A New Economy for Cross The Ages with Season 4 and Solana

On the eve of the Season 4 Dawn of War launch, and following the migration to Solana, we are unveiling a major transformation of our economy, made possible by the Solana blockchain. By leveraging Solana’s advanced capabilities, we are introducing a series of new systems designed to enrich the player experience and strengthen engagement within the CTA universe. Our main objectives are as follows:

• VIP Program: A complete overhaul to more significantly and fairly reward players’ activity and loyalty within the Cross The Ages ecosystem.
• Simplify the staking system: A more accessible and intuitive approach to enable all users to easily participate in $CTA staking.
• Reposition the Mint Passes: A clarification of their utility, with modified or enhanced benefits to offer more value and transparency to holders.

This manifesto, developed in partnership with Animoca Brands, outlines our vision for the future of Cross The Ages’ Web3 economy by introducing a dynamic meta-game around the $CTA token, which will evolve in line with adoption. Unlike previous seasons, the system will now be fully dynamic, with weekly adjustments based on overall player activity and the price of certain assets. The rollout of the features below will take place gradually over the first few weeks of Season 4.

Are you ready? Let’s dive in!

Glossary of New Terms

Before diving into the article, here is a glossary of the new terms introduced for Season 4:

Orbs Orbs measure player engagement through actions within the CTA ecosystem: staking $CTA, contributing to $CTA liquidity pools on Solana, trading $CTA, or spending $CTA (excluding asset trading on the marketplace).

• Role: Non-transferable Web2 currency, expiring after 28 days, used to unlock exclusive rewards in the Reward Shop.
• Types: Orb of Echo and Orb of Sealing (details of use specified later).
• Minting Static cards in $CTA and spending: In the Portal shop, in exchange for Eternal Stones, Eternal packs, and the current season’s VIP card, SR cards.

CTALS 

CTALS is an SPL token (Solana standard) pegged 1:1 with $CTA, designed for liquid and flexible staking.

Conversion (via the Portal):

• $CTA → CTALS: Instantaneous, for quick access to staking.
• CTALS → $CTA: 28-day unlocking period, with no rewards during this time.

Function: Calculates engagement within the Cross The Ages ecosystem. Liquidity: A CTALS/$CTA pool enables instant conversions, initially funded by Cross The Ages.

CTAVAULT

The CTAVAULT is a centralized virtual wallet, accessible via the Portal Dashboard, consolidating player rewards.

Function: A digital safe for VIP Program earnings, purchase discounts, NFT royalties, and revenue sharing.

Wrap / Unwrap

Wrap and Unwrap refer to the encapsulation and decapsulation of tokens on Solana, making assets like Trisel (CTATRI) and Eternal Stones (CTASTO) tradable on Solana. Wrapping/Unwrapping is done via the Portal.

• Wrap: Converts Web2 currencies into tradable tokens in liquidity pools (CTATRI/CTA, CTASTO/CTA).
• Unwrap: Reverts tokens back to their original Web2 currencies.

VIP Program: A New Dynamic for Season 4

The Cross The Ages VIP Program is evolving to offer a clearer and more engaging experience. As part of a gradual rollout, the ratios presented in the VIP section will be regularly adjusted each week to optimize the experience. The figures provided are illustrative to explain the mechanics and may change at the time of the official launch. This adjustment process will be applied each season to ensure the best possible experience. Here are the key details:

Structure and Progression

• 5 Tiers: Simplified from the previous 8 tiers.
• Weekly Reset: Progression resets each week to encourage regular participation.
• Advancement Conditions: Accumulate Orbs of Echo for all tiers. Starting from Tier 2, spending $CTA tokens is also required.

Example of Tier Requirements:

Orbs of Echo are at the heart of the VIP system and can be earned in several ways, at varying rates:

• Staking $CTA: Convert your $CTA to CTALS and hold them to generate Orbs of Echo.
• Contributing to $CTA liquidity pools on Solana.
• Trading $CTA: Conduct $CTA transactions on Solana’s decentralized exchanges (DEX).
• Spending in the shop: Any purchase in $CTA in the TCG or Portal shop generates Orbs of Echo.
• Minting Static cards in $CTA.
• VIP Wheel: Use the VIP Wheel to spend $CTA and earn additional Orbs of Echo, accelerating your tier progression. $CTA spent via the Wheel counts as spending for advancement.

Note: Orb of Echo conversion rates are dynamic and adjusted weekly. Check the Rewards section of the Portal to track your earnings in real-time.

Which $CTA expenditures count for VIP?

All $CTA expenditures within the Cross The Ages ecosystem count toward progression, except for marketplace transactions. This includes:

• Purchases in the TCG shop.
• Purchases in the Portal shop (including packs bought during the “Limited Time Offer”).
• Using the VIP Wheel.

Benefits of the VIP Program

VIP tiers offer discounts (cashback) and exclusive benefits, credited regularly to your CTA Vault. Here’s an overview:

Details of Benefits:

• Shop Discount: Receive 2% to 10% cashback on each purchase in the shop, credited to your CTA Vault.
• Wrapping Fees: Recover a percentage of the fees spent when moving your Trisel or Stones on-chain.
• NFT Royalty Discount: Reduce trading fees on the marketplace from 0.5% to 2.5% when paying in $CTA, depending on your VIP tier.
• Revenue Sharing (Tier 5): Unlock a share of Cross The Ages’ revenue, proportional to your weekly contribution, credited daily to your CTA Vault. The sharing percentage is variable and adjusted weekly. For example, if Cross The Ages generates $10,000 in revenue in CTA tokens and the sharing rate is 50% for the week, $5,000 is redistributed to Tier 5 players, while Cross The Ages retains the remaining $5,000.

