Blockchain sandbox MMORPG WorldShards has officially introduced the ability to rent some of the crypto game’s NFTs through the Open Loot marketplace alongside a new update that brings a variety of improvements, all followed by the launch of the reward-packed Blue Week during which you have a chance of winning rare NFTs.
How Does the WorldShards NFT Rental System Work?
The NFT Rental system is powered by the Open Loot marketplace, so if you head over to the Rentals section of this web3 platform and sort listings by selecting this MMO in the filters, you’ll get to see all the items available for renting from NFT holders. You can rent Islands and Artifacts for a certain period of time that is specified by the owner. However, when the rental period is over, the system will automatically renew it for you so you can continue renting the same asset, meaning you’ll need to cancel the rental yourself before time’s up so you don’t get charged again.
Artifact and Island holders can now make passive income from listing their holdings for others to rent, while making the web3-powered side of things potentially more accessible to more players. Artifacts make it possible to craft and upgrade collectible equipment to trade on the Open Loot marketplace, while an Island not only replaces your default island with a unique design but also increases your building capacity and gives your workbench more Artifact slots, as there are different Artifacts made for enhancing certain types of gear. It’s not currently clear if it will be possible to officially rent other collectibles in the future.
All rentals are paid for using USDC, and you can deposit funds via credit/debit card, but also via crypto addresses. Depositing funds requires creating an account using Google, Apple, X, Discord, or Twitch, and 2FA is also needed to trade assets and make withdrawals. You can deposit USDC directly using the following networks: Solana, Tron (TRC20), Ethereum (ERC20), Arbitrum, Avalanche C-Chain, and Base (ERC20).
What’s New in WorldShards Version 0.5.4?
On the same day rentals for Artifacts and Islands was introduced, the developers also updated their colorful sandbox to version 0.5.4. This release introduces a new NPC and a host of improvements and fixes to give the playerbase a better blockchain gaming experience.
The new NPC is a gnoll spearman, adding a bit more variety to the enemies you can battle in your adventures. As for improvements, a new community-requested reconnection system has been introduced that makes it so that players actually reconnect back to the location they were at before they were suddenly disconnected from the server, preventing loss of gathered resources. You can now see NPCs in the city make random chatter, while player weapons are now actually visible while in the city, and so are all meowkles and player names!
For more details, check out the full changelog in this Medium post.
Play to Earn Rare NFTs in WorldShards Blue Week
The Blue Week kicked off on October 21st at 12:00 UTC and will end on October 27th at 23:59 UTC. During this time, you have a chance to play to earn rare blue NFTs by fighting Wargs and Gnolls for resources such as wood, stone, and ore, while exploring islands that require having runes to travel to them. Tutorial and free islands are excluded from this NFT drop. There is however no level restriction, and defeating Wargs and Gnolls is more likely to give you a rare collectible. The assets you can get include decoration NFTs of rare rarity. You can earn these collectibles by playing on islands where NFTs can be found, and your best bet is probably to use high-level equipment on low-level islands to swiftly take out all Wargs and Gnolls.
WorldShards is currently available in an early access state that you can play by owning a Founder’s Island or by using a Personal or Tradable Access Key, burning the key in the process. A Welcome Bundle is currently on sale by the developers, giving you 2500 Gems and a non-tradable Personal Access Key for $40. Gems are premium currency used for crafting, with more utility to be added in the future. A separate free to play web2 version of the game will launch on Steam in 2025, where you can already wishlist ahead of release.
