Enforcer Machin is our first collection on Sui, an object-oriented blockchain that's well-suited for building dynamic NFT (dNFT) experiences. In traditional trait-based static NFT collections (e.g. Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, etc.), an individual NFT's "rarity score" can be calculated in an immutable way because traits never change. In the world of dNFTs, things are a bit different because traits can change. This means, while it's possible to apply traditional rarity frameworks to dNFT collections like Enforcer Machin, it's important to note that these frameworks do not "tell the whole story". In this article, we'll share our thoughts on how to define and judge rarity in Enforcer Machin dNFT collection.

What is the Enforcer Machin dNFT Collection?

Before we dive into Enforcer Machin's multiple rarity systems (sorry for the spoiler), let's first establish what makes Enforcer Machin dynamic in nature. Broadly speaking, Enforcer Machin NFTs are able to swap traits and level up. Most importantly, these two processes leverage Sui's object-oriented design, occur 100% on-chain, and have tangible purpose beyond "being cool".

Dynamic Traits

Think of Enforcer Machin as two unique sub-collections (this will be the case in the future once we get past the three Prototypes phases). One collection consists of 3,333 Enforcer Machin NFTs with varying user-configured combinations of equipped traits, while the second collection consists of trait NFTs.

So, the idea here is:

1. Traits are unique NFTs with their own rules and rarity system. For example, Trait A can have a max supply of 20, while Trait B may have a max supply of 500 – this means Trait A is objectively more rare. Traits also have a level requirement. So, to equip a Level 25 trait, your Enforcer Machin's level needs to be greater than or equal to 25.
2. Users can purchase individual traits on marketplaces.
3. Users can swap traits on their Enforcer Machin NFTs at any time.

Traits also have two unique supply metrics – equipped supply (can also be thought of as circulating supply) and total supply.

Dynamic Leveling

The Enforcer Machin collection also has a dynamic leveling system. All Enforcer Machin NFTs have a base level between 5 and 40 (not counting the Mythic which has a base level of 100). Initially, the level cap will be set to 100. Once the average level across the collection exceeds a certain threshold (to be confirmed later on), the level cap will be increased to 200, and so on.

To level up an Enforcer Machin NFT, users will need to mint "Level-Up NFTs" and attach them to the Enforcer Machin. This is similar to swapping out traits, but the major difference is that Level-Ups can't be removed once they're attached. Level-Up NFTs can only be acquired with KOTO, which in turn can only be earned by engaging in the Studio Mirai community. This means, in order to level up an Enforcer Machin, users will need to actively engage in the community and there is no "shortcut" where users can purchase Level-Ups on a third-party marketplace.

Believe it or not, Level-Up NFTs are also dynamic as well with three unique fields:

struct LevelUpNFT:
  minter: "0x..." # A Sui address.
  targetEnforcerId: 123 # Token ID of an Enforcer Machin
  maxTargetLevel: 50 # Determines the max target level.

• minter is the Sui address of the user who minted the Level-Up.
• targetEnforcerId is the token ID of the Enforcer Machin which can use the Level-Up. In other words, Enforcer Machin #100 can't consume a Level-Up designated for Enforcer Machin #123.
• maxTargetLevel is the maximum level that a specific Level-Up can be used to level up to. A maxTargetLevel of 50 doesn't mean you can level up a Level 10 Enforcer Machin to Level 60. Instead, it means you can level up a Level 10 Enforcer Machin from Level 1o to 11, Level 49-50, or anything in between. The main purpose of maxTargetLevel is to serve as a constant that be used to calculate the KOTO price for a specific level upgrade. For example, a Level-Up with a maxTargetLevel of 20 may cost 2,000 KOTO (20 * 100 KOTO), while a Level-Up with a maxTargetLevel of 50 may cost 5,000 KOTO (50 * 100 KOTO).

Since Level-Ups store the targetEnforcerId within the NFT itself, this makes it possible for users to mint Level-Ups for Enforcers they don't own. This means if you're a KOTO whale, you can mint Level-Ups for your friends to feed to their Machin. Now you're probably wondering why you would want to spend your hard-earned KOTO to level up Enforcer Machin that you don't even own.

We're glad you asked. Recall that Level-Ups are NFTs that you can attach to an Enforcer Machin. Unlike traditional leveling systems that rely on mechanisms like burning an NFT to increment a number within the NFT metadata, Sui's object-oriented design let's us embed context into each individual level up action via the minter field in the Level-Up NFT.

With this system, we can objectively surface data such as: "0x123... is responsible for 30 level up actions for Enforcer Machin #100, which is currently at Level 50". Having access to this level of data granularity gives us a way to reward users who put in the work to acquire KOTO and level up Enforcer Machin, instead of users who just happened to purchase high-level Enforcer Machin for a lot of money. While there's nothing wrong with rewarding the latter, we also believe the former demographic are integral to building a sustainable community.

Practically speaking, this system gives us the power to conduct extremely targeted campaigns. Now, this is 100% theoretical and DEFINITELY NOT in the works. But imagine if Studio Mirai were theoretically working on a token-governed product that is slated to launch sometime in 2024.

With this system, we're able to do the following:

1. Allocate 1% of the token emissions for 2 years to users who are responsible for minting at least 500 Level-Up NFTs.
2. Allocate 0.5% of the token emissions for 2 years to all users who own at least 5 Level 50 Enforcer Machin.

See the difference there?

