After a Month of Playing LOK

Last time, I wrote about buying a piece of land in League of Kingdoms and also how much money I made from it after a week of owning it.

Now, I would like to give you an update about my land after playing the game everyday for a month now.

As you can see, I earned 1.02 DAI. It is safe to say that I earned a dollar after playing the game for a month. Not that much, yes. There is no question there. I am not contesting the fact that there are other gaming platforms there that offer a much better ROI than this. With other more profitable NFT games out there, like Axie Infinity or Lost Relics, there are much better ways to make a buck while playing online.

Personally, I am quite satisfied with my small investment. Passively earning DAI is just one of the benefits of owning land in the game. If you pay close attention to the above photo, you can see the resources I gathered on the lower right corner. You gain a small share every time someone gathers resources in your land. I can claim all these resources to develop my kingdom. However, I prefer to just accumulate them. I plan to wait until one of them gets to 10M before claiming, so that I can eventually mint them into an NFT and sell them in Open Sea.

As of the moment, people have been waiting for the LOK developers to improve the Minting aspect of the game. If they are able to fix this, I am sure more people will get interested to play the game. I, for one, know of a lot of gamers here in the Philippines who are really into play-to-earn games; many of them do it on a full-time basis. Heck, the reason why Axie Infinity is so famous in Cabanatuan, Philippines, is that it was able to provide another source of income to the people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. A single green buck may not be much in other countries, but that money could already provide food on the table for many where I come from. As a guild/alliance leader in the game, I often get asked if it is worth it to mint resources in order to be sold. Unfortunately, the high gas fees prevent us from making a profit, as such no one bothers to do it yet. I do not know how this can be solved. Some say they are waiting for ETH 2.0 in order to lower the gas fees, thereby resolving the issue. Whatever the solution is, I leave it to the LOK game developers to work on. Many gamers are counting on you. (fingers crossed)

Another aspect of the piece of land that I noticed is that my development points are also increasing every single day. The chances of getting a higher-level plot in my land have increased, too. Every time they spawn there, I get more chances of gaining resources. It is still not a bad deal, if you ask me.

All in all, I am not really worried about my little investment. On the contrary, I am even proud of it because it is the first digital asset I bought for myself. As an NFT, I can resell it at a much higher price. One thing is for sure though, it is not gonna be in the foreseeable future.

The game itself really has a very interesting gameplay, so the entertainment value keeps on getting better. It still remains undervalued and I believe it is going to soar high once its issues have been resolved.

I might give you an update about my land on my 6th month of playing. We shall see. For now, see you guys in the game. My user name is Don Vicente, the leader of [PNYS] Pinoys Alliance in Continent 8. By the way, you own your land in all continents should you decide to acquire one. 🙂

Rock on!

Money I Made After a Week of Playing LOK

About a week ago, I bought a piece of land in the blockchain-based game, League of Kingdoms (LOK). (See How to Buy Land in League of Kingdoms.) I stated before that there are generally two ways to earn from playing that game — by owning land and by minting resources. In this article, I would like to share how much I made from the single piece of land I purchased.

So, without much ado…[drumroll]…here it is:

On the right, you can see the portion that says “Reward”. This is the total amount of money I made in a week (actually a little bit more than a week). The piece of land I bought is level 4. So I guess the amount also varies depending on land level.

The crypto I earned from it is DAI. DAI is a stable coin that is built by Ethereum and is stabilized by the value of USD. From this logic, it is safe to say that 1 DAI is more or less equal to 1 USD. So I made .57 DAI playing the game for a week. That is passive income right there.

The question is: Is that good enough? The straight answer is it is not. However, it is good enough for me and it is good enough for now. More than the financial return, I played the game for its entertainment value. That is the reason why I invested my money in a gaming NFT rather than other crypto-based investment vehicles. There are a lot out there. I’m sure there are also other NFT games out there that can generate higher results. But hey, we each have our own taste. I just happen to like this game a lot.

