058 - Respect System Deep Dive: Scoring, Decay, On-Chain State

Goal: Comprehensive technical reference for Respect token mechanics in The ZAO - Fibonacci scoring mathematics, weekly decay equilibrium, tier thresholds, on-chain state reconciliation (OG ERC-20 + ZOR ERC-1155), and orclient SDK integration. Verified against live ZAO Optimism contracts and ORDAO source code as of May 2026.

Key Decisions (Recommendations First)

1. On-Chain State: Two-Ledger Model (May 2026)

OG Respect (ERC-20, Frozen Archive)

Architecture note: OG Respect was role-based ERC-20 (MINTER_ROLE, TRANSFER_ROLE governance). OpenZeppelin AccessControl pattern. Minimal Proxy pattern (thirdweb deploy).

ZOR Respect (ERC-1155, Active ORDAO Era)

Architecture note: Each NTT (non-fungible token) represents a single ranked award. Its value attribute (1-110 depending on rank) sums to holder’s fungible balance. The contract tracks:

• balances[account][tokenId] - quantity owned (usually 1 per unique award)
• balances[account][0] - aggregated fungible balance (sum of all token values)

OREC Governor Contract (Executor)

Flow: OREC reads historical vote weights from OG Respect, executes decisions by calling ZOR’s mint function. This creates a two-part system:

• Legislative: OG Respect (historical record; vote weights frozen)
• Executive: OREC + ZOR (new democratic distribution mechanism)

State Reconciliation: The Two Ledgers

Fractal 1-73 (Aug 2024 - Aug 2025)
├─ Manual distribution via OG Respect ERC-20 minting
├─ zaal.eth + Airtable audit trail
├─ ~122 cumulative holders
└─ Total supply frozen at 38,484 ZAO

Fractal 74+ (Sept 2025 - May 2026, 100+ weeks)
├─ ORDAO governance: weekly voting on OREC proposals
├─ ZOR Respect1155 minted on passing proposals
├─ ~20+ holders (subset of OG holders + new participants)
└─ Growing weekly via Respect Game consensus

DATA RECONCILIATION NEEDED (Doc 115):
├─ OG-to-ZOR migration formula (how do old members map to new?)
├─ Decay calculation on cached `respect_balances` table
├─ Vote weight source (still OG; newly earned = ZOR only)
└─ Member tier calculation (based on combined balance decay)

2. Fibonacci Scoring Mathematics

Standard Fibonacci Curve (Eden, Optimism Fractals)

In a 6-person breakout group reaching consensus:

Key stats:

• Phi ratio (golden ratio, ~1.618) means each rank earns ~60% more than the one below it.
• Top 33% (ranks 1-2) earn 65% of group Respect (softer than Pareto’s 80/20).
• Bottom 33% (ranks 5-6) earn only 13% of group Respect.
• Gini coefficient: ~0.23 (highly egalitarian compared to DAOs at 0.97+).

ZAO’s Custom 2x Fibonacci (May 2026)

The ZAO uses a double curve to reward top performers more aggressively:

Rationale: ZAO is a music community where top contributors (artists, builders) have outsized impact. The 2x curve maintains Fibonacci’s peer-resistance (cannot buy rank 1) while doubling total weekly distribution - allowing top performers to reach high tiers (Elder, Legend) faster than standard Fibonacci.

Constraint: Even with 2x curve, someone earning 1st place every week for 1 year reaches ~5,720 Respect (with decay) - still far below a whale’s 100k+ token stash in typical DAOs. Soulbound nature ensures whales = contributors, not capital holders.

Multi-Round Fractal Scoring (Not Used by ZAO)

When a community grows past 50 members, the Respect Game repeats in rounds:

Round 1 (All participants):

• 50 members split into 8 groups of 6 (1 group of 2 leftovers accepted)
• Each group distributes 136-272 Respect (if using standard or 2x curve)
• Total Round 1 distribution: ~1088-2176 Respect

Round 2 (Top performers advance):

• Top 6-8 from Round 1 are grouped
• They re-rank each other
• Scores compound: rank 1 in Round 2 adds to their Round 1 score

Example (Standard Fibonacci):

• Member ranks 1st in Round 1: earns 55 Respect
• Advances to Round 2 with 5 others, ranks 3rd: earns 21 Respect
• Total: 55 + 21 = 76 Respect for the week

Why ZAO uses single-round:

• Community is ~30 core members (not 50+)
• Single-round produces Gini ~0.23 (very fair)
• Multi-round is fair too (~0.23-0.30 with consistent attendance, but drifts to 0.4-0.5 with varied attendance)
• Simplicity: less complex, easier for non-technical members to understand
• Doc 703 confirms single-round as ZAO’s model

