The Recent Cryptid Hunter Controversy Has Revealed the Incompetence of STEEM Witnesses

This is not merely a debate over preferences surrounding a game.
It is a clear demonstration of how unprepared and irresponsible the current STEEM Witnesses are in managing the ecosystem.

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1. Who Are the Witnesses?

STEEM Witnesses operate the blockchain’s nodes.
They typically represent specific regions or communities, or are individuals contributing technically to the STEEM ecosystem.

In return, they receive continuous STEEM rewards for node operation.
Currently, the Top 20 Witnesses receive over 10,000+ STEEM per month.

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2. They Approved the Migration, But Didn’t Even Play the Game

Cryptid Hunter was first successfully operated on the TON blockchain.
Later, the STEEM version was launched with explicit approval from the Witnesses.

However, here's the problem:

Not a single one of the approving Witnesses had ever played Cryptid Hunter.

We strongly encouraged them to test the TON version before approving the migration.
None of them did.
They approved the migration without firsthand experience of the product.

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3. The Web Version and Keychain Usage Were Clearly Communicated

Cryptid Hunter was originally a Telegram mini dApp.
To ensure accessibility on STEEM, it was migrated to a web version, using STEEM Keychain for login.

• At the time, Keychain was desktop-only, and Witnesses were already fully aware of this.
• In fact, many of them were directly involved in Keychain’s development.

Still, they waited four months after DAO launch to suddenly raise concerns that "mobile isn't supported."

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4. Where Does Their Incompetence Show?

• No one tested the TON version.
  If even one of them had tried it, issues like missing tutorials or UI flow could have been addressed months ago.

• Even after the STEEM version was released, they still refused to test it.
  Some even said they “didn’t want to spend 40 STEEM to test it.”
  That might be understandable for regular users — but these are Witnesses.

• They knew from the beginning that mobile was unsupported.

• Despite multiple announcements and test requests from our team, they remained silent for months.

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5. What We’re Seeing Now Is Their Irresponsibility

While over 5,000,000 SBD sits in the DAO,
these Witnesses spend their time figuring out how to get that money into their own wallets.
Meanwhile, their channel is filled with useless small talk and jokes, day after day.

If they had any real sense of responsibility, this situation would never have happened.

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6. Why Are We So Angry?

The Top Witnesses on STEEM are seriously advising people not to like their posts. Despite receiving 10,000 STEEM in monthly rewards, they're still hesitant to spend even 40 STEEM on testing, and now they're belatedly passing the buck to developers for a problem that should have been addressed four months ago.

Here are some actual examples of what they discuss in the Cryptid Hunter Witness channel:

• “This laptop is great, been using it for years without any problems.”
• “steemchiller is a hero! Give him a powerful card!”
• “Don't click the like emoji on your own posts — it's reputation manipulation.”

Do you think this is the kind of conversation you'd expect from people running blockchain infrastructure?

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Conclusion

Cryptid Hunter is just a game —
But this situation is about far more than a game.

This is not just a service-related conflict.
It is a verification of just how incompetent, out-of-touch, and closed-off the STEEM Witness system has become.

We genuinely hoped to help improve the STEEM ecosystem.
But in this current structure, there’s nothing left for developers to gain.

There is no feedback, no support, no logic — only criticism and insults.

And that truth is being proven by your behavior right now.