More importantly, .57 DAI may not be much, but with the amount of money I invested, it certainly generates more money than a bank. It may not be high enough to hedge against inflation. Nevertheless, LOK just started last year. I am still hoping for more developments in the EARNING aspect of the game. I am sure that this will entice more players to play LOK in the future.

Personally, this is already an upgrade. Before I played games without making anything. Now, at least I make pennies everyday while I enjoy the game at the same time. For now, I could not be more satisfied. It is better than not making anything at all.

Moreover, there is an investment aspect that I would like to point out. As a digital asset, the piece of property I bought may be virtual, but as a digital asset, it appreciates in price (not without risks of course, just like any other investment). Much like any real estate property, if ever I grow tired of playing the game (which I can assure will not be in the foreseeable future), I can sell it at a higher price. This way, I can still earn. I guess some things are worth hodling. 🙂

Finally, you may have noticed in the picture that there are resources. Yes, those are shares you earn every time someone visits your land to kill monsters or mine resources. You get a share of everything because you own it. The other player’s resources remain intact. And don’t worry, your land cannot be attacked nor taken from you. That is an asset that you own forever, unless you sell it or if your account gets hacked.

This is it for now and I hope this information helps.

How To Buy Land in League of Kingdoms

For a week now I have been playing League of Kingdoms, an online strategy game that is based on blockchain technology. Because of my obsession in crypto (a story for another day), I got into the world of Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs. What I like more about LOK is gives you the opportunity to own and trade digital assets through NFT technology.

To prove how much I am into this game, I bought my self a digital land, my very first NFT. I just had to do it. I am now a proud owner of a digital asset:

Owning land helps you do a lot of things. My favorite one is that it earns DAI (a crypto stable coin) every day. I have the option to withdraw it or reinvest it for my land’s development.

In this article, I am going to give you the steps on how I purchased one:

The first step is to have an online wallet connected to your account. To do that, click on your account located in the upper left corner as shown in the image below:

From your account, click on Land.

You may choose your preferred crypto wallet. I personally use Metamask.

The next step is to go to this site. Then click on Open Sea.

One you are in Open Sea, you can shop for lands and other NFT products you want.

It is that simple. I hope this guide helps.

This game has a lot of potential. To be honest, I never considered myself a gamer until I got into this game. There is more to crypto than just trading or to be used as a store of value. It is slowly being integrated into other things; in this case, gaming. Just a few years back, who would have thought that a digital token can become an asset? One that is yours forever and you are the only one in the world who has it — all thanks to blockchain technology. There is more coming and we better brace ourselves because another revolution is happening. You do not want to miss this.

What I Learned From the Fisherman’s Story

The Mexican Fisherman

I saw this interesting video clip in Youtube:

The story struck me. It makes me wonder as to how long I am willing to work my ass off to live the life that I want. Besides, what is the point of having a good-paying job and having spent all those years learning Spanish to land on a high-paying job just to end up in the rat race working in perpetuity before I can finally get off and live the life the way I want? The story of the Mexican fisherman presents to us a situation of a vicious circle. The businessman convinces him to amplify his livelihood from a mere job to launching his very own IPO just so he can cash in his chips, retire early and do the things that he is already currently doing with his present lifestyle. It does not make any difference to skip from Point A to get to Point B and C just to end up to A.

A question is raised: Why work for a long time to live a life that you want rather than living the life that you want right now while working?

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Having read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, it became clear to me that I do not want to be an employee for the rest of my life. I work because I want to learn things I can use in the future in order to create my own business and thus, establish multiple sources of income. Kiyosaki points out one fault of colleges and universities, i.e. to train future employees with the hope of retiring in their old age. There may be exceptions but this is the main “blueprint” in which traditional schools operate.

