BitShares, Steemit, Peerplays, and soon EOS all use similar graphene-based blockchain technologies. I've really enjoyed running my Steemit witness node (see my last update here) and when I heard about the Peerplays blockchain going live, I decided to get a dedicated server and see if I can contribute to that project as well.
Peerplays is the world's first peer-to-peer betting platform built entirely on top of a live blockchain.
There are two things about betting which concern me:
The harm some people cause themselves and those they are responsible for when they don't know their limits and use the adrenaline rush of gambling to avoid the pain of real life, often with tragic results.
Governments who put people in cages for victimless "crimes" related to gaming while at the same time hypocritically running state lotteries which are exactly the same thing as "illegal" gambling.
I'm not sure much can be done about number 1 other than improving the world and facilitating systems which enable responsible gaming. As for number 2, I think systems like Peerplays (and maybe Wagerr) can play a huge role. Decentralized blockchain systems can not be stopped and once more people realize this and how things can be programmatically and provably secure and fair without the need for regulations or government threats of violence, we can all start enjoying a better world.
For that reason, I want to get involved in this project and see if I can help by providing a witness node. I participated in the crowd sale and own some PPY and just like my two favorite cryptocurrencies STEEM and BitShares, I think PPY has a great future. For that reason, I also have a personal interest to run a witness node and hopefully earn more of it through block production rewards.
On June 7th, I configured a new dedicated server to run a Peerplays witness node.
Here are the server specs:
32gb DDR3 ECC RAM
(4c/8t) Intel Xeon E3-1245V2
2x3TB HDD
Germany
DEDICATED SERVER
It's been running great for the last couple days, but I don't yet have enough votes to be an active witness. Unlike Steemit, the backup witness nodes don't get rotated in to earn any tokens and to pay for their server. Also unlike Steemit, the Peerplays system doesn't have a fixed number of witnesses and will grow or shrink as needed based on the votes.
As you can see here, there's a big gap from where I'm at to where I'd like to be:
If you participated in the crowd sale or you had a BitShares account prior to the share drop, then you have PPY, and you can do some voting for witnesses like lukestokes-witness!
My plan was to hold off on publishing my witness announcement until after the Peerplays Graphical User Interface (GUI) was released and then give step-by-step instructions on how to claim your crowdsale PPY and vote for my witness, but @pfunk did such a fabulous job here, I see no reason to duplicate it:
https://steemit.com/peerplays-witness/@pfunk/pfunk-peerplays-witness-proposal
@pfunk, like many others, does a really great job enabling these systems to stay up and running securely.
I'm glad to see @jesta at the top of the list (you can see his witness proposal here) along with my friend @billbutler who has been a long time supporter of BitShares, Steem, and Peerplays (his witness proposal is here).
You can see all the witnesses I've voted for so far here:
You can vote for as many witnesses as you like, but the cost per vote does go up slightly with each vote. Like BitShares (and unlike Steemit), all actions on the Peerplays blockchain have a cost. In the beginning, we witnesses voted up everyone on the witness list because there were so few of us around. Now there are quite a few (you can see the full list here, thanks to @jesta) so not everyone has had a chance to produce blocks yet.
If you have PPY and you're voting for witnesses, I'd love for you to consider voting for lukestokes-witness or using a proxy voter who is voting for me.
Thank you for your consideration.
I once again want to give a big shout out to @someguy123 and @privex which have been doing an excellent job with hosting service and support. Please check them out for your hosting needs as they accept SBD and Steem. Vote for his Peerplays witness as well to support his work (witness proposal here).
Created with love using ChainBB
You've always had my vote. I think you're an asset to any platform you're involved in. I hope your witness is producing as soon as possible. But I also see how the platform has been a victim of its own success to a certain degree. There are more people lining up to be involved than there is need for network capacity... which will increase as apps launch and the chain starts doing the work it was designed for. I know you're a believer in markets, and eventually as this one matures, the demand for the services of witnesses will align with the motivations of people who want to fill that role. But these are early days, and we're far from reaching any sort of equilibrium.
Thanks @bacchist.
