So, a few days ago on the Steem Witness Forum @andrarchy spoke a bunch about key value propositions of Steem to businesses. So here are the two big ones. A fully functional blockchain to build off of and an active community to draw from. These two things are absolutely critical to the initial success of Steem Monsters. We're at around $12k in packs sold in 10 days. I mean... that's a dream come true for any small business let alone one that just started and is still in alpha!
Functional Blockchain
There are a few points I'd make here. There's a game called Crypto Fighter. I have a bunch of their players in my discord sharing just how stoked they are not ot have to pay fees on Eth just to play the game. Every action over the costs gas and gas costs money. So especially when the chain is active you gotta spend money to just play normal activities. That isn't cool and the folks are sharing they are pumped to not have any transaction fees. Also, they complain about how slow Eth is. Steem is free to transact on and has transaction times in the seconds. That's pretty bad ass.
But that point is more about working well. More fundamental than that is that it works. I didn't have to build a blockchain to run this project. I just hopped on Steem, sent a couple custom json operations on the chain, and bada bing bada boom: Steem Monsters. Figuring out how to get an API to function is way simpler and way more cost effective than building a whole blockchain for a single app. So, I'm stoked to have spent relatively little on equipment, not have to run a full rpc for this, and be able to get up and running in a couple months of design and programming work.
Community
We have 60k active users every day. I have something like 300-500 customer so far. There's plenty of room for me to tap into this ecosystem. If I can make 11k in a little over a week with just 300-500 customers imagine what's going to happen as we expand and have a fully functional game. So, that's on the extraction side of things... but I also want to think about what this game can do for the community. In the not too distant future appbase and rocksdb is gonna be implemented by the witnesses, and then we can start growing without breaking technology limits of full RPCs having to run on 1 TB servers. So, at that point Velocity (a future hardfork that will allow mining new accounts into existance for free) will be released.
So, before people would buy packs. Now we mine a new account into existence, give players their own account, and then get them cards to get started. This game becomes a portal to onboard folks into the Steem ecosystem. Now we're building community and growing the platform. That's epic!
There are very few other options
I'm not even sure what other chain I'd work on. I guess maybe it would be ethereum, but I'm already geting complaints about that one. So, besides being a witness that ideologically believes in this place, I'm not even sure where else I'd try to make something like this. Maybe EOS in the future, but that thing isn't even working yet, and there is a dev community, but no userbase...
But I'm not worried about that. I'm just stoked to get this thing off the ground and rolling! I guess not just off the ground but really freakin' launched. It wouldn't be possible without the active Steem Community or without the blockchain tech that's running in the background.
I've said for a while there are two key roles for witnesses: dev and community
I think this project highlights the need for both. I couldn't get this far without a working chain and a smart dev to build the product. It wouldn't take off if there wasn't a commitment to story, community, and the social aspect like trading etc. This is why dev skills and community building is so freaking important. Both working together is the backbone of a successful system.
A request for a witness vote
If you don't know yet @yabapmatt is the dev working on this project with me. If you believe in the power of Steem Monsters to not just extract value but return a lot value to the blockchain then I need your help to get @yabapmatt higher up on the witness list. I'm dreaming of the day he can quit his job and work on this and other Steem projects full time. It's gonna be awesome. He's so talented, I need him, and he needs votes. So, I'm shilling. Please send some witness voting love his way.
This graphic was made by @omitaylor! Woot! Great work!
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How do we know you'll not escape from steem blockchain like Vice and Appics?
I'm a witness. I'm not going anywhere. I built MSP from scratch. I've spent 2 years here. I have 20k followers. There are no life guarentees, but I have zero intention of leaving. This is my digital home!
I'm glad to hear this.
I supported many projects in the past with my upvotes. Most of them are gone.
Do you think that steem is ready for your game?
Yes, and more so when appbase and rocksdb are implemented.
What's the deal with Appics... it's not gonna use Steem now?
They have ICO on ethereum. But you never know where they gonna launch their app.
Thanks for the shoutout! I was literally floored when I saw the collage get circulated. That's wonderful. My kids absolutely adore the game cards and this brings me back memories of MTG. Nostalgic. I know it's going to be a great hit. I can't wait for the social media accounts to get rocking. Yay!
You and @yabapmatt have my vote!
I'm not into this kind of game myself, I did try Hearthstone and ended up spending far more than the initial purchase in the short time it took me to get bored.
Regardless, I think this is a great idea and I agree with your assessment above. I've never been much of a FB user but I know a good many people that signed up without any particular interest because "everyone else was doing it". Some of those stuck around long enough to "get it" because the likes of Farmville and similar games that were so prevalent back then and kept them logging in.
This could work for Steem as well but I see one potential difference there that may not exist here as things progress. Everything was integrated, and I don't just mean at the back end, so you couldn't play a game without seeing that someone or other was poking you or liking something.
At the moment if you are a steemit.com user you will tend to come across this additional stuff but that is not guaranteed, depending on the accounts you follow. As people get onto this blockchain via other avenues like this game it is not immediately obvious that all of these services are related. It's early days yet but going forward, I think it will be in the best interest of all involved to nudge people towards also using the other services based on Steem. For example you could implement a simple way to upload a replay of a match as a Dtube video and possibly even share the link to a FB group or something, if that can be done with a couple of clicks, it will be used.
