# Story Network Validator Community Call #1 Notes - October 4, 2024

## Topics:

1. Validator Race 2 and its tasks
1. Network reset at the end of October
1. Unjail feature enabled in v0.11.0
1. Updates on Story Geth (v0.9.3)
1. Validator rotation and active set participation
1. Transparency and validator evaluation metrics for Odyssey

### 1. **Validator Race 2:**

**Purpose:** This is the last validator race before the network reset and is designed to activate the community and evaluate individual contributors' technical skills.
**Key Tasks:**
* Create an automatic installer script for the Story node (bash script).
* Develop a web application or script to download and apply pruning archive or snapshot.
* Develop a Grafana dashboard for validator monitoring.
* (Bonus) Create useful utilities for validators, focusing on public goods and tools supporting the network's vision.

**Emphasis on Public Goods:** Tim emphasized the importance of public goods development, as Story Network is a purpose-built chain for IP management and requires specific tooling that goes beyond general-purpose chains.

### 2. Network Reset:
The Story Network testnet will undergo a complete reset at the end of October, marking the beginning of the Odyssey phase. All progress will be reset to zero.

**Unjail Feature:**
The highly requested unjail feature is now enabled in the latest release (v0.11.0). This addresses the issue of validators being jailed due to missed updates or other technical difficulties.

### 3. Story Geth Update (v0.9.3):
* Focused on improvements to the IP Graph, including rewriting the loyalty module and adding support for LAP, LRP loyalty.
* Future updates will focus on the dispute module, completing the core modules of the Story portal.

### 4. Validator Rotation and Active Set:

* Tim acknowledged the concerns about limited active set slots (100) and frequent validator rotation.
* He will discuss with the technical team the possibility of implementing epoch-based rotation to allow more validators to participate in the active set and demonstrate their performance.

### 5. Transparency and Validator Evaluation Metrics:

* Detailed validator evaluation metrics for Odyssey will be released next week, along with a form for validators to submit their information for the delegation process.
* Tim stressed his commitment to transparency and a fair evaluation process. He plans to use AI tools like ChatGPT to minimize bias and provide a secondary assessment of validator performance.
* Odyssey will be an incentivized testnet for users only; there will be no incentivization for validators.
* Validator contribution will be weighted at 30% of the overall evaluation, with 3% allocated to participation length (private testnet, public testnet, and post-Odyssey).

### Open Questions

**Question 1:** Number of planned validator races.
**Answer:** Race 2 will be the final race, with the focus shifting to the Odyssey phase and its evaluation metrics.

**Question 2:** Will there be native Integration of validator features like moniker, commission changes, and logos.
**Answer:** Not a current priority; focus remains on network improvements and mainnet preparation.

**Question 3:** Plan to switch validator rotation to an epoch-based model?
**Answer:** Under discussion; further details will be provided following consultations with the technical team.

**Question 4:** Concerns about voting power concentration among the top 9 validators.
**Answer:** The first 8 nodes are internal nodes designed to ensure network stability during the testnet phase.

**Next Steps for the community:**

* Await the release of the detailed evaluation metrics and validator submission form next week.
* Provide feedback on the community call format and suggest improvements.
* Consider the points raised by Tim and contribute ideas regarding staking mechanisms and validator improvements.