the popularity of the game and demand for its items, we will track the metrics listed below. We view a successful game collection launch as one where Parcel has successfully and securely transacted the mint and distributed the OP rewards to ideally thousands (although realistically sometimes hundreds or dozens) of new players. We will track:

  • Volume traded
  • Number of wallets connected
  • Number of wallets rewarded
  • OP rewarded
1 Like
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Hi @Parcel! Can you provide a Telegram handle or other contact method so the Optimism team can get in touch about paying out this grant! Feel free to DM or email lavande@optimism.io

1 Like
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Hi Lavande — Thanks so much for reaching out. Please feel free to DM me on TG: @noahgaynor

Thanks!

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I support this project, I miss the game market on Optimism!
I’m currently working on making a game on Optimism and have been thinking about listing my NFT, I think Parcel would be a great solution.

9

greetings,
Thanks for this draft proposal. I really enjoyed the description and the way you explained the problem your application going to resolve. I might miss that but would you explain to me what is the advantage of your application compared to the competitors? I mean you mentioned Venly, Mozart, and Stardust here. Would you mind giving a deeper explanation of the advantage/s? Thanks.

10

The Council is reaching out as part of its review of the milestone progress for Cycle 10 and beyond. It appears that your project has not or is not pursuing the grant proposal further at this time and the time for completion of further milestones has passed. Given that, can you please return any remaining grant distribution to the Foundation? Your project is welcome to pursue a grant proposal in the future, provided the project is in good standing, and we would welcome any update or wind down review of your project as well. We are cc’ing the Foundation to facilitate a return or any further communications, as the Foundation manages grant distribution etc. This message is being provided as a post on the forum as well as a direct communication. @Parcel @lavande

1 Like
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Hi thanks for reaching out. I have been meaning to follow up.

We are no longer developing Parcel and would be happy to return the grant in full.

Please let me know which address to send it to or how to return it.

Thanks

2 Likes
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Hi @Parcel, you can return funds to the below address: 0x19793c7824Be70ec58BB673CA42D2779d12581BE

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I’ve sent the 60K OP back: https://optimistic.etherscan.io/tx/0xe11f75fd38d7bbf4895ee1ede17129ea9d911852635348a795795a300b0f7947

Thanks

2 Likes