Scaling AavegotchiDAO

11 min readMar 11, 2021

Everything you need to participate in AavegotchiDAO today.

Introduction

Last week’s successful launch of Aavegotchi’s first Haunt marked the entry into a new phase for the Aavegotchi project, the Aavegotchi community, and the Pixelcraft team.

Pre-launch, the only major game mechanic controlled by the community was the amount of tap allocated to Pixelcraft each month, decided onchain via an expensive Aragon vote.

Now that we have launched, that stage is now behind us. The launch has triggered a cambrian explosion of important questions to be decided by AavegotchiDAO:

Should there be and what does a second Haunt look like?
Are Kinship potions too OP?
Should Gotchis be bulk-pet, or individually caressed?
…and many moar!

These are all decisions we’ll need to make together. There are no correct answers, but there are some overarching principles that can help guide our judgment:

Consensus over control — We should aim for the largest possible community consensus, versus having a small group of players controlling the majority of decisions.
Adoption over entitlement — We should remember our end goal of making Aavegotchi into a game that can cross the chasm and convert “non-crypto people’’ into players. If Aavegotchi becomes a niche game with only a few thousand players, we have failed.
Future-oriented over present (or past)-oriented — We should orient ourselves to maximize our growth in the future, instead of maximizing value in the present. It is inevitable that mistakes will be made, but we should trust in ourselves that they can be corrected in the future.

With the move to Layer 2, the Aragon platform is now only required for major votes regarding the Layer 1 GHST bonding curve. From here on out, the majority of votes will be made on Layer 2, where gameplay happens.

The remainder of this post lays out a roadmap for how we can scale AavegotchiDAO, and transition it from Genesis to the next stage — Metamorphosis.

AavegotchiDAO 1.5 and Gradual Decentralization

The Aavegotchi whitepaper states, “Aavegotchi follows in the footsteps of successful DeFi protocols such as Compound and Synthetix by following a process of “gradual decentralization”, beginning with the founding team, Pixelcraft Studios organizing a DAO-governed token distribution event (DAICO) and culminating in placing governance of Aavegotchi, including all game mechanics, smart contracts, and funding, under the auspices of the AavegotchiDAO, but subject always to the prevailing regulatory environment. This will be accomplished in three phases.” The three phases are:
1. Genesis (governing the bonding curve and some improvement proposals set forth by Pixelcraft)
2. Metamorphosis (governing simple game mechanics such as total supply, new collaterals, and new wearables)
3. Oasis (all game mechanics, metaverse mechanics, ecosystem spending and even smart contract upgrades)

Due to its high gas costs and clunky UI, Genesis was not suitable for individual proposals, funding requests, leadership roles or much else besides deciding the Tap.

A fully realized Metamorphosis, on the other hand, contains all of those features, and many more. This vision will take time to implement and perfect, so in the interim, we propose a transitional framework that allows the wider community to discuss, signal, and ultimately vote on Proposals that will become binding votes.

This framework makes use of Snapshot, Discourse and Discord in constructive ways and paves the way for a dedicated AavegotchiDAO dashboard to launch with Metamorphosis.

We’re calling this very important evolution V1.5 or quite aptly, COCOON.

Why COCOON?

A cocoon enables an organism to transform itself into something new via an internal, vulnerable process while in the safety of a dependable structure. The results of the work accomplished while inside the cocoon lead to the organism’s rebirth with a completely unrecognizable beauty revealed on the other side. Likewise, we as the Aavegotchi community will come out of our cocoon with a true metamorphosis achieved.

There are many ways to define success in this stage, but some indicators that the transition is going smoothly could be:

No large community schisms.
High voter turnout.
High voter enjoyment.

Although Cocoon lacks many of the bells-and-whistles that would be desired in a complete governance dashboard (available in Metamorphosis), this is a great time for new DAOists to get involved, lead discussions, and emerge as star Protocol Politicians to help lead AavegotchiDAO in the future.

The following chart illustrates the number of features missing before we can achieve true Metamorphosis. In the meantime, there is already so much we can do today.

AavegotchiDAO V1.5 — Signal Proposals & Core Proposals

Before we get into the details of how voting in Cocoon will work, there are two important terms all Aavegotchi DAOists should understand, as they will guide us during this transition from V1 Genesis to V2 Metamorphosis.

