The driving goal of the ZerpCraft project was to build a software bridge between the XRPL and Minecraft. Starting with land as NFTs and expanding to encompass more of the XRPLs excellent payment capabilities. After reviewing Microsoft’s recent ban of NFTs and blockchain integrations, it is clear that the vision of ZerpCraft cannot be realized without violating Microsoft’s EULA. It is now in the best interest of both the community and myself personally to liquidate ZerpCraft in its current form. The server will be pivoted away from blockchain integration and into a community events server. This post puts forward my plan for delivering partial refunds back to players. Additionally, I also give my thoughts on how the server can be supported long-term for players who want to keep their land and continue to participate with the ZerpCraft community.
Refunds
As laid out in the Disclaimers + Expectations section of the website, there was no guarantee that ZerpCraft NFTs would ever have any value on the secondary market. The project (and players) are subject to Microsoft’s EULA. Having said that, I do not believe it’s the right thing to do to walk off into the sunset and allow my customers to bear all the downside risk. To that end, I have liquidated the remaining ZerpCraft “war chest” back into XRP to be returned as a partial refund to players. The remaining business funds cover roughly a 50% refund in XRP. Here are some important details:
- You do not have to request a refund. It will be sent out automatically
- I’m waiting for Uphold to unlock the repurchased XRP for withdrawal. The ACH waiting period is 65 days, so expect the refunds to be processed in late September/early October
- Money paid to Elite Realism for a build is not eligible for a refund.
Server Plans
Many players have messaged me indicating that they would like to keep their land and continue to build on the server. After discussing with the Partners I have decided to allow all players to keep their originally purchased land. The land is no longer blockchain integrated, but you still have all the same protections in game. The ZerpCraft server will be hosted for several years. This is my best-case scenario for the server.
- The ZerpCraft Network continues to grow by providing a diverse sampling of different player experiences. XRPLegends is the first example. These independent servers may be monetized in a traditional way according to Mojang’s Monetization Guidelines.
- XRPL Projects continue to utilize the ZerpCraft server as a unique way to engage players for competitions, prizes, and community engagement.
- If Microsoft’s stance towards blockchain loosens in the future, the ZerpCraft server can once again be used to explore compliant integrations with the XRPL.
I’m also looking forward to spending more time on the server myself now that I’m not buried in XLS-20 planning and code.
Final Thoughts
In the coming weeks, I will publicly publish the XLS-20 branch of the ZerpCraft plugin on Github. The code is 95% feature complete, although there is lots of cleanup I was planning on doing. I’m publishing this to hopefully provide some example templates that Java developers can use to get started on their own projects.
I am deeply appreciative of everyone who engaged with the vision of ZerpCraft and saw the potential that the project could become. I’m especially thankful to all the Partner projects who have been extremely supportive during this roller coaster. I believe that the ZerpCraft Network had the potential to be a major player in the Minecraft space and I’m saddened and frustrated by Microsoft’s decision to shut the door on all the hard work and innovation that goes into creating these types of projects.
As a RippleX grant recipient, I’ve had some people ask about Ripple’s involvement in the project and if they have any commentary on Microsoft’s decision. After speaking with the Grants team, they consider the terms of the grant “project complete” with the successful launch on XLS-19. They have been very supportive and have invited me to apply for another project grant if I have a new proposal in the future.
For my part, I still have a strong desire to develop on the XRPL. I’ll be taking a break in the short term, but my brain is buzzing with ideas that can’t be so easily de-platformed. I hope to continue to build on the relationships I’ve started with this project and continue contributing to the ecosystem.