By now I'm sure you've heard the buzz (and the sound of thousands of people's simultaneous face-palms) from the newest DApp to hit the blockchain space. CryptoKitties is here!
The concept itself is great...
You buy, sell, and breed virtual kitties that gain random traits through evolutionary generations. When the DApp launched on Monday it instantly went viral which was a BIG WIN for the progress of decentralized blockchain-based application until it took down the network it was created on.
Let's discuss the experience
So after making a few MEMEs for @OfficialFuzzy's contest to put a spotlight on the Ethereum Network's inability to scale and handle sudden and large increases in transaction activity, I decided I needed to test out the CryptoKitties DApp for myself. I wanted to experience a real-world DApp running on Ethereum to truly understand the drawbacks and roadblocks to scalability we have been warned about.
I took advantage of the sky-high price of SDB today and traded my recent post earnings through Blocktrades to my new MetaMask ETH wallet - it's a Goolge Chrome extension wallet. Easy enough.
I then went though pages and pages of possible kitty candidates and selected a few inexpensive, but cool looking, kitties to purchase and get started. The plan was to get two(2) so I can test out the process of breeding to make more, a blockchain process that requires ETH/GAS.
I selected two I liked, click the button to buy and waited... and waited.... and waited. About 30 minutes later the first kitty purchased failed, I assume someone else got in on it just before I did. So I searched out another option only to come back and find the next one had failed.
I seemed to have been experiencing the bottleneck that was continuing to hold the Ethereum network hostage since Monday. I jumped over to take a look at Blocktivity.info and found the blockchain activity to be maxed out at 100% capacity with over 22,000 transaction in the backlog. Bitcoin was having the same issues, while the glorious DPOS blockchains of STEEM and Bitshares were performing perfectly at 0.18 - 0.21% capacity.
Success!
So this went on for about 2 hours before my last, but favorite, kitty was finally purchased. He is really cool looking, but was more expensive than the others I was trying for first.
We can only imagine how perfect this DApp would perform on the upcoming EOS network, heck it would work flawlessly even over on the STEEM/Graphene blockchain. CryptoPuppies anyone????
I now have my first CryptoKitty, with the less than creative name of "Kitty 115016", sitting pretty in my account. The was the first thing I realized after getting it, you cannot edit it's name or bio text. I assume at this point you get a chance to do that only during the breeding process. I will find out as soon as I get my second kitty.
So What's the Point?
Well it's generally like any other virtual pet program you may have encountered on the internet or computer in the past. Disney had virtual pets years back, so did Pokemon, and a few others. The difference is the crypto-value your virtual kitties gain over time. Just like any other crypto coin/token the genesis kitties will only be created through a limited timeframe, through 2018, then new ones can only be created through generational breeding keeping the maximum available semi-limited.
Here is a quick look at the MetaMask ETH Wallet in Google Chrome. You can see my second kitty transaction still pending. With any luck I will have it before Christmas.
UPDATE: (3 Hours Later) Looks like the one I was waiting for had a network error in the ETH transaction so another person was able to grab it before it got resubmitted to the network π’ Off to find a replacement.
Let me know what you think, please leave your comments below.
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I am building a farm of gen 0 kitties because an average investor cannot afford it, if you want to invest in it you only need to send any amount of SBDs you want to invest to @lrd and put your ETH address in the memo link so you can receive payments once the farm is set up.
More info about the project: https://steemit.com/cryptokitties/@lrd/let-s-build-a-cryptokittie-farm
If you have any questions about it simply ask me in a comment and I will be happy to answer.
I am interested in the kitties being a cat person, I may get one.
It is such a great idea, as a novelty to drive interest in crypto to the masses, but they screwed up by putting in on the Ethereun network :-( I was lucky enough to get my first kitty, but I have had no luck getting a second one to test the breeding function. The last of the ETH I got to test this is now locked up in transactions that will at some point get denied. (See my reply to Intelliguy above.)
Yeah, this is one of the reasons I am debating with myself over getting one, kinda don't wanna deal with ETH, but I like those cats too, I think most blockchains should have the kitties, someone should make them for Steem haha
Yeah I think this is a genius idea. Combining the two most hyped things crypto and cats - and it's collect-able and fun omg! Id say a million dollar idea but actually its even more (there is a cat for like a 250k of ETH!! :D )
I love the idea of a cryptopuppies on STEEM with the free transactions and the speed of the network we could breed a puppy for everyone on the planet before your last kitty shows up.
A fun DApp like this on STEEM would be awesome and help increase the value for us all. I wish I knew how to do that type of coding... I can do the puppy graphics though lol
Well, why not make a dApp on EOS @steempowerpics?
People are already taking about it :-) but I'm not a dev for this kind of thing, I would have to be on the UI/Graphics side of things.
At what times are you on our Discord sever lately?
Ironically cryptokitties show how pussy the ethereum network is in handling transactions
Yep! It's a shame for the DApp itself, they just chose the wrong network not wanting to wait for EOS to roll out next year.
Did you see all the fun MEMEs we've been making about it for @OfficialFuzzy's contest?
