There is no doubt that "Weirdo Ghost" has become one of the hottest projects in the currently cooling NFT market. Considering its steadily rising floor price, to some extent, it can even be said to be "the one."
Before the publication (2022.2.18 19:00), the floor price of Weirdo Ghost had already surpassed 0.6ETH, reaching 12 times the mint price (0.05ETH). In a time when many past popular projects and countless NFT projects are launched daily but perform poorly, it can be said to be "standing out." Behind such impressive achievements, there are naturally many curious eyes and diverse perspectives. As a "hodler" of Weirdo Ghost and a small player in the NFT field, today I would like to share some observations and highlights that I have summarized, which may answer some people's questions about the "value support of Weirdo Ghost."
1. The Birth of "Weirdo Ghost"#
According to public revelations by @sleepy0x13, Weirdo Ghost was initially just a doodle of his own (the Twitter timestamp shows 2021.12.23), which was changed to an avatar. After many people sought to purchase it, the original "Universal Oil" version was designed, which is convenient for fans to create derivative works and accommodates various design styles. From this perspective, we can regard it as a part of "crypto native" — born out of interest, driven by value, diversified expansion, and independent style. His dual identity as a well-known media columnist in the crypto field and a crypto artist is also a strong evidence of the project's rich "crypto" component in its early stages. The first 500 people to join the Discord community directly received "whitelists," further highlighting the project's "fairness," which of course made many later participants envious.
2. The Composition of the "Weirdo Ghost" Team#
On the official website, we can see that the "visible" team of Weirdo Ghost consists of only @sleepy0x13, but it is evident that the current achievements of over 29,800 followers on the official Twitter and over 26,900 members in the Discord community are not tasks that he could accomplish alone. Behind this is the hard work of many members of the Weirdo Ghost team. It is clear that as a media author with the code name 0x13 and a core member of the crypto art organization Weir Dao, @sleepy0x13 has many friends, colleagues, and internet acquaintances who strongly support his project. Whether it is @Arriva, @Kefan, @Niq, @Reva, or @Ann, @Ark, and many more members I haven't mentioned, they have all contributed significantly to the growth of Weirdo Ghost. From this, we can clearly perceive that, on one hand, the crypto field is still to some extent a "gathering" of a few rather than a widely known "celebration," as both NFTs and crypto are still in their early stages; on the other hand, this indirectly indicates the necessity of the initial team's richness and its impact on the community's subsequent development.
3. Crypto Native Community#
Why did we emphasize the "crypto native" attribute of Weirdo Ghost from the beginning? Because from a community perspective, the Weirdo Ghost project is also a crypto native community, mainly for the following three reasons:
- On December 29, 2021, after the official establishment of Weirdo Ghost's Discord, @sleepy0x13 emphasized several "weird points" about the Weirdo Ghost project in the announcement — it was not generated in bulk but drawn bit by bit (later changed to a partially generated version due to workload and time conflicts, not all hand-drawn); 50 Weirdo Ghosts were given away for free to Weir Dao friends, colleagues, and previous collectors of works, with a planned total of only 1,000 pieces priced at 0.05ETH; there was no roadmap in the early stages of the project, hoping that community members would buy because they liked it rather than for speculation; and he humorously clarified his identity: this is a [“Chinese project”].
- On January 17, 2022, the first day of official promotion for the Weirdo Ghost community saw a small growth, but it also clearly stated: "Weirdo Ghost hopes to start from the community and let friends from all over the world participate, so please do not speak Chinese in the English area." Once discovered, there would be a warning, and a second offense would result in a direct kick.
- On January 20, 2022, @sleepy0x13 noticed that some community members had spontaneously changed to Weirdo Ghost avatars and modified their exclusive suffixes, stating: "Actually, changing avatars and modifying nicknames are not mandatory requirements from the community. Just be yourself before minting your unique Weirdo Ghost. Do whatever makes you happy — if you are tired from competing elsewhere, you are always welcome to come back and rest."
