In this Witness Survey question post the @witnesssurvey presented a number of questions posed by community members requesting our active Witnesses to create a post with their own answers to these questions. I am answering these questions on behalf of myself, as a Witness team with @derangedvisions and @kaliju I am sure they have their own answers to these questions.

You can view the current Witness List using this external web site built by the Witness @drakos. You can of course click the hamburger menu top right and select Vote For Witnesses, but that only lists the top 100, and we currently have 150 active block producing Witnesses supporting the Steem Blockchain. I have always felt it is important to appreciate the full list of active block producing Witnesses, every single one is helping to support the Steem Blockchain and the Witnesses at level 100+ all bring their own unique skills and abilities to the blockchain. While it is easy to tick the boxes next to the top 100, take the time to consider the lower level Witnesses because they are just as deserving of your vote.

What is your position/stance on bid-bots (ownership/delegations/opinion)?

When I started posting the bots did not exist, and it was incredibly difficult to get established and find support for your posts. The bid bots realistically enabled the use of Steem Power that was dormant - often tied to big investors who had no interest in searching for posts to vote on, and it also meant instead of a few receiving big votes in a small group - the vote would be spread. In many ways the bots have helped people to establish and grow on here, but with no regulation they have also generated a great deal of distaste - when we are talking about rewards for quality content seeing posts with 100's of dollars worth of reward - where the content really does no warrant it - is frustrating for the many people creating incredible content, putting hours of work in to create something unique and special - and getting a few cents in return for it. My personal opinion is removing the bots completely is unlikely to happen now they are established, but they could cap how much upvote is given by each one to a post so we don't see unnatural reward values. There is a big community split over bot's, and I know many that refuse to use them. Realistically this is a topic that needs it's own open discussion between all parties, there are pros and cons on both sides for and against.

What does the witness want to do to make the blockchain more user-friendly and help to on-board new users. What do THEY personally want to see done and what will they do to get it there?

I personally think with the variety of new front ends we are now seeing like Steempeak and the mobile app work of @partiko the blockchain is more then user friendly enough. On boarding new users is the biggest current challenge, I don't personally see many people being keen on paying for an account in the current climate, or in purchasing Steem to convert to Steem Power so they can actually interact. I'm currently looking at options to create free accounts using resource credits (I can manage one every two days) that would be bundled with a 25SP short term delegation to start them off. Though the @dstors project being worked on by my Witness partners @derangedvisions and @kaliju we will see new accounts opened to make use of the decentralised online store, many of whom I expect will then go on to enjoy the other facilities the Steem Blockchain has to offer.

Do you think votes for witnesses should last indefinitely or should they time out (or perhaps decay over time) so that periodically voters will need to reevaluate and affirm their positions by recasting their votes?

This is a subject of heated debate, and has been discussed many times. The DPOS system means every Stakeholder can choose to support the Witnesses they feel are doing the best to support and grow the platform, and the Witnesses will gain more producer rewards as more SteemPower holders vote for them. With votes being set once and lasting forever, there are two main problems as I see it.

1. Witnesses that shut down remain high up on the table , in the top 100 we have 5 inactive Witnesses accounts still holding enough votes to be ranked above active and useful Witnesses. They take up slots in the top 100 that Witnesses in 100+ positions could be using - allowing them more chance of being voted for because many people will only vote by ticking boxes next the the top 100 on the witness page

2. The current system of vote and forget means that there is no incentive to review or update your Witness votes, and leaves the opportunity open for Witnesses to benefit from votes given because of what they were doing, when now they might be active at all.

Realistically though it is down to each individual stake holder to use (if they wish) their Witness votes, use as many as they see fit and if they wish to vote once and never change or review it again that is a choice they have made.

Do you think the 30 witness votes each steemian gets is the correct number, especially in light of the fact there are only 20 top witnesses to be seated?

