Hi, apologies up front if I don’t join the “I agree” camp. But is there a schedule for the release of this 50k$ fund and and at what stage are you at the moment in the roadmap vs what you should be paid?
Also if there was no Harmony foundation, and no 10K$ to start with, how would you have built your project?
Thanks
It saddened me to hear this wizzardblizzard but I’m not going to pretend i haven’t been hearing similar stories from other project developers about the funding grants and lack of involvement from harmony core within the gamefi community… it seems to me while the core team has been busy building other aspects of the harmony protocol such as bridging, the ongoing rpc issues and marketing they have perhaps forgotten about the gaming sector and no doubt they have definitely forgotten to engage with the projects and the developers in a meaningful way. Offering just monetary incentives is just not enough to nurture this immature ecosystem clearly more support is needed. I would suggest finding a way for harmony core team to get more involved with the projects that are building on the Harmony Protocol perhaps offering more customised milestones or offering some dev support. Dont get me wrong i do love the harmony blockchain and the awesome community we have but to keep expanding the gamefi sector at its current rate we do need more guidance and open lines of communication.
So let’s get things straight here. You applied for a grant with Harmony and they approved a $50k grant. As with many of these grants, it’s a tiered grant; meaning you have to hit certain milestones to receive the money. You received your initial $10k as Harmony promised, but didn’t hit the other milestones.
Yet, you are here complaining.
Let’s get things straight here;
Let’s be real here:
Entrepreneurial lessons:
I can have an opinion about how Harmony spends their money, I can disagree with it, but they are giving away their money to people like you.
I am not judging on any of your work, I simply don’t have that insight, nor do I care. I am not invested in it. I make my own decisions, just like the many millions of other people invested in the crypto ecosystem.
If I make the right decision, it makes me happy and money, if I make the wrong decision, I am financially hurt and it sucks… is there a team where I can complain if price is going down? Is anybody going to refund my losses?
Can devs do something?
Do something!
And stop crying like a little B…
This is really sad to hear. Been with CU for a few months. Heavily invested in it and truly believe in the project. If the Harmony Team does not care about CU, thats truly their loss. Im willing to follow CU to another chain at a drop of a hat.
I first want to say thanks to the Harmony ONE team for making an awesome crypto! after i bought in, NFT’s were popping so i looked into yall’s promoted platform Davinci gallery. i bought Vinci to become a Gold artist and yall didnt say a word after it was rugged…left a little sour taste but that was ok because I was excited about where Harmony ONE Gaming was headed…I hope Harmony ONE and Cosmic Universe can Find middle ground. Im invested in Mars colony as well and think these are the two best games on the chain…
Hey @wizzardblizzard ! Very interesting post. I see a majority of people agreeing with your post even though I don’t see too many reasons to agree with it. What Cosmic Universe is building sounds very impressive and I have been following the project for a couple of months. However, we are yet to see anything from the Cosmic Universe team in terms of an actually playable game (even a demo). The Sandbox for instance has a playable version that you can jump in right now which showcases the mechanics and the environment. I am NOT saying you are not building, I am just saying there’s literally nothing to see aside from a couple of YouTube videos and a few NFTs. Yes, the community you built is fantastic, yes the showcases look interesting, but there’s nothing to indicate to the Harmony team that the game is ACTUALLY playable and it works as intended.
So now, put yourself in the shoes of the Harmony core team. You see so many grant requests for products that DO NOT exist with the only showcases being pictures and concept art/YouTube trailers. Would you, as a business owner/project manager give what is essentially free money to these projects? Please don’t misunderstand me, I am not saying CU is not legit, I am just saying we are yet to see anything. I want to echo the thoughts of @Tailchakra here: Your claims of having governance as an USP or having the most advanced marketplace on Harmony are simply false and not a fact. Anyone can have a governance page and marketplaces like GFX or hell even Tranquility City with multitoken use and in built modularity for future collections work just as well and yet, those have never claimed to be and I quote: “The most advanced game NFT marketplace on Harmony”. And as Tail said, building an MMORPG with web3 functionality in UNREAL ENGINE 4 of all engines, is simply a monumental task to say the least.
I will give you my opinion on this matter as a fellow project manager that is building on Harmony (I am the project manager of Tranquility City). We have applied for the grant and got accepted too. The Harmony team has been EXTREMELY responsive. HUGE shoutout to @dpagan-harmony because he has been super helpful and has taken the initiative on everything regarding our project. To this day, we haven’t received any money from Harmony, not because they didn’t offer us (Daniel has been constantly asking us when they can send the money) but it’s because we don’t feel we have product finished enough to take their money. We want to build and show the Harmony team we have something cool for their ecosystem before taking their money. I want them to feel the need to throw money and promotion at us while we build in peace and quiet together with our community and future investors.