Signal Proposal — A proposal that anyone can post to the Community tab on https://snapshot.page/#/aavegotchi.eth. These votes are non-binding, but if quorum is achieved, the proposal will automatically be upgraded into a binding Core Proposal, as defined below.
Core Proposal — A proposal that Pixelcraft puts forward, with options based on Signal Proposals that reached or nearly reached quorum. These votes are binding and are eligible for XP rewards to participants.

How a Signal Proposal Becomes a Core Proposal

The core team, Pixelcraft, will rely on the signaling of the community defined through quantifiable votes on Snapshot and also the non-quantifiable content created on Discourse and Discord.

Signal Proposals executed on Snapshot are key to V1.5 governance.

Members considering submitting proposals should first flesh out their ideas in Discourse and/or Discord for feedback, further ideation and to discover whether there is worthy support to move forward. Assuming there is legitimate interest, a member can expect his or her proposal to follow this very straightforward path:

A Signal Proposal is posted to the Community tab of Snapshot by an author. In order to be upgraded to a Core Proposal, the proposal must pass with a quorum reaching 20% of circulating GHST eligible to vote on Polygon at time of proposal creation (viewable in the Matic Bridge), minus the GHST in the following addresses:

Rarity Farming Rewards: 0x27DF5C6dcd360f372e23d5e63645eC0072D0C098
DAO Treasury: 0xb208f8BB431f580CC4b216826AFfB128cd1431aB
Burned GHST: 0xFFfFfFffFFfffFFfFFfFFFFFffFFFffffFfFFFfF

If your Signal Proposal is successfully upgraded to a Core Proposal, 150 XP* will be given to the Aavegotchi you have noted in your Signal Proposal.
*May increase or decrease throughout COCOON period

Use the following specifications to create a successful Signal Proposal:

Template for a Signal Proposal

Implement format below as standard/required proposal format

Author + GotchiID
Link to the matching Discourse thread (Proposals without significant discussion in the forum will be automatically removed from Snapshot)
Summary (include rationale, timeline, goals and any key performance indicators) Copy/paste proposals of existing proposals will be removed while proposals with similar but distinct variations are permitted to exist side by side.
Effect
Highlight end goal and benefits
Acknowledge potential risks or unintended consequences
Any alternative paths (Plan B, Plan C, etc)
EDIT (3–18–2021): The end time of a proposal should not be longer than 30 days from its starting time, to ensure that only active proposals are displayed on Snapshot Community board.

If a Signal Proposal achieves 20% or greater quorum, Pixelcraft will reintroduce the proposal under the Snapshot Core tab. This tab is reserved for official votes that will have binding effects. Pixelcraft will to the best of its ability remain true to the spirit of the original Signal while maintaining the right to restructure or add additional voting options or context to the finally published Core Proposal.

Pixelcraft may also endorse specific voting positions that we believe will best benefit the Aavegotchi ecosystem.

News of any new Core Proposal must be published across Aavegotchi’s major social networks, ensuring that the broader community is aware of the binding vote. The suggested time period for a voting window is 7 days and may not be less than 3 days. The quorum for a Core Proposal is to be set in accordance with the Tier of Importance it is assigned.

If quorum is met in the Core Proposal, all unique participating addresses will be airdropped 20 XP to each Aavegotchi in their wallet at the Snapshot time.

3 Types of Core Proposals

Reminder: Quorum percentages are calculated from the amount of circulating GHST eligible to vote on Polygon, not the total supply!

Smol Votes: Quorum of 5%. These votes are intended for small decisions that do not affect the overall meta or value of existing Aavegotchis in any significant way. Some examples would be:

A proposal to introduce a cosmetic feature to the game, not the Aavegotchi itself.
A proposal for a marketing strategy.

Medium Votes: Quorum of 10%.. These votes are intended for decisions that may have some notable effect on the meta, such as:

A proposal to introduce a new game item.
A proposal involving the allocation of XP to some item or event.
A proposal to change something about an Aavegotchi that does not affect its rarity score.

Galaxy Votes: Quorum of 20%.. These votes are intended for major decisions that have significant effects on the meta and wider Aavegotchi ecosystem. These may include:

A proposal for a new Haunt.
A proposal for changing something about Aavegotchis that affects its rarity score

Vote Differentials

Vote differentials are the difference between the top two options, and are indicative of whether or not a reasonable consensus has been achieved.

Here is an example Core Proposal with 3 options:

Option A receives 25%, Option B receives 35%, and Option C receives 40%. The required Vote Differential is 5% (the difference between Option C and Option B).

