Hey Nuno, I’m doing well and hope you are too!
Good question, thanks for asking. I’ve been trying to answer the same question for a long time :D
As Rosmari linked, the best answer that I can offer at the moment is at the top of Optimystics.io/respectgame. It states:
The Respect Game is a profoundly helpful consensus game that provides a fun way to foster collaborations, promote public goods creators, and fairly award positive impact. This innovative consensus game coordinates decentralized, autonomous organizations with democratic decision-making and a sybil resistant reputation system rooted in onchain attestations during joyful events. It also provides invaluable primitives with a soulbound Respect token that enables communities to cooperate to achieve shared goals far better than ever before.
This answer is far from perfect from though and I usually explain it differently to each person based upon their interests. The game is also evolving over time so there are new ways that I would describe it now when I get the chance to try writing it again
Yes the Respect Game can be described as a governance mechanism and a methodology. This can be a great way to describe it to governance enthusiasts and people who are interested in methods for decision-making or coordination. I asked ChatGPT about this and it provide a detailed answer that you may find helpful, which you can see on this notion page.
However, describing it as a governance mechanism or a methodology doesn’t paint the entire picture and might sound limiting to people who aren’t as interested in governance or methodology. For others it may be helpful to describe it more a way to evaluate public goods, measuring the value of contributions, a fun social game that can be used to rank anything, a framework to facilitate deliberative processes like citizen’s assemblies, an onchain coordination game, the next step in the evolution of human collaboration, an MMORPG, a collaborative video production process, a structured ideation process, a fractal consensus process, a cool new way to meet people, or many other things...
I’ve found it elusive to describe the Respect Game in one way that speaks to everyone because the game provides value in so many ways and offers unique value propositions to each person depending on what they’re seeking. Overall I think best description is based on the unique preferences of each participant, audience, or target market segment. While some people are most interested in governance, others may focus more on collaboration, enjoyment, relationships, incentives, sybil protection, or a variety of other benefits. Like in cooking, all ingredients can be the same but the taste will change depending upon how it’s cooked!
How would you describe the Respect Game best? I’m curious to hear your thoughts about this and everyone else’s as well
If you’d like to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms for the Respect Game and our consensus process, then I’d recommend reading this page. You can also see this article for a more in-depth overview of the Respect Game and watch our most recently published videos to see how we’re using Respect to facilitate decentralized governance with the Optimism Fractal Council.