In the beginning DFK didn’t receive anything from the Harmony team. Only later after they have grown to an absolute behemoth of a project has Harmony taken interest. I’ll tell you why too: it’s becase they have a functional product that people can use right now and it works, it simply works and Harmony has noticed it too so they decided to make DFK their blue chip product. DFK is not “picking up their toys and moving to AVAX” and there won’t be a “mass exodus”… DFK is simply expanding as they should because they want to onboard more chains. Harmony will always be the home of DFK. JEWEL will forever remain the blue chip, initial token of DFK. DFK will never go down in history for CRYSTAL… It will go down in history for JEWEL. This irrational fear of this mass exodus has no legs to stand on. Harmony has a flourishing ecosystem with more and more people noticing it and projects like DFK absolutely killing it.
To address the mishandling of grants/funds, yes, that is true, I have noticed it too and I 100% agree with you guys. I have seen some absolutely ridiculous projects get accepted for granting and I think it’s because Harmony wants to grow the ecosystem erratically which is not a good strategy.
I’ll tell you exactly how Harmony can fix this issue in my opinion. They already started onboarding people in their team like @Flu which I have known for a very long time and we go way back. I would trust Flu with my seed phrase. He is a grade A guy and he has a knack for business. He is very good at examining projects and giving advice and he helps bring people over to this chain. The next step for Harmony to take in order to help with this chaotic grant handling is to take people on their team with A LOT of technical knowledge, people with technical experience that have TIME to take a look at these grants and say: Yes or No or Not yet. Daniel, Giv and Jack are fantastic guys but they are extremely busy and don’t work with 10000 hands. They are human. People like @Tailchakra (lead dev of GFX) , Cryptina (from FoxSwap), Peechz (from FoxSwap), Hopeslicer (dev from GFX) or myself can give educated opinions on technical issues and take a look at grants and in collaboration with people like Flu give a verdict. This would be a way to help out the handling of these grant proposals and communications.
I think what CU is doing is fantastic and you guys have great ambitions. However, if I were Harmony, I would not give you a single time until I see a functional demo or anything that can prove to me that your ambitions will come true in order to protect the reputation of the Harmony foundation. This should be applied to other projects too of course! I see everyone wants true decentralization and yet here we are on these forums, pleading with Harmony to give out grants to various projects. That is fine, but we should act in a decentralized way: build, make Harmony notice us and then plead with them for money/marketing/etc. I think that’s the best strategy for ambitious projects like CU. I am looking forward to playing the demo/alpha and seeing what you guys have cooked up for us!
To close off my ranting, I think CU is great and your concerns are partially valid. However, the Harmony team is doing their best and they are already making great steps by onboarding people like @dpagan-harmony and more recently @Flu to help out with everything. Giv, Jack and Li are all fantastic people and they have been nothing but good with us throughout our journey at Tranquility City. They offered technical help/advice (like building a subgraph for us) and have hounded us to give us money and have been extremely responsive in our discussions which is in polar opposition to your experience.
I truly hope CU will do great and I believe you guys will deliver something super cool for the Harmony ecosystem and I can’t wait to see it!
P.S.: Harmony team, please stop this absolutely low effort marketing with stuff like BAYC. Spending money on things like BAYC is a waste of funds. Focus on your own ecosystem. ETH investors will NOT come to Harmony when marketing like this takes place. Let’s build a functional DeFi ecosystem with good dApps and ETH investors (and other investors from various chains) will come on their own.
I agree with this input, Based and True 
Ser i think you need to actually read the post properly the main concerns are not confined to the grant itself or just cosmic universe.
" I felt the need to address some major concerns myself, and many other project leaders on Harmony, along with validators and DAO governors, are having regarding Harmony’s future"
The lack of communication between the two parties especially when one is reaching out is disturbing to say the least. i can only hope that this is a misunderstanding
" It almost feels as if Harmony doesn’t care for Cosmic Universe at all. My repeated questions and requests for discussion in our CU <> Harmony TG groups go ignored and unanswered. This is making me quite concerned"
Would you not be concerned if you were reaching out with no reply how would you inform them that new milestones have been reached for the grant?
