Introduction to a new format - 'ICO Pairing'
In brief, the idea is to put together related cryptocurrency/blockchain projects, products, websites, (d)apps etc; and pit them against one another in a series of 'matches'. Beginning with a brief discussion of reasons for the pairing, then the 'matches' will score a variety of factors side-by-side. Each 'match' will have a result 1 or 0, depending on what we find. For this first pairing, the topic will be sports betting. Friendly competition where room exists for multiple takes on a format. With the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup now underway, what better way to start than with two blockchain sports betting platforms, SCORUM vs PEERPLAYS.
Not just a game ...
There's a more than one reason for this pairing. The obvious reason being they use blockchain to run sports betting/gaming websites. Whether sports betting games are your thing or not, we are witnessing is blockchain ledger technology coming to a 39-billion dollar online industry with potential to overturn the whole concept of 'the house'.
The other purpose of this pair, is both are based on Graphene (MIT license), the same technology framework as BitShares or STEEM. Such projects often 'fork' (clone) BitShares or STEEM (or parts thereof), adapting or adding features to create unique standalone platforms. They may also provide some integrations or list tokens, for example on BitShares Decentralized Exchange (DEX).
The upshot of all this? More businesses/liquidity/trading/activity/users around the BitShares blockchain community and eco-system, to which extent shareholders have a vested interest.
The stakes are high - The odds are 'all-in' on the blockchain. By checking out the state of a few things, will a hotter favorite appear? Let the games commence!
Match 1 - Website Performance and Hosting Optimization Score by https://gtmetrix.com/
Vastly popular website optimization tool. A primary means of exposing/auditing quality of work on a website. Cryptocurrency is highly dependent on good web dev, security, and hosting. Therefore this is the first thing we can get a strong measure from.
PeerPlays are out of the gate with good performance on gtmetrix.com
PASS. Suggested: Deploy CDN or Caching, optimize WordPress for A A score
Scorum, unable to beat the score and coming behind on both PageSpeed and YSlow overall.
Much lower scores are returned on the scorum.com website. The quality does not meet expectations of the project hype. Check Failed.
Suggestions to be fixed: [Sample]
Result: Match 1 - Website Performance and Hosting Optimization
PeerPlays 1 - 0 Scorum
Match 2 - Website SEO (backend)
Next up another standard tool in our kit, where we expect 80%+ for a pass. You can run these yourself on any website, by registering at seositecheckup.com, with headings/keywords in a separate test.
PeerPlays SEO Site Checkup results
PeerPlays comes up with a result of 80/100. Reasonable with room for improvement. A clean pass.
Scorum - SEO Site Checkup exposes crucial errors
Coming home on this match with a result of 65/100, fails to meet pass rate of 80. Appears to be a clear lack of SEO direction and optimization on the scorum.com website, resulting in fundamental issues. We also checked the Alexa.com ranking, and noted activity has a sudden, huge spike happening the past 1 month - but not much prior to this, which raises a question about the techniques used to do so.
(Full report available on request, from website snapshot 24th June 2018.
Result: Match 2 - SEO Backend
PeerPlays 1 - 0 Scorum
Match 3 - Website SEO (content/keywords)
Here we simply check for H1 and H2 headers on the home, and what keywords appear. Search engines use both to gather vital information, and these rudimentary details are of weighted importance. Combined with the previous test, we'll start seeing if are project has some quality efforts behind it.
PeerPlays Keyword Cloud
All seems fine here, with highly relevant keywords to the site. Pass.
Scorum keyword Cloud
All does not seem fine, no headings and keywords on homepage have been considered in the home layout.
Result: Match 3 - Website SEO/Content
PeerPlays 1 - 0 Scorum
Match 4 - User Testing: UI/UX and flow
Next up is placing ourselves in the shoes of an end user, going to the site and 'blind-tasting' the best we can. The following will be a more detailed section, with screens to talk about what happened along the way.
Aim - Go to official website. Find out how quickly a non-technical user can open an account and start using blockchain applications. This is also the hardest test to pass.
