Like many, I first heard and had the opportunity to join the Axie Infinity community earlier this year through a scholarship. However with the recent incredible growth of Axie Infinity, there have also been unprecedented numbers of aspiring scholars, along with lots of new scholarships (I write a little bit about my thoughts on it here).

As I joined the Axie Infinity community just recently (coming up on 6 months soon), there seemed to be so much to learn(from the classes to the parts to the cards etc.) As I spent more time in the community, I started to get more curious about the lore and the developments that the game has gone through over the years, including community led projects.

For example, do you know that scholarships were actually not created and are not officially endorsed by Sky Mavis? It was a community created effort that took off! When I first heard that, I wanted to know a little more... HOW and WHY did scholarships come about in the first place? More importantly, WHO was even the genius who started it all? I had also previously read on the discord that the initial goal of the scholarships were to onboard new players, and that was why the initial split was set up in a way that could benefit both the player and manager, so was also wondering if that was true.

After some sleuthing and asking around, I learned who the absolute legend that first created the scholarship program was - it was a Community OG, the Axie pro player also known as Tiger King👑 on Axie Chat (check it out guys, another fantastic community-led effort!):

AK!!

I personally believe that there's no better way to get information than directly from the source, and I am honored to have the opportunity to pick his brain hear some of his thoughts and have the opportunity to share them with you here.

How did the concept of scholarships come about?

I started my program initially because I had a bunch of Axies that were just sitting around, and at the time Axie prices were rising to the point where some people started to feel it was too expensive for them to afford. So I offered to create 10 'free-to-play' accounts where they could try out the game and start earning their way toward buying their own team.

The concept itself blew up after I filled those 10 accounts and created a medium post outlining my program... I made another 20ish accounts and put out an article and application form. I offered my first account on September 7th (coming up on its 1 year anniversary 😄) in the morning, and published that article in the evening once I saw the good reception. To my surprise, someone shared the article on a few Facebook groups in the Philippines and the post went viral... I got around 500-600 applications literally overnight while I slept!

At that point I realized 1) there was a ton of demand, 2) I was onto something... so I kept expanding my program and taking new scholars. Especially then for me, it was about growing Axie's reach and enabling more people to play the game.

Oh wow!! Really thank you so much for kicking this off...its made such a difference to so many (including me and my family).

I'm glad!

How were the name 'scholarships' chosen?

I chose the name because it was sort-of a gateway to getting your own team -- an opportunity for people who couldn't afford to or didn't necessarily want to buy Axies right away to earn their way to an account over time just by playing.

Much like a 'normal' scholarship, is a way to attend a school you might not be able to afford right away yourself, an Axie scholarship is a way to get started without needing to pay the high upfront costs.

Nice! Getting your own team would be 'graduation' correct?

Yes, exactly -- I actually have a role of 'graduate' in my server, which I give to all scholars who have bought their own Axies and returned their scholarship team so that they can stay and participate in the community if they wish.

How about the term 'manager'?

That term was not my invention and honestly I dislike it in its current form -- can't quite place why exactly, but it strikes me the wrong way. Ultimately, in the current market, people offering scholarships have all of the upper hand and pricing power -- and those looking for scholarships have very little bargaining power. Over time this may shift to be more balanced, but mostly I urge people to be responsible and not to take advantage of others' poor situations... so paying a fair split that allows both sides to share in the success.

Oh wow! The term ‘manager’ always came together with the word ‘scholarships’ since I started earlier this year, so this is super interesting to know! What other term would you prefer to be used?

Not sure I have a better term in mind, maybe leader or founder, but each isn't perfect either, haha.

As a follow up to this, do you know how the term came about or how it gained popularity?

I think it sort-of came about over time as more people started scholarships -- most of the first programs were individual operations and eventually hired 'managers' to help run operations, and at some point the term manager began to be used for people running scholarships more generally, rather than the helpers.

I guess I feel like 'manager' defers some responsibility -- "oh I am just a manager" -- when in reality, the manager has full control. idk, it just feels sterile
but it's not something I nitpick in reality, because it has become standard and everyone knows what it means, so I guess it works.😄

How were the split of earnings between the scholar and scholarship provider decided?

The split was always about the fact that scholars do the majority of the work... and as a result, I feel strongly they should be able to share in the upside/benefits of the game regardless of where they are based.

When they began cracking down on multiaccounting toward the end of last year (Oct-Nov), that reinforced my view that I was correct/reasonable to be paying scholars 65-70%. YGG launched and adopted the same model as well -- and it became a community standard that it was possible to run a good/profitable business while also helping others get started... to me it was an easy win/win opportunity.

