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, one could even argue that it could be referred to as "the hottest."
As of the time of writing (2022.2.18 19:00), the floor price of Weirdo Ghost has 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 being launched daily but performing poorly, it can be said that Weirdo Ghost stands 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, I, Wenser, would like to share some observations and highlights that I have noted, which may answer some people's questions about the "value support of Weirdo Ghost."
1. The Birth of "Weirdo Ghost"#
According to the public revelation by @sleepy0x13, Weirdo Ghost was initially just a doodle by him (the Twitter timestamp is 2021.12.23), which was later turned into 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 consider it a part of the "crypto native" community—born out of interest, driven by value, expanded diversely, and characterized by an independent style. His dual identity as a well-known media columnist in the crypto field and a crypto artist is also a strong testament to the project's early "crypto" essence. The first 500 people to join the Discord community were given free access, further highlighting the project's "equal treatment," which, of course, made many later entrants envious.
2. Composition of the "Weirdo Ghost" Team#
On the official website, we can see that the "visible" team of Weirdo Ghost consists of only @sleepy0x13. However, it is evident that the current official Twitter following of over 29,800 and Discord community membership of over 26,900 is not something he could achieve alone. Behind this success is the hard work of many members of the Weirdo Ghost team. Clearly, as the media author with the codename 0x13 and a core member of the crypto art organization Weir Dao, @sleepy0x13 has many friends, colleagues, and online acquaintances who strongly support his project. Whether it's @Arriva, @Kefan, @Niq, @Reva, @Ann, @Ark, or many other members I haven't mentioned, they have all contributed significantly to the growth of Weirdo Ghost. From this, we can clearly sense 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 indicates the necessity of a rich initial team 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 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 project in an announcement—rather than generating in bulk, he drew each one by hand (later changed to a partially generated version due to workload and time conflicts); 50 Weirdo Ghosts were given away for free to Weir Dao friends, colleagues, and previous collectors, with an initial planned total of only 1,000 and a price of 0.05ETH; there was no roadmap in the early stages of the project, as he hoped community members would buy out of love rather than for speculation; and he humorously clarified his identity: "This is a [Chinese project]."
- On January 17, 2022, the first day of Weirdo Ghost community promotion saw a small growth, but it was also clearly stated: "Weirdo Ghost hopes to start from the community and involve friends from all over the world, so please do not use Chinese in the English area." If discovered, there would be a warning for the first offense and a direct kick for the second.
- On January 20, 2022, @sleepy0x13 noticed that some community members had voluntarily changed their avatars to Weirdo Ghosts and modified their suffixes, stating: "Actually, changing your avatar and nickname is not a community requirement. Just be yourself before minting your unique Weirdo Ghost—do whatever makes you happy. If you feel tired from the outside world, you are always welcome to come back and rest."
This is just a small part of the community's growth process, but it explains why the Weirdo Ghost community has not fallen into the common "NFT project trap"—where the community falls silent after minting, like a ghost town. Because the Weirdo Ghost community has, to some extent, been a refreshing stream amidst the "whitelist war" frenzy, many people have heard of or experienced this.
Additionally, regarding community culture, during an AMA, when @sleepy0x13 was asked about the phenomenon of some NFT projects directly granting whitelists to holders of established NFTs (like BAYC), he directly responded that such behavior is harmful to the community and undermines the cohesion and consensus among community members, making established project holders feel a sense of "superiority" regarding their NFTs (similar views, not direct quotes). I strongly agree with this perspective.
4. High Diversity of Community Members#
I mentioned this in the previous point, and it can also be seen in the various and quirky "fan-art" in Weirdo Ghost's Twitter tags. The proportion of artists, musicians, and creators is relatively high, and someone even created a "2048-style Weirdo Ghost elimination game." This is very impressive and is an important part of the NFT project, NFT community, and crypto field—being playful, daring to play, playing beautifully, playing interestingly, and creating corresponding value to make the 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, inviting friends, flattering mods, and the three-piece set of hunger marketing—limited-time Discord openings, restricted entry numbers, and limited reviews," Weirdo Ghost's operation mechanism is more "spiritual" and "refreshing"—I believe that community members who have experienced it would wholeheartedly agree. If I remember correctly, the eight sessions of "secret action" have left countless NFT players in shock. Various details, time-limited form submissions, multiple verification answers, and bizarre question angles have transformed what was originally just a "physical competition" for NFT whitelists into a "mental competition." Even in the "fan-art" Twitter creation contest, the Weirdo Ghost team conducts detailed investigations of Twitter accounts to ensure that whitelists do not fall into the hands of "grinding studios" rather than "true fans of Weirdo Ghost."
