The people have spoken! It was a massively contentious vote, but people have spoken with their nodes, and the long-term referrals have been clearly voted against. With just over 50% of the node votes voting against maintaining long-term referrals, they will be removed in the next major update in January.

The fourth vote will not be taking place, as there is no point in looking into the long-term referral depth if there are no long term referrals.

Therefore, the following governance votes over the past week have been presented to the nodes and will be implemented:

— Nodes will receive one point for every six hours of operation, rather than one point for six hours of operation regardless of how many hours they contribute.

— There will be a one-time referral bonus of 10 points (this is not a change)

— The long-term referral bonus will be removed

This is an important step in the development of the Gala Games Node Ecosystem. Keep watching for future votes!

After running for the last 24 hours, it is clear that the majority of the nodes who have voted in this last governance vote have elected to maintain some semblance of rewards for one-time referrals. Slightly over 71% elected to make the one-time reward >0. Furthermore, as of writing, 2781 votes (47.5% of the votes cast) elected to leave the structure as it is, with a one-time referral bonus of 10 points. This number will be integrated into the next major node release in January.

For the next 24 hours, the following vote will be active on the node network:

Question: How much of an ongoing referral bonus do you believe is fair for referring a node purchaser to the Gala Node Ecosystem? (Note: these figures are expressed as a % of the rewards received by a node operator)

• 0% — You get nothing extra for referring a new node operator
• 5% — You get something, but less than the current structure
• 10% — You receive a bonus in points which is similar to the current structure
• 15% — You believe that ongoing referral bonuses are essential to growing the ecosystem

This is a very important question for the “one time referral bonus” structure.

Tomorrow, depending on the results of this vote, another vote may take place:

Question: If the node operators elect to continue the long-term ongoing referral bonuses, how many levels deep should this bonus extend?

So, get your nodes online and be ready to participate in the voting!

It has been over a year since we introduced the first basic plans for the future of the Gala Games Node Ecosystem, and it is high time for a solid update. As we go into this update, it is important to note that software and ecosystem development is fraught with change. As you build something, you often find that it won’t work exactly as predicted or that there is some other critical component that is necessary. This often leads to delays, changes in scope, and shifts in trajectory as newer and better ways to solve problems present themselves. It is for this reason that we do not publish “road maps,” “whitepapers,” or specific developmental timelines. We recognize that this makes us different and some find it frustrating, but we will always work to build what is best for the whole ecosystem, and sometimes things are slightly different than what we initially planned.

Subject to Change

In the interest of making it perfectly clear, everything in this document is subject to change without notice as we build out the ecosystem. Ideas that once seemed like a great plan are sometimes revealed by time, further thinking, and greater expertise to be a poor plans. We will always build to support the ecosystem, games, gamers, and our outstanding community. We will ask the hard questions and make some tough calls, while putting topics to node votes when it concerns specific requirements for the node ecosystem, like the vote currently in progress on the node referral reward structure. This means that there may be changes to websites or articles without an accompanying official announcement.

Two Big Changes

The first change is the removal of “paid” and “free” nodes from the ecosystem map. Given that the long-term stability of the network depends on nodes being online essentially 24/7, we feel that both a “paid” (rental) and “free” model would not achieve the goals or minimum requirements of the network to function. In the future, nodes may have the ability to be leased or rented, but this is not something currently on the roadmap. In addition to the network stability issue of issuing rented or free nodes, it has also become clear that individual publishers coming to the network need to have the freedom to do things with their node structures that would not be supported by this model. The “paid” node model assumes a monolithic ecosystem, but the reality is that nodes for various games may not actually interface with the Founders Node Ecosystem at all, depending on legal considerations, technical limitations, or game requirements. This required a fundamental rethinking of the ecosystem in general.

This led to the second change: the introduction of “Game Specific Nodes” or “Game Specific Workloads” — These are nodes that serve a specific purpose in-game, such as the Town Star Node which will go to a governance vote later this week. These Node Licenses (which will be sold) serve specific purposes in-game. In the case of Town Star, they will eventually enable a user to run their town without leaving a browser window open. The potential rewards for these nodes will be limited to the specific game from which they are derived. They will never receive GALA or be afforded the benefits and privileges afforded to those who operate Founder’s Nodes. These may, at the discretion of the game developer, also be used to poll Game Specific Node operators about game changes, but will not have a “governance” function except where the game designer feels it would benefit the game. This structure allows the game developers to create their own smaller ecosystem which exists solely to support the requirements of their game, which is needed for the rapid onboarding into the broader Gala Games Ecosystem.

The Unique Power of Founder’s Nodes

What will not change is that Founder’s Nodes hold a place of utmost importance and honor in the ecosystem. We recognize that Founder’s Nodes are the core of the entire ecosystem, and we will always work to protect this position of honor. Founders Nodes will be the only nodes that receive GALA and NFTs for each game available on our platform. When new Game Specific Nodes are created and issued, a percentage of these will also be distributed to the operational node network in a random fashion similar to the way NFTs are distributed. However, as these nodes are not NFTs, they will be distributed as a redemption code via email to a selection of node operators active during the preceding 24 hours before the Node Licenses are officially made available for purchase.

There are further announcements regarding the Town Star Node, including an FAQ, which should answer many questions. There will also be VERY substantial updates to the node plan and ecosystem in the near future. Keep your eyes on this blog for updates, as well as in the Discord community! You never know when someone might post some leaky-leaks!

Join the Discussion in DISCORD

After running over the weekend, it is very clear what the wishes of the node community are in regards to points for operating nodes for more than 6 hours! We are very pleased to announce that the community has, by a significant margin, chosen to support rewarding one additional point for each six hours a node is online. As of writing, 8059 votes (64.3% of the votes cast) were recorded in favor of a single additional point for was six hours which a node supports the ecosystem. This will incentivize people to keep their nodes online over the long term to maximize rewards and create a more sustainable ecosystem. This change will take effect in the next major node build following the New Year.

Starting today, a new node governance vote will commence and run for approximately 24 hours

Question: How much of a one-time referral bonus do you believe is fair for referring a node purchaser to the Gala Node Ecosystem?

• 0 points — You get nothing extra for referring a new node operator
• 5 points — You get something, but less than the current structure
• 10 points — You receive a bonus in points which is similar to the current structure
• 15 points — You believe that one-time referrals are essential to growing the ecosystem

This is a very important question for the “one time referral bonus” structure.

Tomorrow, another vote will take place:

Question: How much of an ongoing referral bonus do you believe is fair for referring a node purchaser to the Gala Node Ecosystem?

…followed by the final vote on Wednesday on the following questions:

Question: If the node operators elect to continue the long-term ongoing referral bonuses, how many levels deep should this bonus extend?

So, get your nodes online and be ready to participate in the voting!