Proud of My Friends, Proud of This Community
Every so often, something happens in this ecosystem that reminds me why I’m still here—why I still believe in Splinterlands, in Hive & in the community we've built around them.
I'm writing this as I'm listening in on the waning moments of Episode 86 of Into the Splinterverse, and man, this was one of those moments.
Two of my good friends & some of my favorite community members in all of Praetoria, @davemccoy and @stever82, sat down for a live, honest conversation about the future of conflicts, the pressures of our present needs & the growing divide between player types.
No script.
No PR nonsense.
Just two people who care deeply about the game, the community & where it’s all headed.
And honestly, it meant a lot.
Dave is the current COO of Splinterlands. He didn’t need to show up. But he did. And he stayed well into the wee hours of the morning.
On a public livestream.
To hear concerns, answer tough questions & own the hard truths.
That takes guts. And it takes heart.
More than anything, what stood out to me was Dave’s empathy.
He didn’t deflect. He didn’t posture. He listened, acknowledged & responded with clarity and care.
That’s what real leadership looks like—not just steering the ship when things are smooth, but standing in the shit, listening to real concerns from some of our most loyal Praetorians and saying, “I hear you.”
And Steve—man, if you've been around long enough, you already know how much this guy cares.
He wears it openly.
Passion, frustration, love, disappointment—he doesn’t filter any of it.
He just puts it all on the table in service of something better.
You can tell it’s coming from a place of genuine care.
Of real loyalty.
Huge shoutout to @synist3r as well for helping steer the conversation & create space for this kind of dialogue.
The conversation wasn’t perfect. It didn’t solve everything. But it was honest. It was necessary. And it was the kind of community moment we need more of if we’re going to make this game something truly lasting.
So yeah—this post isn’t about mechanics or tokenomics or proposals.
It’s about gratitude.
To Dave—for showing up, staying up & leading with empathy and conviction.
To Steve—for being willing to speak up even when it’s hard. I understand the frustration but I hope you'll choose to stick it through.
And to everyone in this wild little ecosystem who still believes that building something great is worth the fight.
Go give the episode a watch if you haven’t already:
I'll give it a listen. Thanks for sharing, bro!
I might have similar sentiments towards how modern is at the moment and I am not surprised I am not the only one feeling that way.
Well worth the listen - come back and lemme know what your thoughts were, Jedo!
Im only about an hour in so far but it does sound like it needed tales to be there to stop the butting of heads, open honest conversation but it will need more than that to pick up a few of the guys and gals who put money it CA. Hopefully a rethink of the calculations for the 2nd conflict will solve the problem and not too much damage has been done.
Yea, Tales definitely helped to keep things on the rails for the most part. And I agree that open conversations like this are a great start. I expect the team will take the feedback to heart and rethink certain elements of our current Conflict model.
Thank you Jangles, I appreciate you and your always thoughtful insights and community voice! Also I appreciate @stever82 @synist3r @bebeomega for their honest and respectful points of view. I learned from the discussion and we can use the experience and take some of the suggestions give to make the game even better in the future.
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STOPThat was definitely a "great/interesting" stream to watch and listen to—the concerns raised were real and valid. But I have to say, the way Dave handled everything deserves a lot of respect, in my opinion. He didn’t have to show up, let alone stay that late, but he did—and that speaks volumes.
Change always comes with risk and sometimes with unforeseen consequences. Personally, I didn’t anticipate the issue with Black Foils and the minimal wagon strategy either.
What I really appreciate is that the team recognized the problem quickly and is already looking at ways to address it. The new foil types also add value for collectors, so it’s easy to understand why they were introduced in the first place.
Maybe a good solution could be to limit the CP per wagon—we’ll see what the team comes up with, but I’m confident they’ll find a balanced fix.
And hope @stever82 keeps on streaming, often watch it when i have time 😁
Even if I moved to a land player only, I would still follow the project and stream.
Completely agree. Dave didn’t have to be there. He didn’t have to stay up till 2am. But he did and the way he carried that conversation — with empathy, clarity & calm — says a lot about the kind of leader he is. Proud to call Dave my homie.
Also glad you called out the intent behind the Black Foil design. There is value there, especially for collectors — but like you said, unintended consequences happen. What matters most is how the team responds & I think they’re showing they’re willing to listen and adapt.
Appreciate the kind words about Steve, too. Hoping he keeps streaming — the game’s better with his voice in it.
Thanks for sharing! - @azircon
I have listened to it live, and listened again.
I am disappointed on @stever82 and it will take me a long time to get over it.
My issue was some of his comments, especially comments like:
"I am not unhappy because I got less airdrop cards, I am unhappy because others like bravetofu, vugtis and duce got many more"
Where I am from we teach our children not to get into this mindset.
However, this is the current world order. It is fashionable to blame and point fingers.
you see there, that is your problem, and do you see that guy there, he is to blame for your problem! ................. this is the current model of popular politics these days. So Steve's thought process is perfect if we consider that.
If it hit you like that, then I understand what you are saying. Yet what my point was more that this system is bad if it is set up to allow a few to take so many of the rewards. That is not the spirit of most "airdrops." imo
And my point is the system is exciting. I am here to celebrate others successes and wins. I am not here to envy and measure ROI. That’s me.
But you are not. So be it.
You do you, universe will do universe!
I got you, Az — I do. And thank you for taking the time to listen not once, but twice.
However, I’d ask that we try to hold a little space for the fact that what we caught on that livestream was raw, unfiltered humanity.
Steve was clearly emotional & while some of his phrasing may not have landed well, he owned it in real time. He clarified what he meant, acknowledged that he could’ve said it better & didn’t shy away from sitting in the discomfort of it all.
We’ve all had moments where frustration spills over and words come out messier than intended — especially when we care deeply.
Steve made some poor decisions in the game and he is responsible for that. He also made some poor choices of words and delivery and he is 100% responsible for that.
The discomfort was much higher to Dave and it is another testimony how patient he always is for dealing with that repetitive nonsense for 3 hours and even taken an immediate action.
Being human is perfectly fine. Being a better human is better.
Yes, we’re in complete agreement here — I don’t think anyone’s making excuses for Steve’s decisions or his delivery. Just calling out that he was speaking from a place of genuine frustration and care — and I do appreciate that
And yeah, Dave absolutely deserves credit for how he handled the conversation — cool, measured, compassionate. He’s a rare breed, and we’re better off for it
Being a better human is better, agreed — but it often starts with being allowed to be one in the first place :)
Thanks a lot, it was a tough stream for sure.
Wow, this touched me more than I thought it would. Sometimes you forget that behind the noise, the tokens and the bugs, there are real people who stick around, listen and care about what we are building. These kinds of moments make it worthwhile to still be here.
Really appreciate you saying that, Mel. It's often easy to lose sight of the people behind the computer screen—but I completely agree that it's moments like this remind us why we’re still here, still building, still believing.
What a great read!
Yes! I watched most of this live (with a break in the middle for some rl stuff lol) then went back an re-watched the whole thing. HUGE respect to both Dave and Steve for doing what they did - it takes guts and patience on both sides, and this was not a short conversation!
Great job pointing out what this really was about Jimmy, it's about the community.