I have a series of questions to pose to the DEV team. Most of these are from reading back in the thread, as well as being active in the slack channel, so I’m bringing up stuff others have also been wondering about. There is a growing sentiment of “what the heck is going on around here”, so hopefully we can get some clarity on these issues in the form of response from the DEV team. Here goes:
#1: In post
#2216, we are discussing how “pieces” of torrent files are not transacted (leacher to seeder) on the VTR blockchain, but rather through micropayment channels using tokens that interchange with VTR coins. Where at in the development cycle are the payment channels?
#2: In post
#2226, ik_do discussed hopes for the client in terms of: ease of use, ease of search, web of trust (seeder rating system), chatrooms, and adoption incentives. This was an excellent, far-reaching post. Can you discuss any plans in the development process to address any of these goals?
#3: Most people who have researched this project understand the technology can make those using it the target of actions ranging from harassment from ISPs to much worse. Does the client currently or in the future plan to help mask the commonly used identifiers of nodes on the network? Or, is this left to the best practices of the users of the client? For folks less technically savvy, what suggestions can be made in regards to better protecting your node from easy identification so that the network can scale safely?
#4: In post
#2822, it is asked if the client will offer any ways to protect people seeding torrents? This goes hand in hand with the above, but also, will the planned I2P and TOR integration be handled through the client or by users running these services on their own?
#5: Are there any plans for the client to provide for the use case of private tracker groups through some combination of the blockchain, in-wallet chat, or RIOT implementation? Or, are their plans for some stripped-down version of a market to allow for this? Even without torrents implemented, being able to encourage private trackers to use the client would be a boon.
#6: Is the DEV team waiting for BEP 51 or any other BEPs (BitTorrent Enhancement Proposals) to be completed in order for your deployment of in-wallet torrent to be ready?
#7: Is RIOT chat implementation ready for testing yet? Are there any details on its implementation you can share at this time such as where the data will be stored and if masternodes may be needed and/or optional with this feature? Can you share how ‘private’ chatting inside the client will be with this implementation?
#8: Lastly, late last year there was some great discussion around work on incentivizing seeders and working on the economics for seeding/leaching. With the input that was generated, have you made any solid plans for what this model will look like in vTorrent?
Also, many have commented on the activities of a 0.8.2 node on the network. Can you comment on the nature of this node?
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Those are my questions, but there are other points I’d like to make. In post
#3022 and then on several occasions afterwards, the community has discussed a desire to create some sort of marketing and PR front. In most crypto projects I’ve seen do well, there is a clear collaboration between the community and the DEV team or the DEV team is doing active communication on their own. I feel this community has the numbers and know how to get things done, we have a community built website, also reference post
#4042 for instance, community created videos, etc. However, the MAJOR thing holding us back is the lack of any real broad updates from the DEV team since the OP really. We need clarity, if not on all the above questions, then at least on some. Also, a whitepaper, roadmap, milestones, or a dedicated trusted go-between person should be produced or appointed by the DEV team. If funding is an issue to do any of these, I’m sure the community would step up because ANY news on this front will surely act to bolster the price. With information coming from the DEV team, we will actually have something to go out and spread the word about. Right now, despite great development that has taken place, we have little to talk about, so stagnation is occurring.
More importantly, communication on these items will solve what I see to be the main issue in moving this project forward from the social or network propagation standpoint. The supporters and investors of this project as well as would-be buyers are simply turned off by the lack of stated future plans and goals from our trusted DEV team. In order to grow the network and get our active connections up from the tens of nodes, to the hundreds of nodes and more, we need to know where this is heading. The DEV team speaks about needing solid foundations and have shown us they are creating them technically. Now, use words and not code to respond to community questions (or by appointing someone who can collaborate with you on this social front) and state the future plans and by doing so
you’ll be building the SOCIAL foundations – a distributed group of active nodes to help the network effects grow. This in turn will grow community support which may lead to help aiding your technical efforts to build the technological foundations to grow and then scale this thing.
.... to the moon 