Hi - David -- CEO of Double Coconut -- here.

Ok, you have our attention (always had it TBH - but we clearly haven't done enough to communicate or address key issues swiftly enough!)

So here's my stump speech, from my heart:

Vote NO!!!

This proposal would throw out a gurgling, cute baby along with some admittedly scummy bathwater.

Soulkeep has a lot of ardent long-time players and is gaining new ones each day. The game has garnered strong reviews and attention across the web3 and wider game world. We genuinely believe it is a bright spot in the HIVE / SPS universe and a net-positive in terms of a vehicle to bring new people into HIVE and Splinterlands. We are actively raising funds and putting partnerships in place for marketing to wider audiences. If SPS rewards stop, it will of course be difficult if not impossible to keep the momentum going.

Over the past months we’ve taken some major steps to try to placate those who were (rightfully) worried about giving away SPS rewards without getting value: We now burn half the DEC the game brings in and and we require significant SPS staking to play in higher leagues. We understand that for some people there is never going to be "enough" and they just don't care... but I believe most good-faith community-members can see that the game is constantly improving and making efforts to grow while also trying to be really fair to existing players.

As was brought up on Discord, we indeed think an IMMEDIATE reset / new season is warranted. We want to make sure it's possible for those who invested their resources and time already to rise again swiftly through the ranks with solid gameplay -- but in an equitable and balanced way, now that we believe exploits have been plugged.

We were always planning to move to a season-based model along with larger features / maps / leagues we were developing -- along with new NFTs (Heroes and Towers and Spells) and rule sets with a "Battle Pass" mechanic... and we still want to do such releases thoughtfully and with a lot of new content. But we can start with an immediate reset.

We also were on the cusp of rolling out a more balanced reward scheme that doesn't allow any specific individual / small group to "run away" with the lion's share of rewards. We can accelerate this update.

We commit to doing the reset and reward re-balance within a few days of this proposal being voted against.

We also commit to being more transparent about not just a vague roadmap, but specific feature ideas or significant changes. Everything we do is never going to please everyone. But we will absolutely incorporate more outside thinking on all of our key decisions and, at the least, give everyone more heads up to plan properly.

Those who voted yes .. I respectfully implore you to rethink your vote. And others who have not voted yet, I request you consider voting against.

I believe we're on the cusp of another great era for crypto gaming and a new crypto summer... Soulkeep on HIVE & Splinterlands is positioned to genuinely be a rare "shining light" of sustainability & community-focused gaming in an otherwise scammy and shadowy web3 gaming world.

Let's do it together!