Spark & Property Development

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What is Property Development?

After going live on May 25th of 2021, Property Development has enabled players to construct a variety of different building models on top of their properties. Ultimately, these structures will be utilized by player homes, businesses, arcades, galleries, and so much more! While the initial rollout for Property Development will only include a select number of models for construction, there is much more to come, including a variety of custom models for Landmarks! In addition, we also plan to create a variety of pathways for players to design and construct their own models.

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User-Generated Content in the Metaverse

In June of 2021, Upland ran a contest to evaluate the mechanics of users designing their own user-generated content in the metaverse. After receiving a variety of incredible submissions, the Upland team settled on 3 model replicas of real-life homes that will be integrated into the metaverse in the very near future. After such positive results, the Upland team is highly encouraged that user-generated content will be a massive part of the future of the metaverse.

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What is Spark?

Spark is the currency that powers the development of any type of 3D object that lives on top of the Upland metaverse. This includes all inanimate objects, such as Structure digital assets (buildings), outdoor decor items, and more. Spark can be earned by leveling up your Upland status, winning in-game challenges, and participating in treasure hunts across the map. Spark is also available for purchase intermittently in the Upland Store. Spark is not tradable as a currency, and can only be used for staking on buildings in-progress; both your own as well as other Uplanders'.

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Staking Spark

In order to construct buildings, you'll need to "stake" your Spark, which means that it will be locked up while that building is in progress. You're free to remove your Spark at any time, but this will halt construction progress. Each Structure digital asset is priced in “Spark Hours” (aka — SpH) and has a maximum amount of Spark that can be staked at any given time.

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Spark Hours

Required SpH is variable and depends on the size of the structure as well as the type. The actual amount of time is a variable function of how long each building would take to construct in real-life. It’s important to keep in mind that unlike casual builder games where construction may be super fast, the Upland metaverse boasts a real economy that is modeled after the real world (albeit slightly sped up). As such, it's important that constructing buildings in the metaverse requires significant time and resources.

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What Else Can I Do With Spark?

Aside from staking to build Structure digital assets on either your own or other players' properties, there isn't a whole lot to do with Spark right now. However, as additional 3D digital assets are introduced to Upland, each will require Spark to build. As such, Spark will become one of the most valuable resources for the metaverse economy. To boot, Upland is working to introduce the Spark Exchange, which will enable players to lease their Spark holdings to other players who are seeking to speed up construction. Players who lease their Spark will be paid in UPX, which they can then use to mint properties and other digital assets.

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We encourage all players to check out our Property Development AMA to understand the full scope of Property Development and its future.

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