What is "Community"? What does that word mean to you? I'm not psychic, but i will bet you 10-1 that our definitions are not the same...The fact that you are reading this indicates those differences might be subtle. I would bet there are whole college courses on the subject of the Psychology of Internet Communities...stats and numbers and facts...you know, smart people stuff! I really don't know anything about that though...my understanding is a bit more simplistic...some places suck and some don't.
(best insert an image here so ya'll think i'm artistic)
95% of my gaming and internet life has been this:
I don't have to tell you guys this though...It's not like i'm exposing some deep unknown secret of the internet...We've all experienced this guy's "version" of community lol.
For many, this meme and what it truly means is the reason we went looking for an alternative in the Web3 space.
Splinterlands:
So here i landed. Flush with the shame of buying GME at 190...unsure if i belonged or if you guys would even want me. You did. And i do.
That story is chronicled here:
@loothore907/the-collapse-of-a-runi-dream
You really should read this first...it's part 1 after all...
I really thought that was the whole story...get scammed, cry about it, move on and hopefully don't ever repeat that mistake again. This was more than just a learning experience for me...though it certainly was that! this experience and what has and is happening has given me a completely new understanding and appreciation for the word "Community"
First off...My original blog post was a quick response thing and so the final product was...incomplete.
My stolen Runi ended up being purchased (probably should not be surprising) by a community member. one that is both active in Discord and Known. I had been cyberstalking my poor kidnapped Runi when i saw that the ownership had changed and it was now in the possession of the wallet and profile of @paultrx. He had purchased it for .99 ETH. I reached out in Discord and Paul was both immediately supportive and sympathetic to my plight. i want to make this clear: Paul is just as much a victim here as me. The Scumbag thieves are to blame...my stupidity is to blame...@paultrx is the HERO of this story!
But imagine the situation...I'm panicky and desperate and angry...i want my property returned...how do i talk to this guy? what do i say to him? If he was a guy down the street and he bought my stolen snowmobile there is a process for that...it's known what to do and what's expected. This is crypto tho...and those same rules simply don't apply here. If my conversation with this guy goes badly, he could simply disengage, put me on ignore and i would have absolutely no recourse. That obviously didn't happen...but my mind was split and driving me insane! half of me is screaming in my head "GIVE IT TO ME! IT'S MINE AND I WANT IT BACK" and then the other half of my brain is like "this guy has paid 1600 USD in good faith and is NOT responsible for my mistakes"
Welcome to Loot's brain...
I ended my first blog post with the question "What Now?" The answer is simple: Time to get to work.
I have been actively sharing my experience on Discord and PeakD and some part of my story hit the radar of @unitqm. For anybody unfamiliar, Unitqm is a respected member of the SPL community. I remembered him from his NewBoost drives on Youtube from last year...very cool dude! Apparently Unitqm has a soft spot for noobs like me who click on frickin malware...sigh...
So i hit him with a DM and BAM!!! Two hours later i get a Discord notification showing that Unitqm had posted to his blog this:
@unitqm/giving-loothore-a-boost
Of course i had asked him for help...i didn't want to come across like some bad version of Oliver Twist...but the sad reality is/was- that i'm pretty much broke and am frankly in need of whatever bits of gruel i can beg...and ORGANIZATION? i've been playing with the idea of a drive of some sort...but frankly...who am i? I'm not really a Known community member..."Hi, I'm Loothore, I was victimized, please give me money"? lulz
Lets just say i'm Ill equipped...
But I was game! I asked Unitqm for feedback and advice...and like a true hero he read between the lines and knew what i needed. I'm guessing he pulled this out of his Hero Response Kit because now we have a DRIVE!!! this is the path to get my Runi back and get PaulTRX reimbursed for his expenses!
How Will It Work?
Even though i KNOW all of you clicked Unitqm's link above and already know about the Raffle...i will give you the highlights anyway lol
Raffle tickets 10 USD each
Prizes donated by community
There. That's it. lol aren't y'all glad you kept reading?
I do really want to elaborate a bit on that second part though. Unitqm has generously donated some cards to the cause (AWESOME) so don't forget to thank him if you see him in Discord!
I will of course also be contributing to the prize pool...i promise i will publish a full list for all my fans once i get it compiled! For now though, i have 3 cards that will be in the Raffle Prize Pool.
- L4 RF Conqueror Jacek
- L5 RF Vera Salatia
- L2 GF Skargore
These cards will offer both value and utility to the prize pool!
CONCLUSION
So is it done? Not quite lol, but it feels close. I don't have my Runi yet but everybody in this sad situation is acting in good faith and i'm about 99% sure I'll be able to secure it's safe return in the end...and what of him? lol my poor, famous Monkey Faced boy? when i first posted, the idea i had was to sell and try to accelerate account expansion...while of course growing my account is important, it's gone a bit beyond that for me. This situation has given me a bit of time to reflect a bit more on my boy and what he's worth to me. So he goes directly into the zoo as soon as SPL gets their staking mechanism up and running...is it weird that this horrible situation has actually created an EMOTIONAL connection between me and an NFT? I feel your judgment. Stop!
So what is "Community"? Well to me in this context, Community is like Family...you don't always get along or even LIKE your family...but Family, like Community is not defined through it's fights and drama, it's defined by how they react in a tragedy...how they circle the wagons when one of their own is being hurt...Thank You