Peercoin Video by OverkillCoin

General
61

I think peercoin.net is fine, since we already own it. It’s not going anywhere. I understand people wanting to link the website at the end of the video, but I had something else in mind as an alternative. After the main content of the video plays, at the end it should show off our logo with the image below and the narrator should say “Peercoin, The secure and sustainable cryptocoin.” It would be similar to a TV commercial where the company shows off their logo at the end. What do you think of this? The website address could be linked in the video info.

For those who don’t know, cryptocoin was chosen for our slogan because it was less specific sounding. At the time, people were arguing over whether Peercoin should be called a crypto-currency or a crypto-commodity. Using cryptocoin allows the user to define it.

62

The draft is quite fine, but what about this edit (bold and striked through parts), partly inspired by Sentinelrv :wink:

[quote=“overkillcoin, post:56, topic:2095”]00:00 - 00:07
Peercoin stands out as a innovative crypto-currency for transferring and storing wealth while maintaining strong security and energy efficiency.

00:07 - 00:17
Peercoin transactions rely on the Proof-of-stake algorithm, rewarding holders for securing the network and staying sustainable. Peercoin was the first successful Proof-of-stake implementation.

00:17 - 00:27
Peercoin serves as a stable, complementary “backbone” currency, used as a store of value - like a savings account or gold. 1% interest is gained yearly.

00:27 - end
For more information or to get started, please visit peercoin.net our website.[/quote]

I’m not really sure wether Peercoin was the first PoS implementation or not, but I feel quite safe saying ot was the first successful. Please correct me, if this is wrong.
I’d rather tell that than about the checkpointing, because it might interested viewers remind of the Bitcoin history - being the first Proof-of-work implementation (and btw. inventor of the whole crypto coin thingy :wink: )
Maybe this goes beyond the time scope of that 10 second section, but we’re still in draft mode, right? :smiley:

And I’m not quite sure about that “1% interest” part. Peercoin is fascinating as a savings account or like a kind of digital gold. But 1% annual interest won’t impress too many viewers, I think. I’d leave that out…

63

In addition to displaying the logo and stating the name and slogan, it could also switch at the end and show text that says “For more information or to get started, please visit peercoin.net.” This text would just be shown though, not narrated.

Why do you think the 1% interest shouldn’t be mentioned? Is it just the word interest? As River said, I think we could just label it as a “reward” for helping to secure the network. It think it’s a very important part in explaining how proof-of-stake works and it would definitely make people more interested if they understood they’ll be rewarded if they mint. That one thing might be responsible for pushing people to find out more.

64

Why do you think the 1% interest shouldn’t be mentioned? Is it just the word interest? As River said, I think we could just label it as a “reward” for helping to secure the network. It think it’s a very important part in explaining how proof-of-stake works and it would definitely make people more interested if they understood they’ll be rewarded if they mint. That one thing might be responsible for pushing people to find out more.[/quote]

Just to add to this. We could say something similar to “reward for securing the network, currently at about 1%”. Sunny said the PoS incentive was under review, does this mean the percentage could change in the future? Again, just trying to future-proof the video.

65

I honestly think we should be shooting for 1 minute. 30 seconds just doesn’t seem to be enough in my opinion. So far my main gripe is that we’re telling the audience that Peercoin relies on proof-of-stake without really explaining what that is or what makes it superior. I don’t think we’re giving them a good enough reason to care if we don’t explain it and that would require an extended time length. The what is Bitcoin video does a good job of explaining it, though we would need to do it in less time.

66

Why do you think the 1% interest shouldn’t be mentioned? Is it just the word interest? As River said, I think we could just label it as a “reward” for helping to secure the network. It think it’s a very important part in explaining how proof-of-stake works and it would definitely make people more interested if they understood they’ll be rewarded if they mint. That one thing might be responsible for pushing people to find out more.[/quote]

Just to add to this. We could say something similar to “reward for securing the network, currently at about 1%”. Sunny said the PoS incentive was under review, does this mean the percentage could change in the future? Again, just trying to future-proof the video.[/quote]

Good idea.

67

Is there going to be animation for this video? Or just simple narration and animated text only?

