It's interesting to read about this now, actually. I don't know if it's for any particular reason or what, but talking about the reward system that Ecency currently offers is rather curious. According to what I just read in this same comments section, Encency has been doing all of this that you show us here for quite some time now. I think that, in a way, it's a good method to attract creators or users to their front end and thus motivate them in a certain way. Well, at least at the beginning if you were a new project.
But Ecency has been around for years, as have InLeo and PeakD. I've only been here on Hive for a little over two years, but from the beginning I've noticed that these three Fronts are the most popular and used. The most curious thing about this is that PeakD is the only one of the three that does not need a rewards system to be at the top of the Fronts with the most active users. I completely agree with the idea of offering something good, something useful for users and creators.
But hey, the topic of "gamification" or whatever they call it is nothing new anymore. Guided by most projects such as the aforementioned Encency and InLeo or even others like 3Speak, Liketu and even Actifit fall into this same theme. Of course, these last three will not be as noteworthy since they require certain things before rewarding those who use their own Fronts. But this has been repeated even in more recent projects like Snapie, HiveSuite, etc.
As a content creator and frequent user of this great ecosystem, I admit that I have fallen into the "provocation" of wanting to receive those "benefits" that those Fronts provide. A few months ago I used InLeo, and I still use Ecency, but currently I'm more into the convenience and usefulness of the different front-ends I use. Aside from the voting issue, Ecency also has its good points regarding development and utilities. You could even say that it competes very well with PeakD and even has more advantages thanks to the Mobile App which continues to work very well even now, after the cuts they have made.
But anyway, I like using Ecency because of the app, the notification system it has, the ease of accessing and interacting with it from my cell phone, etc. But that doesn't mean I don't also really like PeakD, at least as a very useful blog and front end for curation and other things. There's also HiveSuite, which, although now stricter when it comes to "rewarding" its users, has a very attractive and useful front end with certain features that I really like.For example, there's a feature called Inbox where I can see all the comments I haven't answered yet, so I don't miss any.
I think it would be good to balance all of this in a way that helps the vast majority and not just a small section. Being stricter isn't always bad, but it all depends on how it's approached. For example, all the work you've been doing with Scrobble along with the OCD team is quite admirable, and I understand that they have their reasons for doing things the way they do. Perhaps Encency and the others also have their reasons, who knows, I think there's also a need for more communication and camaraderie between leaders and developers of the different front ends and projects. But something I do have to admit is that users and creators also have a responsibility to use these fronts and tools intelligently.
By this I mean knowing where and what to choose and publish or use. I think that, with the exception of InLeo, where most users only post spam or low-quality content, most front pages serve more as tools than a means to gain votes or rewards. In the end, I can't make the mistake of speaking for all creators, but just as a personal case I confess that there are very few curation projects that remain as impartial as possible in Hive today, as is the case with OCD. However, for new or inexperienced users, it can be very helpful to see that sites like Ecency offer such benefits. With this in mind, I believe it is more important to teach and guide these users (as well as the vast majority) so that they can learn more about Hive and what it offers. It's not enough to just focus on development, votes for those who use their Fronts and that's it.
On the other hand, and to conclude this, there are still projects and communities that are doing a great job. These are the projects that continue to be developed and worked on despite the current situation where a programmer cannot earn a salary in a volatile currency, especially if it is not done as a hobby. Those are the projects that need to be supported.
Sorry for the speech I just gave here. 🥴