Hey peoples! Time for another update/blog post on the IFC.
Logo done by 
We're almost to the end of the first Information Finding Championship!
The challenge we're on is Aliens/UFOs and there's four competitors left.
It will be ending around tomorrow at noon.
Two will be eliminated this round and then it till be the final 1v1 battle to see who becomes the first champion of the IFC. :D
Things are winding down and have been rather slow on our discord and in general because we are almost done with our first season.. And at times it kinda feels like a ghost town compared to how busy and active it was not too long ago.
Some people have mentioned this, some are concerned. I am too.. Though.. I needed a break so bad and we will be back in time! I'm still resting, it was too much for me. Too much information, I have like.. Months of messages I couldn't even respond to.. I just couldn't handle it.
Sorry to anyone if I never get back to those messages.. I'd like to, but.. I can't even find time to keep up with the new messages I keep getting.
I would suggest that if there was anything important said to me, to try to get it to my attention again or private message me about it on discord or elsewhere.
I've already been thinking about next season and trying to figure out how it's going to work...
Many if not most of the decisions we tend to let the community decide on, however.. I did ultimately create the idea for this game and outside of the number of donations we've received, it's mostly my money that is being given away into the foreseeable future, so some things I will take unilateral decision on if necessary since.. It effects my life and I need to be able to balance this with my life and can't let the community vote to make it unsustainable for me to continue.
That's rare though that I have to make decisions on my own, most things that I think are important, we ask the community about, and it works well.. And I think THAT is important.
I think that is one of the main reasons we have done so well with the IFC, is because.. This isn't like.. A top down authoritarian game, it's more like a bottom up will of the people kind of game for the most part.
Much of the game from the way the leveling system works, to the items you can get and the quests we do and the artwork and so much more was done by the players themselves. We even have a song/music video that was made by the community!
And I like it that way, in fact I love it that way.. I think that is one of the strongest aspects of this game, that it is so much made up by the players and the community itself.
It kind of reminds me of steemit itself, and the broader political systems as well.. It's sort of like a micro/macro situation which is fascinating to me.
I've even had a few people say things like.. "The IFC is what steemit should be".. And to me.. I think steemit is a step improved upon the old political/monetary system.. So.. If some people like the IFC even more than steemit.. Then.. Darn we must be onto something!
This is admittedly an experiment, I've said it numerous times. I had no idea how this would work, I made a couple of mistakes during the season, I also didn't pay the judges enough.. And, I definitely didn't expect this to consume most of my life since January.
I sorta thought it would just be a fun somewhat simple little contest to do from time to time to both help give back to the community and also to help me grow a little bit by getting my name out there more.
I did not expect this to turn into such a huge epic massive magical amazing life changing adventure sort of thing.. I was open to that possibility! But I did not expect it.
At this point I'm so passionate about it, I want to keep it going and growing as long as I reasonably can, I would be happy if it continued on after me or spawns new similar ideas elsewhere. However, either way.. This is something I enjoy immensely, and even if steemit somehow fell apart, I will find a way to keep doing this.
This isn't just a contest to me, this is an idea.. And a community of amazing people.. Who I think could help change the world for the better.
This is way beyond money or steemit or so many other things to me now, this is.. Sort of like.. A magic artifact itself, that we collectively hold together. If we choose, we can tap into the magic and perhaps leave things in the world a lil better than we found them.. Hopefully anyways! <3
I realized not too long into the IFC that this was a powerful idea, and I couldn't do it alone.
The person I connected with and trusted the most at first was 
I made her an equal owner in case anything would happen to me.
Then.. I realized.. Two owners isn't enough.. This needs to be a hydra with many heads sort of deal. I studied the community patiently and intently and carefully.. And offered equal ownership also to a few others who gained my trust and admiration 
All of whom accepted except bashadow who I don't remember his answer. I don't think he said no or yes, I don't remember what he said.. But.. I do know that he values his anonymity. So I'm not sure if he can be a full member being anonymous or not, however.. He's such a part of the family I sort of treat him like an equal owner even if he doesn't want it.
Similar to 
I'm not necessarily done looking for equal owners, but I don't want it to be too many! And only people I trust A LOT!