This would not be enough to achieve consensus, thus the Proposal is not implemented.

Typically, the more options a vote has, the higher Vote Differential it requires to demonstrate that true consensus has been reached.

For COCOON, we will begin with the following Vote Differential parameters, and course correct if necessary:

2 Options — 10% VD
3 Options — 15% VD
4 Options — 20% VD

FAQ

Why 20% Quorum for Signal Proposals?

A 20% quorum ensures that Signal Proposals with significant community interest are guaranteed a core vote, while ideation and more niche suggestions also have a platform to test their popularity.

Why Two Votes?

There are two major reasons a Signal Proposal reaching 20% quorum (and majority support) still needs a second vote as a Core Proposal. First, the wider community isn’t watching, or expected to watch, for binding votes on a daily basis. Core Proposals are more rare occurrences that are broadcast across all socials, notifying all types of community members.

Secondly, it is entirely possible, even likely, that some Signal Proposals will achieve quorum while failing to adequately abide by the prescribed template for a Signal Proposal (shared above). There may be a need to adjust the proposal to satisfy all aspects of the template.

If a Signal Proposal does not reach the 20% quorum, this does not discount the proposal’s merits, it simply means the proposal is not automatically being upgraded to a binding, community wide vote. Any well-written signal proposal with good ideas should still be considered a healthy contribution to the DAO and may very well influence Pixelcraft and future community proposals. Pixelcraft may occasionally choose Signal Proposals that did not reach quorum and still craft Core Proposals based on them.

I Spent all my GHST budget on Portals and Wearables — Where’s my Voice?

You’re in luck! The Aavegotchi game has always intended to allocate voting power based on Aavegotchi ownership, in addition to just holding GHST. Stay tuned for an exciting discussion where we explore various GHST/Aavegotchi voting power hybrids on the road to Metamorphosis. Luckily, the methods Snapshot uses to calculate voting power are very flexible. As long as it’s onchain, it’s fair game!

What about Funding Proposals?

Funding requests are not found in the Cocoon proposal template, primarily because the “walk before run” principle suggests we focus on establishing a healthy framework before introducing financial complexities.

Funding Proposals will certainly be a central feature in Metamorphosis but Cocoon’s focus is more on making game mechanics decisions.

That said, Cocoon is an experimental governance phase and it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility to see a good idea garner significant support that does in fact require DAO treasury funds. Any such situation would undoubtedly require a Galaxy level vote and 20% quorum. So basically, we’re not encouraging it, while at the same time remembering that we should never say never.

The Important Roles of Discourse and Discord

Discourse and Discord maintain their important roles as the home of fellowship, ideation and debate. It is HIGHLY recommended that any mustard seed of a proposal start there within the community conversation.

Occasionally, Pixelcraft may ping Discord’s #announcements channel to take “temperature checks” on UX features that the core team is working on. This is meant to provide a light-hearted and instant feedback mechanism for decisions that Pixelcraft is in the midst of working on.

A Promise to Ourselves and Each Other

The community has been electric since launch and we hope that we all can approach upcoming proposals with enthusiasm and a positive attitude. No doubt all of us will debate fiercely and often find ourselves with different ideas for Aavegotchi’s direction. Unlike rather technical blockchain protocols, we have a living breathing game to nurture and grow. This shouldn’t be a burden! Let’s instead all promise each other that we will adopt a positive attitude that prioritizes goodwill toward one another when engaging in debate and brainstorms.

This is a game and we should therefore endeavour to make governance as gamified (and therefore enjoyable!) as possible.

Now that the processes have been laid out, let’s get back to the fun stuff!

Wen Haunt 2??

Last week’s release of Haunt 1 saw over 25,000 unique wallets connected to Aavegotchi.com trying to secure at least one Portal. These incredible numbers ensured an instant sell out and also instant pain for many players hoping to own an Aavegotchi for 100 GHST.

We’ll be publishing a blog post early next week with a “Haunt 2” Core Proposal fully informed by the Snapshot/Discourse/Discord conversations that are already ongoing. While some ideas are already emerging with support, we hope to see more signalling from the community all through the weekend. We’ve got our 🍿 ready!

Onwards, AavegotchiDAO!

Cocoon is only the beginning of a transition of power (and responsibility!) to the wider community. The fully realized Metamorphosis will be a beautiful milestone but it first requires the experimentation and energy of all of us together. See you in the forums!