User Testing - PeerPlays.com
PeerPlays first, and we arrive on the homepage which is full of information. Scrolling down, we soon find a selection of apps. Already having core wallet (there will be a separate section on that) we want to find 'Sports Betting'. Selecting the link takes us to this dApp on the PeerPlays blockchain.
Upon selecting BookiePro, I am taken to the following website where I can login or quickly register and the process is clear, and we are soon up and running.
This was then installed and an account registered, with first bets placed on the blockchain for world cup games (website is using play money).
Above - App shown on OS X. Another pass for PeerPlays.
Scorum - New User flow
Signup worked for scorum.com and delivers us to a homepage, where on the menu we can select a few dApps. Here's what we get on the homepage:
For this story, we are interested in Sports Betting, so this is what we select. Doing so takes us to a different website, leaves you asking "why am I on this different website with an email signup", instead of a clearly separate dApp as per PeerPlays. The betting website is mobile responsive, but again it is a totally different website. It has a separate signup process. Once inside, it has a separate user gateway for loading up SCR tokens from your main wallet, actually, it just specifies a manual address to send them to. This doesn't display any working integration. Worse, it gives off red-flag that these sites are forks from other projects and integrations are loose at best. We expected a wallet where these tokens could be moved around on the same chain.
Scorum - Seems to end up on a different website with poor integrations. We'll revisit this again below, in the core wallet section.
Below, this is where we load funds on the betting dApp. Comment on the screenshot, basically the user flow is clunky and the wallet is not integrated to the main blockchain account.
Match 4 Result - User Experience
PeerPlays - 1
Scorum - 0
Match 5 - Mobile Responsive Testing
Clearly, any serious project in this industry will have a strong mobile version of its website. Opening both on an iPhone SE. We can see from the screens below that in responsive mode, the Scorum.com interface was never UI/UX optimized for mobile apart from the main wrapper. Text becomes too small, and thus unreadable for the user:
Pinch-zoom on the text is not helping either as seen on the right.
Interval - Timeout!
Remember that these tests are identical to what we'd run against our own work, partners, or potential clients. They can be revealing in their simplicity - that's the purpose.
Above: PeerPlays website on mobile. A 'fully responsive' modern website must shift text and content around, even the whole layout, to make the most of any display size. Largely a matter of starting from the right framework, and then having CSS expertise to fine tune. In this case, it has just been wrapped inside the frame.
Result: Match 5 - Mobile Responsive Test
PeerPlays - 1
Scorum - 0
Match 6 - Core Wallet
PeerPlays Wallet
PeerPlays wallet needs little introduction, as the below screens will now show it is a fully resolved working product, with an extensive UI and features including BitShares integration.
PeerPlays Core Wallet Screenshots
Some screenshots of the PeerPlays wallet, where many features are noted and the overall look and feel is that of a professionally designed and branded UI.
Scorum Wallet
Here we find there is a very sparse wallet, shown in the image below. Compared to PeerPlays, we couldn't find anything unique or able to come to compete. Making this match round again go to PeerPlays.
Result: Match 7 - Cryptocurrency Wallet
PeerPlays 1 - 0 Scorum
Match 8 - Block Explorer
Every blockchain project has one!
Starting again with PeerPlays to set the example of how it's done, and then Scorum to see what they provide.
PeerPlays Block Explorer
Final quick one here, as we've covered enough. With PeerPlays again coming out on top, shown first:
Drill down information on PeerPlays explorer, which shares an interface with other well respected Graphene projects.
Scorum block explorer is again not raising any challenges towards PeerPlays, as we can see below.
Clicking through to an entry on the Scorum explorer leads to a rather lackluste presentation of the transaction:
Result - Match 8 / Final Score
PeerPlays 1 - 0 Scorum
Conclusions
PeerPlays has come up with the unanimous victory and taken all available rounds up until now. It is here therefore we stopped the contest.
We are yet to take a deeper dive into team and people, setup, business plans, strategies, funding, real-world locations and more. However, in general we'd leave it that SCORUM needs to resolve a basket of issues before we can revisit the project and honestly place our good faith in it.