1. The first option optimizes for users who are provably engaged in the Studio Mirai community. Why is it provable? Because Level-Up NFTs must be minted with KOTO, which must be acquired by engaging in the community, which ultimately translates to "someone spending time in the Studio Mirai community". Since time is the most precious resource in the world, we can comfortably assume that if someone has minted a ton of Level-Up NFTs, it means they care deeply about Studio Mirai and are aligned with our vision. Thus, it makes sense to allocate more governance tokens to this user demographic during the bootstrapping phase of a new product.
2. On the other hand, the second option optimizes for rewarding users who have most likely spent a significant amount of money on acquiring Enforcer Machin. Since higher-level Machin have more advantages (e.g. ability to equip more traits, ability to participate in more trait drops, etc.), they're likely to go for higher prices on secondary marketplaces. Thus, if someone owns multiple high-level Enforcer Machin, it probably means they indirectly invested a significant amount of funds into Studio Mirai because we earn a royalty fee on each sale.

In our world today, money is a less valuable resource than time. This means, while we will reward users who purchase Enforcer Machin on secondary markets, users who invest their time into being an active community member will always get a bigger slice of the pie. By leveraging Sui's technology to build a dynamic leveling system, we're able to extract objective data about both user demographics mentioned above when designing future airdrop and token emission campaigns.

How to Gauge Enforcer Machin Rarity

Now that we've established why Enforcer Machin is a dynamic NFT collection, let's discuss why traditional rarity frameworks probably shouldn't be applied (without disclaimers) to this collection. Instead, we'll present a few rarity frameworks that you can mix and match depending on how you see yourself fitting into the Studio Mirai community (or not).

In traditional PFP-style collections, it's possible to calculate an objective rarity score because NFTs are static and trait frequencies don't change post-mint – a common NFT will always be a common, and a mythic NFT will always be mythic. When applying this rarity framework (calculating rarity via trait frequencies) to the Enforcer Machin collection, it's certainly possible to assign rarity ranks to NFTs, but the issue is that the rank doesn't necessarily mean much.

Consider this example.

Let's say Enforcer A is the only one with armLeft_anti-air-rail-cannon (400 max supply) equipped. At the same time, Enforcer B along with 49 other Enforcers have armLeft_cctv (50 max supply) attached. In this example, armLeft_cctv is an objectively rarer trait because it has a max supply of 50 compared to armLeft_anti-air-rail-cannon's max supply of 400. However, from the perspective of a traditional rarity framework, armLeft_anti-air-rail-cannon is much rarer because it has a rarity of 0.03% (1/3333), while armLeft_cctv has a rarity of 1.5% (50/3333). So, in a dNFT collection like Enforcer Machin, a rare NFT on the collection level might not actually be a rare NFT at all.

Rarity Hunter

The "Rarity Hunter" framework is the most traditional one, as it only involves purchasing rare stuff on secondary marketplaces. In the Enforcer Machin collection, rare stuff can be broken down into two categories – traits and levels.

• On our official traits dashboard, you can see the equipped and total of each trait (e.g. 7/50, 373/400, etc.). If you're into hunting for rare traits, look for traits that have a low total supply (not equipped supply). For example, gatling-gun-quint-barrel has a total supply of 50. This means, at most, 50/3,333 Enforcer Machin (1.5% of the collection) can equip gatling-gun-quint-barrel.
• Hunting down high-level Enforcers is also a valid strategy for Rarity Hunters because they have more access to future trait drops (e.g. a trait drop only for Enforcers with a level greater than 50).

God of Traits

The Enforcer Machin collection provides an avenue for hyper-engaged Studio Mirai community members to influence the rarity of traits. Before each trait drop, there will be a 24-hour period where KOTO holders can burn KOTO to reduce the total supply of the trait. For example, if we announce a drop for a trait with a total supply of 500, community members can work together to burn the supply down to 400, 300, 200, or even 1!

The important thing to keep in mind here is that each individual supply burn will cost more KOTO than the previous one. For example, burning 1 unit from 500 to 499 may cost 100 KOTO, while burning 1 unit from 499 to 498 may cost 150 KOTO, and so on. Furthermore, while burning the supply may result in a rarer trait, it will also reduce the chance of being able to get the trait (as there would be lower quantity on the market overall).

The key here will be to work together with fellow #KOTOrich community members to compromise on how much to burn in order to achieve the best possible outcome.

Level-Up Freak

The final rarity framework is the "Level-Up Freak" strategy, which involves buying as many LOW-LEVEL Enforcers as possible. As we stated earlier, our level-up system is able to track the user responsible for leveling up individual Enforcers, and future reward and perk distributions will prioritize community members who have put in the time to earn KOTO through engagement to level up Enforcers.

Thus, there's a totally valid reason to hoard low-level Enforcers because they provide the largest "level-up buffer". Purchasing a Level-40 Enforcer only gives you 60 (100-40) slots to hold Level-Ups, while a Level 5 Enforcer provides you with 95 slots! For KOTO whales and community members who plan on engaging frequently in the Studio Mirai community, hoarding low-level Enforcers with the goal of leveling them up over time is a great way to secure a "larger piece of the pie" for future reward distributions.

Summary

When it comes to rarity, Studio Mirai's Enforcer Machin on Sui is truly a multidimensional collection. It providers holders with multiple rarity frameworks to choose from, which also means it's possible to combine the various strategies as well! Are you a Rarity Hunter, God of Traits, or a Level-Up Freak?

Join the Discord and let us know!