Splinterlands Updates - Proposals

Hello there.

If you've only been playing your battles and haven't looked at the discord, Hive blogs, or proposals, you might have missed a lot of news and development around the game. It feels like the future of the game is dependent on how these proposals do. So if you're one of those that don't vote, you might want to do so for a lot of these proposals.

The first, and currently ongoing proposals, is about what to do with vouchers. There are two proposals active with one proposing the removal of vouchers altogether, and replacing the current tokens with DEC-B. The second is to repurpose vouchers. Vouchers will no longer be available for use in promos, or as a replacement to DEC. Vouchers can only be used on "Vouchers only" items in the glint shop.

I didn't include my vote so as not to affect yours. The first one seems to be the more straightforward since it will just be a straight removal and conversion. There will be a discussion on how to compensate validators if this pass, since they will be losing out on the Voucher rewards. The second one felt a bit more complex since they need to add items in the glint shop, and would probably keep on changing it from time to time. If either one passes, vouchers as we know it will change.

There are currently three proposals in the draft proposal stage, and they are more complex than the previous two. One of the proposals is to hire SMC [Splinterlands team] to develop 5 promo card sales. It will cost the DAO 600M DEC up front, and there will be 5 promo sales for the next 6 months. The cards can only be purchased with DEC, and the proceeds will go to the DAO. The SPL team thinks the profit from the sales will easily exceed the 600M DEC cost, so it should be profitable for the DAO to do so. If the proposal doesn't pass, then the SPL team will do the sale themselves anyway.

There are a lot of arguments on why it should/shouldn't be supported. Others don't like introducing more DEC to the ecosystem, and if the sales are below 600M, not only was more DEC released, but the DAO also lost some assets. If the team thinks the sales are going to produce more than they cost, some argue that they should do it since they are running low on funds. Some of the supportive arguments is that it will be a quick support to the team. The team's funds have been running low, so this will definitely help. If the sales are a success, we can remove more DEC out in the open [since the DAO will be holding the DEC again], and be closer to getting to peg. Either way, the sales are going to happen anyway, and the proposal will decide on who will benefit or lose from the sales. I voted against this, since I think the team needs the funds more, and because of the other topic of the two other proposals.

The two proposals are about hiring developers to develop the SPS Chain. The SPS Chain has been in development for a long time now, and the original target release was back in 2022. I have read some comments that the developers were moved away from it at some point since it was not revenue generating, and the team needed help in other parts of the game. The validators are needed to make SPS decentralized. JPTR Corp are originally SPL personnel that were transferred to a smaller group due to cost cutting. They are originally the ones to working on the SPS chain.

For the first proposal of JPTR, I honestly didn't like how it was written or sounded. It felt like the DAO was being threatened/blackmailed if they didn't vote for it. There are a lot of unknowns, questions, and risks that are unclear. This is probably the reason why the Peakmonsters team quickly submitted their own proposal. JPTR are asking for 40k USD per month, for 12 months [480k], while Peakmonsters team was only asking for 340k.

And that is when things got even more interesting. Even though it was stated in the JPTR proposal that the DAO can look for other solutions/programmers, it seems like it was just lip service. Yabapmatt updated the original JPTR proposal with more context, and also commented on the Peakmonsters proposal. Since the SPL and JPTR teams have been working on the SPS chain for a long time, it would probably cost the SPL team and the DAO more time, effort, and cost to get a new team to work on it. So at this point, the DAO is pretty much forced to approve the JPTR proposal, and the Peakmonsters team has decided to no longer go through with theirs. This feels messy all around.

The last, and probably most important one among these, is the proposal in the Hive DHF. The SPL team is asking for funding from the DHF. I think SPL has done a lot for the Hive blockchain. A lot of users, including me, probably wouldn't have known/used Hive if it wasn't for SPL. Yabapmatt was able to discuss a lot of the important information, and provided a compelling argument. What I didn't like was the inclusion of the possibility of moving to another chain if the proposal doesn't pass.

Similar to the JPTR proposal, this feels like a threat that is doing more harm than good. I feel like we could have gotten the support without it, but adding it could rub people the wrong way. I understand that moving to a different chain is a big possibility, but I think it could have been a weapon used at a better time. I have seen a lot of players are excited by the prospect, and I think it will hurt Hive more than SPL. I believe Hive has the highest potential among blockchains that I am familiar with, and that is why I supported the proposal.

Have you voted on the proposals? If yes, which ones did you support? What are your thoughts on Splinterlands possibly moving to a different blockchain? Don't hesitate to let me know what you think, and if you have suggestions for improvement.

And as always, these are Not Financial Advice, and Do Your Own Research.

If you want to start playing Splinterlands, you can use my link:
Splinterlands Referral Link