Hi all,
Thanks for your interest in our game!
You can find our official
announcement post in the altcoin subforum,
since we are using ETH and are not allowed to post in the main Gambling forum.
Make sure to subscribe there, because discussion threads like this one tend to be locked by mods after some time and we can't post to inform you about updates. You can also follow us on Twitter:
@miandthemarblesUnfortunately it is not that easy for us to add BTC as a payment option since we are using some of the more advanced features of the ethereum blockchain that allow us to do automatic payouts and guaranteed refunds. But we will investigate the Directbet's payout solution some have mentioned in here, thanks for that.
In case you know of other ways to integrate BTC into Ethereum please let us know.
At the moment there are no races taking place because of the high transaction fees on the ethereum network. They are causing the betting fees and operation costs to skyrocket which is why we decided to temporarily postpone the next race until further notice.
However, we are working on the integration of a layer 2 solution which will provide us with better scalability and dramatically lower the tx fees for betters.
We love to take the opportunity to address your questions and concerns raised in this thread:
Animal welfareMia (the hamster) is not forced to do anything, as some have already pointed out.
Also she runs just as much as she wants. Currently, every 2km she runs, a new marble race starts.
If she is not in the mood for running much for a longer period (days or weeks), we can just lower that threshold to have more races. So the game adapts to her, not the other way around.
Typically she is still running in the wheel during a marble race, but on some race videos you see her getting out of the wheel and watching the marbles or just run around.
Safety of betsAs there is no guarantee that a race will take place within a certain time (Mia might get ill or just not be in the mood to run, or something far worse like an earthquake might happen),
our smart contract has an integrated refund functionality which is enabled automatically 2 days after the round has started.
You can verify this for yourself and take a look at the contract’s source code on
etherscan.
Track lengthWe started with a short track because we wanted to make it not too random so that players can make educated guesses and not everything is dependent on pure luck.
As it turned out, the outcomes on the current short track are already very random. Making the track longer with more obstacles makes it even more unpredictable.
It looks like finding the right balance between predictability and entertainment is quite tricky for marble races, so we might as well do longer and more entertaining race tracks in the future.
After all, it should make fun to play and watch, and a longer track is certainly more entertaining!
Marble weightWe actually never measured them. But the statistics of the ~170 races during the beta phase (which you can see on the bottom of the “past races” page) did not show an advantage of any certain marble.
We don’t think that weight is a big factor, the obstacles have a much higher impact on the outcome of the races.
On a completely unobstructed track, weight would become the dominant factor for sure.
House edgeWe are taking 20% of the pot, however >50% of that goes into the next round as seed money. That being said, there is no guarantee for us to make a profit in every round, and under certain circumstances it can also result in a loss for us.