How will delegators choose their validators?

Delegators have several criteria to consider when choosing validators to delegate their tokens to. Here are some key factors that delegator may want to take into account when selecting validators:

- Self-bonded WARD: the amount of WARD a validator self-bonds to its staking pools is an important indicator of their commitment and investment into the networks. Validators with a higher amount of self-bonded WARD have greater “skin in the game”, and are perceived as being more reliable, trustworthy and liable for their actions.

- Delegated WARD: the total amount for WARD delegated to a validator reflects the level of trust and confidence the community has in that validator. A validator with a large stake of delegate WARD may be considered more reputable, but may also make them a bigger target for malicious actors, potentially impacting network security.

- Commission rate: the commission rate set by the validator determines the portion of staking rewards that the validator retains for themselves, rather than distributing it to their delegators.

- Track records: Delegators can look at the track record of a validator they plan to delegate to. This includes seniority in the network, past votes on proposals, uptime and the reliability of the validator, how often the node was compromised. Validators with a positive track record are more trusted by delegators.

- Community contribution: Another criteria is the work validators have contributed to the community, such as educational content, participation in community channels, contributions to open source initiatives etc. Community contribution demonstrates a commitment to the long-term success and growth of the network.