This is another subject that has been heavily debated, and I agree with the Witness @ura-soul regarding it - with consensus currently being 17 of the top 20 agreeing, it is currently possible for someone to invest in enough stake to control the top 20 positions and effectively controlling consensus - switching votes to approve or block actions at will. A limit of 10 Witness votes would address this, and would also make voters much more involved in choosing their Witnesses - because they would have to think harder about the smaller number they wish to support.

My concern about this though is it would adversely affect lower ranked Witnesses, and could potentially see many not being able to sustain the cost of their Witness server because of drop in block production.

What is a concern or two that you have about the #steem blockchain?

I don't really have any concerns at the moment, while Cryptocurency in general is seeing a downtrend, and Steem is following it - I'm confident the added value of the dApps we are seeing evolving around the blockchain will bring it up and give it a value of it's own.

What are you hopeful about for the #steem blockchain?

I'm excited to seen the continued growth of new dApps on the blockchain, with @steemmonsters such a success, and @chibera currently in development I hope to see more varied games being developed that are blockchain linked. @actifit is bringing fitness in, of course @dstors is bringing business to the blockchain, @dtube for videos and @steepshot for photography while steemhunt bring something quite unique. You can read a full run down on dApps in this post

What is the monthly cost of equipment?

Witness server costs will vary depending on the specification and provider, the current most widely adopted specification is 64gb Ram with SSD Storage, a rough estimate would be $150 set up and $100 per month rental cost.

Where do your earnings go?

Straight into Steem Power, and stay there. I have never powered down or transferred anything out, and don't plan to for the near future. Fifty per cent of the weekly producer rewards I receive in Steem Power I send to @derangedvisions as Steem, as my Witness team partner he uses this to support his photography competitions and also the development on @dstors. As my Steem Power grows I have continued to delegate to many community projects, and will be increasing my @dstors delegation to help the project get started.

[What are some of your] Current projects?

Currently @dstors, alongside the various community support I do upvoting and sharing content, commenting on posts to encourage and engage users to aid retention. Also see above

[Will you provide an] Alt accounts list?

@blue.panda which is the account I set up for my 8 year old boy, I try to post something now and again on it to start building it up a little until he is ready to get started with it.
@whiterosecoffee is the account I set up for my coffee business, which I intend to open a dstor for.

What are the benefits associated with being a witness?</h1?

I'm not sure anyone ever mentioned benefits before, obviously if you are dedicated to the Steem Blockchain the benefit is your Witness server is contributing to the smooth running of it. Obviously the aspiration is to reach the top 20 and be able to have an influential say in how the platform develops.

How do I become a witness?

Rent a suitable server to run the Steemd software on, install it, adjust the configuration file as required, broadcast your intent, collect Witness votes and wait for your first block. I like this guide by the Witness @yehey

What do you think the SBD [STEEM] price for a new account should be?

The pricing for setting up new accounts has to to take in many factors, the challenge is bringing in new users that will enhance the platform while avoiding flooding it with spam and accounts just trying to abuse the reward pool while not adding anything. I personally think the way forward is established accounts with sufficient Steem Power to create accounts using resource credits based on referral, creating an account and helping to support the new user. It's just an idea I have at the moment, I really need to think more about the logistics of it.

What is a witness and how I become a good worker?

A Witness Server processes transactions made on the blockchain, and will confirm transactions in a particular block, block signing is dictated by the amount of Steem Power held by Witness Voters voting for the Witness running it. To be a good Witness you need to be able to monitor your Witness Server, update the software when required to newer versions, keep an eye on the Witness channels so you are always aware of new developments. Witness votes will very much be dependant on how active you are on the platform, what people perceive you are doing to help support the platform and take it forward.

Have you implemented any new procedures for evaluating potential hardforks?

I have not currently, although at my current rank I would not have an influence on consensus anyway. I have taken on a Backup Witness Server to make updates smooth, and to also trial RC updates. I do think it is important to look at and evaluate what is being proposed as far as changes in hard forks, and the impact it can make to our users.

How does a new user make the availability of his vote known to the cabal of witnesses wannabes trying to overthrow the current witness regime?

