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I used to be addicted to World of Warcraft.

I spend most of my 20's playing that game. 

When I was playing World of Warcraft I thought about that game a lot.

Every time I would wake up in the morning I couldn't wait to start playing and check the latest news, do my quests and see if I sold anything in the auction house.

Years were lost doing that.

When I finally managed to break away from that game I was faced with an incredible amount of free time and absolutely nothing to show for the time I spend playing.

I decided to devote part of my free time to my IT business that was doing ok to get by at the time but not more than that. 

It didn't take too long before I got more clients.

I also started to concentrate on my health and got fit.

I gave me confidence and due to some luck, I managed to find Bianca.

It was a perfect match 5 years ago and we are still together going strong.

I realized that putting your energy into something works.

And then Steem came around in 2016.

Now, there are a thousand ways you can look at Steem and try to explain what it is.

You can say it's an app-specific blockchain, with 3 second block times, no fees with a big community and all that.

But on the individual level, I think I saw it personally as a game. Especially back then.

A real-life MMO (Massively multiplayer online game).

You make a character *(your account)* on the Steem blockchain and from there you can do whatever you want.

The biggest difference from World of Warcraft? On Steem your character is tied to the physical world.

Improve your character on Steem = Improving your own life.

At first, you could only create a blog post on steemit.com *(there were no other apps)* and that's what I did.

I tried my utmost best, but I never got much traction doing that *(besides a few posts)*.

To get better at playing the game you needed the support of the big players. That meant making connections.

And...I'm not the best at that if I'm honest. I can be socially awkward and I don't like asking for support and all that.

I like to be in control and have a goal to work towards.

I got my chance when the price tanked at the beginning of 2017.

I got an opportunity to buy STEEM, and then later they changed the reward curve to linear and the game became a little easier to play for everyone.

The goal of the game became clear too.

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More Steempower = more STEEM.

Less Steempower = less STEEM.

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A goal anyone can understand. And an especially great goal for the more socially awkward people that have trouble making the right connections.

Steem had created the perfect mix of opportunity for me.

A direct way to empower oneself without having to rely on others.

Powering up therefor became the only option and that's what I did. 

I have been buying, grinding, earning Steem for the last 3 years. 

I have been basically playing a game. The Steem MMO and what a great game it is.

And just like World of Warcraft, I wake up thinking about Steem.

I check the news and see if there are any updates. I know a lot about Steem.

Just like World of Warcraft I made friends playing the game, people I still talk to today.

And just like World of Warcraft Steem is an ever-growing game with more and more stuff to do!

In 2016 I could only read and posts blogs and check the price of STEEM. That was it.

In 2019, I can do a hell of a lot more.

My morning today:

Wake up and check the price of STEEM.
Play Steem Monsters earning DEC tokens and get my dailies done.
While playing read up about any new developments.
While playing check all the Discord channels of all the apps.
Play Next Colony.
Start working on a post.
Create account tokens.
Looking at the Pal and DEC prices on Steem Engine.
Watch some videos on dtube and 3speak.

You get the point.

The game is getting bigger with more opportunities for new players than ever.

But the game is also getting tougher. Earning STEEM is not as easy as it used to be. Especially as a new player.

Luckily Steem-engine and the communities it will empower will make earning other tokens besides STEEM a new goal for new players.

You can now concentrate on earning as much DEC tokens or as much PAL tokens. And just like STEEM they have value.

It's like starting a new game with new goals while its all still connected to the Steem blockchain.

It's actually all pretty cool stuff and makes me realize that this blockchain can't be stopped.

It's too good to be part of. 

Empowering yourself within a community where, what you do, can actually change your real life for the better is something so powerful it will draw a lot of people here.

I'm not sure if this was part of Ned's vision for SMT's, but I believe it was and it's a stroke of genius. It will take this blockchain to new levels we can't even imagine.

My thanks also to the guys of Steem Engine for taking the idea of SMT's and carrying it out in the way that they have.

For me,

Steem is the best Real Life MMO I ever played and it's just getting started!

Steem on!

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#### I am part of witness [@blockbrothers](https://steemit.com/@blockbrothers).

Please consider us for your witness vote if you think we deserve it [here](https://steemit.com/~witnesses):

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[Vote for @blockbrothers via SteemConnect](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-vote?witness=blockbrothers&approve=1)
[Set blockbrothers as your proxy via SteemConnect](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-proxy?proxy=blockbrothers&approve=1)

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#### We are the creators of Steemify a notification app for your Steemit account for iOS.

Get it Here:

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