What are your personal thoughts about some of the new 'scholarships' nowadays offering splits skewed toward the scholarship provider instead of the scholar?

I strongly dislike the more recent/newer scholarships that are taking over 50% of the scholars' earnings: While I think it is reasonable to take a bit larger cut if just starting out, I believe that anything over 50% going to the manager is simply taking advantage of people and motivated by greed and a lack of belief in the long-term success of the game: If you believe that Axie is going to be around for a long time, a 'return on investment' of an extra few weeks or month is basically negligible... and it has a much greater impact for the scholar to be able to earn a fair amount for their work.

Really great thoughts, it has really grinded my gears as well with some of the dicks essentially exploiting players through what I call SLP slavery.

I also think that taking more than 50% can and should be seen as multiaccounting... why should it matter that someone desperate is playing on the account instead of you if you are still earning over half the rewards from that? To me, that runs very against the community ethos I believe Axie can and should have.

Do you have any suggestions/advice for those seeking to start providing scholarships?

My advice is to think of it as a partnership where both sides can benefit, rather than a business where each side is trying to extract the maximum. Also, to only be investing as much into creating scholarships as you can afford (or afford to lose), and to ensure that you believe in the game and the team itself -- Axie Infinity has been around for 3 years now and is not going anywhere, and one of the few ways I have seen people really lose out is by overextending themselves too much in the short term out of greed or FOMO.

So thinking of it as a longer-term partnership means that sharing the upside of SLP is the right way to go, and it is lucrative for both sides. That leads to scholars who are more likely to stay with you, to be honest and not play on multiple accounts, and who are more motivated to play since they are earning more.

There have been a lot of perspectives being shared over the recent days with the new changes to Axie Infinity, with some sharing the opinion that those under scholarships with poor teams will be the most affected. Do you have any thoughts on that?

I think the change is great: It shifts earning away from bots and people who are mass-producing garbage teams, and puts the focus on actually playing and succeeding in the game against other players. That means that players who are skilled are rewarded, it means that the economy will shift toward giving better Axies to scholars, and it means that scholarships will become more competitive and guild-like, rather than just factory-farms trying to volume-grind SLP.

Giving out poor teams makes for a bad experience for the scholar, and shifting the earning potential toward better teams and players rightfully rewards those players instead of bots and mindless clicking in PVE.

Do you have any words of advice for those who bought floor Axies to get started?

For those with poorer floor Axies, generally I think the best approach is try to replace them with better Axies over time... Use the SLP earned from playing to help cover the difference in costs. So... play until you earn enough SLP to where the SLP plus ETH received from selling an Axie at the floor will be enough to buy one good Axie, then sell the bad one at the floor, replace it with one good Axie, and repeat.

There's no way to perfectly undo the unfortunate decision to buy bad floor Axies, but that will make it possible to upgrade a team over time even without spending any additional money.

Getting into a little bit of speculation, do you think scholarships are here to stay? Or will the future planned guild system to lend out Axies (as we've heard) be a sort of 'replacement' to that?

I think lending Axies and guilds will be implemented by the team eventually, but the role of a scholarship as a community and way for players to learn and improve will stick around I think -- and it's nice to be able to know the players who are playing on the accounts... so I think scholarships will exist in some form or another for awhile. Once land gameplay comes out, scholarships might look quite different! Instead of playing PVP, maybe scholars could help to manage land plots or fight chimera or do other things that will enable them to earn in new ways as well.

Thank you so much for all of this! Do you have any words of wisdom for new members of the community?

Don't rush things. One of the biggest ways that I see people lose with Axie is having a short-term mindset and overextending themselves, leaving them panic-selling at a loss during even a small downturn (or making decisions motivated by short-term greed). By taking things slowly and steadily, much like dollar-cost-averaging in a more liquid coin/market, you allow yourself and the market to adjust, you make sure that you are not spending more than you can afford at any time, and you learn as you go.

It has been an absolute privilege to be able to hear some of AK's thoughts and I hope that you all have enjoyed reading it as much as I hope that you all have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed putting this piece together. A HUGE thank you again to AK for his time!

P.S.: AK also recently had an an incredible conversation with Zyori of the Sky Mavis team, you can find the (2 hour long!) podcast here . Its an absolutely incredible conversation and I'd really encourage everyone to grab a drink, kickback and relax while listening to their dulcet voices :D

Stay safe, and see you all in Lunacia!