We didn't start the witness for the money. We started the witness to have some say on a blockchain we chose to built on.
Background
When we launched with a team we talked amongst ourselves as to whom will be the point of contact. I got that role and you all typically think of just me as associated with the Guilty Parties brand for that reason. At first we had multiple people write our posts, such as the introduction. These days its just me. It helps with uniformity.
The problem with having some say on the blockchain is you need to know exactly what should be said and what's going on in the first place. It's a steep learning curve, even for seasoned users who've been with STEEM from the start in one way or another. Can't even imagine bridging the information gap as a brand new user trying to launch a witness. Witnesses are expected to know everything and no one that I've met to date does. Some focus on the Githubs and code but miss the social trends, others can tell you everything you never wanted to know about who to hire to build the best bid bot, but don't know what that 0.1 or 0.2 actually mean. That's obviously unacceptable. Have to know it all. That's not sarcasm. You have to know it or risk being wrong.
I'm not going to tell you that I'm better than everyone else or that I'm right all the time. Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I think I'm right and I'm wrong. It's a very steep learning curve.
All your wildest dreams will come true when you vote a witness into the Top 20. This is not true. No one can promise that. No project a witness may put forth to strengthen their position (aptly commonly called "witness project") can do this. STEEM is designed around the crab bucket notion that no crab can ever escape because other crabs will keep it down. There will always be checks and balances in place. Your wildest dreams, as an individual, will never come true but if you play your cards right, you will get closer to your goal. There are no magic solutions.
High Rollers
Focusing on witnesses with flashy projects that support your goal encourages those projects and moves you closer. This is a fact. But without the guy working in the background, going through code and testing parameters, looking for loopholes, trying new things, none of those flashy projects can exist. It's not about the high rollers. If the casino door is jammed closed, no one is getting in.
Random guy parking a lambo on video with minnows watching
Do I deserve your vote? No one "deserves" anything. It's up to me to make you realize my contribution and value. Those two coupled together should ultimately increase the value of the STEEM blockchain.
Witness Objectives
There are a few universal objectives all witnesses should have in common.
- Reliability of the STEEM blockchain
- Longevity of the STEEM blockchain
- Utility of the STEEM blockchain
- Competitiveness of the STEEM blockchain
The first two parameters are technical. They involve running witnesses, seeds, various tests, sharing findings, etc.
Utility falls to all of those who onboard, create various frontends, service bots and programs.
Competitiveness is the one to watch. EOS is only a matter of time and Dan Larimer stated that he's building another Steemit on top of it. Dan built the original STEEM blockchain and Steemit. The creator of the original is now building the competitor. I'm not criticizing his move or his projects as, in the end, it was his work that made all of this possible in the first place.
What I'm starting to see is STEEM witnesses and top supporters putting the brand that they built on STEEM towards promoting EOS. Not going to name names. Crossing the brands over can go either way. One, it can help STEEM. Two, it can harm STEEM. It can help STEEM if these individuals shill for STEEM on EOS. It can harm STEEM if these individuals shill for EOS on STEEM. Right now I'm only seeing the second option. Individuals who built their notoriety on STEEM are crossing their brand over into EOS and blatantly shilling for it while profiting off STEEM.
I salute those who had the balls to say goodbye to STEEM in favor of EOS. They're moving on to a project they're more interested in. They're not using STEEM to shill for a competitor.
Batting for Both Teams
The Guiltyparties brand was reinvented for STEEM and with the explicit purpose to build on the STEEM blockchain. It's an old brand. I gave permission to use it explicitly for STEEM myself. If it is ever to be found on competing blockchains, it will always be in a supporting manner to STEEM. STEEM is it's homebase. Unless the STEEM blockchain becomes unusable and impossible to continue on, it will stay put. I own the brand and I will never play both sides with it.
Guiltyparties is a witness in the 80-90 ranks. It was 100+ just recently. To run this witness in a way it's meant to be run -- as a contributor to the STEEM blockchain and its sound operation -- is a full-time job. When we had a recent exploitation of various parameters and blocks were being missed left and right, we killed our backup trying to find a solution. It took a few days just to test the code and to make the patching work. We patched it ahead of the final announcement by 
So what happens if the Guiltyparties witness never generates any notable support? The money aspect only plays a role in justifying the witness and its infrastructure. If the witness is rejected by the community and unwanted, then money is just being flushed down the drain. If the witness is being accepted, the expenditure is justified. None of this applies in this discussion for the simple fact that it's impossible for a witness that created a brand off STEEM to not be accepted as the existence of the brand equates acceptance. If the rep was built here, that witness is in the top ranks. If the brand preceded STEEM, like Guiltyparties does, it can't be simultaneously accepted by two distinct competing platforms. Simple blockchain philosophy.
The witness title logo is free to use on posts, no credit required.
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Like what we're doing? Support us as a Witness.Go to https://steemit.com/~witnessesAt the bottom, type in guiltypartiesClick VOTE
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