PeerPlays are currently running a live competition on BookiePro.Fun where you can win real Bitcoin during the World Cup. Check out the bitcointalk.org topic here
DISCLAIMER: We do not in any way imply trading or investment advice on any of the companies mentioned today. Any investment you make towards crypto projects we mention is 100% your own liability.
PPY was/is pretty much a full blown scam to line to pockets of bullshit artist Jonathan Bahai. It has done nothing and has reneged on every single (yes, every single one) promise that they made to investors.
S
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Hi, OP here.
We've had a few scammers around BitShares, but you'll need to back up this accusation with hard facts ... how is a scam company making working products and attending events if they're a scam? How are they a scam when PPY, HelmBet and Bookie.Pro are all up and running products you can use / play sport betting on? See their latest newsletter below, and please provide evidence of scam with solid facts before making such statement as 'Full blown scam' ... So, unless you have some solid facts for me, better instead let us know what the real problem is.
BTW, having met and spent time with Johnathan personally, he is a very hard working and genuine businessman, and made contributions and worked on BitShares from the very early days - considered a founder of BitShares in fact. Doesn't go around shouting about it, stays humble. He has a web hosting business worth millions, with underground (ex-bunker) facilities in Canada to hold it all. He is highly knowledgable on all things blockchain, web hosting, regulatory. Just your typical scammer yeah?
Let's see their latest newsletter - it details all the scammy activity they're up to!
https://mailchi.mp/94b969c255ea/august-2018-update
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Hi OP. PPY, eXeBlock, PBSA is all the evidence you need. They have a toy product . . . and that's it. Also, it's bookiepro.fun, which is literally a toy. Helmbet? You mean rock, paper, scissors? Lol.
Are you familiar with the timeline they pitched while ICO'ing and subsequently deleted from the face of the earth after money was collected? I am. They didn't deliver on anything, and still haven't over a year later after their launch dates.
Where's Bookie? Where's eight? Where's sweeps? They were supposed to be -LAUNCHED- a year+ ago. You really can't blame anyone for crying scam on this . . . because that's what it is.
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Don't get it. They are launched, even had competition running through the world cup with 5btc in prizes paid out. You are calling working dapps or successful beta runs 'evidence' ... I call them proof of work and progress.
You claim 'still havent heard anything after a year' yet they have a NEWS PAGE ON THE WEBSITE WITH MONTHLY UPDATES .. so you are just stating non-facts.
https://www.peerplays.com/news/
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Nooo, I said:
"Are you familiar with the timeline they pitched while ICO'ing and subsequently deleted from the face of the earth after money was collected? I am. They didn't deliver on anything, and still haven't over a year later after their launch dates."
Which you seem to be conveniently dodging . . .
So they got over $7 million USD to put out a news letter and go on vacations LOL. You must be getting paid or not really thinking about this or something . . .
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This from the PPY guys themselves. I know you'd love to stay fighting with me on this, but I'm not going to so let's wrap it up
Delays? Yes, things happen and it’s pretty standard in crypto that initial roadmaps from ICOs were far under projected. Ultimately PPY/ExeBlock has delivered the framework for its first major dapp in addition to the sidechain, so even the blanket statement of delivered “nothing” is 100% inaccurate.
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No, they haven't delivered anything that they said they would. No, let's not wrap it up. You're biased, that's obvious. I'm not. I'm calling it like it is, an obvious scam. They promised products over a year ago and haven't delivered a single one, yet are vacationing over the globe. Gimme a break, dude. Call a scam a scam. PPY, eXeBlock, PBSA, Jonathan Bahai, the rest of the team = SCAM / SCAMMERS.
Very classy and professional, really helps your credibility . . .
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Not nice to accuse people of fud, but where is your evidence matt
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That isn't Bookie . . . That's Bookie FUN, it isn't with anything other than fake, play "tokens."
My evidence is uhh . . . No Bookie? No Sweeps? No Eight? No dividends being paid out in respective currencies? Like I said previously. They ICO'ed with a timeline of releases, which were all supposed to be OUT and RUNNING over a year ago and they're nowhere to be seen . . . And shortly after the money was collected, the timeline and references to it all mysteriously VANISHED.