Obviously you need a functioning game first and you have probably already considered this type of thing but it's usually worth keeping things like this in the back of your mind during the design phase.
I'm all in favor of getting talented people out of the corporate rat race and into the blockchain space full time, so I've been voting for you since I read you had done that on a interview with @jerrybanfield if I recall? I will witness vote @yabapmatt now for the same reason.
Am I the only one having a problem getting a witness vote to stick? It appears on the UI but on a refresh it disappears and does not appear on steemdb? It happened to me last week and I assumed I used the wrong key or something on the first attempt...anyway I'll sort it out later, almost late for work :P
I guess I was....worked first time when I got home :/
The value proposition of building on the Steem blockchain has always been there. More things will bubble up to the surface to show the true power of this blockchain as we go. We are just at the start. Great game @aggroed.
I bet it took a little more than that ;-)
But anyhow, let me congratulate you on this great idea and succes you have with it; much deserved for the joy the game gives people even now! I got a starter pack and one expansion and already scored a legendary!
You are already on my witness list, and I'll add @yabapmatt right now!
Thanks again @aggroed! Keep up the good work! :-)
I just imagine Steemmonsters becomes as popular as for example Yu-Gi-Oh... imagine millions of kids worldwide joining Steemit for just playing Steemmonsters and find a totally world-changing blogging concept - me get a little dizzy ^^
I think this is great for the steem community and economy, since it will show that out of the box thinking of utilizing the steem blockchain not only can be achieved but it is something you can profit from. I hope in the future more people are inclined to have projects like this on steem and making this platform better.
Seems everyone is enjoying game, keep progressing this game. Good luck!
I think there should be a way for nonsteem user gets to the game (and get a steemit account) and a way to play the game whit basic cards free, just like a test or tutorial maybe.
Game will continue to cost something to start playing. Hearthstone is $60. I'm charging $5. I think I'm ok there. We'll get an account creation process up and running. Gotta get the game going first, but that's important.
i know its early alpha and there's a lot of stuff important. my best wish for this proyect.
I don't know how many of us are so long sighted to see what the future holds with people like @yabapmatt on top, I have been following his trend of fantastic innovations, this isn't an exception.
Lovely post, no doubt STEEM is the future of social networking.
a mi me parece que esto es fenomenal
I added my vote to @yabapmatt. Excited about the future of Steem and Steem Monsters. Looks like fun. @ironshield
I throw a shill plug in for @yabapmatt too. Even if I don't like bidbots, I do like the accountability and transparency that his site added. Also, like you said above I think he's very talented and I'd love to see this project blow up (in a good way).
I'm new to this type of games. Never played such a game but I think I will learn this time just because of this fantastic community! Already got my first packs and can't wait to use them!
I don't usually vote witnesses but since i totally support the game, i cast a vote for @yabapmatt . I am proud of sharing a screenshot of my vote.
I am looking forward on the game play of the game. Can't wait on its full launch, as of now all i can do is buy cards and combine duplicates. =)
Thanks for all you are doing @aggroed.
This is the subject of my morning post. I love what you both are doing. This could really be a homerun for the STEEM blockchain.
It is wonderful to see the horse power that is this blockchain being used by applications that can really stack people on it.
parece que la mayoria de los Usuarios disfrutan cada minuto de este juego,sigan progresando muchas suerte Saludos @aggroed.
I am the #1 Cryptofighter on the Leaderboard right now but it's basically in a stand still as not many battles are going on with the outrageous Gas prices, slow Ethereum blockchain - what a headache! I am so happy you guys have launched Steem Monsters but I'm even more happy that I am here so early to witness it all and be apart of this awesome community! Thanks Guys!
Waiting for the game!!
Its gonna be epic!
Already vote for @yabapmatt. That guy is an amazing dev and a hell of a witness. You picked up some tremendous talent for your project.
Already vote for @yabapmatt. That guy is an amazing dev and a hell of a witness. You picked up some tremendous talent for your project.
Congratulations for the early success of steemmonsters. I hope you continue to grow and expand.
Great project, on the best blockchain outhere... why search for a different blockchain when we are a part of the best one!
You made $10K+ and I haven´t bought yet, and I really think, like me, there are a lot of people preparing themselves to buy big amounts.
frankly I as a reader who dear already saw your post I've seen and I've read I think your post is very good and quite interesting and very useful for me and for all friends steemian's all thanks
Ok fine, I'm in and heading over to get me some steemmonsters!
Congratulations @aggroed!
Your post was mentioned in the Steemit Hit Parade in the following category:
In my opinion this is the best project so far to use the Steem blockchain and it has so much potential as you have pointed out. Just cast a witness vote for @yabapmatt
Fantastic work !!
When i listened to your live video (found you because of @steemmonsters) i thought the idea of onboarding people into steemit through SteemMonsters was GENIUS! I hope you work on that for sure!
I watched it while it wasn't live otherwise i would have joined into that chat... so many cool insights. I look forward to what your'e doing ... and to be honest not just the enjoyment of the game but the financial incentives of the game hopefully.
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@aggroed i already gave @yabapmatt my vote and you as well. I would love to be involved to work on steem stuff full time as well and quit my day job. heres hoping to sugarsteem and these projects