Building the MyZubster Metaverse
We are building the MyZubster Metaverse as an open-source digital environment where identity, collaboration, real-world projects and economic activity can coexist.
This is not intended to be a speculative virtual world filled with artificial promises.
Our objective is more practical:
- connect contributors and open-source communities;
- turn GitHub work into interactive missions;
- create shared spaces for projects and events;
- connect verified digital identities with real contributions;
- support creators through transparent, non-custodial payments;
- connect virtual districts with environmental and territorial initiatives;
- eventually allow communities to operate independent, federated nodes.
The first public environment is called Neon Plaza.
👉 Enter the MyZubster Metaverse: https://www.myzubster.com/metaverse
What is already working
The current version is a browser-based shared world.
Users can:
- create or reuse a character;
- enter Neon Plaza as a guest;
- authenticate through a MyZubster account;
- use an account-linked verified character;
- see other active explorers;
- move around the shared environment;
- send chat messages;
- use synchronized emotes;
- reconnect when a temporary session expires.
Verified characters can also display their connected GitHub identity.
A character marked as verified is linked to an authenticated MyZubster account.
A value entered manually by a guest is never treated as proof of identity.
This distinction is important because the future Metaverse economy will include missions, bounties, creator listings and payments.
A real participant: Nicola and N4K48
The Metaverse is not being designed only around fictional avatars.
One of the first real participants in the MyZubster/Zorgax experimentation is Nicola, represented inside Neon Plaza by his character N4K48, with the Explorer archetype.
N4K48 represents an important idea behind the project:
a digital identity should be connected to real activity, real evidence and real progress.
Nicola started his experimental journey with Zorgax by working on an idea through a human-gated process:
idea → structure → validation → evidence → MVP → testing → learning
The objective is not to let an AI decide whether his idea is good.
Zorgax helps structure the process, while evidence and human decisions remain essential.
From an idea to actual development
The experiment has already produced concrete technical progress.
Nicola created his own GitHub project and moved from discussing an idea to actually developing an MVP.
His work has included:
- creating the project repository;
- establishing the initial MVP structure;
- working with a development roadmap;
- introducing automated tests;
- configuring GitHub Actions;
- debugging test discovery and dependencies;
- correcting the test pipeline;
- iterating on the application based on technical results.
The project is still in development and validation.
We are deliberately not presenting this as a validated business, a finished commercial product or evidence of future revenue.
But an important result has already emerged:
movement from an idea toward independent, auditable execution.
Nicola has also told us that working through this process significantly increased his motivation to develop the project, to the point that he decided to purchase a computer to continue working on the idea and with Zorgax.
This is not a financial KPI.
It does not prove that the product will succeed.
But it is a meaningful participant-level signal: the process is helping transform intention into action.
Why N4K48 matters
Inside Neon Plaza, N4K48 is intended to become the persistent digital representation of this journey.
The long-term idea is not to give characters arbitrary badges or artificial status.
Instead, achievements should increasingly correspond to verifiable activity:
GitHub contribution → project evidence → verification → Metaverse representation
A completed mission could correspond to a real contribution.
A project badge could point to auditable evidence.
A contributor role could reflect actual participation.
The avatar should therefore reflect evidence from the real world rather than manufacture reputation inside the virtual one.
For us, N4K48 is more than another avatar in Neon Plaza.
It is an early example of what we want the MyZubster Metaverse to become:
a place where digital identity connects to real projects, real contributions and measurable progress.
How shared presence works
The first prototype stored players only inside the memory of a single server process.
That approach worked locally, but it was not reliable in a serverless production environment.
Two users could reach different instances and see different versions of the world.
We replaced that model with shared MongoDB-backed presence.
The current flow is:
Browser
│
├── join / move / chat / emote
│
▼
MyZubster Metaverse API
│
├── verified character storage
├── active presence
└── temporary chat messages
│
▼
MongoDB shared state
│
▼
Periodic synchronization between explorers
The browser periodically requests a synchronized snapshot containing:
- active players;
- recent messages;
- current positions;
- temporary emotes;
- online count;
- synchronization cursor.
We currently use resilient polling instead of long-lived Server-Sent Events because serverless instances do not guarantee that a persistent connection will remain attached to the same runtime.
The architecture can later evolve toward WebSockets, managed realtime infrastructure or federated event relays when usage justifies the added complexity.
Temporary data and privacy
Presence and chat data are intentionally temporary.
Current retention rules include:
- active presence expires after approximately 90 seconds without a heartbeat;
- chat messages expire after approximately one hour;
- emotes remain visible only long enough to be observed by other clients;
- monitoring exposes aggregate metrics rather than player records.
The monitoring system must never collect:
- chat content;
- authorization tokens;
- cookies;
- private wallet information;
- request bodies;
- Metaverse session identifiers;
- personal activity histories.
The objective is operational visibility, not surveillance.
Production monitoring
We recently introduced a dedicated production health endpoint.
It reports aggregate operational information such as:
- service health;
- MongoDB connectivity;
- database ping time;
- number of active explorers;
- recent aggregate chat activity;
- latest presence heartbeat age;
- active transport;
- retention configuration.
The response is marked with:
Cache-Control: no-store
The application also creates structured warnings only when a Metaverse request returns a server error or exceeds the configured latency threshold.
Normal synchronization traffic is not continuously written to monitoring logs.
What comes next
The current Neon Plaza is the foundation.
The long-term MyZubster Metaverse will be built in progressive layers.
1. Better reconnection and resilience
The next development phase improves the experience during temporary network or database interruptions.
Planned improvements include:
- automatic reconnection;
- visible connection state;
- retry backoff;
- session recovery;
- clearer error messages;
- protection against duplicate joins;
- graceful degradation when a shared service is unavailable.