We all saw overkillcoin and the cute graphics is what made that video and really put out the message.

By reading this script, it sounds like an insurance commercial selling the idea of why you should buy their insurance. It’s a yawn. Unless we have cute animations really echoing the point to make it sound more exciting than it really is…

68

Good to see that discussion has started, seeing some good arguments, will respond to content later (need some sleep first).

But I think we really need to focus nailing the key message. Imagine that guy in the elevator who asks why he would buy Peercoins. You have 30 seconds to convince him…

When we have that down we have two options. We leave it and make another 30 seconds video with another message or we add the next most important things to it and extend the script to 60 seconds. Again my elevator pitch example; we happen to get out of the elevator on the same level and the guy has another 30 seconds (total 60 seconds) to listen to you.
What would you say? Hope that helps to focus.

@PPCman, yes this is the boring bit, but we need to get this right, to get the right message out. If the message is right I would trust Overkillcoin to make a good video to present this message and have a storyboard which I think is the next step.

69

ok, new approach: elevator pitch
I try to keep in mind what the intended audience is (people who already know BTC, LTC), so I use references to Bitcoin; I don’t know if this is a good idea, though…

Peercoin is innovative.
It is based on Bitcoin, but is in no way a simple clone.
Peercoin is an advancement that addresses Bitcoin’s huge energy consumption, one of Bitcoin’s biggest dangers.
Peercoin’s transactions rely on the Proof-of-stake algorithm that consumes only little energy, although it is secure and sustainable.
This sustainability makes it capable of being a backbone currency, to store and transfer value.
Peercoin is here to stay.
Come to Peercoin and visit peercoin.net! (or the/our website if that is more future proof)

70

I don’t think there’s enough time. 30 seconds is so short that I don’t think there can be more than 1 or 2 key points made and this wouldn’t be one of them IMO. I’d rank “100 times less blockchain bloat” as more important than “earning 1% interest”.

Why not use the existing Peercoin video as part of this discussion? It’s actually quite good. What are its shortcomings? How would it be done better?

71

That’s mainly why I think it should be extended to 1 minute. I just don’t think 30 seconds will do it justice. It doesn’t give us enough time to make people care. It allows us enough time to say a couple points about Peercoin and that it uses proof-of-stake, but there’s not enough time to explain what that is and why it should matter to them. People who don’t know what proof-of-stake is won’t care without some kind of explanation.

I imagine the video could even show off a great visual representation of how it works, for example showing Bitcoin becoming more and more centralized as miners drop out while Peercoin remains decentralized because of proof-of-stake. I think showing people things like this is what will get them to care.

72

I just wanted to record this down from the chat…

river333: Sentinel you there?

Sentinelrv: yes

river333: overkillcoin asked me should he re-write the scrip with 60 seconds in mind. he wanted to make sure there was a consensus though

river333: i told him probably yes, most people seem to want a longer video right?

Sentinelrv: I’m kind of biased here I think. I would agree. See my latest post where I talk about it again. Tell him that if he has any question about how to explain proof-of-stake or how it works, just ask us in the thread and we will try to help him out.

river333: alright I told him that. The majority of posts said the video should be longer so I think there probably is a consensus

river333: 30 seconds seems way too short imo. no one is going to click onto another video if its not explained in the first

river333: this video is about the right length http://player.vimeo.com/video/89948761

Sentinelrv: Nobody has really said whether they agree with what I was saying about the need to somewhat explain PoS, rather than telling people Peercoin uses it. Explaining what it is and why it’s better is the best way to get people to care in my opinion. Would you agree with that? With 30 seconds I think there’s just not enough time.

Sentinelrv: Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of. We need to show it to them while they’re already there. We can’t expect them to click on another video if the first doesn’t capture their attention.

river333: Yeah I agree about explaining PoS. otherwise its just saying “peercoin is great cos PoS” but with no explanation at all

river333: kind of pointless

river333: at least just saying that it secures the network without mining. then an animation showing mining becoming centralized in bitcoin or whatever, and destroying the network

Sentinelrv: Yep, that’s what I was trying to get at.

river333: like you said in your post. then there should also be time to mention 1% reward and small blockchain

73

If PoS is to be explained with a few words (more appetizer than real explanation), I could imagine something like this:

“Proof-of-stake uses Peercoins as limited resource instead of hashing power.
The reward for Proof-of-Stake is 1% per year without need to invest in expensive hardware.”