I bought a couple. Let's breed them!
Man, building this on steem would prove the power of steem blockchain and raise steem price to another galaxy... Hope someone do this soon!
Would have been great for sure! That falls party on STEEM/Steemit's inability to properly market the chain and its capability. We all know there is talk on how perfect it would fit with EOS, but STEEM would have been a great option too.
I don't think we should be expecting, or even wanting, SteemIt to waste time with dapps like this when they are building the entire network. Ya know, the whole point you made about Steem being more stable for this... Let's not remove them from their task.
However, I do agree a dapp such as this would be a marketing boon. How about y'all swing by the SteemDevs discord server and start up an actual discussion of how to achieve it and maybe a few developers might be interested in making it work.
Just don't attack SteemIt for not marketing the chain enough. That is our job as investors and speculators.
Not "attacking" Steemit - but we all know there was a lull where they could have promoted a bit mores. I agree that now, yes, they need to focus on what is in their own development pipeline.
As far as us doing that, we do - 24/7 as part of the BeyondBitcoin / Whaleshares community we actively talk about and educate people on the transaction speed, capability, no fee, etc to try to get others to develop for the STEEM / Graphene blockchain. The discussion about this is over on Telegram.
Thank u for the share and information provided def you provided a great coverage on the whole experience so far. Now to Kitty or not to Kitty... Let's see haha
Resteemed Kudos!
It is a cool DApp when it functions in a reasonable time-frame. :-) I used some SBD from post to send over .45 ETH to test it out, got 3 kitties and did some breeding and now I have 8 that I can sell off of sire for profit, etc. So the concept itself is good. Just wrong blockchain network lol
Oh lorddd! lol it's exciting and not at the same time loving the concept but this whole instability is worrying and annoying, i read how much of a hassle and trials u had to go through to get those kitties... Ill follow ur steps soon i get my curation rewards tonight, i might hit u up on Discord for few tips when i get to it if u around. Power to the Kitties!! Thank u for all the knowledge sharing, Kudos!
sure its for investigative purposes
π Well - ya know.
Hahaha ! Yes not beyond.
@steempowerpics :Now I'm waiting for somebody to come up with crypto bunnies and crypto doggies :)
But, the whole idea is quite innovative, getting virtual pets on the Ethereum blockchain.. The people who made it would be rolling in wealth in no time.
The lesson to be learnt here : If you have a really innovative idea that can capture the fancy of commoners, and that can be launched on a blockchain, you might just strike it rich if you get it out before anybody else does! ;)
Secondly, the launch now also shows Ethereum network is still not mature enough to handle large transactions - I wonder what would have been the case if this was on a different ecosystem like NEO/Steem - NEO/Steem teams are you listening?
Upvoted!
Yeah, this was definitely one of those ideas that as soon as I saw it I was like: Oh, that's brilliant!
I don't know what to say after reading this...
Two hours? Multiple failed attempts?
There is nothing to say. I'm speechless.
That's not even the half of it now... I am still trying to get a second one and the delay is so bad it allows multiple people to click {BUY} on the same kitty then your doomed to fail transaction is held in limbo for hours locking up your ETH so you can't even try to get others.
The 4 with red X already show on the kitty profile page as bought buy someone else, so I am dead in the water waiting for these 4 to fail at some point and unlock my ETH ~ 'cause I ain't moving anymore in to test this with LOL
Update: Finally got my second kitty purchase to go through. Now it's 'private time' for my kitties ;-) Make me a little one. LOL
π₯ π
Interesting research!! It would be very interesting on EOS... maybe someone can write that code on the actual testnet? would be amazing!!!
Yeah, I've only gotten myself into it today, gonna buy some too! :D I think it's hilarious. Like some crypto-tamagochi / pokemon cards :D Love it. Good luck with your breeding and trading!
Thanks, good luck to you as well. We'll see how it goes.
How does one tell if the cats are male or female? I just bought a boy but don't know how to tell so I can buy a partner!
They are "Hermaphrodites" by default :-) So they can be both male and female depending on which one you want to have the next gen baby kitten.
Sorry didn't catch that I must be thick. I bought one which ended up being a male. Did I choose that somehow?
Not a good name for a kitty. Good thing you did not get the bugkitty as it looks ugly.
LOL - True. Hopefully when I get my second one to test the breeding function I will be able to chose the name and all.
The ethereum network is really slow and not the best for dApps. I do think EOS will be a game changer for dApps among other things.
No doubt... EOS will deliver on Ethereum's promises as Dan says.
i like your all cryptocurrency news.good work.
That's what's up.
yah its for investigative purposes @steempowerpics
wow amazing concept of crypto..thanks for discuss about crypto...
Congrats on your purchase
Wonderful
Everyone should buy Pets
Real or Crypto :)
Thanks for sharing information nice post.
I don't know if you found out yet, but you can change the kitties names by clicking on the name once, on the individual kitty.
Hahaha. For investigative purposes of course! :-) CryptoKitties are great example of scarce digital assets https://steemit.com/ico/@icoindex.com/cryptokitties-showed-why-scarce-digital-assets-are-the-future