@drew___stone @ParityTech@Polkadot@AcalaNetwork@Plasm_Network The collator is a helper role, like a full node in Ethereum ecosystem (technically, collators are the full node of parachain, as expected). If you want to send transactions directly or access to blockchain - spawn it, or use some from public providers like Infura, Etherscan, etc.
@drew___stone @ParityTech@Polkadot@AcalaNetwork@Plasm_Network If polkadot validators will receive collating bonuses (and they will https://t.co/FgNG6RDkT8) then that's mean polkadot validators will be interested in launch collator node anyway (may be yourself). The polkadot almost solve collator incentivisation problem.