I wonder how to explain the small block chain size without diving deep into the architecture, fee structure etc.
But mentioning it would be nice, if we’d like to put some more significant information in the video!

74

The problem we’re having here is designing a graphic video, but concentrating on words in the script. We should be making use of storyboarding.

I wrote this in chat, let see if it make sense to any one:

ppcman: the bloated blockchain and Pow is a big one to show, and then show the solution (small blockchain and PoS). That is the single difference to convey, so people really undestand that point. using imagery to reinforce it. Sometimes its hard to visualize blockchain bloat and proof-of-stake. this video will graphically make it obvious

ppcman: once you do that, then show the benefits of proof-of-stake… savings account earning 1% interest (again, graphic imagery to show, that owning peercoin as soon as you can, ages your coins and earns compounded interest). this will create a rush to get their stake going

ppcman: thats it. 3 ideas I think in 60 seconds. thats 1 idea every 20 seconds. that’s evenly paced out

75

I love that ppcman. Those are the main ideas we need to be getting across.

76

I agree with ppcman and he’s right – we are concentrating on a script when graphics are available. The bloated blockchain lends itself nicely to a visual rendering. PoS vs PoW is probably harder, but may benefit from some animation to convey the core idea quickly.

77

[quote=“overkillcoin, post:56, topic:2095”]This is a framework of the information I’ve gathered. Given a longer version of this, you may want to have more “lead-in” text. For example, introductory information that helps novices ready themselves for the more involved info.

You could potentially cut out "while maintaining strong security and energy efficiency. " and add info elsewhere, since the following line discusses the same thing. Perhaps elaborate proof of stake/checkpoints.

I appreciate your comments. I think the next version will be a little less ‘vanilla’, being a draft, it needs some more effort.

Why Peercoin?

00:00 - 00:07
Peercoin stands out as a innovative crypto-currency for transferring and storing wealth while maintaining strong security and energy efficiency.

00:07 - 00:17
Peercoin transactions rely on the Proof-of-stake algorithm, rewarding holders and staying sustainable. Its network uses “checkpoints” to ensure superior security.

00:17 - 00:27
Peercoin serves as a stable, complementary “backbone” currency, used as a store of value - like a savings account or gold. 1% interest is gained yearly.

00:27 - end
For more information or to get started, please visit peercoin.net[/quote]

Took me some time to order my thoughts and wrap up all the comments and thoughts in this thread, but here is my attempt:

Potential key messages for video (random order)

  1. Not just a clone / innovative
  2. Low cost of maintaining network (PoS)
  3. Secure and sustainable / energy efficient
  4. No bloated blockchain
  5. 1% reward to end users to secure network
  6. Store of wealth / value

and the standard
7. Reference / more information / close-out message

Wrapping up:
@ppcman, you seem to prefer 2,4 and 5 as key messages (sentinelrv and sportscliche agree)
@mOD, you seem to prefer 1,2,3 and 6
@Overkillcoin went for a wider range of 1,2,3,5 and 6 which I like.
Any of you, please correct me if I’m wrong, but please let us know why and what your key messages would be instead.

I have added:
8. Strong community
9. Trust; Dedicated developer treating Peercoin wallet as mission critical software

I would love to see something of a human element in there, referring to the dedicated community and referring to SK, the developer to provide the trust.

Voting on key messages to be included?
Maybe we should vote on the order of importance of the key messages. We can then better focus on how to get that each key message across as many of you already started doing.
Happy to set up a voting thread. Would that work?

Length of Video
Agree that 30 seconds is very short. So I’m good to aim for something between 60 and 90 seconds. I used the 30 seconds mainly to get some focus on what is Peercoin about. I could tell about it for half an hour, I guess, but most people won’t have that span of attention. These days with information overload even minutes are scarce to get people’s attention.

As other said it is easy to increase the length of the video by providing static images, but it would quickly become boring when overused. We need to find the right balance here.
For instance explaining PoS doesn’t need to take long with some of the wording I’ve seen and some smart video in the background. Our current video is an excellent example of how that can be done.

