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It’s hard to believe, but I’ve now been part of this community for over 7 years — 7 years and 83 days to be exact — since joining Hive on August 18th, 2017. That means I’m now in my 8th year here and within the overall Web3 landscape.

To shape the future, one must also keep in mind the past. Looking back at the years ('23/'24), it’s been both rewarding and challenging. I’ve learned a lot from my past mistakes and have grown in meaningful ways — personally, spiritually, and professionally.

"Hard times create strong minds."

Contractor

But as important as the lessons are, it’s also been tough, with things not turning out as I had hoped. In 2023, I invested many months working with Splinterlands/Genesis League Sports. I offered my time voluntarily after they requested support due to low funding and layoffs, believing it was the right thing to do and that this loyalty might be valued. However, when I eventually asked about compensation, they unfortunately decided to move on without me.

Splinter Royale

Even after that, I still believed in Splinterlands’ potential and remained active within the community. I went all-in on developing Splinter Royale, an auto chess brawler game-mode adding a new twist to the world. I even created multiple proposals to fund further development, but none of them succeeded.

With limited interest and support from both the community and the company, I realized I needed a new direction. I still valued the world of Splinterlands, with its amazing artwork, lore, and community — especially a core group of dedicated players who spent hours playing Splinter Royale — but things needed to change. Building a game is already difficult. Building a game in Web3 is even more challenging, and then being completely reliant on another project — that's overkill.

Ethgard Legends

To find more stability and independence, I ultimately decided to pivot and rebrand the game as Ethgard Legends. I’m more passionate than ever about Ethgard (Legends) because I believe deeply in the potential of onchain/Web3 gaming.

However, the Web3 Gaming landscape has changed a lot over the years. Expectations are now higher than ever as more AA and AAA studios have entered the space and with many projects having already been developed over the years. Meanwhile, some of the simpler, financially successful games are heavily based on Ponzi-like tokenomics or gambling elements. Based on my experiences and seeing the negative effects these systems can have when they aren’t carefully designed, I’ve decided to take a different approach.

I’m focused on building a game with real gameplay value, where onchain/Web3 elements are used in ways that actually add to the experience, not just as a hype vehicle or gambling mechanism. This approach takes time and dedication - especially for an indie project developed by a single person. But things are developing fast, especially with the most recent update: Ethgard Legends - Alpha Game Client V2.

"The Peoples Guild" Podcast

Recently, I shared more about my journey and vision on The Peoples Guild podcast (@thepeoplesguild). We discussed Hive, Splinterlands, Web3 gaming, and more. You can listen to the full conversation here: Episode 115 - A RealWolf Conversation.

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Activity on Hive

During the interview, I also realized I haven’t been as active in posting and engaging on Hive as I used to. Most of my time has been focused on developing Ethgard Legends, which has naturally shifted my priorities.

This shift has also affected my witness position, as I haven’t been able to be as outspoken or active in Hive-related work. In the past, I spent a lot of time writing posts and sharing ideas, but often, these ideas wouldn’t get implemented, making it hard to justify spending so much time in that direction. So now, I’m focusing on projects I can directly influence.

Still, my dedication to Hive hasn’t changed. In the interview, I also talked about my original goal to build Ethgard Legends on Hive. I actually started developing it here, but eventually had to move to an EVM-based chain, because Hive doesn’t have native smart contract support. For Ethgard Legends to be as decentralized and onchain as possible from the start, it needed smart contracts. And for stability and longevity I decided on EVM compatible chains - which ultimately still was a hard choice I had to make facing all the challenges I mentioned above. Maybe in the future, things will look different.

Hive = Community

That said, I still believe Hive’s greatest strength is its community. Even if I ever had to step down from my witness position, I’d still be here, as this community has truly grown on me like a family over the years.

With this said, the witness role has been essential in providing the means to keep building and I'm not planning to stop running my nodes. So, if you find value in my presence and the projects I’m working on, I’d be very grateful for your vote.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey with me so far. Here’s to many more years on Hive.

Wolf

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^{Do you believe that my work is valuable for Hive? Then please vote for me as witness.}