This is just a small part of the community's growth process, but it can explain why the Weirdo Ghost community has not fallen into the common "NFT project trap" — after minting, the community falls silent, like a ghost town. Because the Weirdo Ghost community, to some extent, was indeed a refreshing stream amidst the "white list war" at that time, and many people have heard or experienced this.
In addition, regarding community culture, during an AMA, @sleepy0x13 was asked about his views on some NFT projects directly giving whitelist spots to holders of established NFTs (such as BAYC). He directly replied that such behavior is harmful to the community and does not benefit it, but rather affects the original cohesion and consensus among community members, to some extent making holders of established projects feel a sense of "superiority" over their NFTs (similar views, not verbatim). From this perspective, I strongly agree.
4. High Diversity of Community Members#
I mentioned this in the previous point, and it can also be seen in the various and bizarre "fan art" in the Weirdo Ghost Twitter tags. The proportion of artists, musicians, and creators is relatively high, and someone even created a "2048-style Weirdo Ghost elimination game." I find this very impressive, as it is an important part of NFT projects, NFT communities, and the crypto field — being playful, daring to play, playing beautifully, playing interestingly, and creating corresponding value to make this world a little different is very important. Weirdo Ghost Gang, weird yet natural.
5. Project Operation Mechanism#
Unlike previous NFT projects that relied on "grinding levels, grinding invitations, flattering mods, and flattering project parties" and the "three-piece set of hunger marketing — limited-time Discord openings, restricted entry numbers, and limited reviews," the operation mechanism of Weirdo Ghost is more "spiritual" and "refreshing" — I believe that members of the Weirdo Ghost community who have experienced it would agree wholeheartedly. If I remember correctly, the eight sessions of "secret action" have become a shocking term for countless NFT players. Various details, limited-time form submissions, multiple verification answers, and bizarre question angles have gradually transformed what was originally just a "physical competition" for NFT whitelist spots into a "mental competition." Moreover, even in the "fan art" Twitter creation competition, the Weirdo Ghost team conducts detailed investigations on Twitter accounts to ensure that the whitelist does not fall into the hands of "grinding studios" but rather "true fans of Weirdo Ghost."
As the New Year approached, the "Collect Five Ghosts" event, which was very similar to the "Alipay - Collect Five Blessings" activity but with new rules, further boosted community engagement to its peak — those who had previously posted derivative images or received many likes became "genius ghosts," some answers in the secret actions became "clever ghosts," those who remained on duty during the New Year received the "dedicated ghost" title, and those who had a rich reunion meal with their families received the "wealthy ghost" title, while those with a more modest meal received the "pitiful ghost" title. These titles have even been retained until now, after the public sale and box opening, becoming a "meme" that brings a smile to community members. Additionally, the later added "limited-time ghost exchange event" greatly increased familiarity among community members. Although some "off-market transactions" are unavoidable, the effort in operation is still evident.
Although I should mention that the operational rhythm approaching the pre-mint was a bit chaotic, and some operational activities felt a bit rushed, the flaws do not overshadow the merits.
6. Handling of Emergencies#
It is worth mentioning that the Weirdo Ghost team handled emergencies very well, and I will mention two specific incidents —
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On February 6, 2022, around noon, after the Discord was hijacked by hackers, the Weirdo Ghost team reacted quickly, not only mocking the hacker's intelligence in the announcement channel but also promptly informing the community on official Twitter about the Discord being hacked, preventing community members from suffering greater losses. Of course, many community members also timely distributed warning messages to various groups during this process. This kind of community combat effectiveness and organization is quite rare. Moreover, regarding the direct losses caused to community members after the Discord was hacked (nearly 5 ETH), the Weirdo Ghost team also provided direct compensation later and conducted a detailed review of the hacking incident. They plan to initiate a "fraud prevention fund" activity with communities that encounter similar situations in the future to contribute to reducing the occurrence of such incidents, which truly shows a broad perspective.
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On February 10, 2022, during the premint phase, due to a case-sensitive error in the tested smart contract, many community members found themselves awkwardly waiting; on the evening of February 11, during the public sale, Weirdo Ghost took some necessary measures to prevent "scientists from bulk buying for profit," resulting in many community members who wanted to purchase during the public sale only seeing "504" or similar downtime screens. The Weirdo Ghost team responded quickly — announcements and subsequent explanations and reviews.
