My Hive Fest Diary 3b: Day 1 Conference - 4 Takeaways from @clayboyn his Splinterlands Presentation

I sidled crabwise into Splinterlands. I did not intend to become a player though I joined way back in 2020. Then I found out that staked SPS was paying out juicy interest rates and the only way to stake the token was inside the game... so I started logging in and staking the tokens, at which point I thought I might as well have a bash at a battle or two...

I even made a video of my first ever VICTORY in a Splinterlands battle and it is clear that I really didn't have much idea of what I was doing:

That was three years ago...

Today, I am a guild leader, own several plots of land, and even have a second account on the go!

So I was looking forward to meeting @clayboyn and watching his presentation, and was not disappointed. Had he not mentioned it at the beginning, one would not have guessed it was his first ever live performance on a conference stage.

Takeaway 1: Splinterlands is evolving from a company-led project to a DAO-led ecosystem

Okay, this sounded good, but what on earth is a "DAO"? I mean, I've heard it mentioned loads of times.

I know the "Tao" (pronounce "DAO") of the Tao Te Ching - "the Tao that can be named is not the Tao" - and all that, but what on EARTH is the "DAO" in relation to Splinterlands?

I guessed that the "D" stood for "decentralized" but what of the A (alpha?) and the O (omega?) ...

The DAO is the decentralized beginning and end of all things...?

After the presentation was over, I asked a couple of other geezers and it turned out that I was not the only ignoramus at the conference! **Nobody I asked could tell me what "DAO" stood for! LOL!

So, folks, for your edification, if you did not already know, I asked Chatgpt what DAO stands for:

Decentralized Autonomous Organization

• Decentralized: No single person or company is in control. Decisions are made by token holders through on-chain voting.

• Autonomous: The rules and operations (such as funding proposals, votes, and rewards) are coded into smart contracts that execute automatically. [I guess this assumes that the coders always act in good faith...]

• Organization: It functions like a community-run cooperative or fund, where members can propose initiatives, vote, and direct shared resources.

Okay, so the point of this takeway is that Splinterlands is transitioning from a centralized structure to a community-led model directed by the SPS DAO. The DAO now funds many of the company’s projects, making Splinterlands more of a contractor for community-based policy decisions, although the company continues to handle areas such as deck design and card design.

Takeaway 2: What has Splinterlands done with DHF Payments?

Okay, "DHF" stands for "Decentralized Hive Fund." It's a slush fund that is topped up by Hive inflation; whenever a new Hive block is created, a number of Hive tokens are automatically tipped into the fund. Anybody can submit a project proposal and ask for funding. Hive stakeholders then vote on those proposals, and if your proposal gets enough votes, you get your mula.

Splinterlands got 415,000 HBD's worth of marketing mula, and the following chart gives a breakdown of how it's been used so far:

• Splinterlands has built a free-to-play mode that has increased daily active users to around 5,000.
• Marketing on X and Facebook have doubled daily signups from +/-100 to +/-200.

Takeaway 3: What has Splinterlands ever done for the Hive Blockchain?

Well, they haven't yet built any viaducts, but they have built an EVM bridge. EVM = Ethereum Virtual Machine, the environment that runs smart contracts on Ethereum and EVM-compatible chains. An EVM bridge lets tokens or assets on one chain (e.g., HIVE or HBD) be wrapped and transferred to another chain while maintaining their value.

The coding is apparently open source, but don't ask me where to find it or how to use it. However, you can check out the results of the team's efforts @ https://tribaldex.com/bridge

Also, Splinterlands now has over 1.2 million staked Hive Power and 150,000 HBD invested somewhere on the Hive blockchain (but not on @splinterlands ) to mollify those who jibbed at the DHF funding by complaining that Splinterlands did not have enough skin in the Hive game.

Takeaway 4: The DAO launched a Crypto Gaming Recovery Fund to attract new players and projects

I love this initiative and voted for it. To help players from failed Web3 games, the DAO allocated 1% of its token supply (over seven years) and partnered with other Hive games such as WOO, Decrops, and Cryptoshots.

The goal: To welcome dislocated gamers from failed games into the Hive gaming ecosystem, offering them starter packs and a fresh start.

After listening to @clayboyn I feel even more optimistic about the trajectory that Splinterlands is on. Here's the video of his presentation, well worth checking out as there's a lot more than my four takeaways to chew on:

Cheers!

DH
#InspiredFocus