I had the opportunity to interview Ramz on the upcoming Astar Troopers project. It came onto my radar through invite-only, word-of-mouth, private chats. I was one of the first 50, perhaps, but in no time, the top communities of Dotsama all were gathered in one place—a small group of 100 familiar and friendly faces…But what was this about?

1. You’ve stated that the goal of Astar Troopers is to be something of a community-initiated ambassador program. Could you tell me more about how the idea started, and why you initiated it? Also, how will this be differentiated from Astar Degens?

Astar Troopers originated from the minds of Astar Network's dedicated community members with the premise to form a fun and engaging group where the immediate community could bond whilst aiding in Astar brand's growth.

This is still our goal, but we quickly realized that scaling this initiative and involving other communities could serve a greater purpose - to strengthen other Dotsama communities big and small alike. Seeing how many of us dabble and contribute in different groups, and on different chains, there was no need to make this a gated or siloed community. On the contrary, and similar to the layer 0 we live on, we want to do our part and facilitate connections between various communities.

There is power in diversity and numbers, and we're setting out to showcase what is possible when communities come together.

The difference between Astar Degens and Astar Troopers lies within its stated purpose. The AD DAO is a community-governed fund which invests primarily within the Astar ecosystem.

On many occasions, it has reached out and collaborated with outside communities in regard to NFT giveaways, AMAs, and the sort. But its primary focus continues to be the Astar Degen NFT holders and the financial benefits they can attain from being a holder.

On the other hand, the Troopers are not beginning with an economic mindset but instead a collaborative one. What comes next will be a product of the creativity of our growing team and the sparks that fly from communities intermingling.

2. I believe that NFTs are going to be part of this community as well. Would love to hear some ideas you have around how NFTs will be used.

NFTs are a great way to identify yourself with something you vibe with. Whether it's focused on art, utility or simply to support a cause - it can create a unique opportunity to bring a group of people together - and that is what we set out to do.

The initial invites to the Trooper discord were given through word-of-mouth until we eventually reached the first hundred members in this manner. We plan to airdrop a "1st Hundo Trooper NFT '' to each of these “founders”.

These NFTs will be customized to signal their support of Astar and the other communities they represent. In a similar fashion to how one would stick stickers on their laptop, we’ll stick “patches” on these troops. To celebrate this “1st hundo”, we plan to hold a special event with these holders.

We want to stress another factor that is important to us: accessibility and quality. We want to create a collection that is aesthetically appealing and is also accessible to the public.

When it comes to NFTs we don’t want to make any promises, but we do want it to grow in utility over time if the community is there.

A bit of alpha; this first (and second) batch of NFTs we plan to create will come with a special “skin” in a collaborative agreement we are working on. More news to come.

3. What are the biggest needs that Astar Troopers is going to fulfill, and how do you plan on achieving them?

Bridging different communities together is a need we want to fulfill. Be it groups focused on dApps or NFTs, devs, leaders, or noobs - we want to connect them all.

It's an undertaking, for sure, but one we happily try to accomplish.

Our aim is to create a safe place where a user can be free to roam and participate in anything that interests them. We also want to show how Astar Network acts as a hub for innovation, a sandbox to play and build upon. With this in mind we can begin to see it as a community hub too.

The user will come to learn about different projects within Dotsama from the very users involved in them. I intentionally mentioned noobs before because there is also an opportunity to offer a light, fun, and engaging environment to new users, devs, and artists.

We expect some of them will be making the leap from Web2.0 over to Web3.0. I think it's easy to forget how intimidating it can be when first starting. Hopefully we can collectively educate and at the same time provide a welcoming space to the next wave of Dotsama users.

4. Partnerships and networks are everything with these initiatives. Clearly, you have plenty, but are you going to seek official partnerships and funding of any sort?

We hope the networking effect that we are striving for will be a catalyst for future partnerships/collabs to form between everyone involved.

As per funding, we never planned on it as this is mostly for enjoyment and connecting. Though, I must mention that we are brainstorming ideas on how to create a small fund to support projects and future events. We want to include as much community input as possible as well.

Astar Network is in a way an incubator and partner of this project. It’s not too common where a parachain team of Astar's caliber is seeking to support a community focused initiative like this. It's very telling of what Astar values. They are also funding the initial NFTs that will be distributed.

