NOTE: all proceeds of this post will go the sps.dao. 
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There's a misperception promoted by some players that "whales" lord over the land by wielding their massive SPS stake and thwarting the "little guys" or "the community". This message is not only wrong, it creates division and unnecessary negativity.
I mean "who wants to be involved in an elitist and rigged economy?"... one where "whales can vote themselves all the spoils, while the little guys get shafted"?
I know I don't.
I've also communicated with many players from all over the world, and guess what?
I know they don't either!
In fact, not one time has anyone approached me to "rig" anything. Never has anyone suggested to me that we vote for anything other than what they felt was fair.
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Why Owning SPS Is Important
SPS is the governance token of Splinterlands. Its a decentralized token that anyone can buy (or better, earn). The holders of this token can vote on a variety of issues within the Splinterverse, from gameplay to tokenomics. This is a powerful and valuable token, that is if you care to have a voice in the community.
The players that own the most SPS naturally fall into 2 categories:
- strong players with a lot of success and
- investors.
Many times large holders fit into both categories.
Ownership of the token does give you a "vote" or "influence" over the issues as they come up, but at the same time this ownership is spread across many players and is very well distributed. No single player has an ability to do anything on their own. In fact the largest holder has about 2% of the token, and even the game's Devs don't have a majority with which to impose their will.
So anyone that thinks that "whales" control the outcome of anything must feel that the "whales" are one big block that follows the directions of their master SPS lord. This is not only absurd and insulting, but if anyone stating such a concept took the time to do the research, they would find many votes where "whales" voted different from each other.
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Reason For Such Baseless Claims
People don't like to lose. When things don't go their way, then they tend to make up reasons in their mind that justify why they lost. If you've ever raised children, you will know exactly how this works. Ever heard the term "spoiled brat" - same concept. When money is involved, then it will magnify that process.
Just like with children that cry to get attention, there are adults that do the same thing. They want to win, so they will try to find a narrative that can possibly "hurt" their competitors. It doesn't have to be true or based on facts, it just has to be stated loudly enough in hopes of causing fear, uncertainty, doubt (ie FUD).
In the minds of these "baseless claimers" is the mantra "the means justify the end". They don't want to lose, therefore whatever they do, whether ethical or not, is meant to change that outcome. And if there weren't side effects, then maybe this would even be ok. But there are side effects.
First and foremost is a loss of credibility. If a person makes too many false arguments, then they will eventually lose respect and a belief that they are honest participants. People will tend to ignore these claims outright, and after awhile ignore the people making them.
Second, these allegations create a negative atmosphere. The vast majority of people intuitively know these things aren't true. Some people fight against it and try to prove the accusers wrong, while others simply leave or "tune out" such conversations. So instead of talking about opportunity and strategies as a community, we are reduced to a never-ending fight where players can't stand one another.
Finally, these allegations destroy confidence in the project. Who would want to participate in such a system where whales are out to "get me"? How can we ever recruit new people to join such a horrid system (if the allegations were true)?
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How We Move Forward With Any Future Proposals
Almost all issues are contentious. We have players from all over the world and they see things from many different perspectives. This is both a weakness and a strength.
Its a weakness because its hard to find solutions. It requires lots of discussion and figuring out where the other side is coming from. Many times people don't want to put in that effort, so we can also feel deadlocked and defeated. Its hard.
But despite the weakness, its also a great strength. Because when problems require more effort to solve, they generally have better solutions. More effort = better outcomes. In addition, with more effort comes a deeper entrenchment into the community. And with this comes a stronger understanding of not only your friends, but also of your enemies.
Put another way, the SPS DAO has entered into a phase where we are gelling together. This is exciting and will be very powerful once enough people understand it. Its a natural outcome to move to more negotiations to resolve issues, and away from childish antics to "get our way".
When an issue is complicated and there are various moving parts, then players have to negotiate. We simply can not get everything we want at all times. We can not just throw a temper tantrum and expect people to be bullied into submission. This new negotiation phase will lead to more professional discussion and a seriousness in resolving issues.
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We Are Lucky To Have The Whales We Have
The "whales" are not beholden to anyone other than themselves. They all have their own minds and their own views on each issue. In our community, we are fortunate that many of the whales have learned to respect each other, but make no mistake, every one of them has "earned" their stake by either playing or investing real "hard money". They do take their votes seriously and definitely want to see the game succeed to protect their money at risk.
Unlike many other organizations, we are truly lucky to have a group of people with such a large amount of money on the line. We are fortunate that they care about the game, the economy, and the success of the platform.
I'm personally more comfortable investing in this project for 2 reasons related to the whales:
because I know these guys care
because I know we need a super-majority to pass any vote
This is a very important point that I feel most people miss. Because we have a need to get 2/3rds support for any vote to pass, then it will have to be good. If its contentious, it will have to be negotiated. There will have to be thoughtful discussion, and in order for a resolution, there has to be a compromise. There's simply no other way to get anything passed.
Regarding the SPS DAO - the only way we move forward is through compromise. That's a feature, not a bug!