Benefits in Blast

The VIP Program also impacts TCG rewards with specific benefits. Due to the gradual increase in the card pool, values will be adjusted if necessary during the four weeks following the Season 4 launch. If the launch event is repeated each season, it will serve as a balancing period for each new season:

• Daily Craft Refund: On your first daily craft, receive a refund in Trisel, calculated based on the average of your CTALS balance over the past 7 days and your VIP tier. The Trisel amount is credited directly to your account after the craft.
• Eternal Points (EP): Eternal Points are essential for farming Trisel in Cross The Ages. Each Eternal card has an EP amount, as detailed in the first part of the Solana migration article. The total EP you own across your cards is capped by a ceiling that starts at 0. This EP ceiling increases based on your VIP tier and the average of your CTALS balance over 7 days. This is indicated directly on the Portal in the “My Binders” section.
• Counting Duplicates to Increase EP Ceiling (Tier 5): Exclusive to Tier 5, this mechanism allows you to unlock a second card binder to count duplicates in your collection, increasing your EP ceiling and boosting your Trisel earnings, provided you have a sufficient average CTALS balance over the past 7 days. Without Tier 5, the only way to optimize your Eternal Multiplier (see Article 1) is to improve your main binder on the Portal with the best version of each card and each collection.

Trisel (CTATRI) and Eternal Stones (CTASTO)

With the migration to the Solana blockchain, Trisel (CTATRI) and Eternal Stones (CTASTO) can now be wrapped (encapsulated) on the blockchain, making them tradable. Here are the essential details:

• Launch of two liquidity pools: The CTATRI/CTA and CTASTO/CTA pairs will be available to facilitate exchanges.
• Initial liquidity: Provided by Cross The Ages to ensure a smooth start.
• No initial limit: No cap on the amounts that can be wrapped at launch, but monitoring will be in place to prevent abuse. You will be able to wrap the Trisel and Stones you currently own in-game.
• Wrapping fees: Reduced based on VIP tiers (the higher the tier, the lower the fees).
• Free unwrapping: Converting wrapped tokens back to Web2 currency is free of charge.

Wrapping Formulas

Wrapping CTASTO

Wrapping fees = % of fees × Base shop price × Volatility multiplier

• Volatility multiplier = Shop price ÷ Liquidity pool (LP) price.
• Example: To wrap 1,000 CTASTO at Tier 5 with a shop price of $0.10, an LP price of $0.07, and 50% fees: 0.50 × 1,000 × 0.10 × (0.10 / 0.07) = $71.45, of which $57.16 (= 80%) is re-credited to the vault via VIP Tier 5.

Wrapping CTATRI

Wrapping fees = % of fees × 7-day weighted average price × Volatility multiplier

• Volatility multiplier = 7-day weighted average price ÷ Liquidity pool (LP) price.
• Adjustment: The 7-day weighted average price calculation period may be modified based on the depth of the liquidity pool.
• Example: To wrap 100,000 CTATRI at Tier 5 with a 7-day weighted average price of $0.0005, an LP price of $0.0004, and 50% fees: 0.50 × 100,000 × 0.0005 × (0.0005 / 0.0004) = $31.25, of which $25 (= 80%) is re-credited to the vault via VIP Tier 5.

Mint Cost for Static Cards

As announced in previous articles, the Flex state is discontinued in Season 4, leaving only Eternal and Static cards. Static cards from the current season are now mintable. Here are the details of the mint cost calculation:

Calculation Formula

Total mint cost = Base price in $CTA + Craft and shred costs of the card multiplied

Base Price in $CTA by Rarity:

• Common: $1
• Uncommon: $2
• Rare: $3
• Ultra Rare: $10
• Mythic: $50

Note: For an exclusive card, the base price corresponds to that of the card’s original rarity. For a Combo card, the base price and craft cost of each constituent card are added together.

Mint Passes: Utilities for Season 4

Mint Passes are key elements of the Cross The Ages ecosystem, offering exclusive benefits to enhance the player experience. Here is an update on their effects:

1 - Special Rare (SR) Cards for the Current Season Generate Sealing Orbs based on your weekly CTALS balance. These Orbs can be used in the Reward Shop to purchase Blast Special Rare cards or Special Rare modules for Arise when the game is released. The gaming point system has been discontinued.

2 - Seasonal Discounts
Offer up to 25% discounts in $CTA on Eternal Pack purchases made in $CTA during new season launch events:

• Red = 3%
• Green = 6%
• Blue = 10%
• Legacy = 15%
• Golden = 20%
• Golden Legacy = 25%

3 - NFT Royalty Discount
Grant up to 2.5% discounts on trading fees in the CTA marketplace, stackable with VIP discounts and the base $CTA discount. Credited instantly to your CTA Vault after purchase:

• Red = 0.5%
• Green = 1%
• Blue = 1.5%
• Legacy = 2%
• Golden and Golden Legacy = 2.5% 

4 - Exclusive Auto-Mint
Offer a chance to automatically mint an exclusive card obtained via the Leaderboard.

5 - Golden & Golden Legacy Exclusivity
Airdrop of Eternal Packs after a new season launch event to help complete your collection:

• Golden = 7 packs
• Golden Legacy = 21 packs

6 - Golden Legacy Exclusivity
Airdrop of a unique card each season, based on the numbering of the Golden Legacy Mint Pass. The next to receive their card is Golden Legacy number 3, followed by Golden number 4 during the year, who will receive the unique card dedicated to Season 4.

Although other benefits have been announced in the past and are not mentioned here, we prefer to reveal them when they are ready for use. We will add effects over time based on product development progress.