Another point on partnerships, Josh Kesslar from Acala recently tweeted something that really resonated with me:

“Polkadot’s success boils down to cross-chain activity. If we build together, we’ll thrive together.”

https://twitter.com/joshkessler_/status/1552122205819002881?s=20&t=d6CogLg85nzlGxXfp4Yj3Q

We want to expend real effort to do this and lead by example. Building, interacting, collaborating with a variety of projects will help us accomplish Polkadots main goal. We hope to encourage other teams to engage in a similar manner.

5. What is most exciting about Astar Troopers?

The most exciting thing about the Astar Troopers is seeing all the projects represented and all the "squad patches'' (roles) people choose to wear.

It speaks volumes of how interconnected we already are. I hope teams become curious and join in on the fun. It’s also exciting to leverage all our collective knowledge to create novel ways to collaborate and have fun.

We have some amazing trooper minds in there.

Join the Astar Troopers discord here:
https://discord.gg/2RRWMrAv

Pnin’s Ratings:

Sincerity: 9/10 (1 = "It’s a scam, run for the hills") (10 = Convincingly not a scam)

Explanation: This is obviously a project built on passion. Every participant has a long reputation of contribution to the Astar and Dotsama ecosystem, and the reason most are not named individually is because it’s such a significant community that listing them all would cause more exclusion than inclusion. I think there’s little to no possibility this is a scam, but even so, it’s always wise to keep your eyes open.

Art: 9/10 (1 = Low effort/skill trash) (10 = Worth investing in if only for only the art)

Explanation: So, I have to admit, I’m a huge fan of Bullet, the artist. His work is perfectly balanced to me, and I lean towards the high contrast, strong lines, style. So, for me, if only for the art, this is well worth my involvement. Maybe I’m superficial for thinking this. That said, mint price will be 3-5 dollars for public sale, which wasn’t covered in the interview but I’m dropping here. I think between the low price, and the altruistic nature of Astar Troopers, there’s no question that it’s worth it if only for the art.

Ambition: 8/10 (1 = Nothing of note planned) (10 = Might actually be impossible to achieve)

Explanation: So, the challenge here is that there’s a lot of vagueness. It’s a nice idea, to be a hub for communities, but this is a fundamental NFT play in that community is everything. Every project wants to be the hub, and the only difference here is that Astar Troopers is specifically looking to be a community contributor rather than to focus on returning value to NFT holders. People are motivated by greed, often, so an altruistic project that is requesting people’s time and efforts with little promise of return can be a hard ask. That said, community is everything, and they are starting with very strong.

Team: 8.5/10 (1 = Totally unqualified, if even real) (10 = The dream team)

Explanation: Everyone involved is an OG community member. For what the mission is, everyone is more than perfect. However, these members are so involved in so many things that one could wonder if they’ll be able to contribute the time and effort that is necessary for such a mission as this is definitely not the only project any team member is involved in.

Community: 8/10 (1 = It’s dead, and for good reason) (10 = Not only is it active, but the community is real and authentically invested)

Explanation: Every name especially in the first 100 are known contributors. But the activity thus far has been basic, and there may be a lack of clear awareness of what the mission is, and where things are going, and what needs to be done. This can change rapidly, as this is a very new community, so I’m leaving this score rather high due to the participants.

Risk: 2/10 (1 = Pretty much a sure bet) (10 = Chances are akin to winning the lottery)

Explanation: What’s the risk here? 3-5 USD? Time and effort? Thankfully, with their mission statement, failure won’t have much economic consequence to participants. The upside, however, could be significant both for the collectors and the participants. Keep in mind that the final supply has not been determined yet, and if you’re here for the financial returns, you may not find it on this project. (Then again, you never know.)

Significance: 7/10 (1 = Doesn’t offer anything new or valuable) (10 = Could change the very fabric of reality)

Explanation: I find the significance of this project parallel to other projects I’ve seen. It’s a great mission, it’s needed, and it’s valuable. Every onboarding tool is good, and all should be supported, but adoption will be key. I will be curious to see how Astar Troopers executes the vision, because this could be significant, but like a crypto wallet that wants to be the best crypto wallet for all crypto, there’s a lot of competition for attention out there and even if it could change the landscape of all crypto (highly significant), it also could dissolve as a mere good idea.

Disclosures: I was not paid for this article, nor am I associated beyond being one of the first 100 members.

If you enjoyed this article, donations can be sent to: D8WrK1jsFy9zpFwFZStaDTmX32pMZVdwXTm5rt9LsRKBQrz