Good morning Splinterfriends!
If you haven't noticed, there's been a LOT of buzz about Validator Nodes for the SPS Chain coming online!!
However... a lot of this buzz... has been confusion.
If you are part of the Splinterlands Discord Channel and have been peeking in the "Validator Nodes" section - so many people are having a hard time understanding the difference between a Node, License, How to stake the License, How to earn rewards and more.
My attempt today is to clear up some of these confusing issues for people. I wrote a small thing in Discord and one of the programmers was like "Yeah, that's it".
While Azircon has requested that RoyalEagle prepare a formal write-up and update on this... until then, I'll do what I did in Discord to help everyone understand what's happening... in my usual style of "amusing yet educational" 😊
First thing... "What the heck is SPS Chain"??? Ok to be fair, I'm not super sure about this but I'm mostly positive that it's a "Side Chain" for transactional things to happen and I double checked the paper just now and snipped this photo for you:
While that's all well and good... what's the point? I don't know - something about Delegated Proof of Stake. Something about "decentralization"... you know... THE WHOLE POINT OF BLOCKCHAIN!!! Take the power from the man!! Give it to the people!!
What's Delegated Proof of Stake? Well... Proof of Stake is where you have a bunch of Tokens... that can be Staked (locked up - can't be moved, used, spent... nothing).
These locked Tokens check the Blockchain for Transaction Validity and ensure there's no funny business!
So... Delegated Proof of Stake means that there are certain Token Holders chosen to validate the Blockchain and ensure there's no funny business!!
That's where "Nodes" come in - similar to the Hive Blockchain, the SPS Chain will have Nodes (software) that will "Validate" the chain, to ensure it's not being messed with and people aren't forging transactions or cheating the system somehow.
Here's the cool part... anyone can run a Node - this helps validate the SPS Blockchain!
However, in order receive $SPS Rewards though... you need to own and stake a "Validator License".
This is where people seemed to be super confused... so this is where I will focus... this is it. The meat and potatoes of the piece. The central point. The important bit.
Anyone can set up a Node. To earn Rewards... you need to stake a License.
Well... a lot of people either "A" - can't code... or "B" - don't have a server/computer/ability to setup a Node...
Now... from my understanding, everything is pretty simple (lol yeah ok) and sort of Copy/Paste on GitHub.
There's even some good guides out there to help!!
Here's the link to the coding info: Validator Github
Here's a great guide by @jef-001: Node Setup Guide
Finally - if you're not sure why you should setup and run a Node... Check out this link to SPS Node Rewards
Ok... at this point, we should all understand this:
A. Anyone can set up a Node to help validate the SPS Blockchain
B. There's guides out there!
C. If you set up a Node... and own the Tokens for "Validator License"...
D. You can Set Up a Node and Stake the License... to earn Rewards.
See the Validator License Tokens you own in your "Inventory Tab" under the "Other" Section...
Ok... but where do I buy them??? Well... you could buy them from the Splinterlands Site under the Shop -> Node Licenses dropdown: Node License
You can buy them on Tribaldex, Hive Engine and other Hive DEX for WAY LESS!!!
Right-o... now we know what Nodes are... What Licenses are... How to "set up a node" (yeah right)... why we should and what the Rewards are...
Here's where it seemed to breakdown... and why I had to write this "Informal Explanation Piece"... which I hope helps... until they have an "Official Splinterlands Node License Post" 😊
What if... for whatever reason... you just CAN'T set up a Node? But you own a License... or 29 Licenses... How do you earn Rewards?????????????
FIRST - YOU. DO. NOT. HAVE. TO. SEND. YOUR. LICENSE. TOKEN. TO. ANYONE. If anyone is offering to "Setup a Node for you, just send me the License Token so I can Stake it for you and give you the Rewards"...
Second - @asgarth and the others at @peakmonsters are working on setting up a way to purchase a "Node Hosting" service. They will set up the Node and run it or "Host it" on their Hardware... all you have to do is "stake your License Token" on YOUR ACCOUNT... and BOOM - you'll be earning Rewards... for a fee...
