The following is an EDIT to the original post
The Head of the SPS DAO Foundation Chairman of Splinterlands Votes To Keep Status Quo Despite Massive Community Support
Today the Head of the SPS DAO Foundation Chairman of the Board of Splinterlands @alymadhavji threw his considerable vote to keep the status quo on the current proposal. This was despite the fact that 2/3rds of the community was supporting a player proposal and the founders, @aggroed and @yabapmatt were abstaining to let the community decide.
This "no" vote wouldn't be so bad if Aly was a player and/or in any way was up on the current state of affairs. Or if he communicated and interacted with the community on the topics involved. But he didn't, he just decided he wanted to keep things as they are for whatever reason. In other words, he voted for keeping the Status Quo.
Why Does This Matter To Me?
In Splinterlands the DAO needs a "super majority" of 66% to pass any proposal. I support this process. I feel that it makes the DAO stronger as a result, because the "will" of the collective holders must be considered in an overwhelming way.
I appreciated and respected the votes of all those players that dissented with my way of thinking on this proposal. Everyone has the right to express their opinions, and I thanked many of my friends that even voted against it.
But Aly is different. Aly is different because he should be promoting a process where the "will of the community is listened to". He is the Head of the SPS DAO Foundation Chairman of Splinterlands and he should not be using his vote to change the equation (like the founders, he should refrain and let the community decide) - ESPECIALLY if he has no idea what matters to the community. He is not a player, doesn't follow the endless discussions, nor has he even be involved in one conversation on this issue with anyone to my knowledge. Put simply he is sending a message that his vote will matter, and he will wield it when he damn well pleases.
Instead of setting an example and encouraging the DAO to be a body that truly follows the will of the community, he is leading us down a different path. A much more destructive path of continued "status quo".
Good Luck With Future Votes - Status Quo It Is!
In a 66% super majority voting system, its only possible to get anything passed if the larger staked voters are willing to accept change and compromise. Considering that nearly any vote will have roughly 20% detractors no matter what the subject matter is, it means that to get 66% of the total, then you need to really get over 80% of those non-obstinate voters. That's 4 out of 5 to support anything for those that truly pay attention.
It takes just a day or two in Discord to figure out that getting 4 out of 5 people in Splinterlands to agree to anything is extremely hard. Even if most agree there's a problem, then almost everyone has an opinion on how to solve it. Compounding that, we also have a NMI model - ie. "its not my idea", so I won't vote for "your solution" because "my solution" is better.
The ability to overcome these stalemates is heavily influenced by those at the top, ie leading us by setting good examples. People like @aggroed and @yabapmatt have been stellar examples, and so have many large players with large SPS stakes. They have been willing to listen to the community and sometimes compromising on their own views in order to try something new or slightly different than their own ideas to improve the game. They have in essence been willing to subvert some of their own principled favored positions to further progress and try new things.
But with this vote, the big boss @alymadhavji, is going to destroy a lot of that good will. This particular vote itself was a big deal to many and it had high emotions on both sides of the issue. There are financial implications, and its a discussion that we've had for almost the entire 5 years of the game. Many people have left over the years over the issues discussed, and the sensitivity level of the community is off the charts.
Now Aly waltzes in, and with the push of his massive SPS stake button says "no change". Essentially he does NOT care what 2 out of every 3 players wanted. He want's things to stay the same. No need to explain, engage, or consider what this will do to any of us.
Aly is leading us alright, but he is leading us to simply vote against things instead of engaging and trying to shape community opinion. I personally wish he would step down as Head of the SPS DAO Foundation Chairman because he in no way embodies any of the things Splinterlands has represented to me from the beginning.
Where Will This Lead?
We have many many things that need to be changed in the future. But now they will be much harder than they were yesterday thanks to this one single vote. Some new proposal for changes are coming any day now.
Yabapmatt himself will be putting out proposals for selling Riftwatchers for DEC. Another will be for the capping the amount of PP per plot for land.
I had planned on compromising my "perfect solutions" and voting for what others were proposing to keep changing and adapting our game, but should I? Should any of us compromise any more and "lead" when the Head of the SPS DAO Foundation Chairman of Splinterlands doesn't lead himself?
For those players that wanted DEC to be burned and us getting to peg sooner, do you realize the NMI - not my idea method will be used even more now? I wanted Riftwatchers to be sold in SPS because I value SPS in the DAO, does that mean I should vote against Yabapmatt's idea for selling it in DEC because its different than my thoughts?
Instead of leading others, Aly is encouraging a massive protest vote from many in the 2/3rds of the players that wanted this current proposal to pass. Why after all should they support an idea that they think isn't the most important issue or the way in which they think a problem should be solved? I would be shocked if the Riftwatcher for DEC proposal passes now. I will be shocked if anything passes for a very long time. It would be foolish to think otherwise.
Passion + Intelligence + Stubborness = Long Memory
Our players are smart and stubborn. But they are not fools. They will remember this, and they will talk about this for a long time.
Why? Because they are passionate about this issue. Getting a human vs human game mode has been one of the greatest compromises put forth for a very long time. It was overwhelming supported by 2/3rds of the community and yet the Head of the SPS DAO Foundation Chairman of Splinterlands wanted the Status Quo.
I will get over this heartbreaking vote and move past this, and I will still support the game and the community I love. I believe in @aggroed and @yabapmatt. I believe that eventually their vision will be realized. But I have no doubts about how this single vote will impact the community.
I don't care if you believe me or not, just remember I told you.
Status Quo is the enemy of change, and our Head of the SPS DAO Foundation Chairman just made sure we can all learn this lesson together.