M🪖

This has been the hardest year of my crypto career. And that's saying a lot considering everything I've been through. I've lost money before. A lot of it. But losing money and losing momentum are two entirely different things. Losing momentum is soul crushing. I've experienced what it's like to build something that becomes bigger than yourself. Thousands of people rallying around one shared goal. People showing up, contributing, creating, fighting for something together. You couldn't stop that energy if you tried. And I've also experienced what it's like when that energy disappears. You keep building. Keep showing up. Keep creating. Keep reaching out. Keep pouring everything you've got into the vision. But the response gets quieter. The people who used to show up don't anymore. Partnerships don't translate into action. Communities that once moved together have become fragmented, distracted, or simply gone. And eventually you have to confront a brutal reality. You have a vision. You have believers. You have products. But you no longer have momentum. That's where I find myself today. I'm not sharing this for sympathy. And I'm certainly not throwing in the towel. I'm sharing it because too much of this industry is pretending everything is going great while the reality behind the scenes tells a very different story. I've watched token after token launch with massive hype, KOL support, and seemingly endless attention, only to be forgotten days later. The cycle keeps getting shorter. Attention isn't community. Hype isn't conviction. And a bunch of people holding the same token doesn't mean they're building something together. I know what real community looks like because I've lived it. And I know we have to find our way back to that. Not by manufacturing another hype cycle. Not by pretending everything is fine. And definitely not by expecting the same strategies that worked years ago to magically work again. By giving people something worth accomplishing together. I believe deeply in what we're building at RYFT. That conviction hasn't changed. But belief alone doesn't create motion. That's the hardest lesson this year has taught me. And now it's time to do something about it. Not starting from zero experience. Not starting from zero purpose. Starting from zero momentum. And building it back, together. 🙏 🍑🤝🟣🐮🌀

I have something I need to get off my chest… There's a game that has captured my attention and ignited an excitement I haven't felt in years. Not since I stepped away from one of my favorite gaming IPs of all time, Hearthstone. And to understand why this matters so much to me, I need to take you back a little. I've been playing trading card games since I was just 6 years old. I started with Magic: The Gathering and eventually explored countless other TCGs. I was even part of that generation of kids who showed up at Toys "R" Us for Pokémon Gym Battles. What a time to be alive! As I got older, my passion only grew. I became one of those guys you really didn't want sitting across from you on MTG draft night. 😁 Then came Hearthstone. I had the incredible blessing of being one of its early testers, and for many years, it became the pinnacle of TCG gaming for me. I climbed to Legend every month and, in 2017, even seriously considered going pro. I absolutely loved that game. The strategy, the competition, the creativity, the endless possibilities. It had captured something that kept me coming back again and again. But in 2020, I stepped away. At the time, I was running one of the largest multi-faith communities in the world on Facebook, and between that responsibility and eventually transitioning full-time into crypto, most of my time and energy were spoken for. My love for TCGs never went away, though. In 2021, I discovered Gods Unchained, which I thoroughly enjoyed and excelled at. Later came Splinterlands, another game I had fun exploring. Both offered something different and interesting. But neither quite filled the void Hearthstone had left behind. Over the years, I'd occasionally try another TCG, hoping to find that same magic. I explored different mechanics, different worlds, and different approaches to the genre. I even entertained the idea of eventually building my own TCG. Yet something always seemed to be missing. Until recently… I kept seeing posts about a new game that TCG enthusiasts were celebrating. The enthusiasm was hard to miss, and eventually someone even tagged me in a post saying, "Hey Jordan, you NEED to play this!" Now, I have a confession to make. I judged this game before I ever played it. Some of the characters initially turned me off. Not because I didn't like those characters, but because I loved them. These were iconic, nostalgic characters from the public domain, beloved by countless millions across generations. Characters that have occupied a special place in our imaginations since childhood. In my mind, if someone was going to bring these beloved characters into a TCG, they had better treat them with extraordinary care and respect. Without having the full context, I assumed this might be another game leaning on recognizable characters to attract attention. So I wrote it off. But the posts kept coming, and something about the excitement surrounding the game continued to pull at my curiosity. Then I came across a post from @TimothyJooste that genuinely moved me. I remember thinking, "Hmm… if this guy is for real, maybe there's something much deeper here than what I initially judged on the surface." As a founder myself, I know what it's like to carry a vision that others might not immediately understand. I know how much heart, sacrifice, and conviction can go into building something you genuinely believe in. So I decided to keep an open mind, went to Steam, and downloaded the game. And then something wonderful happened. I was greeted by the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Immediately, I smiled. They had absolutely nailed him. The personality, the presentation, the attention to detail. It was such a wonderful