The reason why I studied and work for big corporations is so that I can learn. After school, employment will be the next source of information. Companies are excellent sources of information. What better way to get educated than attending free trainings and workshops to learn the ropes of business and, in most cases, get paid? The objective is to train new hires, expose them to real-life situations with a plethora of soft and hard skills. Given that employers invest money in people, it is natural that they expect something in return. The very principle in economics is that there is no such thing as free lunch; everything has a price.

There is nothing wrong with being an employee provided that a person is clear with his objectives. Some people are happy being employees and that is completely fine. Society cannot operate if all people are business owners. Who would account for curing the sick, teaching the illiterate, solve crimes and so on and so forth if all people are too busy dedicating their lives to their own businesses. Nevertheless, people who are, like me, have no plan of being an employee forever, who have a vision of establishing business and providing jobs to others, those who dream of being free to do things that matter the most, then business and investing is the way out.

The Right Approach

The best way to do is to enjoy life in the here and now while being clear to gradually, slowly but surely work one’s way out of the rat race. Work hard for a reason. There is nothing wrong with enjoying life to the fullest as long as you remain grounded and determined to your objectives and live a life in moderation.

Career Game Changers

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

-Seneca, Roman Philosopher

Game changers do happen in one’s career. Be it a promotion, a new job that pays a 6-figure salary, or a new business capital raised from one’s lottery winnings, its frequency varies from person to person. Even Aristotle admitted that some people are born lucky. Nevertheless, one needs to be in a constant lookout for such things, for when they go, they may be gone for good.

I, for one, turned down a number of opportunities when I was younger. They could have influenced what I am today. There were some decisions that could have changed the entire course of my life. I am sure each of us has a fair share of such an experience. The reality is we cannot turn back time. Those missed opportunities may not return. Some may be luckier to have second chances, but life is indeed a box that may not always be filled with sweet, good-quality chocolates (to put a pun on what Forrest Gump said).

What then is the point of moving forward? What is the point of pursuing a degree, of learning a new skill, or on working hard on achieving our dreams if all of life is but a game of chance – a couple of few windfalls enjoyed only by a chosen (lucky) few?

There is hope; there is a sense of purpose. Now that we have established that life is filled with occasional game changers, preparation is key. One can never go wrong with preparation. Opportunities do come and go. I would rather be prepared when I am lucky than be lucky yet unprepared. This fine demarcation is what distinguishes successful people from the rest. They work hard so that when an opportunity opens, they catapult themselves to their goals. Game changers are catalysts in that they can fast forward events to help us reach our goals faster. Success is, therefore, not merely all about luck. It is a combination of luck and hard work.

We may not have any control as to when game changers present themselves in the course of our career. However, we do have control over our decisions. It is either we wait for life to throw lemons at us or we have baskets ready to catch them!

At some point in my career I thought I became stagnant. I thought I reached a plateau in terms of career growth. I believed there was no chance for me to be greater than where I was. Until one day, one company – one whose offer I rejected twice – contacted me and “gave me another job offer I could not refuse”. It showed me some figures I never anticipated early on in my corporate career. Not only that, they were even willing to wait for me for 2 months before I could go on board with them. I always work hard to be good at my craft, but I never expected that an opportunity would present itself to help me get to my goal faster. It was my game changer.

I eventually signed up and am now a part of this new company. I made the right decision and I am happy with where I am now. This new company values me for what I can do. It never fails to let me feel that I am part of something big. I am proud to be part of a team that plays a crucial role in meeting the company’s goals and objectives. For me, this is the very definition of preparation meeting opportunity. It changed everything – it changed my plans, the direction of my career, my ambitions. Am I lucky? I say I am prepared for such an opportunity.

We may feel like we are working hard only for naught. We need to change our mindset. It is completely fine to work hard, just do not do it blindly. Work hard and at the same time be vigilant of game changers.

Bilingual Opportunities in the Philippines

I work as a Bilingual Customer Service Representative. I say bilingual because I make use of 2 languages in my line of work, namely English and Spanish. I support both English- and Spanish-speaking customers who are mainly in the United States and its territories. In my previous work, however, I was also tasked to handle concerns of customers in South America, such as Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. My language skills have been my bread and butter for more than 3 years now.