There is at least one other person right now that I have my eye on for consideration, however.. I'm really happy with even just 4 owners.
Oh and, none of this is in official contract yet, though I am open to doing that eventually, it's really all just trust based at this point.. And.. They have the keys to the IFC account and email as well.
In time, I have a feeling things will become more solidifed and legalized and all that, though.. For anyone curious.. It's not just me running this. charisma777, iexplore and kryptocek are co owners, and bashadow and plushzilla are pretty much part of the team as well! The offer is still open to them if they do want to be co-owners.
So.. Anyways.. Moving on.
Artwork credit - 
What issues do you think we should vote on next season?
I have a few issues picked out already.
Should judges leave detailed feedback on the winner post?
Should we allow people to pay for certain things to get XP, like finding the IFC a sponsor?
How long should the season be?
You don't need to vote on those right now, they are just examples of issues I want people to vote on next season and will make an official post when it's time to vote on those, however is there anything on your mind you think we should vote on? Please leave it in the comments below.
And also what should we do with the 3rd place prize since there isn't really a 3rd place the way sweet 16 works?
I suppose we could give it to the person who is ranked higher in the final 4, but..
I kinda feel like we should do something else with it. Like.. I suggest we give it to the judges personally since I think they are underpaid and do the most work. But, what do you think?
I wanna hear your ideas.
PS I don't remember how much it is and don't wanna go dig through posts to find it right now.. But.. I think it was around 15 or 20 steem for 3rd place? Once again not sure.. I could be off a bit in either direction.. But whatever amount it is.. What do you think we should do with it?
Another thing is.. I'm planning on doing an All Star game after the championship as well, it will be open to anyone.
Though I would definitely love to see some of you who played in the regular season there! :) It is going to be an "All Star" game afterall.. Not totally sure how it'll work yet, but I'm sure we'll figure something out!
If you have any ideas about how the All Star game could work, please leave that in the comments below as well!
Another thing I wanted to say was.. I watched a movie I enjoyed recently that reminded me of our game.
Ready Player 1.
I guess it's based off a book or something? I'm not really sure.
I had seen a music video about the subject before and I liked it a bunch, but I don't know much about it.
It especially reminds me of the IFC in how the game world merges with the real world sorta and how the players can be just about any character they want to be.
Now.. I don't think we can have players be copyrighted characters like in the movie, but we can have generic look alikes and basically be whatever you want as long as it's not legally owned to someone else somehow.
The guy who made the game everyone in that world played reminded me a bit of myself as well, kinda dorky and socially awkward, but really kind and nice as well.
It went into how he created the game cause he never felt right in the real world, which I can also relate with at times because of how corrupt and messed up so many things seem..
Plus, the game in their world is like a mental competition and challenge and it's also sort of like a place people in this future dystopian world meet up to get away from the harsh reality of life.
I took away a lot of messages from the movie.. Especially at the VERY end.. When there's a part where the one of the main characters after gaining the power to do so by completing the tasks, limits the number of days people can be in the game, in order to encourage them to go outside and be in reality more often...
That's definitely one of our goals, which is why I love kryptocek's photo scavenger hunt and the "power spot" challenges so much, because they get people out into the real world more.. :)
Also.. One thing.. It even made me a lil teary eyed admittedly. Was at the end.. The old dorky kind guy who made the game said in closing said in a very heartfelt and touching way something like.. "Thanks for playing my game" to the guy who won.. And I was like.. Wow.. I've said stuff like that before to people in the IFC, what a weird feeling.. I never predicted or thought I'd make a game people would play and enjoy and that I would thank them for playing, never expected that.. And there's something really deep there that it's hard for me to put words to..
So.. In closing.. Thank you all who have been a part of the IFC in any form, whether a player or a judge or a sponsor or observer or whatever.. Thank you.
This isn't "my game", it's "our game".. So thank you for being a part of our game. <3
If you'd like to know more about the IFC feel free to check out the 
https://discord.gg/bKVnKQF
PS.. I wonder who is going to be our first Information Finding Champion?! We're getting close to finding out! :D
PSPS.. Yeszuzia has notified me she will be available to do a picture of the winner of the contest. :) Yay.