first impression that I found myself getting excited before I'd even begun to understand the game. Then came the gameplay. The visuals were beautiful, the mechanics were intriguing, and the three different battlefields immediately caught my attention. As I continued through the experience, learning how everything worked and discovering different ways to play, something dawned on me. I had an enormous, genuinely joyful smile on my face the entire time. Robin Hood, the Queen of Hearts, Paul Bunyan, Bagheera… so many characters I had known and loved throughout my life were coming alive in a way that felt thoughtful, polished, and full of personality. The team hadn't simply borrowed familiar characters and dropped them into a card game. They had clearly invested tremendous effort into making these characters feel like they belonged in this world. They nailed it. Actually, they went beyond what I had hoped anyone could do with them. But beautiful characters and presentation can only carry a TCG so far. The real test, at least for someone like me, is what happens when you start playing. And this is where things got even more exciting. No two matches felt quite the same. The game was approachable enough to learn quickly, yet beneath that accessibility I could already see an extraordinary amount of strategic depth. The three battlefields, the different interactions, the deckbuilding possibilities, the decisions you make throughout each match… there were so many layers to explore. As someone who spent years competing at high levels in TCGs, I absolutely love a game that's easy to pick up but offers an enormous ceiling for mastery. I could already imagine countless strategies, deck combinations, and ways to develop new skills. And I had barely scratched the surface. Then came the collecting… OH, THE COLLECTING! 😍 If you've been part of the TCG world for decades, you know collecting is practically its own love language. Different grades of cards, alternate artwork, printing errors, rare variations, and all those wonderful little details that make collectors salivate. They had embraced all of it. But what truly amazed me wasn't just how much thought they'd put into the collecting experience. It was how they had separated collecting from the ability to compete. YOU CAN EARN ALL THE PLAYABLE CARDS JUST BY PLAYING THE GAME! Let that sink in for a moment. You don't have to keep purchasing packs just to access the cards you need to build competitive decks. If you want to dive into the enriched collecting experience, pursue special grades, beautiful artwork, errors, and rare versions, there's an entire world waiting for you. But if your passion is simply playing the game, building decks, learning strategies, and becoming a better player, you can focus on exactly that. I cannot tell you how refreshing this was. I've spent thousands of dollars on Hearthstone over the years. And when it comes to MTG, I genuinely don't even want to calculate how much I've spent across the decades. 😂 I love collecting. I always have. But I don't love feeling pressured to buy pack after pack just to remain competitive. Finding a TCG built around the idea that gameplay should be accessible while collecting can be its own rewarding pursuit was something special. At this point, I was completely hooked. Oh, and did I mention the name of this game yet? It's @origins_tcg. And if you're a TCG enthusiast, I genuinely believe this is a game you need to experience. I'll absolutely be backing this team on Kickstarter, and I'm looking forward to spending a great deal more time in this beautifully crafted world. Not because someone paid me to say any of this. Not because I have some arrangement with the team. But because I recognize something special when I experience it. Being a founder and builder myself, I understand what it means to pour your heart into a vision. To obsess over the little details that most people may never consciously notice. To keep refining something because you know what it could become, even when the rest of the world hasn't seen it yet. And that passion is everywhere in Origins. You can see it in the artwork, feel it in the gameplay, and hear it in the presentation. It comes through in the mechanics, the collecting systems, the characters, and all the little creative decisions that make this experience so memorable. The more I played, the more I appreciated just how much thought and care had gone into building this game. I genuinely believe Origins has the potential to become one of the great TCGs that people will be talking about for generations. That's not something I say lightly. I've spent most of my life playing these games, from childhood kitchen tables to competitive MTG drafts, Pokémon Gym Battles, Hearthstone Legend, and the newer generations of digital TCGs. I've experienced a lot of what this genre has to offer. And for the first time in years, I feel that excitement again. That feeling I used to get when I couldn't wait to build another deck, discover another strategy, or queue up for just one more match. But there's something even more meaningful about this experience. In a strange way, Origins didn't just remind me of Hearthstone. It reminded me of being that six-year-old kid discovering the magic of trading card games for the very first time. And I hadn't realized just how much I'd missed that feeling. To the Origins team, I want to say thank you. Thank you for the time, the care, the passion, and most importantly, for sticking to your vision. What you've created already feels like a masterpiece in the making, and I truly cannot wait to see what it becomes as you continue building upon this foundation. And to everyone who loves TCGs, I have one request. Please don't make the same mistake I initially made. Don't judge this game by its cover. Give it a chance to show you what it really is. Because sometimes the things that surprise us the most are the things we almost never gave a chance. Origins certainly surprised this 40 year old. And I couldn't be happier that it did. ❤️