Being bilingual gives an individual more chances to land in lucrative job opportunities. This is so true in the Philippines. Even in professional online sites like LinkedIn and Job Street, one can see posts that say company A is looking for a candidate who is fluent in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese; the same can be said for Asian languages like Mandarin, Nihongo, Bahasa and Korean. The second category even pays more!

Francisco Colayco, one of the country’s renowned financial advisers, even said that the market value of an individual is multiplied by the number of foreign languages s/he fluently speaks. This implies that parents should better start sending their children to foreign language schools as early as possible, so that by the time they embark on their respective careers, their market value will have already dramatically increased. Talk about giving them a good head start!

The demand for multilinguals in the Philippine job market has increased over the years. The booming sector of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) has contributed a great deal to this.

It is of no surprise that many foreign nationals decide to come to the country to find jobs, usually in the BPO sector. I, for one, have worked with Spanish speakers from Spain and Latin America. The ongoing recovery from the recession in Spain and the economic downturn brought about by the political situation in Venezuela are some examples. So long as the BPO companies grow, there will always be a demand for bilingual careers.

This being the case gives a new meaning to the statement: It pays (better) to learn many languages.

Making Investment Mistakes

I have been into investing since 2014. This started when my friends and I were talking about life insurance. Back then, I happened to have a life insurance that was linked to my newly opened savings account. It was a simple life insurance coverage that offers up to 5 times the amount of whatever I have in my savings account. That was the only thing that I knew about life insurance. As naïve as I was back then, I was surprised when my friends asked me how much my monthly premium was. Apparently, I had no idea because I was not paying any. Then they introduced the concept of Variable Universal Life (VUL) insurance to me, which in plain and simple terms is a life insurance with an investment component. Then they talked about mutual funds and the stock market. Suddenly something in me was awakened. I was very much interested in what they had to say. Eventually, I decided to get a VUL for myself and that was the time when my investment journey began.

I knew I was hooked into learning about saving and investing. I read every book and online material I could find. It is often said that one should first invest in one’s self and so I did. I followed this advise to the letter. I enrolled in both free and paid (sometimes expensive) seminars about investing. I got acquainted with terms such as stocks, UITF, mutual funds, and even in real estate. So long as it was within my budget, I spared no expense.

Fast forward 4 years later, how have I been doing? Well, I would not dare lie to you and say that everything went smoothly. The had been roadblocks and pitfalls along the way. One cannot talk about investments sans the concept of risk. As a matter of fact, all forms of investments are accompanied by different degrees of risk. In a nutshell: the bigger the risk, the higher the potential. In the same fashion, the lower the risk, the lower the potential reward. Some of my investments earned me money; many ended up with losses. This is the hard truth and not without a simple reason – nobody can predict the future. The same thing applies to the so-called fortune tellers! If these clairvoyants do, they would have been richer than Warren Buffet himself, don’t you think? Not even the Oracle of Omaha himself is immune to incurring losses.

I did make investment mistakes and I still do. It is part of the game. I think this is part of being human. I have lost thousands and there is not turning back! The most that I can do – just like any normal person would do – is learn from my mistakes. I would rather lose thousands now, than lose millions later. I would rather learn the skills to minimize (not eliminate) risks, than learn them at a time when there is already too much at stake. To paraphrase one of my favorite philosophers, Soren Kierkegaard, life is best understood in retrospect. It pays to look back at the past for guidance. It pays to be a student of history, and there is no other more relevant to us than that of our own.

Despite the investment mistakes I made in the past, I am optimistic. I remain driven. I am still young, and this is the perfect time to err. In the future, mistakes are yet to be made and they make us human. Nevertheless, mistakes are designed to teach us. It is, therefore, our responsibility to transcend the human experience of failure to bring out the best in us. In talking about investments, as well as in life, failures make us better investors and better persons.