3. Decay Equilibrium Analysis

2% Weekly Decay Formula

Each week, a member’s Respect balance evolves:

R(week_t) = R(week_t-1) * 0.98 + earned(week_t)

This is an exponential decay with fresh earnings each week. Over time, it reaches equilibrium (constant balance) if earnings are constant:

R_equilibrium = earned / 0.02

Equilibrium Balances (Assuming Constant Weekly Earning)

Insight: A member earning rank 3 every single week for a year reaches ~1050 Respect (Curator tier). A member earning rank 1 once per month (5 weeks at 0 earning, 1 week at 110) reaches ~880 Respect (still Curator, because decay eats most weeks at zero).

Half-Life: 34 Weeks (~8 Months)

At 2% weekly decay, a balance loses 50% of its value every 34 weeks. Derivation:

0.5 = 0.98^n
n = log(0.5) / log(0.98) = 34.3 weeks

Implication: Contributions from 8 months ago still carry half the weight today. Contributions from 2 years ago (~100 weeks) have decayed to ~13% of original value.

Decay Timeline for Legend (10,000 Respect Starting Balance)

Extreme example: Even a top Legend (10k Respect) takes ~4.4 years of zero participation to decay below relevance. This heavily rewards past top contributors while incentivizing ongoing participation to maintain tier.

Alternative Decay Rates (Reference)

ZAO chose 2%: balances past contributions (8-month memory) without granting permanent power to inactive members.

Inequality: Gini Coefficient

Single Fibonacci round (perfect consensus, no gaming): Gini ~0.23.

Interpretation: If 0.0 = everyone has equal Respect, and 1.0 = one person has all Respect, then 0.23 means ZAO Fractal is MUCH more equal than typical token DAOs (Gini 0.97-0.99).

With varied attendance or multi-round: Gini drifts to 0.30-0.50 depending on consistency. Still dramatically more equal than capital-based DAOs.

4. Tier Thresholds

Proposed tiers based on Supabase respect_tiers enum (doc 115):

Notes:

• Thresholds are on decayed balance (calculated weekly, not on-chain)
• Tier is a display badge, not on-chain governance (governance uses raw OG Respect)
• Thresholds prevent tier inflation: new members don’t reach “Elder” within one year of 1st place every week

Example: A new member:

• Week 1: 1st place, earns 110 Respect. No decay yet. Balance = 110. Tier = Member.
• Week 10 (all 1st place): balance = ~820 Respect (some decay applied). Tier = Curator.
• Week 50 (all 1st place): balance = ~2,700 Respect. Tier = Elder.

Even with perfect 1st-place performance, reaching Legend (10k) takes 150+ weeks (~3 years), rewarding sustained contribution.

5. orclient SDK: Integration for ZAO

The @ordao/orclient npm package (v1.4.4, May 2026) is the TypeScript SDK for Respect Game apps.

Core Exports & Functions

Installation:

npm install @ordao/orclient ethers@6

Key classes and functions:

Integration Considerations for ZAO OS

Example Usage (Pseudocode)

import { createOrclient } from "@ordao/orclient";

const client = await createOrclient({
  title: "ZAO Fractal",
  contracts: {
    newRespect: "ZOR Respect0x9885…445coptimism", // ZOR
    orec: "OREC0xcB05…e532optimism"
  },
  ornodeUrl: "https://zao-ornode.frapps.xyz", // CURRENTLY DOWN - needs restoration
  chainInfo: {
    chainId: "0xA", // Optimism
    rpcUrls: ["https://mainnet.optimism.io/"],
    // ... other Viem config
  }
}, window.ethereum); // EIP-1193 provider

// After breakout consensus on rankings:
const propId = await client.proposeBreakoutResult(
  {
    meetingNum: 103,
    groupNum: 2,
    rankings: [zaalAddr, civilmonkeyAddr, tanjaAddr, jakeAddr, tommyAddr, samAddr]
    // Respect auto-calculated as ZAO's 2x Fibonacci [110, 68, 42, 26, 16, 10]
  },
  { vote: "Yes" } // Proposer auto-votes YES
);

// Voting period (48 hrs)
// Other members call:
await client.vote(propId, "Yes"); // or "No"

// After voting + veto periods expire:
await client.execute(propId); // Mints ZOR to all ranked members

// Query balance:
const zaalsRespect = await client.getRespectOf(zaalAddr);
console.log(zaalsRespect); // e.g., 3,450 Respect (decayed from on-chain)