The objective is simple:
temporary infrastructure problems should not destroy a user's identity or progress.
2. Interactive missions and GitHub bounties
GitHub issues and bounties will become interactive terminals inside the world.
An explorer could approach a project terminal and see:
- an open-source issue;
- its repository;
- required skills;
- bounty value;
- current status;
- verification requirements;
- contribution links.
The Metaverse will not decide whether a contribution is valid by itself.
Verification must remain connected to auditable repository evidence and explicit project rules.
This is also where characters such as N4K48 could eventually connect their virtual progress with actual open-source work.
3. An immersive creator marketplace
The existing MyZubster marketplace can evolve into a spatial experience.
Creators and projects will be able to present:
- digital products;
- open-source services;
- artwork;
- environmental initiatives;
- educational experiences;
- community projects;
- sponsored missions.
Marketplace presence will not automatically mean endorsement or verification.
Trust indicators must remain explicit.
4. Persistent avatars and contribution badges
Characters will gain persistent customization linked to their MyZubster account.
Possible features include:
- visual archetypes;
- accessories;
- project badges;
- contribution achievements;
- verified GitHub participation;
- community roles;
- environmental mission badges.
But there is an important rule:
badges should represent verifiable actions rather than purchased status.
A character's reputation should be earned through evidence.
5. Community spaces and events
Projects and communities will be able to operate their own spaces.
These districts may host:
- contributor meetings;
- project presentations;
- workshops;
- virtual exhibitions;
- community governance discussions;
- environmental data rooms;
- public development sessions.
Each space will require clear moderation, access and privacy controls.
6. Environmental digital twins
MyZubster already works with territorial, ecological and community-oriented concepts.
The Metaverse can become a visual interface for real projects such as:
- urban gardens;
- biodiversity initiatives;
- sensor networks;
- water monitoring;
- restoration projects;
- local communities;
- educational trails.
A possible future workflow could look like this:
Real-world sensors
│
▼
Environmental data
│
▼
Zorgax
│
▼
Human decision
│
▼
Action
│
▼
Measurement / verification
│
▼
Metaverse representation
A digital representation must never be presented as live or verified unless it is connected to a real, auditable data source.
7. Non-custodial monetization
The economic layer will remain non-custodial.
MyZubster must not ask users to submit private keys or wallet seed phrases.
The intended flow is:
User selects a plan, mission or product
│
▼
A payment request is created
│
▼
The user pays from an external wallet
│
▼
The transaction is independently verified
│
▼
Access or entitlement is activated
Payments, marketplace purchases and bounties will require separate verification rules.
A blockchain transaction alone does not automatically prove that a product was delivered or a contribution was accepted.
8. Federated districts and optional Tor nodes
The final phase explores federation.
Instead of placing every service inside one central application, different communities could operate independent Metaverse districts.
A future architecture may support:
- independently hosted districts;
- signed world manifests;
- replicated public assets;
- service discovery;
- health-aware routing;
- optional Tor onion endpoints;
- multiple redundant nodes;
- community-controlled moderation;
- portable identities and achievements.
Tor support is a future research and infrastructure phase.
It is not part of the current production architecture.
Federation also creates serious challenges:
- impersonation;
- malicious nodes;
- outdated replicas;
- content moderation;
- key management;
- service availability;
- trust between districts;
- abuse reporting;
- payment verification.
For this reason, decentralization will be introduced gradually and only with explicit security boundaries.
Zorgax inside this architecture
Zorgax is not intended to become an invisible authority controlling the Metaverse.
Its role is closer to an intelligence and coordination layer.
The general model is:
knowledge → reasoning → recommendation → human approval → action → measurement → learning
Depending on the context, Zorgax could eventually help:
- analyze project information;
- structure missions;
- connect contributors with tasks;
- examine environmental evidence;
- prepare decisions;
- identify inconsistencies;
- coordinate workflows;
- measure outcomes.
But sensitive actions must remain subject to explicit rules and human authority.
The Nicola experiment is one early example of this philosophy.
Zorgax helps move the process forward.
It does not get to manufacture evidence that the process succeeded.
Our development principles
The MyZubster Metaverse is being developed around a few core principles:
- Build working infrastructure before adding hype.
- Separate verified identity from user-supplied claims.
- Keep humans in control of sensitive decisions.
- Keep payments non-custodial.
- Use auditable evidence for bounties and achievements.
- Collect the minimum operational data necessary.
- Treat decentralization as an architectural responsibility.
- Keep the project open-source and inspectable.
- Measure real outcomes instead of inventing success metrics.
Current status
Today, MyZubster has:
- a public browser-based Metaverse;
- authenticated and guest characters;
- account-linked verified identities;
- shared multiplayer presence;
- synchronized movement, chat and emotes;
- temporary retention rules;
- production health monitoring;
- automated test, audit and deployment checks;
- a phased roadmap for gameplay, economy and federation;
- early real-participant experimentation connecting digital identity with project activity.
Neon Plaza is still the beginning.
The next objective is to transform it from a shared online space into a useful environment where contributors can discover projects, complete missions, participate in communities and build new districts together.
And characters such as N4K48 give us an early glimpse of what that could mean:
not simply an avatar walking through a virtual world, but a digital identity connected to a real person, a real project and verifiable progress.
Explore and contribute
🌐 Open MyZubster
https://www.myzubster.com
🪐 Enter the Metaverse
https://www.myzubster.com/metaverse
💻 MyZubster Ecosystem on GitHub
https://github.com/MyZubster-Ecosystem
If you are interested in open-source collaboration, browser-based worlds, human-gated AI, environmental digital twins, non-custodial economies or federated infrastructure, follow the project and join the conversation.
We are not trying to build a virtual world disconnected from reality.
We are exploring how a digital world can become an interface for real people, real projects and verifiable action.
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