I always like to write about interesting uses of web3 in publishing and this one is pretty cool. The Quest of Evolution looks like it is trying to build the next publishing house on the blockchain and using the building blocks of web3 and blockchain to stitch together all of the pieces. Here is a quick breakdown.
For Authors
So, it looks like how this works for authors is that you take on the role of the author / project creator. In doing so, you start the story, build out the overall world or main conflict. Create the central characters to your story and outline their backstory.
For Collaborators
Then, you open up your story / project to collaborators. Those collaborators can then continue the story. They way they do that is by owning one of several NFTs aligned to the project. In the Novel I was looking at, these NFTs were based on six different characters, each with their own backstory. My guess is how it is intended to be played is through whichever character's backstory resonates with you as the collaborator the most, would be the one that you would most likely choose.
Then, by owning the NFT, you are given the permission to extend the story by writing some about or number of words. The site says that whatever your submission is, it'll be checked through an API for plagiarism. I would also assume that there has to be at least some approval / review process by either the author / project creator or their delegate? That part isn't all too clear from what I've read here so far - so we'll have to see.
Collaborative Fiction
I've been a HUGE fan of the idea of collaborative fiction for a long time. Creating a collaborative project with friends can be amazingly rewarding. Doing the same thing with strangers has some tar pits though. Some things that I'll be curious to learn more about how they'll be addressed:
FIFO
Yeah, I know this is an accounting term, first in first out, but the idea is the same. What decides whose story submission is included in what order? Or, said another way, this is the github merge-conflict issue. What if something I write is negated or made irrelevant by someone else's submission that was submitted before me but not yet published?
Blocking
What is someone owns the NFT but then simply doesn't submit anything? Does this create a whole in the story or does it 'block' for lack of a better word the remaining story entries.
Again, I'm a huge fan of using web3 for publishing and blockchain gives author's some amazing tools to work with, so I'll be watching this as closely as possible to see how all of the details work out.