I'm not sure you understand fully the delegated proof of stake system that is being used - accounts choose Witnesses to vote for - using this [https://steemian.info/witnesses](Witness List) you can click on the little link next to each Witness to view a post relating to their Witness proposal or set up. The position of a Witness will climb up the table based on how much Steem Power their voters have. So the new users just needs to look at all the available Witnesses to vote for - and decide which of them are going to keep the platform available and running well long into the future and give the most benefit to the user.

Should we have interest for SBD?

In the current market it might be something Witnesses would set via the APR, although there is an inbuilt mechanism to bring SBD value up via it's internal conversion to Steem.

What takeaways do you have from the Hardfork 20 issues that occurred?

I think generally the impression has been greater testing needs to be done when fundamental changes are being made, and potentially it would be advisable to avoid making too many big change at once. What I would like to see is more community discussion on code changes, @steemitblog are already doing well at keeping the community updated - highlighting proposed code changes in updates directly to the community would bring forth beneficial discussion.

Do you think 20/21 top witnesses a good number or should there be more or less?

I consider the current Top 20 Witnesses having influence on the platform a perfect situation, it means enough minds to look at proposed changes and agree or disagree with them. Too few and would make it easy for potential problems to be missed, while too many would make it very difficult to get agreement from all of them.

Some of my previous posts you might have missed

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Witness Update by @c0ff33a 20.6 @dstors and more

The C0ff33 Vlog 5th October 2018

Sublime Sunday by @c0ff33a ☕️

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Last Confirmed Block Number 28,190,9372 Last Aslot 28,286,451
Steemd v0.20.6

Kind thanks to @enginewitty for employing his Ninja graphic design skills and producing this 🔥 banner

If you enjoyed my post don’t forget to leave an Upvote, feel free to comment on what you liked or where I can do better even. Follow @c0ff33a for regular and varied posts, photography, my weekly VLOG, posts on coffee roasting and brewing - just follow and see.

To grow your presence and following on Steemit, be active in the community Discords that offer the chance to learn, network, share and be found. The #SteemitRamble discord https://discord.gg/HZYzEry hosts a range of shows where you can join in and get your name shown, every Thursday there are two Pimp My Post Thursdays which are hugely popular and give you an opportunity to get your posts seen.

For fun and entertainment then #SteemStar is the discord to be in, https://discord.gg/ZDANjzy with regular shows during the week it’s the best place to relax, and also network the friends you make could be your future biggest upvoters.

All photos are my own, taken with my iPhone. All my Steemit posted pictures can be freely used by other Steemit users in their own blog posts - all I ask is that you follow me and credit @c0ff33a linking to my post you took it from. You can also follow me on Twitter

You can view my current Witness Statistics using this tool produced by Witness @justyy

The picture to the right kindly sketched by the wonderful @bridget.art , be sure to check her incredible art out https://steemit.com/@bridget.art

" A Shy Old British Geography and Biology Geek, is a Nut addict and loves Coffee and obcessed with Jax Jones" as @steemflow describes me.

The greatest challenge we face on Steemit is getting our posts seen, I have always believed the simplest and best value way of doing this is by commenting on the blog posts of others, the more you engage people and interact with them the greater the chance they will visit your own blog and return the favour. Other then spending all my free time commenting on Steemit posts, I also distribute coffee roasting machines and also espresso coffee machines and roast my own Speciality Coffee Range. being one of the premium coffee suppliers Yorkshire including a wide range of filter coffee sachets

!steemitworldmap 53.766547 lat -1.801500 long Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. d3scr

This awesome animated Banner has been kindly been created by the wonderful @snook

Don’t forget to vote for Witnesses https://steemit.com/~witnesses

I am the official Witness supporting the @dstors project by @kaliju and @derangedvisions, buying and selling products worldwide with Steem and @dstors contributing to the shipping with the reward pool. Learn More

You can vote for the Witness team c0ff33a and @derangedvisions if you like what we are doing for people and communities throughout the Steem blockchain - click below to vote easily

If you are uncertain about Witnesses and who to vote for you can set c0ff33a as your Witness Proxy and you will vote for the same Witnesses as I do.