Now... if you want to know how a "Node Service" will probably work, it is VERY SIMPLE... in fact a LOT of people were overcomplicating in the Tavern/Shard Holders/Validator Discord Channels so I wrote something up and the programmer @steveadoo said I did a good job explaining it... so here's that, in photo form, first:
Now that I shared the original explanation, here's a more polished one and an explanation (I think) about what Steveadoo meant in the last part of his reply.
Lets say you have ONE Node License. Your Account is @SomeRandomGuy12345 and you want to use a "Node Service"...
Regardless of whether you use Peakmonsters or some friend in-game... they would go and set up the Node to run on their Hardware or "Cloud Software".
This is a STANDALONE PROCESS and does not require any Splinterlands Stuff.
When the Node is setup, the person setting up the Node will specify an account to act as a "Reward Account".
In this case, the "Reward Account" should be: @SomeRandomGuy12345
When the Node is set up, they will let @SomeRandomGuy12345 know
@SomeRandomGuy12345 will then log into THEIR Splinterlands account and click on the SPS at the top right... which will take them to this screen:
Once there is a Node set up, with @SomeRandomGuy12345 designated as the "Reward Account"... @SomeRandomGuy12345 will be able to press "Activate Licenses" and stake his Licenses.
Q - Do you need to set up a Node for each License:
A - NO. Absolutely not. You can stake 1 License to a Node or 10,000.
Q - Do you need to set up a Node for each Account:
A - YES! That's the point. Steveadoo said in order to ensure there were lots of Nodes, only ONE UNIQUE ACCOUNT can be set as the "Reward Account".
As in... @SomeRandomGuy12345 has 1 License... or 10... doesn't matter... he can stake them ALL to ONE NODE... @SomeRandomGuy12345 has an Alt with a License too... so what happens if @SomeRandomGuy12345Alt Stakes their License... NOTHING!
Think of it like this, the Node is going to Validate the SPS Chain. But for the Reward Part... the Node will check ONE ACCOUNT ONLY, in this case, @SomeRandomGuy12345... it will search to see if there are any "Validator License Tokens" being staked.
If Yes = Rewards
If No = NO REWARDS
It's that simple. Each Node, will only EVER look at ONE UNIQUE HIVE ACCOUNT to check for Staked License Tokens.
Now, lets put you in this case and see how you can earn Rewards.
Do you have a Node...
Yes. Do you earn Rewards... Not so fast!
Do you have a Node... Yes! Is your account the Reward Account... Yes! Do you have at least ONE Staked Validator License Token...
If Yes - YOU EARN REWARDS!!!
If No - You earn nothing... but at least you're helping Validate the SPS Chain!!
Ok... what about...
Do you have License... Yes! Is it Staked... Yes! Does a Node exist, with YOUR ACCOUNT as the "Reward Account"... No... YOU GET NOTHING.
1 Node = 1 Account = 3 License Token = 3 Tokens worth of Rewards!
1 Node... 3 Accounts... 1 License Token Each = ONE TOKEN WORTH OF REWARDS
3 Nodes... 3 Accounts... 1 License Token Each = THREE TOKENS WORTH OF REWARDS
As I typed the above... I realized this is the perfect way to explain it... So I shall stop there. I am going to finish my lunch and get back to work now 😊
I hope that helps, please let me know what other questions you have in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them!
That's all I have for you today folks!! Thank you for reading and I would LOVE for you to join me in game!!
Naturally, after everything leading up to this moment, I do think Splinterlands and Soulkeep are some of the BEST web3 games out there!
They bring the #play2earn feature to the forefront of development as well as many opportunities for people to earn rewards - whether Player or Investor!!
If you're interested in the future of gaming, it's worth checking out!
You can sign up here: Splinterlands
Cheers 🍻,
- CaptainDingus
#Splinterlands #Hive #Soulkeep #play2earn #web3 #NFTGaming #Rebellion #Conflicts #TowerDefense