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In this post I will summarize a recent roadmap plan for 2022 AMA (located here ) for the #Splinterlands game and what it means for the SPS market, Voting, Land, and more surprising developments therein. INCLUDES a comment giveaway. Check it out!
Riftwatchers: SPS ONY Pack Expansion SOON!
If you check the announcement here the game will be launching a mini set entitled "Riftwatchers" similar to Dice that ran print alongside Untamed. The one key difference will be that these packs will be ONLY purchasable via SPS. This means that we will likely see an increase in the price of SPS over this period as this pack set is released. The name fits with the Chaos Legion card packs that precede it's launch announcement. If it's anything like the previous expansions there will be desirable cards within.
SPS Foundation: What is it?
The excerpt:
"The SPS foundation is an entity created to hold and manage the funds for the development and promotion of the Splintershards token and ecosystem. 10% of the total supply of SPS tokens go to the foundation as specified in the SPS token whitepaper.
The SPS foundation currently holds around $4M worth of various cryptocurrencies not including its SPS tokens which has come from a combination of the private token sale proceeds, SPS token sales, and earnings from LP positions in various pools.
These funds - including the SPS tokens - are owned jointly by the staked SPS token holders and as soon as the SPS governance system is released the community will be able to submit and vote on proposals regarding its use. Proposals can include things like purchasing SPS tokens, providing liquidity to an Automated Market Maker (AMM) pool, paying for a product or service, burning tokens, or even distributing funds back to token holders. It really can be anything the community agrees upon.
The ownership and management of the SPS foundation treasury is just one of the many utilities of the SPS token and we hope and expect that the value of the treasury will grow significantly over time as a result of asset price increases, yield from liquidity pools, and other investments."
As you can see in this excerpt from the official announcement there will be an entity owned by the stakers and used for proposals voted on by everyone. Sounds great right? But hold your horses, there is more to this entity and this proposal in the section below.
SPS Token Witness Nodes and What It Means
The game will be running open source node software anyone can download to witness the blockchain transactions (like WAX, EOS, HIVE, etc.). However, there is one crucial difference located below.
The excerpt:
"Anyone running the validator node software will be able to register as a validator and earn SPS rewards from the "oracle rewards" pool based on the amount of staked SPS that is voting for them, and the top 10 validators by votes will be the signatories on multi-sig wallets on both Hive and BSC (and potentially other chains in the future) that control the SPS foundation funds among other things." Excerpt from official AMA here.
Essentially we would need to vote for 10 people to direct the communal pool of SPS into their hands. Not the "community driven" aspects mentioned in the foundation section.
Why is this necessary? You may ask. Well it's not. The community and developers can propose changes to the game and EVERYONE can vote on them transparently (stake being vote, witness node and oracle pool still maintained etc.). Proposals that don't get the votes don't go anywhere. Developer proposals or any other proposals would pass if they are smart or creative proposals (usually with a plan for the long term for large and small investors). It's that simple. The benefit being we can see EXACTLY who votes for what agenda, and it gives ALL players and members of the community the most direct ability to impact the community. There doesn't need to be proxies with voting for representatives. It's true you could still delegate your SPS to another account to vote from that account to attempt to obscure your vote, but it would be a greater decentralized and transparent format than having 10 people be in charge of it. A logical conclusion.
Questions and Answers
Now before some of you respond with the obvious "We'll just vote for the developers and it will all go well, why allow community proposals?", "I don't have time to follow all the proposals that the community and developers would propose to vote for them all." or "What's wrong with the 10 witness system?"
Here is my response to those responses.
- Why Allow Community Proposals: Because everyone's voice should be heard and be able to evolve and create new aspects for the community. Additionally, everyone's voice should be able to influence the game we all are a part of. Centralizing it to 10 people seems unnecessary at the current time.
- I don't have time to check all proposals, what then?: Simple, delegate your SPS to someone who you think will vote well and keep it active. This is transparent and people can see they have your vote.
- Flaws with 10 voters having foundation control: The flaw with this is it obscures who is voting for what or how much a vote is worth and it gives 10 people centralized control where it isn't necessary. The community should be able to vote with their stake and the big/small holders (Splinterlands and their team themselves, bot lords, whales, big investors, small investors) will all have their say directly. This would be transparent on the blockchain with the most direct power to the userbase in a decentralized fashion. ANYONE should be able to submit proposals to change the game if the game is really "a game owned by the players", then the players and investors would decide what happens.
- Delegation Pros and Cons:The pros being you can delegate SPS to friends and guild members so they can enter tournaments. The only con being it makes it SLIGHTLY harder to see someone's vote.
I know reading this many of you have questions or your own responses to this news and everything else. Keep those typing fingers at the ready until you read the rules for the giveaway in the giveaway section. I still support Splinterlands and think they have done MANY visionary things this past year. However, this one point with 10 witnesses in charge doesn't need to be gone about in this way. I also think they are publishing this not as purely an ultimatum but a call to the community. They have been open about changes and receptive in hearing the community. So let your voice be heard. Agree/ Disagree? Something I need to know? tell me in the comments below, but check the giveaway section first.
New Reward Pools Coming to a Splinter Near You
In the future various pools for earning SPS (Ranked battles, brawls) will be implemented next year (list here). Further details as to when will be announced. However this does mean SPS will be able to be earned by players... and bots. So please consider that before responding for the giveaway.
Talking Tidbits and Land at last?
I think the developers have been creating an amazing game driven by community thus far, but this next year will be the year we see many crazy changes that may make or break the game (and SPS rise and or fall accordingly). This next year we will also see the implementation of land being used for minting cards, this action will rely on staked SPS (to be determined). Kudos to the developers for their transparency in 2022. Now is the moment to voice how you feel about ALL of these developments. What are your takes? What would you do differently? Which brings us to what you all have been waiting for...
Speak Up: Giveaway and Rules
The rules for this giveaway are: Comment on the presented roadmap for 2022. What would you do differently? What do you like/dislike? What is your opinion? It's time to discuss and be polite. Everyone who comments with an in-depth response will be given a random common card 15 day delegation (a completely random common card from the faction of your choice). There isn't random chance this week, so you do have to work for the giveaway. Just comment your comment by the payout of this post. Don't forget to hit that follow button for more content on #play2earn stuff, giveaways, #Splinterlands stuff, and more. Don't forget to also comment on the ORIGINAL AMA here
Keep Summoning and See You in the #Splinterlands
