Stacks Feature: Narcotix Systems

As my longtime readers and followers already know, This is #1 is one of my favorite projects on Stacks. So when Jim and Dash asked if I would want to write about their newest release Narcotix Systems, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Adding to my excitement is the fact that this article will be the first one I have ever written before a project has been released. So without further delay, lets get right to it.

The OGs of Bitcoin NFTs

This is #1 was the first project to release NFTs on Stacks (you can read my first piece about them here). Since the early days This is #1 has acted as a bridge between the digital art world and the physical one by bringing artist of renown into the Stacks ecosystem. This trend continues unabated with the release of Narcotix Systems which features the art of This is #1’s own Chemical X.

This project, however, is a bit larger than the visual art. In fact, aside from the Chemical X tokens, no one outside of the team really knows what the art looks like at this point. The team has also remained quite tight lipped about the project itself. So why all of the excitement?

Narcotix Systems: We See Through a Glass Darkly

Several months ago, the lads dropped a link to the Narcotix website in the Discord. Upon clicking the link, I immediately realized that what the lads had been cooking up was going to be quite different than anything I had seen before in my six years of crypto. The website not only looked like what I imagine my screen would resemble if I were a shadowy hacker, but upon further inspection I could see that this was an interactive experience.

After connecting my wallet, and doing a bit of further exploration on the home screen, I realized that there layers involved to this experience. I ventured into the /XDATA portion of the website, and was immediately given a puzzle to solve. A series of puzzles actually, and some of them quite difficult. Even my Bride, who is no grand lover of crypto, joined in to help me solve some of the puzzles.

The next day, as I checked my Hiro wallet, I noticed that I had received a new NFT. I was the now the owner of one of the Chemical X tokens. So being the NFT collector that I am, I continued to periodically log into “the system” during the course of my day to try and earn more of the Chemical X tokens. So herein lies one of our first clues: Narcotix Systems is meant to be an interactive experience.

Jim and Dash were kind enough to explain that the Narcotix experience will be different for everyone based on how they interact with the system, and their collection of “digital pills”. The concept being that these digital pills offer the user a chance to escape the normal routine of life, and have a bit of fun.

This aspect of the project really excites me. You see, everyone is always trying to find the next usecase for crypto and NFTs. Whether its utility or some novel function, the amount of experimentation in this space to find a sort of “product market fit” for this new technology has been a feature of the space for as long as I have been a part of it. Teams want to add value, community wants to get value, and the result of this tension has led to a massive amount of innovation in a short period of time.

What I see here, is a new way of adding value that to my knowledge hasn’t been experimented with yet. This amalgam of a game/NFT/interactive experience that bridges your real and digital worlds represents an entirely new genre of NFT project. To be honest, I would expect nothing less from This is #1.

What We Do Know

The team, with the help of TheArtist, has incorporated a loyalty-program for the This is #1 community. Essentially the loyalty-program rewards participating artist, and community members. For more details I would encourage you to read more about the loyalty-program here.

We also know that Bitcoin ordinals will play a part in Narcotics system, and Jim was kind enough to share a number with me: 76321.

More importantly, I can say without reservation that this team has poured their hearts into this project. The passion for this space, and their community is unmistakable. If every crypto project had this amount of thought and care put into it, the entire space would be better off for it.

The public mint will occur on February 24, 2023 at 9pm GMT. Between now and then there will be airdrops based on users P-factors and an early mint for community members with loyalty points to redeem. The entire collection will number 3,333 Narcotix, and there will be something in the neighborhood of 2,100 Narcotix available for public consumption. If this is your first This is #1 mint you will recieve loyalty points that can be used for upcoming mints.

Closing Thoughts

I think TheArtist said it best when he remarked “2023 will be the year of This is #1” . That is high praise coming from one of the giga chads of the NFT world. For me personally, this is the mint that I have been most excited about…ever.

This is#1 is a forward thinking team with a love of this space, and Bitcoin ethos that only comes from the perfect mix of passion and experience. If you still aren’t acquainted with this OG Stacks project, then you should rectify that immediately.

I hope you enjoyed reading this, I certainly had a lot of fun writing it. I am all out of things to say right now. Until next time, Jack.

I am going to start including a BTC and STX address in my articles. I am implementing this until Sigle brings the monetary component of the app to fruition. Don’t by any means feel compelled to pay anything, this blog brings me a lot of joy and is my way of contributing to the Stacks ecosystem. If you do enjoy the material and want to contribute, it is certainly appreciated.

BTC: bc1qv538qmsqvcydglsedyqvu3mgy87pcmxwa8y6c5

STX: SPQE3J7XMMK0DN0BWJZHGE6B05VDYQRXRMDV734D