My SPS Validator Node

Good Day everyone ,

Just writing up a post about my SPS Validator Node.

TLDR {

Validator Node Details

For the hardware I bought a mini PC specifically to run the validator software.

Specs:

4core CPU (Intel N150)
16G Ram
500GB NVMe Storage (with another M.2 slot for expansion)

I specifically chose the N150 because of it's low power usage , as I am off grid. I have plenty enough battery capacity to always have power (as I don't actually use that much) , but anything that runs 24/7 is better off being low powered. And I'm on a Starlink connection , so there should be no worries about internet connectivity or bandwidth.

For the moment the API isn't opened up to the outside , but I am planning on doing this at some point , so hopefully the node will be a bit more useful to others if they want to use the API. I am hoping to use @cryptomancer 's notes / instructions (I still that that should be pinned tho :) ) in the discord to set that all up , just haven't quite gotten there yet.

If anyone out there with some votes left would like to vote for my node that would be greatly appreciated.

Which can either be done here :

https://thespsdao.github.io/SPS-Validator/account-votes/manage

or on Peakmonsters :

https://peakmonsters.com/validators

And it might be a bit easier to use the search option to find my node which you can do on both sites searching for betelzeusnz

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I'll start with

Brief History

I got into the crypto space around 2015 maybe 2016. Previously various people had suggested that maybe I should look into it , but I was definitely a bit wary of it in the beginning , but eventually came around and started buying here and there , nothing major. I even tried mining a few coins / tokens , when you still could. That was just more playing around seeing what I could manage to do , I didn't have a mining rig or anything like that , more just seeing what different cards could do on different chains / algorithms.

And then came NFTs. Or , when I had found out about them anyways. Might have been cryptokitties and some of the other smaller and similar offshoots or copies of that. Which I did wind up to mess around with for a little while , but in all honesty , I was very sceptical and wary of any and all NFTS. So again , when others suggested about checking NFTs out , I was pretty much completely against puting any time or money into any of them. They really all just seemed like not a very good place to put any significant amount of money. So I steered clear for a good while. Until...

Fast forward a bit and someone again suggested that I might want to look into NFTs. So I looked around for a while , trying to find something that seemed at the very least , on the level. Also , something that didn't have crazy insane transaction fees like anything on Ethereum.

Splinterlands History

So I finally find Splinterlands. And my first reaction was something along the lines of : this is exactly what I was looking for. It was perfect. Not only did it have NFTs , but it's an awesome concept and game as well , especially for anyone who has played Magic or some of the other TCGs out there (I was more into Netrunner actually).

So yeah , I was pretty much instantly sold on Splinterlands when I found it. It did take me a little while to get the hang of it. Not only was it pretty cool to play , but you actually get a bit of crypto as well. And on top of that , you actually own the cards you buy.

When I started , I think Untamed had sold out but Dice was actually still for sale in the store. At the time though , I didn't realize that Dice was actually a pack of cards , so I didn't wind up getting any. Which was a shame really , because I would have bought some packs if I had realized that that's what they were.

So when Chaos Legion came out , I was all in on that. And I wound up buying a boat load of packs. I can't really remember exactly how many now , but it was a LOT! Partly through a group buy with @infidel1258 and T&A Legion guild (which was the first guild I was a part of , so big thanks to him for having me be part of his guild). And I wound up buying a heap more packs afterwards as well. So it must have been around mid 2021 when I got in I guess.

So I had maxed out Chaos Legion and Riftwatchers when it came out (didn't have the RW promos tho) and was happily sitting around in Diamond 1 for a good while. I had made it to Champ a few times , but ultimately I think Diamond League wound up being a better fit for me.

Eventually I got invited to the YGG Brawlers guild , Nidavellir to be specific. And had been with them up until very recently.(Big thanks to @brimreaper for inviting me to their guild. or was it @krymptome that invited me , sorry can't really remember now , in any case though thanks to YGG Brawlers for having me in their guild).

I had played Splinterlands pretty consistently since I'd started (maybe with a few breaks). But unfortunately had to slow down and bit and then eventually had to stop playing (for now anyways) because of quite a lot of IRL stuff going down that really took and tbh is still taking it's toll on me.

And I still want to support Splinterlands , so I figured the best way for me to do that now is by running a validator node. And finally I'll get to my setup after all that rambling :) (I'll post this at the top as well as a TLDR)