I agree with your assessment, and I'm not too concerned. As you said, the market will decide how many witnesses are needed. If it's wasteful to provide too many resources, those unwilling to take risk and invest in servers (even if at a short term loss) will shut down.
That said, I do think there's a bit of artificiality in the "price discovery" market choice process right now. If only the top 23 witnesses are shown in the GUI, it's not really a vote. It's more like Ford's "You can have any color as long as it's black."
I hope that GUI is updated soon to allow for showing all active witnesses so votes can be distributed based on what people want. I'd also love to see a backup witness rotated in, but that's probably too significant of change to allow and may not make sense for Peerplays.
I think it would make sense for backups to get cycled through. Their configurations and feeds should be tested on a regular basis. It would make the network much more resilient.
I agree incentivizing backup witnesses is a good move. I love how markets and price signals work that way. :)
Without incentive, backups will turn off and if there's a massive flood of new users or a drastic change in price, structure, or something else which needs immediate change, there may not be new witnesses willing to go with the change ready and willing to be voted in.
That said, it's early days so I'm willing to be patient and see how things work out.
I just set up my PeerPlays wallet, claimed my tokens, and voted for you as witness. Best wishes!
Thanks Kenny!
Upvoted! Here and on PeerPlays!
My PeerPlays witness/account is 'content-junkie'
Thank you! I've got you voted for.
Good post @lukestokes , I am not bullish on betting too no matter if its on blockchain or not!!! because it can ruin life if you are addicted. Am however bullish on steem and other top crypto plus sleeping beauties comming up to take over...thanks for this
Thanks Charles. :)
welcome
I must look more into Peerplays. Follow me @aboylal :).
I just want to understand this better. What do you hope to accomplish by becoming a witness node for Peerplays? Do you hope to influence the platform so that it will foster a healthier gambling environment?
No single witness can directly influence the platform, but I do want to be part of the discussions going on in this space because I see it in alignment with my views on voluntaryism. I think gaming will always be a big part of human interactions, and I want to support versions of it that are healthy compared to the current ones where the house (or the government) keeps an unreasonable amount of profits. I like the idea of sharing the profits with everyone involved.
For many of the same reasons I mentioned in my Steemit witness announcement, I think I can contribute by being a technical programmer who can also communicate effectively.
I agree, I think we should support healthy ways to game :)
I've been reading a lot of your material. So, along those lines, I've been trying to figure out who you follow, and more importantly, who are the people you follow that are creating content LIKE you. I was wondering, have you figured out a better way to discover new people to follow?
Thank you. That's a great question. I often go based on great comments I see on my posts and other's posts. If I see an author resteemed into my feed often enough, I'll check out their blog and give them a follow. Sometimes I'll see content on the trending or hot pages which catch my attention and lead to further reading and following. I try to keep the number of people I follow on social media accounts low enough that I can actually follow people and see at least most of what they post. Many who do a "follow me because I followed you" approach end up with a feed that is mostly noise.
Another nice approach is check out the feed of authors you like and then just start following the same people they follow based on the content you like there.
Good luck! I'm 5,700+ posts into this thing for almost a year now, so it's really feeling like home for me.
I should look into the peerplays project, i keep hearing so much about it that its now got my attention👍 thank you for sharing Luke!
Yeah, there's quite a bit of excitement about it here on steemit because many of the people involved in Graphene projects (BitShares, Steemit, Peerplays) are wanting to jump on the next big thing in the space related to stuff they are familiar with.
Im definitely looking into it ^_^ tahnks again man!
Go for it luke..as a ppy token holder, you will have my vote
Thank you! Much appreciated.
I think so. but it depends on situation. good stuf. Anway thanks a lot.
Interesting that backup witnesses don't get rotated.
Do you know why they chose that route?
I think they started with a fork of BitShares and that's how they do it.
That make sense, thanks!
well @lukestokes good witnesses prepared, always available and most of all serious are always needed for the chain, I wish you good luck mate!
Thank you!
I feel like I've heard my husband mention ppy, so I will definitely let him know and he can vote 'as my proxy' ;)