EOS UX is broken (account creation + CPU lending), and how to fix it
The real problem with EOS isn’t BP “collusion”. There are endless use cases like P2P games such as poker, that aren’t affected (*1). DPoS does these P2P games for money better than any other system — AWS, ETH (*1).
The real problem with EOS is that the UX is broken.
Executive summary: account creation + getting some CPU resources to use dapps should be 1 click from any EOS game etc site, and EOS.io, as the authoritative information center for the platform, should either host this tool, or suggest the highest voted, best and simplest tools, perhaps created or backed by top BPs.
Here’s why: start from the end, as a user: you want to play poker, so you go to https://dappradar.com to find a new fun site. You find one, and click “create account”. Long story short, you end up with an unclear path for both account creation and vCPU lending, and wonder if you’ll get scammed by unknown services.
Exhibit A:
Where is the “real and official” tool? You ask yourself, WTF is that 2nd URL, eos-account-generator.com. Should I trust that random site with generating my account?
Why isn’t account creation on the official EOS.io?
Is it because “that’s too centralized”?
The “that’s too centralized” argument is misplaced here. People already, anyhow, believe the BPs “collude”. But as explained, that’s not a real problem here (*1).
Sometimes, when I want certain official Ethereum information, I go to ethereum.org.
Authoritative information is needed for account creation plus vCPU lending, and authoritative information is inherently centralized.
Dan had the foresight to insist that users want free usage, recovery from error or theft, etc. Insightful people also understand that users also want to have a simple UX without getting scammed.
So, starting from the end: when you go to a poker game from dappradar, and click “create account” it needs to be 1 click done. Or at worst, a simple, legit looking pathway, involving the fewest steps possible. This isn’t the case now.
Maybe I misunderstood some things, but that just highlights the problem. It’s not idiot-proof; it’s not even close. With Tron, and all its faults, you can simply 1-click to create account, then load your wallet, and just start playing, AFAIK. I’m not advocating for Tron. I’m advocating that the inventor of DPoS, Dan Larimar, or the community that adopted his creation, fix these problems.
EOS.io should either host tools to get an account and get vCPU lent to you, with 1 click, or suggest the best voted and simplest tools from the top x BPs for the same, to keep it semi-decentralized.
Getting vCPU lent from bank-of-staked, etc, is like the problem of account creation, on steroids. Now, not only do you not know where to go, but aren’t even 100% sure you understand wtf you need to get the game to not give you an error. Do you need virtual RAM, Network, or CPU? Do you have 100% CPU left? Or are you at max usage, despite that you’ve not even gotten started playing? And where is a legit staking house to send EOS to? And why isn’t it working?
Users will say: F this. Fix it or die. And I’m a fan of EOS, as it’s from the inventor of DPoS, which, again, solves problems that aren’t possible on other systems (yet).
Luckily, these problems are fairly easy to fix. Just do it.
—
(*1) Here’s why collusion isn’t a problem for these P2P games and similar use-cases: The BPs aren’t going to be busy colluding to destroy the veracity of your little P2P game, where you know 100% the other player isn’t actually the house. This isn’t possible to prove on AWS, where the house can pretend to be your counter-player, and win by knowing the next next hand, because the house’s server itself generated that “provably fair” hash. AWS is therefore only safe and “provably fair” in single player games. Colluding against game players and other users everywhere would crash the value of EOS, the network on which BPs worked so hard to become top BPs. Sure they collude sometimes, but on issues that they see are vital to the network, or at least, themselves, and not about your royal flush poker-hand.