However there’s always going to be great challenges on the road to great success and i truly hope that this is just a misunderstanding, a small bump in the road on the way to a great partnership and i hope this matter can be resolved promptly
very grateful that this topic is exposed, it has us greatly concerned, we hope that thread is put in the needle
This make so much sense… I feel a lot of the developers or protocols or dapps won’t even receive any funding if they would’ve applied for a regular traditional incubator…
Time for some Dutch Sobriety IMHO in the $ONE ecosystem…
This is a great open-minded response. I will only reiterate one thing, hopefully Harmony core gets it: absolutely enough with the BAYC, please. It’s unprofessional flexing and does nothing to support the chain.
Now you are the one making assumptions.
I don’t care what they are building, how the team is structured, what they have spent, etc. This is all their doing. Crying here, making assumptions and claims that have nothing to do with the point he is trying to make, doesn’t get anyone anywhere.
If you want to build something, build it.
If you agree on something, stick to it.
Don’t expect others to do it for you.
Devs do something… fr.
Que? Am I missing something here? I literally offered my help because of the fact that I went through the same troubles as WizzardBlizzard did for 8 months before getting the grant.
I understand there are many dissatisfaction within DAOs and projects about how things are currently on Harmony. I share these concerns too. I can say without doubt that NO DAO on Harmony is decentralized and some DAO has gotten outrageous sums of grants with nothing to show to justify such huge grant.
I have complained on these issues in the past but was not only shouted down but accused of attacks. I have also complained about the overbearing influence harmony foundation have on DAO operations to the extent community voices are neglected and governors subtly backed by harmony do whatever they like with funds of the community. #
However, I wouldn’t go all out to agree with all @wizzardblizzard posted. while these concerns are legit and should be addressed. and I honestly hope Harmony addresses this and for the sake of transparency, hold an AMA with an independent host as a mediator so that these issues can be addressed, so as to avoid the danger of silent voices and silent majority who may not have a full picture of what is and what is not and make decisions that may have a far reaching impact on the protocol.
I do agree with @Crypto_Gainz on his submission and do hope CU will publish a playable feature on testnet and collaborate with @Tailchakra on making a believer of everyone.
I do love CU and an early investor still invested, and I do hope we come to a favorable resolution on the current issues bedeviling the harmony ecosystem.
Also, I join my voice to ask harmony to focus their marketing within the ecosystem. I don’t see how wasting funds attracting BAYC and other minute distractions will help us scale this ecosystem, solve our internal democratic and decentralization bottlenecks and emerge as a leading blockchain.
@lij
For a Crypto project built around Harmony, communication, transparency, and open consensus to 10 billion people it’s concerning to hear the Harmony issues raised here in this thread by so many.
I’ve been involved in Crypto for only a year but because of your mission and fantastic fast and inexpensive blockchain, I was drawn to Harmony $ONE immediately after conducting my own research. I’ve been heavily invested in the blockchain and various projects on it ever since. I believe in the Harmony $ONE ecosystem and in its ability to provide something special to the Crypto world for billions to use and enjoy.
One of the most important aspects of a project to me will remain the core development team, their honesty, communication, and transparency. Doing what they said they’ll do and working hard everyday to achieve their goals and dreams is the thread that ties all successful entrepreneurs together…
I have complete confidence in you and your team at Harmony $ONE and also in Wizzard Blizzard and his Cosmic Universe team too! My wish is that you can both share your ideas, mutually support each other and the entire Harmony $ONE universe and continue to build something never seen before!
I wish you both well as you continue to focus on and develop these tremendous and mutually supporting projects and that you can figure out a way to address some of these valid concerns expressed here by so many members of the Harmony $ONE community.
I am excited to hear Harmony is bringing on additional members to help with project management. While it’s concerning to hear these issues and concerns expressed, I believe the transparency and discussions are necessary to move the Harmony $ONE ecosystem forward.
Can you explain how Harmony’s purchase of BAYC NFTs helps meet your mission and goals?
When does Harmony expect to completely resolve the ongoing RPC issues and open up/use other shards?
Does the Harmony $ONE team anticipate taking on some of these additional “side projects” mentioned here to draw more projects to Harmony and contribute to the overall good of the Harmony $ONE ecosystem?
I look forward to hearing more and appreciate the dialogue here.