During the lead-up to the New Year, the "Collect Five Ghosts" activity, which is very similar to the "Alipay - Collect Five Blessings" event but with new rules, further boosted community engagement to its peak—those who had previously posted derivative images or received many likes were given the title of "Genius Ghost," some answers in the secret actions became "Clever Ghosts," those who remained on duty during the New Year were "Dedicated Ghosts," and those who had a rich family reunion meal received the title of "Rich Ghost," while those with a meager meal received the title of "Pitiful Ghost." These titles have even been retained until the public sale and box opening, becoming a "meme" that brings smiles to community members. Additionally, the later added "limited-time ghost exchange activity" greatly increased familiarity among community members. Although some "off-market transactions" were unavoidable, the effort put into operations is still evident.
Although I should briefly mention that the operational rhythm leading up to the pre-mint was a bit chaotic, with some activities feeling rushed, the flaws do not overshadow the overall excellence.
6. Handling of Emergencies#
It is worth mentioning that the Weirdo Ghost team handled emergencies very well, and I will highlight two incidents—
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On February 6, 2022, around noon, after the Discord was hacked, the Weirdo Ghost team quickly responded, not only mocking the hacker's intelligence in the announcement channel but also promptly posting on the official Twitter about the Discord being hacked to prevent greater losses for community members. Of course, many community members also timely distributed warning messages to various groups during this process. This level of community combat effectiveness and organization is quite rare. Furthermore, regarding the direct losses caused to community members by the hack (nearly 5 ETH), the Weirdo Ghost team later provided direct compensation and conducted a detailed review of the hacking incident, planning to initiate a "fraud prevention fund" activity with communities facing similar situations in the future to contribute to reducing such incidents—this truly shows a broadened perspective.
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On February 10, 2022, during the pre-mint 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 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" error pages. The Weirdo Ghost team quickly responded with announcements and subsequent explanations and reviews.
It is important to note that if similar situations occurred in NFT projects with weak community cohesion, it would be a "catastrophic disaster." However, Weirdo Ghost successfully turned a crisis into an opportunity, calming the restless emotions of community members and, through official Twitter and @sleepy0x13's personal Twitter, even gaining a wave of new followers.
—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?
It must be said that Weirdo Ghost is a rare and unique "NFT project that rises immediately upon launch," which undoubtedly stems from the meticulous 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, who have greatly enhanced the project's praised and admired design. Moreover, even the "ordinary version" of Weirdo Ghost, which has limited rarity, feels surprisingly thoughtful.
Additionally, while I believe that design, aesthetics, and image quality are the final steps in judging an NFT project and are 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 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," "amazing ghost gang," or "strange ghost alliance." At the same time, "ghost" plays a mysterious, eerie, and spiritual role and image in the West, and when paired with different colors, backgrounds, accessories, and images, it can be said to be 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—this 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 in a not-so-great market, only to suddenly find that a top-tier writer helped you promote it for free. It was truly unexpected, and with the support of the previous factors, it indeed happened—comparable to an O. Henry short story: unexpected yet reasonable.
Especially since the day before, @sleepy0x13 had said on Twitter, "As for promotion, [eyes][eyes][eyes], if his reaction wasn't so genuine, I would almost think 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 articulate its "value support source," helping it become more known among Chinese NFT players; 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 supported Weirdo Ghost in reaching where it is today.
From the very beginning, Weirdo Ghost has "openly declared itself a 'Chinese project,'" and it will undoubtedly carry everyone's praise, scrutiny, doubts, and curiosity as it continues to move toward 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 releasing 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!
