SteemSports Update: Steem Only Plays, VIP FAN Zone, Blocktrades Integration and more
Currency Simplification
The @steemsports core team held a strategic meeting today and among various discussion points, one immediate change we decided to implement is the simplification down to a single currency on steemsports.com for all game pools.
While Steem Dollars (SBD) are very convenient to use due to their approximate peg to the USD, Steem Dollars are largely illiquid right now and won't make sense for mass adoption of outside users willing to play with large sums of money. Creating utility for STEEM is a better strategy as this will help increase demand for and ultimately support the price of STEEM.
It is for these reasons that we decided to simplify our PAY PLAYS pools with the single currency of STEEM. We are also looking to implement USD overlays which will allow users to identify the market value of their Steem Plays and wallet values at a glance.
We furthermore invite you, the Steem community, to play our games with STEEM to help build the game pools and engagement to make our platform attractive to the outside market. Manual Play options are also available if you prefer not to use your active key on the web-app, and memo instructions can be found when you select your outcome.
Our short term goal is to build an active client base organically to 100 users, starting with the Steem community and branching out from there. Once we have some traction, we can start properly marketing the steemsports.com web-app in the media.
VIP FAN Zone
On Discord chat we have created a VIP FAN-Zone channel, our team will be actively inviting winners of our games to join the FAN ZONE and participate in fun sports discussions and building a global sporting community around Steem. We will be in touch with you soon with invites.
Wallet Balance Now Visible on the UI
Our dev team has added the ability for customers to view their wallet balances right on the web-app games page, so customers can immediately see how much they have to play with. See below screenshot:
Blocktrades Integration
@furion and I have been in contact with Dan Notestein of blocktrades.us and obtained the necessary API integration instructions. With the help of our new React developer, Fred, we have integrated the Blocktrades API to be able to allow users to top-up their wallet balances with other major Digital Currencies.
To use this feature, users need only click on the '+' (plus) icon next to the above-mentioned Steem wallet balance on the game page and the Blocktrades API window will appear as shown below, users will then be given a wallet address to transfer the selected Digital Currency to for the conversion and top-up.
For simplicity, Fred, has filtered out some of the less popular Digital Currencies from the standard Blocktrades app and I have requested he add back Steem and SBD for fast conversion between the two on our web-app rather than having to do so in the Steemit wallet GUI or Cli wallet.
Front-end Overhaul
@pkattera (Pon), our front-end product developer is currently working on new iterations of the web-app UI, with some mobile friendly layouts as well. This should be ready by the end of February and will greatly help us take this product to the public market.
And finally, yes ... WE WANT YOUR STEEM ... so come play SteemSports Pay Plays and help us build utility and demand for Steem, let us make Steem great together!
Sincerely,
@thecryptodrive (CEO)
Resteemed by the general!
Very honoured thank you!
wow how did the general get so many upvotes
greetings
Very nice I think this is a very good Update , Furthermore I will take this post to give my opinion. I have been following you from the very start. I do not think it is in the best interest for the people working with Steemit to not be involved placing wagers. Especially Steemsportsfund that wagers on both sides . Also if it is a POOL PlAY I also think there should be no point spreads. I can almost guarantee a higher pool if games are chosen with no spreads. Just my opinion! Steem On!!!
Hi @capper2016, thanks for the feedback. To clarify the @steemsportsfund is actually playing the house, it funds both sides automatically to make the game more attractive for users, by funding both sides equally we actually lose out more than we win. Our @steemsports team (which is not affiliated with Steemit.com team) are integral to taking part in the Pay Plays, by playing they are battle testing the system and picking up on potential improvements and issues with the flow of the UI etc, we need them to play to give us feedback, also they are the ones who will eventually help onboard other users and are most passionate about our project, so it makes sense if they are allowed to play. @cryptoiskey for example has been playing the losing side on some games on purpose to help give a bit of liquidity.
The dropping of the spread is a tricky one, because then the game will be weighted very heavily on one side, if a strong team plays a weak team then everyone will bet on the strong team if there is no spread and there will be no money in the losing pool for the winners to win. That is basically the purpose of the spread, and to help prevent ties.
I hope this helps in answering your questions. :)
Need to learn more about all of this as interested to know more.
Feel free to contact me or @cryptoiskey or @theprophet0 on Discord chat.
@thecryptodrive - Oops. Accidentally bet SBD on Steelers/Patriots. Will not repeat that mistake. Will the wager be recognized for this final game? If not can the wager be cancelled?
Yes, SBD will be paid out normally. The only difference at this time is in frontend UI.
SteemConnect?
I had discussed SteemConnect with @furion previously, the short answer is that SteemConnect doesn't really fit our use case.