Terminology of Avastars
Let's take a step back for a moment and explain the basics.
Avastars Terminology
We made up a bunch of terms to describe how Avastars work. Now you get to learn them.
Version
This is Version 1 (v1) of Avastars. This version provides generative and buildable SVG portraits with the art and metadata stored on the blockchain. I’d love to dive into ideas for future versions but that’s not the point of this article. So today we are discussing Avastars, v1.
Generations
Generations, or Gens, represent a collection of Traits designed to work together, which are developed by an individual artist or a team of artists. Gen1 Avastars were designed by Marmota x Milky. Gen2 through Gen5 will each feature different artists and styles.
Each Generation is hard-capped at 50,400 Avastars in total, however, it is unlikely the cap will ever be achieved for a given Generation. I will explain why when we get to Replicants. With 5 Generations, this means the total cap for v1 is 252,000.
Series
Each Generation has 5 Series. Each Series has a hard cap of 5,000 Avastars, called Primes. A Series represents a rotating combination of Traits. Each Series has a different combination of available Traits which provides variety and scarcity to the overall population of Primes. When one Series in a Generation hits the hard cap, we roll over to the next Series. After Series 5 hits the cap, the production of new Primes for that Generation will end.
Primes
Avastars are randomly generated in a user’s browser as they scroll. If a user finds a random combination of Traits they like, they can choose to Teleport it to Planet Avastar (more on this next article, but it means to create the Avastar NFT). Once successful, the Avastar becomes a Prime. Avastar Primes are unique - no other Prime or Replicant can ever share the same combination of Traits within the same Generation. Each Generation has a limit of 25,000 Primes. 5,000 per Series. Each Prime comes with Trait Copies which can be used to make Replicants in the same Generation.
Replicants
Once Primes hit their hard cap, we will introduce the ability to “build your own” Avastar using Trait Copies from Primes you have collected. These Avastars are called Replicants. Replicants do not come with Trait Copies to build more Replicants. They can only be created from Primes that have Trait Copies still available for use.
Genes
We will get to Traits and Trait Copies in a second. First, let’s discuss what Traits represent. Each Avastar Prime and Replicant has 12 Genes:
Skin Tone, Hair Style, Eye Color, Background Color, Backdrop, Ears, Face, Nose, Mouth, Facial Feature, Eyes, and Hairstyle.
Those Genes are expressed as Traits. For example, the Avastar above has a Space Helmet Trait to represent their Hair Style Gene.
Traits
Traits are the individual Copies that make up an Avastar. Males and Females share a separate pool of available Traits. All Traits are ranked by how often they show up in a Series: common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary. Traits within a Generation rotate by Series according to their rarity.
Commons retire every 1 Series.
Uncommons retire every 2 Series.
Rares retire every 3 Series.
Epics retire every 4 Series.
Legendaries retire at the end of a Generation.
Trait Copies
Each Prime comes with 1 Trait Copy for each Trait that makes it up, for a total of 12 Trait Copies per Prime. These Trait Copies can be used only once to create a Replicant. This means there can never be more Replicants than there are Primes.
Genesis, Founders, & Exclusives
There is a special class of Avastars that live outside of a Series or Replicants - these are the first 200 Avastars of a Generation.
Avastars #0 and #1 are both Genesis Avastars. They represent the rarest trait combinations possible and define the pinnacle of each Generation.
Avastars with the IDs #2 - #99 are Founders. Founders are paired together, male and female, and have had themes assigned to them which will be obvious when looking at them side by side.
Avastars #100 - #199 are Exclusives. These are mascots, special gifts, and promotional Avastars for giveaways and contests. All of these Avastars - Genesis, Founders, and Exclusives were designed by hand and use Traits from more than one Series. With a few exceptions, each one achieves a Legendary Rarity Rank, which we will go into in the next article.
I hope this terminology overview is helpful as we move forward into the world of Avastars.
Next up we will explain how to use our website to find the Avastars that delight you when Gen1, Series 1 launches in early March!