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What is The Mallard Order?
Well, this is a bit of a conundrum I guess. Seems like the first rule about The Mallard Order is to not talk about the Mallard Order. An NFT project that is sworn to secrecy has piqued our interest in marketing and storytelling. The Secretive Order of 6,500 ducks hell-bent on taking Cardano by storm is upon us!
A look at The Mallard Order Artwork.
Once again the Order’s strict adherence to secrecy has proven to be troublesome for a sleuth like me. However, The Order’s Twitter account does show some nicely detailed profile pictures of ducks. One depicted here looks like a distant cousin of Scrooge McDuck looking to make his debut on the Cardano blockchain. No real details have been publicly announced about the number of unique traits, but judging by the limited reveals on Twitter, the variety looks to be enough to distinguish one mallard from the other. With attention to detail including backgrounds, items, and even elemental flare like fire or electricity, each Duck has its own unique personality.
What makes this a compelling project?
The Secrecy is what makes this project one of the best in my opinion. Many NFT projects look to fill their Dicords with people, bots, and shillers to try to engage in a larger community. The Mallard Order does the complete opposite, where word of mouth and invitation is the only method of knowing about the project. Just me writing about this will most likely exclude me from the project altogether! The other major reason this project is compelling is from the invitation letters that have been sent out. Only 500 letters were sent to those who are worthy. These we can assume are close to the dev team and will be the catalyst for more members in the future through invitations and trials. This project is a community like no other, where participation and completion of trials are a badge of honor to the initiate. Projects like this don’t come around often and most do not have the buzz as the Mallard Order does.
What does the roadmap look like?
I wish I can tell you more, but I will add what I can find. From what I gather the Order’s roadmap is one of invitations and community building first. It is unclear where the roadmap will lead after their initial mint, however, by seeing the amount of work going into the initial offering, I would be willing to bet there is much more to the project once you are on the inside.
Who are the team members?
Donald, Daffy, and Scrooge McDuck are as good as a guess as any. The veil has yet to be lifted to reveal the true team members around this project. With only a single follower on Twitter, the sole recipient being Charles Hoskinson himself, not even the vanity of the creators is slipping through the cracks. Well done team!
Final Thoughts.
While there isn’t much to go by the FOMO is real. I have heard about this project through the grapevine as if there was a real secret society behind the scenes. Maybe there is! Anyway, the project’s direction is fun on a different level than most even before they go to mint. The structure of the Order and their invitation-only is a direction that can be seen as fun or gatekeeping. Surely those who want to be in the order would be happy to complete the Trials set forth by the Mallards, however, those just entering the space, or anyone not on the inside will miss out with the exclusionary tactics. This is by design per the Mallard Order, but this could all be a ruse in itself. Seeing the invitation letters on the secondary market is concerning since their primary objective is to only allow those who put in the effort to become an initiate. But now for a sum of ADA, you can enter the order due to your deep pockets. Will the Mallard Order take action against this, or is the social society they are trying to create through their listings on Jpeg.store. A club for the active community or a rich kid club where it is pay to play. You be the judge!
***The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading crypto assets comes with a risk of financial loss. Buyers should always complete their own due diligence and decide on their own merits***