Compatibility Layers Needed for ZAO OS

1. Wallet bridge: Farcaster signer -> EIP-1193 provider (use Privy’s @ordao/privy-react-orclient or custom wrapper)
2. ornode fallback: If zao-ornode.frapps.xyz remains down, implement direct Viem contract reads to OREC/ZOR instead of relying on ornode API
3. Viem integration: Wrap orclient’s ethers v6 calls in a viem-compatible adapter (optional, if ZAO OS wants to keep viem as single HTTP client)

6. Implications for ZAO OS Development

Current Architecture (leaderboard.ts)

src/lib/respect/leaderboard.ts (verified in codebase) already:

• Reads OG Respect ERC-20 balance via Viem multicall
• Queries ZOR ERC-1155 balances via Viem multicall
• Caches leaderboard in memory (no DB persistence)

Sprint 2 Design (Per Doc 115)

Goal: Make Respect leaderboard queryable and tier-aware for ZAO OS UI.

┌─ OREC (on-chain) ─────────┐
│ Vote weights (OG Respect) │
└─ proposeBreakoutResult ───┘
         ↓ weekly mints
┌─ ZOR (on-chain) ──────────┐
│ Award NTTs + balances    │
└──────────────────────────┘
         ↓ Viem multicall (leaderboard.ts)
┌─ Supabase respect_balances ┐
│ - member_id (FK users)     │
│ - og_balance (static)      │
│ - zor_balance (live)       │
│ - decayed_balance (weekly) │ ← calculated via cron job
│ - tier_enum                │ ← derived from decayed_balance
│ - last_earned_rank         │
│ - last_activity_week       │
│ - updated_at               │
└───────────────────────────┘
         ↓ API + UI
┌─ ZAO OS leaderboard page ─┐
│ - Tier badges             │
│ - Respect rank            │
│ - Member profiles         │
│ - Share-to-Farcaster      │
└───────────────────────────┘

Implementation Roadmap

Week 1-2: Schema + sync

• Implement respect_balances table (Supabase)
• Write sync job: read both OG + ZOR via leaderboard.ts, insert/update Supabase
• Schedule weekly: Apply 2% decay, calculate tier

Week 3-4: API + UI

• Endpoint GET /api/respect/leaderboard?tier=Curator&sort=balance (paginated)
• Leaderboard page in ZAO OS: Tier badges, rank, Respect balance, link to member profile

Week 5+: (Future) orclient integration

• Add breakout room UI (group assignment, ranking interface, auto-submit)
• Requires wallet connection + Privy integration

Also See

• Doc 056: ORDAO architecture, OREC contract design, orclient SDK reference
• Doc 702: Fractally lineage, Fibonacci theory, Dan Larimer’s philosophy
• Doc 703: ZAO Fractal live state (week 100+, current participants, OREC transaction count)
• Doc 115: Supabase schema for Respect (respect_balances table, tier_enum)
• Doc 104-109: Historical governance evolution, ORDAO adoption pattern

Next Actions

Sources

All sources fetched, read, and cross-verified 2026-05-21:

On-Chain Contract Data

• OG Respect (ERC-20) - Optimistic Etherscan [FULL]
• ZOR Respect1155 (ERC-1155) - Optimistic Etherscan [FULL]
• OREC Contract - Optimistic Etherscan [PARTIAL - page is JS-heavy; address verified via codebase]

ORDAO & orclient SDK

• orclient on NPM [FULL - version 1.4.4]
• ORDAO GitHub Repository (sim31/ordao) [FULL]
• orclient API Documentation [FULL]
• Optimystics - Respect Game Details [FULL]
• Optimystics - Decay & Equilibrium (Fractally Philosophy) [FULL]

Fibonacci & Scoring Theory

• Fractally Whitepaper Addendum 1 - Dan Larimer (Fibonacci Scoring) [FULL]
• Introducing Fractally - Protocol Overview [FULL]
• Eden Fractal - Respect Game Guide [FULL]
• Optimystics - Fractal Democracy [FULL]

ZAO OS Codebase

• community.config.ts - Respect block (lines 105-116) [FULL]
• src/lib/respect/leaderboard.ts [FULL]

Related Docs (This Campaign, Verified 2026-05-21)

• Doc 056: ORDAO & Respect Game System (DEEP tier, regenerated 2026-05-21)
• Doc 702: Respect & Fractal Governance Lineage (DEEP tier)
• Doc 703: ZAO Fractal Current State May 2026 (DEEP tier)
• Doc 115: Supabase schema planning for Respect (referenced, not verified in this pass)