🎮 3. Game Design and Mechanisms

Gamification Principles

Pinland employs engaging gamification mechanics designed to:

• Motivate users to contribute high-quality POI data actively.
• Reward continuous engagement with token incentives and collectible NFTs.
• Foster community through friendly competition, cooperation, and shared achievements.

NFT Stickers

Users can customize their identities and showcase achievements through NFT stickers, categorized into tiers:

• Common Stickers:
  Entry-level NFTs awarded for completing basic tasks (e.g., first check-in).

• Rare Stickers:
  Granted to users consistently contributing verified and valuable POI updates.

• Limited-Edition Stickers:
  Seasonal or event-specific NFTs, offering exclusivity and enhanced prestige.

NFT stickers can unlock in-app bonuses, such as higher rewards, exclusive customization options, or elevated visibility.

Reward Mechanics (Proof of Travel / Proof of POI)

Pinland introduces two core validation concepts:

Proof of Travel

• Users confirm their presence at specific locations via GPS and device sensors.
• Verified check-ins earn token rewards proportional to POI value, user contribution quality, and community validation.

Proof of POI

• Rewards high-quality user contributions, validated by AI and community consensus.
• Encourages precise and valuable data submissions, including images, descriptions, and authentic reviews.

Reward Calculation Formula

$$\begin{aligned} \text{Reward} &= B \times (w_1 \times \text{AI Verification Score} + w_2 \times \text{Community Vote Score} \\ &+ w_3 \times \text{Time Sensitivity Factor}) \times w_4 \times \text{Location Rarity Factor} \end{aligned}$$

Where:

• $B$: Base Reward, determined by the platform's tokenomics.
• $\text{AI Verification Score}$: A score between 0 and 1, based on AI analysis of submission quality (e.g., image authenticity, description relevance).
• $\text{Community Vote Score}$: A weighted score reflecting community validation of the POI contribution.
• $\text{Time Sensitivity Factor}$: A bonus for timely submissions, incentivizing fresh and relevant data.
• $\text{Location Rarity Factor}$: A multiplier that rewards contributions in underserved or remote areas, promoting exploration.
• $w_1, w_2, w_3, w_4$: Dynamic weights assigned to each factor, adjustable based on network priorities and growth stages.

Dynamic Adjustment of Factors and Weights

• Weights: The weights ($w_1$ to $w_4$) are dynamically tuned to align with Pinland's strategic objectives. For example:
  • In the early stages, $w_1$ (AI Verification) may be elevated to prioritize data integrity.
  • As the community grows, $w_2$ (Community Vote) could increase to emphasize user participation.
  • $w_4$ (Location Rarity) might rise temporarily to encourage data collection in specific regions.
• Factors: The factors themselves are recalibrated based on real-time network conditions. For instance:
  • The Location Rarity Factor adjusts as geographic coverage expands, ensuring balanced incentives.
  • The Time Sensitivity Factor may scale with demand for up-to-date information in fast-changing areas.

Long-Term Sustainability

The combination of weighted factors and dynamic adjustments helps balance token issuance and economic stability. For example, during periods of high network activity, weights can be lowered to manage inflation, ensuring the reward system remains viable over time.

User Experience Flow

A typical user journey in Pinland includes:

1. App Interaction:
   Users open the app to explore nearby POIs, check-in opportunities, and available rewards.

2. Check-In Process:
   User selects a POI, verifies presence (GPS/sensors), submits optional data (photos/reviews).

3. Contribution & Validation:
   Users can propose new POIs, review existing ones, or validate contributions from peers.

4. Rewards & Incentives:
   Successful submissions trigger automated token rewards and NFT minting on the Solana blockchain.

5. Community Verification:
   The community verifies submitted data through voting or AI-assisted review, maintaining data integrity and accuracy.

Staking for POI Visibility (User-Centric Perspective)

Pinland allows users to enhance their contributions' visibility through a staking mechanism:

How Staking Works:

• For private POIs (e.g., businesses, personal landmarks):
  • Only verified owners or related parties (e.g., employees, partners) can stake PIN tokens to boost visibility on the app map and attract more interactions.
  • Verification is conducted using a challenge mechanism similar to FOAM Protocol, combined with additional methods such as location check-ins, photo uploads, or community validation.
• For public POIs (e.g., parks, public landmarks):
  • Any user can stake PIN tokens to increase visibility, subject to staking caps or dynamic reward adjustments to prevent resource waste or abuse.
  • Example: Rewards decrease as total staked amounts increase, encouraging balanced contributions across multiple POIs.
• Higher stakes provide greater exposure, especially at wider zoom levels, similar to FOAM's "zoom persistence" mechanism.

User Motivation:

• Enhanced Exposure:
  • Private POIs: Attract attention to local businesses or personal landmarks.
  • Public POIs: Promote community landmarks or hidden gems.
• Potential Rewards: Users can earn staking rewards plus additional rewards (e.g. future airdrops, prioritized verification...) if their POIs receive positive feedback and maintain high ratings.

Quality Assurance:

• Continuous AI and community validation ensures accuracy and authenticity.
• Stakes can be penalized (slashed) if POIs are flagged as inaccurate or fraudulent, incentivizing high-quality submissions.

User-Friendly Onboarding:

• Casual users can submit POIs without staking, but stakes significantly enhance visibility and rewards, promoting deeper user engagement.

Privacy and User Control

Pinland leverages blockchain's immutability to ensure users truly own their personal history, with all check-ins and contributions permanently recorded on-chain, untampered by third parties. However, we recognize the importance of privacy risks and have designed user-controlled privacy settings to give users full control over their data exposure.

• User-Controlled Privacy Settings

  • Users can choose to set each check-in as public (visible to friends) or private (visible only to themselves) and each photo can be set as visible to anyone, visible to friends, or visible only to themselves, ensuring sensitive or personal check-ins remain confidential.
  • Privacy settings for each check-in are independently adjustable, giving users complete control over their data.

• Balancing Location Functionality with Privacy

  • While Pinland's core functionality relies on location data, we prioritize user privacy. The platform does not continuously track users' locations; data is only collected when users actively check in, preventing constant monitoring of user movements.

• Assurance for Privacy-Sensitive Users

  • Pinland is not a "Web3 version of social media" that publicly exposes users' whereabouts. Instead, it is a decentralized POI platform where users decide what to share and what to keep private.
  • All data is stored using blockchain's cryptographic security, ensuring only authorized users can access or modify their records, further safeguarding privacy.