Splinterlands continues to be the groundbreaking project on Steem. The team there is moving quickly to expand the reach.

Already the leading application on Steem based upon the number of users, it now is trying its hand at the Ethereum blockchain.

While the game did not move, the cards can now be converted to ERC-721. This enables the listing of cards on those exchanges that carry NFTs.

We are in touch with the OpenSea team who is excited and open to doing some promotion for the game, and we will likely be holding some contests and promotions to kick-start the use of OpenSea for buying and selling Splinterlands cards in the near future, so please stay tuned for that!

At the same time, the Dark Energy Crystal now can be converted to ERC-20 tokens. This offers the potential to have those listed on Ethereum based exchanges.

One final point is the announcement that cards will soon be purchased using PayPal. This is a major breakthrough in that it enables easy conversion from Fiat currency.

https://steempeak.com/splinterlands/@splinterlands/splinterlands-ethereum-integration-is-live

This is important because it expands the reach of Splinterlands (and in turn, Steem). The more ways people have the ability to get involved, the better it is. I am not sure if it shows in the price of the cards, but this just provided a great deal more value to the entire Splinterlands ecosystem.

Think about it this way: every single Ethereum based token is now eligible to be used for Splinterlands' cards. Whether it is a ERC-20 or ER0721, any cards that are on those exchanges can be acquired by converting Ethereum tokens over to ETH.

It operates in the same way as any Steem-Engine token, being converted to Steemp to acquire another token.

We often discuss getting STEEM onto other exchanges. This is exactly what Splinterlands is effectively doing with the tokens (cards) from its game. There is now access to one of the top ten blockchains and all that is taking place on there.

Accessibility is key. These moves by the Splinterlands' team only makes it easier for people to get involved by acquiring the cards. This is vital for expansion. Providing more paths to the door can only help in the long run.

Soon when new people ask "what can I do with that Ethereum, once I get it", we can state "buy Splinterlands' cards".

Source

@roadscape is hard at work bringing Communities to life. This is going to be a massive game changer. Each time we get announcements or some insight, it gets more exciting.

@midlet put together an excellent post based upon a couple comments that Roadscape left. I agree with the sentiment that this information needs to be spread far and wide.

Here are the comments:

The first deals with layout. Having different options of how things are viewed is commonplace for us today. For years, Windows offered the opportunity for one to determine how he or she had files listed. It appears this same ability is going to be provided at the base level of Communities. This will really help those who utilize mobile devices to access the Communities since certain layouts are more mobile-friendly.

A second piece that I feel is very important is the idea of collectivism. One of the greatest benefits of crypto-economics is for people to band together to do things that benefit people collectively, as opposed to individually. We have seen a bit of it within the cryptocurrency world thus far but, for the most part, it is absent. Instead, we are fractured, creating a lot of infighting.

With Communities, that will end to a degree. I will quote from the post to better highlight what I am referring to.

To quote myself from another post

One of the great benefits I see in Communities is that you're no longer fighting for attention alone. Your community is your team and when people see someone else's content in a particular community that you participate in, they're more likely to see your content.

This feature takes this basic idea and extends it even further, because now you can grow your SP as a team as well. Every individual Community will be able to create a setup like busy or Esteem, where the app takes a small cut, but they upvote your post as well, in most cases making up for it. Over time these community accounts can grow and become quite powerful giving the Community more resources, to onboard more people, reward value, and basically create a positive experience.

https://steempeak.com/hive-136578/@midlet/what-s-coming-for-communities

I concur completely. This is a major benefit to each Community that is set up. We no longer are operating as individuals. Instead, people can get together and collaborate in an effort to move things ahead. This is what the basic function of money is: the ability to collaborate.

Part of the problem with the present economic system is that it is a "dog-eat-dog" world. The online world is overrun by advertising put out by the handful of platforms that control the Internet. Communities allow us to take a different approach, especially when you consider the application of the "upvote economy".

Of course, all of these are Ideas 1.0 when it comes to Communities. Who knows what other innovations people are going to come up with as they start using the features when fully released.

Think of what this does for people. Anyone can come onto Steem and become part of a Community that is attractive to him or her. Along with the other people there, the entire Community can grow through their collective efforts. It can have a SMT turning it into an actual economy that people are part of. Those who are active and providing value to the Community will be rewarded. If it expands, bringing in more people, the value of the entire platform grows, thus providing greater rewards to all involved.

Another thing this does is it should reduce the in-fighting. If one does not like what is going on in a certain Community, then stay out of it. Over time, we could see thousands of Communities, enough for people to choose from. All are not going to be to everyone's liking.

Plus, in true open, decentralized fashion, if you do not like what is taking place in a particular community, you can always start your own.

2020 is already heating up on Steem. We are seeing a lot of good things happening.

// Posted From Steem.