This post is not my normal sort of offering and is a bit of a challenge to write since, I feel I need to take a different approach from other SPS Validator Node Posts if I am to make it my own and not write just what I think I Should write. So . . .
For all my usual followers who are used to hearing about my artistic challenges or life stories please bear with me. There will be something of interest to you here as well I hope.
For all the techies who are thinking about where to place their votes on the SPS Validator Nodes this post will probably be a little different than you are expecting but, hopefully, it will make a nice change for you.
All the SPS Validator Node posts I have read thus far contain hardware specifications and such like but that is not the language I talk in and I wanted to write a post that is more true to me and my presence on Hive and in Splinterlands so here we are.
If you want more specific technical details feel free to ask and I will answer in the comments.
So, firstly, let's answer the question:
At it's simplest it is part of a network of computers that validate SPS (Splintershards) transactions for the game of Splinterlands. The idea is to make the game more decentralised, meaning no single company or group has complete control, and instead, the community plays a bigger role in maintaining and verifying the game's economy.
In order to run a node a person installs and runs special software on a computer or server and then every time an SPS transaction is made, several of these computers work together to check and confirm that the transaction is accurate.
✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
And now, I'm sure, there are a number of you looking a bit puzzled and wondering . . .
How the hell did Gillian, who lives in a world of coddiwompling, altered books, arty farty ferry shots, grandparents' day, blogging through mud etc. end up running an SPS Validator Node?.
Well . . . I blame 
A very long time ago, at least in the world of crypto, I stumbled across an ad on Facebook which said something along the lines of "why not get paid for something you're already doing" which led me to Steemit.
Once there I was fascinated by what I saw and starting blogging in earnest. I loved those early days of Steem, meeting so many interesting people online and later in the flesh at various Meetups.
Somewhere along the line I joined Dave's discord community, which has since morphed in Team Possible, and one day he asked me the question "are you going to buy any Stee m Monsters cards"?
To which I replied:
"You having a laugh?"
"What on earth would I want Monster cards for?"
"No".
But as the weeks passed, his and others enthusiasm started to wear off on me and when "could be a good investment" started getting banded around I decided to stump up $100 and buy my first Alpha presale packs.
Oh, the stories I could tell about those early days. But there won't be time or space for that here. Well maybe just enough for a little shameless name dropping. Around that time I attended my first Steemfest, in Poland, where I met the founders of what is now Splinterlands, 
In our goody bags was a Steem Monsters card with a code for a free account on it. By the end of the weekend I had accumulated 6 of them. And no I didn't steal them! They were kindly donated to me by my friends who when asked if they were likely to want to use them said "hell no" and unlike me, stuck with that.
One of them was the 'Spirit of the Forest' card.
On returning to the UK I used it's code to create my account Spiritfest (get it? SPIRIT of the forest from Stee mFEST) which is the one I'm using for my SPS Validator Node.
Since that Steemfest there have been many, many changes including the fork to Hive and Steem Monsters becoming Splinterlands.
I have stuck with it all that time and have never taken out any of my tokens to Fiat. I swapped some of my Hive airdrop to BTC in the early days but that's it.
I own DEC, SPS, vouchers, land, titles, totems, packs, wagons and thousands of cards across my accounts so I think it's fair to say I'm heavily invested in Splinterlands.
are three-fold:
I want to support Spinterlands in becoming as decentralised as possible. By running a node I'm helping do that.
My son, who's an experienced Dev, is my partner/supervisor in this endeavour and I'm hoping this first hand experience of blockchain and crypto will encourage him to get more involved. I've been trying to do so for years but he still feels it's all a bit hocus pocus. 😂
I hope to create some steady, passive income for my retirement. 😊
So, for those of you who own staked SPS, I would be very grateful if you'd consider voting for my full node complete with api: https://validator-api.prentice.dev . To do so you just go to the link below, authorise your Hive account and then vote for spiritfest.
💜 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 💜