I am pretty new to this space. I am not very active in communities, but i do stay pretty up to date with the goings on. I am going to respond to members of the GFX and Tranquility City teams. Because they seem to want to pick apart Cosmic Universe specifically rather than address the true nature of the post. @Tailchakra, as far as the remarks on the marketplace, ill agree with you that could have been worded differently as to not offend or downplay other marketplaces in the ecosystem. Also, suggesting that the game isn’t going to be fun or feasible. Those come off as valid concerns, but without offering any support in that aspect, like you do with grant proposal, its just comes off kinda prickish. Finally, you yourself should know more than anyone how broken the grant system is right now, so dont shy away just because you got yours. All said, it is great to see you offer help in the end.
Now, @Crypto_Gainz. To start, there have been a few projects thus far that have recieved substantial grants/partnerships/investments having no demo or anything you suggest. Having done maybe slightly more or less compared to what CU has done, and, as you and Tail both claim, have less tasking future roadmaps. So by your logic, GFX shouldn’t have been given their opportunity either. I also have to disagree with you about the mass exodus, regardless of DFK, im seeing conversations like the Wizards pop up all over. Reddit, Twitter, here, Discord. From many different people associated in different aspects of the Harmony community. Its bad enough projects like Ragnarok and Granary chose to launch elsewhere, who knows how many are going to look at all these conversations going on now and decide to leave of nothing gets done. Whether project or investor. But these are conversations that need to be made. Your grant/funds ideas sound like a step in the right direction, but maybe involving more than those you mentioned. Not that i dont love Fox and GFX, but maybe broaden the spectrum to projects outside of those you are closely involved with. And the rest of your post kinda just echos the concerns being raised. Some projects seem to be favored over others, and the transparency just isnt there. Which i think is more or less what this post, and others, is about. That and i think many organizations, be it DAO or projects, just feel completely ignored. It’s great that you and your project haven’t experienced this, but to act like it’s not happening elsewhere or like it’s not a problem comes off as tonedeaf to the community as a whole.
So i would suggest everyone to try to remain receptive and acknowledge the faults going on on the community, even if they dont particulary pertain to you or your projects. In the end, Harmony needs projects like GFX, and Tranquility City, and Cosmic Universe to all succeed.
Perhaps it’s worth saying they should be called “SUCCESSFUL Launch Grants”
Because “Launch Grants”, as they’re defined currently, do not largely assist with the needs required to LAUNCH on harmony but if you have a plan/fund to LAUNCH, these will help you be successful!
In order to get your “Launch Grant” to see initial funding of 10k USD, you need to have a feature complete version of your product for testnet, which often takes MONTHS of work that developers should be paid 10k+ a month elsewhere.
Perhaps things could be better communicated that Grants are only for projects which can secure their own methods of funding;
if it was worded as: We’ll help you if you can help yourself!
If you’re going to Launch on Harmony? We’ll unlock funds to help you be successful!
Because currently, at least from my perspective, they were marketed as a way to build… but that’s not realistic.
With this kind of clarity, it might not be such a sore subject, because that is still something AWESOME to receive… Support!
That might also alter some of the attitudes which community members can have that projects which receive a Launch Grant, where they can expect a lot and, in some cases, outright community ownership of a project…
I think the way things are setup need a lot of clarifying but are ultimately very good things for the ecosystem…
Speaking personally, when we received our 50k grant for https://FishFight.one , I misunderstood what it meant.
I thought that it would make building our project more viable, but in fact, it’s primarily more viable to succeed if we can manage/afford to build our project.
Oh and i almost forgot. Who asked for BAYC pfp on DFK? Give me a wizzie and a frey and let me chill in my medium apartment and im cool!
If you look around the official posts about the funding and the docs, you can clearly see that they are meant to help you if you already have a product or boost your userbase and engagement.
I think people misinterpreted the whole point of this.
OP speaks the truth because he knows what he’s talking about. He’s full deep inside the ecosystem and is aware of its limit. I am being doubtful since November 2021 where things started to drop a bit and don’t seem to stop. Harmony has a great potential but I recall grants have been distributed to many projects which don’t deserve that amount of money or either Harmony’s endorsement. This remains my personal opinion and it’s not meant to offend anyone in particular but I think Harmony understood this and since a couple of months they have built a requirement wall towards grants which is fine at this time. Unfortunately OP is also correct about DFK and all the matter about grants distribution but the problem seems like that the whole boat is slowly sinking down. It’s also quite known that the Harmony One’s community is used to break up when price action hits low (not talking on this forum but on social media such as reddit).
However I am sure Harmony will get back on track and nothing is lost: yes there is a climb that needs to be dealt with but all together we can do it.