I keep seeing new names in the Land-baron channel. With prices low and updates imminent a lot of players are watching the market closely and snapping up bargains. When a tract owner sells his 100 plots to 20 different people, that's Praetoria becoming decentralised. While it's great to have whales to look up to and aspire to join; a handful of huge accounts and tens of thousands of tiny ones isn't the most stable foundation on which to build a game like this. The middle class is growing. Whether they're waiting for a whale to dump everything and leave when prices are down, or to sell a chunk and take gains on a pump; the hungry dolphins are there, staking their claim and decentralising the game. Many whales had a lot to invest because they're investors. Whether they set up bot armies or just rented out cards; they didn't come to game, they came to profit. That's fine, the potential for profit is a big part of the game; but they tend to avoid playing. They'll automate everything they can and have scholars do the rest. Think of whales as movie stars. I've never met Brad Pitt, but I've spent countless hours watching him thanks to technology. He's great at what he does and I wish him the best, but there's only room in the world for so many Brad Pitts, and the stakes are pretty low for him. He doesn't get nervous filming because the editor's only going to show us his best moments. Now think of the actor in a stage play. His audience is finite, not amplified by technology. The stakes are higher because he only gets one chance at each scene. He'd love to be in Brad's shoes one day, so he has a clear goal to work toward; but there's room in the performing arts world for tens of thousands of actors like himself. That's our dolphin, and that's where my heart is. There might be a lambo in his future, but he doesn't wake up and check his driveway every morning. He just wants to be better; to perfect his craft, to dream of that perfect moment, where the lines flow, where stun procs, where repair fixes that one armour just before a huge melee attack arrives; and where the audience erupts in response. A standing ovation from the whole Colosseum. With the SPS token moving to validator nodes, new resources coming to land, more players stepping up to claim dolphin status and Hive futures on Binance; 2025 is going to be huge for decentralisation. I'm so glad and proud to be part of this community. May God bless you and your family in the New Year.
-Matt Clarke
