Thanks to Kyle for the lovely and dickless work of art!
Most people who see this post and recognize me will know me as Deb on Just-Dice. PM doog or I to confirm that this was written by the real Deb! (Why do I want to start rapping?)
I say that because this seems the type of place that will attract the sorts of people who also hang out on crypto gaming sites. (You're welcome for not calling you nerds!)
If you don't know much about Just-Dice I will give you a bit of history, and then describe my role as best I can.
Just-Dice.com was the brainchild of my partner dooglus. Many people in the Bitcoin community will recognize the name as he has been an active participant in many things Bitcoin for nearly as many years as I have known him.
After messing around on some BTC gambling sites and learning about a new coding language doog decided to practice by creating a dice style gambling platform. He wanted to create an arena where people could not only play on a provably fair site, but also take part as the 'house' so to speak, if that was their preference. Doog spent weeks trying to figure out how he could make such a site provably fair to both the players and the investors. He finally decided to go ahead and code the site but had fairly low expectations as far as outside investment.
It was the first time I had seen doog that engrossed in coding. I had to remind him to eat and use the toilet as he gets a little hyper focused. (We have a border collie who has similar issues with sticks and frisbees.) He worked pretty much non-stop until he had the site to a point where testing was needed. I don't remember a whole bunch of details about how all of that went, but I do know we spent a couple of days playing with testcoins and getting used to betting huge amounts with no risk!
One of the things that amazed me from the start – even while testing – was the community that formed immediately. The chat was a busy place and people really seemed to get to know one another quickly. We had a group of people pretty hooked on playing with our test-coins in a couple of days. Doog probably worked out some bugs (he will remember better than I do) and then the time came to put the site live for BTC.
I had the distict honor of being the very first investor on Just-Dice in those early days. I am still quite awed by doog in all things coding. The fact that I don't code at all probably has a bit to do with that but there is also the fact that he's a fucking genius when it comes to writing code.
Ok – fast forward a bit. Just-Dice ran with BTC for a year, got super popular (which would inevitably be its downfall), there was drama (nakowa) and more drama (mechs) and even more drama (likashing) and stories that go along with each.
Maybe one day I will post a bit about the drama. Let it be said that the stress was nearly unbearable at times, but overall being involved with Just-Dice for BTC was probably one of the most entertaining years I have had the pleasure to enjoy. Much of that has to do with the amazing community that has built up around the site – most of which has been extremely positive and supportive.
A year later the price of BTC had gone up, the site had tens of thousands of BTC invested and doog was starting to feel the pressure around being responsible for so much of other people's funds. Even though doog was a security nazi and kept nearly all of the coins in a cold wallet he was just not feeling good about the site anymore. Around that time Canada started making noise about BTC being considered currency, and it just seemed that the time had come to gracefully walk away.
After announcing that the site would no longer be taking bets, and that investors would be asked to withdraw their coins I am sure there were some people wondering if the coins would actually be returned. Doog made the process easy and painless and all of our investors were able to withdraw their coins hassle free.
OMG – I totally forgot about Doge-Dice. That's another story that will take about five minutes to tell sometime in the future. Just know that there were actually two sites for a while – one using Doge currency and the original BTC site.
Surprisingly, the chat remained active, even after gambling had been disabled. There was a good group of people who came around regularly to check in with each other, and to nag us to get the site up and running again. Doog had no interest in putting the site back up for BTC so things just kind of stalled.
Along came CLAM. The currency intrigued doog for many reasons – again – a story for the future. Doog decided to put the site back up for CLAM and within weeks things were pretty much back to how they had been in the old BTC days. As CLAM is not worth near what BTC is worth even though there are many many CLAMs invested on the site the dollar value is nowhere near what it would be if we were running for BTC.
Ok – so what is my role on the site? Well, let me just start by saying it is complicated. I try to be helpful when anyone has a problem. I can troubleshoot basic issues, point at the FAQ and educate. I'm really tired of explaining to people that the site is provably fair and that we can't cheat gamblers without people knowing. It is in fact possible, folks, to lose more than 15 bets in a row at 50/50 odds. In fact, it is expected with enough bets! I once had a litter of rabbits, 8 out of 8 were female. Did I cry foul? – no! Was I surprised? – yes! Sorry for the tangent.
That said I can not code. Doog has not made the workings of the site usable by a non-coder so there is very little that I can do when there are problems or something is going wrong. I can hang out in chat and calm the masses (and have done several times into the wee hours), I can let people know what is up and coming as far as new features go (insert sarcastic laughter here), but mostly I just try to be whatever people need, when they need it.
If asked, the CLAMily would probably say that I talk most about sex, cooking and rabbits. One thing I am very pleased about is that I have learned what the law of large numbers really means (see above)! I now know about house edge, odds, and provable fairness. I know about BTC, CLAM, Doge and now Steem. All of this is a direct result of knowing doog and/or being involved with Just-Dice.
I have laughed and I have cried over J-D. Doog and I have shared stories with a group of people, many of whom have come to feel like friends. I wrote a blog for a year and ran contests. Many people have made a great number of coins through the site, and many more have lost a greater number of coins. As far as roller coaster rides go, it is one that I would get on again.
I am Deb – Princess of Just-Dice. Come and visit me sometime.