If overkillcoin is good to deliver us a 60 to 90 second video for between US$2,500 and US$3,000 I’m all for it ,assuming it still provides at least 80% of moving video (20% static). Assuming US$ doesn’t strengthen further we could afford that from the fundraiser.

@overkillcoin, can you please let us know what you can do for us regarding length of actual video (<20% static). I understand that you are also keen to increase the length somewhat given the key messages and complexity.
If you are good with that, I suppose you would take the feedback in this thread into account and provide an extended script or?

78

Here are some of my thoughts. I think we should keep it a little humorous/tongue in cheek to get interest. If we just say we are energy efficient we sounds like door to door salesmen.

00:00 - 00:07
[Peercoin should pop into the foreground]
Peercoin is a crypto-currency that uses an innovative algorithm, called Proof-of-stake, to make it secure and efficient.

00:07 - 00:17
[A small running GPU should appear and shake a new times and produce 4-5 Peercoins. This should move into a wallet graphic.]
[This wallet graphic should connect with many more filled with coins to display some sort of network.]
[There should be a picture of a steak in here for comedic effect.]
Mining is used for initial coin distribution, but the network is secured by coin holders running the wallet software and hold coins.

00:17 - 00:27
[We should display a 51% attack as a giant Godzilla like monster, which perhaps Peercoin could be actively fighting]
[On the efficient we could just show overloaded miners with an increasing power bill]
This makes Peercoin resistant to 51% attacks, stable, and more efficient than most crypto-currencies.

00:27 - 00:37
[We should display a happy Peercoiner receiving interests vs. a very sad generic looking coin with nothing]
Peercoin serves as a stable, complementary “backbone” currency, used as a store of value - like a savings account or gold. 1% interest is gained yearly.

00:37 - end
For more information or to get started, please visit peercoin.net

79

[quote=“Cybnate, post:77, topic:2095”]If overkillcoin is good to deliver us a 60 to 90 second video for between US$2,500 and US$3,000 I’m all for it ,assuming it still provides at least 80% of moving video (20% static). Assuming US$ doesn’t strengthen further we could afford that from the fundraiser.

@overkillcoin, can you please let us know what you can do for us regarding length of actual video (<20% static). I understand that you are also keen to increase the length somewhat given the key messages and complexity.
If you are good with that, I suppose you would take the feedback in this thread into account and provide an extended script or?[/quote]

Cybnate, you and I are on the same page

(With the exception of the amount of points that can be covered. 1 point every 20 seconds, to digest is enough to ask. A 60 second video, can only put 3 points forward to be absorbed in my opinion).

There reason I say that, is when a human watches a video, there is a lag, between understanding and interpreting what they are seeing, agreeing or disagreeing with it, making a decision, and storing it in their short-term or long-term memory. This happens over a period of 5-6 seconds. We need room for the human brain to take it all in, make a decision and store the information.

Less than <20% static, let greater than >80% be animated cartoons to drive home the messages we’re trying to convey for a $3,000 publicly funded video (not easily done).

This is such a big deal for Peercoin, it’s almost the equivalent of a “hard fork”. I hope he comes through for us, and doesn’t see this as a dollar-for-effort venture.

@overkillcoin You know what you have in your repertoire, please make this first video the best you can to send the “why Peercoin is a good choice” message home. I’m excited and I have faith in this endeavor and you.

After all, you did chainsaw our logo and coin in the overkill video. LOL (poking fun) If this works out, we all win.

80

In my opinion, driving home the difference between PoS and PoW must be the key message. Show PoW as a competition or even a battle, with the nodes of the network fighting each other for block rewards. They are so consumed with the competition that maintaining the network becomes of secondary interest to them. The nodes demand more and more energy. They even form alliances – pooling their computing resources to gain an advantage. Seems like this could be animated, perhaps with nodes represented as soldiers, ie. something hostile and adversarial.

With this imagery, it could segue into a serene PoS network. No competition, with the tiny Raspberry Pi (or some generic low spec machine) getting rewarded. Peaceful cooperation on the network, not competition.

Could that happen in 20 seconds?