Except that the "drawbridge" is still open -- that is, the barrier to entry is still relatively low. [and yet another plug for the circle-jerk-of-trust that I'm not going to dignify by quoting a link to]
If the userbase increases and blocks are full, the choices are as follows:
- Pay an average fee and still wait for the next available block that isn't full (which will take longer and longer as more users join, even if you pay a fee)
- Pay an above-average fee and hope that it's more than everyone else is paying (and if you don't guess correctly, wait for the next block)
- Go off chain and hope that whoever you trusted doesn't run off with the coins
- Use another coin
Obviously the whales won't mind paying the above-average fee, but everyone else will be forced to introduce risk to their transaction. It will either be delayed, or if you go off chain, you have to place trust in a third party. Guaranteed security for them, risk for everyone else.
Or, we could remove the pointless, artificial 1MB bottleneck and everything carries on exactly like it does now. The blockchain doesn't instantly double or treble in size. It doesn't lead to mass-centralisation (or if it does, it will happen much more slowly than it would if we start forcing users off-chain). None of the other idiotic horror stories your side of the debate has raised will come true.
You might try to carry out Mircea-Next-Tuesday's little threat and launch your 1MB-only nodes if you fancy fighting the inevitable, but I'm still pretty sure you're full of hot air on that one since you know it would be financial suicide. When the fork goes ahead, you're going to tag along and play nice because you don't have any other choice.
this hole MP thing sounds more and more like a sect to me.
Spot on. They've already made the argument that when Gavin spent a few minutes in their IRC channel to have a chat with them, that it was a sign of weakness or concession on his part (which is obviously horseshit), yet they still think they can tempt the rest of us in there. It's just a desperate, evangelical, recruitment drive to try and drum up support for their odious side of the argument.