It is important to note that similar situations, if they occurred in NFT projects with weak community cohesion, would be considered "catastrophic disasters." However, Weirdo Ghost successfully turned the crisis into an opportunity, calming the restless emotions of community members and even gaining a wave of followers through official Twitter and @sleepy0x13's personal Twitter.
— To add, crisis management will become a strong demand in the crypto field, whether for related talents or media resources.
7. Project Design Aesthetics#
Which one do you like best?
I must say that Weirdo Ghost is a rare and unique "NFT project that rises immediately upon launch," and this is naturally inseparable from the careful control and brainstorming of its founder @sleepy0x13, as well as the "artist team" behind many 1:1 works of Weirdo Ghost, including members of Weir Dao. They have significantly enhanced the praised and admired design of Weirdo Ghost. Moreover, even the "ordinary version" of Weirdo Ghost, which has limited rarity, feels unexpectedly thoughtful.
Additionally, while I believe that design, aesthetics, and image quality are the final steps in judging an NFT project, slightly less important than the founding team, community, and influencers, they are undoubtedly key to attracting more "casual fans" — just like clickbait, good design can attract more people to spend more time on this NFT project, leading to purchasing impulses and long-term holding, using it as their "social image" — avatar.
The setting and design of Weirdo Ghost also represent a rare balance between Eastern and Western aesthetics, which is commendable — Weirdo Ghost Gang, although literally translated as "weird ghost gang," could also be interpreted as "strange spirit companions," "quirky ghost faction," "surprising ghost gang," or "peculiar ghost gang." Meanwhile, "ghost" plays a mysterious, eerie, and spiritual role and image in the West, paired with different colors, backgrounds, accessories, and images, making it very appealing.
8. Unexpected "Joy"#
In addition to the advantages mentioned above, I would like to share an unexpected "joy" that the Weirdo Ghost project encountered — it was truly surprising. Including @sleepy0x13 and all members of the Weirdo Ghost community, on February 11, 2022, saw the famous NBA star and Golden State Warriors player, @andre, who has over 1.3 million Twitter followers, and I believe everyone felt the same way. It was like worrying whether your debut work would be coldly received tomorrow, especially when the market conditions are not particularly good, only to suddenly find that a top-tier writer has helped you promote it for free. It was truly unexpected, and with the support of the previous factors, it indeed happened — it rivals O. Henry's short stories: unexpected yet reasonable.
Especially since the day before, @sleepy0x13 had mentioned on Twitter, "As for publicity, [eyes][eyes][eyes], if his reaction wasn't so genuine, I would have almost thought this was an 'external aid' invited by Weirdo Ghost."
As for other unexpected joys, there are a few, such as @0xxiaozhu's curiosity giving Weirdo Ghost the opportunity to explain its "value support sources," helping it become more well-known among NFT players in the Chinese community; for instance, during an AMA with @glow_dao, @sleepy0x13's powerful statements (mentioned earlier), and many talented and kind-hearted members of the Weirdo Ghost community have all been a force supporting Weirdo Ghost to reach where it is today.
From the very beginning, Weirdo Ghost has "openly stated that it is a 'Chinese project'," and it will undoubtedly carry everyone's praise, scrutiny, doubts, and curiosity as it continues to move towards a larger, farther, and broader stage.
Here are the official links for Weirdo Ghost, and new friends are welcome to join our Weirdo Ghost Gangsters family!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeirdoGhostGang
Official Website: https://weirdoghost.com/
Opensea: https://opensea.io/collection/the-weirdo-ghost-gang
@sleepy0x13's personal homepage:
Sleepy: https://twitter.com/sleepy0x13
Sleepy‘s Website: https://www.sleepy0x13.com/
Let's take off, Weirdo Ghost!!!
Note: I originally planned to release a bilingual version today, but due to time constraints, I am only publishing the Chinese version today. The English version will be published later depending on the situation. Thank you for your support.
Finally, please follow me: Twitter @wenser2010. Thank you for reading this!