That's my evidence.
When they re-release their timeline, apologize for the smoke and mirrors, and release the stuff, my mind will change. I was massively supportive of this chain, but when you betray your investor base and fail to keep your word or any semblance of it, it leaves you with many disgruntled people.
I don't blindly fanboy projects. I prefer results, honesty, etc.
EDIT: Found it, well, kinda, because it's deleted. Guess what doesn't exist anymore? At least I think that this is where the roadmap/timeline used to exist http://www.peerplays.com/news/token-allocations-development-milestones/
Also:
Just a few examples I could find from reputable people. Luckily they were posted on mediums that PPY/PBSA/eXeBlock have no control over, because they're deleted ALL traces of the promises that they made and sold people on. You know, they promises they scammed people with.
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Well I don't know what happened with 8 and Sweeps, however Bookie IS released, you can download it - and the mainnet version (not 'fun' testnet version) will be out soon (I'm reliably informed). If there are still excuses next year i'll be asking questions certainly :)
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Bookie is NOT released. It's a play piece of software. It is NOT Bookie. Bookie was supposed to be out OVER A YEAR AGO.
Eight and sweeps were deleted off of their timeline after they collected $7+ million USD. That's what happened to them. They're scammers.
PPY isn't poop, never has been anything BUT poop, and never will be poop at this pace aside from a quick cash grab at the skin of the investors. EOS is going to eat them alive at this point. Good job PPY team, you're professional scammers and I'll continue to out you as what you are as long as we both live until you deliver on what was advertised/promised. Or does anyone want to buy my PPY tokens back at what I bought them for? PPY, PBSA, eXeBlock, wanna put your money where your mouth is and buy my tokens back? I'm betting you don't, because you know you're scammers and will never deliver on anything you've previously promised (you know, the stuff you promised in order to scam your investor base).
PROVE ME WRONG.
EDIT: I'm going to censor the "bad words," that I used in this comment so it doesn't hurt @britcoins' feelings. I changed the words "shit," to "poop." Maybe he can shift focus from supposed bad grammar (not present in my posts) and "bad words," to the actual topic at hand since he's copping out about it.
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I don't think they are really in competition with EOS. Also, EOS already ate itself alive, if you wanna look at a real scam, check out EOS spending $16 BILLION to produce nothing more than a redefinition of BitShares same delegated proof of stake system. I'm glad you've followed up with more bad grammar, bad language, such invalid statement about EOS, and packed it with a good dose of defamation - still with zero evidence to actually prove anything as you can download the bookie app, I was using it through the Football World Cup. It's called a testnet or beta, please familiarise yourself with the mechanics of software development - it takes months or even a year to make something complex and right first time. Let's give them benefit of the doubt with real live launch verbally assured is coming in weeks, not months....So, bury the hatchet there until it DOESN'T happen - deal friend?
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Really nice post 👌
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Thanks @dalexx, will you be trying them out?
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I am doing bookie.pro
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Looks interesting
I see bigger things happening
Kudos!
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So do we, thank you.
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Really great article, thorough and objectively fair. Which happens to be right along the lines of PeerPlays motto "Provably Fair Gaming".
One thing missing from this article is an analysis of the different companies GitHub pages. How active they are, what repositories are publicly available etc. Might you consider an update?
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Hey, thanks for feedback. Unfortunately I'll have to disappoint you re - GitHub pages and respositories/diff update of review, since we are dealing with Production/Current results.
It could be done as another article though :)
Cheers,
DL.
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Thanks for your feedback and glad you find it to be objective. For GitHub, we did have a look and both have public repositories - but indeed this would make an article on its own. For PeerPlays GH, search for "PBSA" and Scorum look for scorum.
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Great review as always @apasia.tech.
When service providers compete on the BTS platform, the ultimate winner is the BTS holders and users themselves.
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It's a good point - everyone wins! Quality always beats quantity at the same time however :)
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