This past weekend I was spending some time reading some posts that various people had recently written about Splinterlands. I took the opportunity to express some of my opinions in the comments of these posts, which isn't that uncommon these days. Love it or hate it, lots of people have lots of opinions about Splinterlands.
What I wasn't expecting was one of the authors (
I've mentioned this before, but I have been an investor in Splinterlands fro pretty much the very beginning. Even before I really knew what blockchain was and NFTs weren't the buzzword that they are today, I created my kickstarter account and threw $50 to $100 at one of the early supporter bundles.
From there it was a virtual thrill ride watching new cards become available, and changes to the game that made it more fair and enjoyable over all.
Until it wasn't.
At a top level, I think my personal issues can be broken down into a handful of reasons. These might resonate with some of you, and some may not. While I was doing a bit of research for this post, I actually debunked at least one of my misconeptions about the game.
- The overall market is depressed
- Old cards have no value
- Past budget issues by the team are concerning
- The delay of land lost a lot of people
- Things are too complex
- Bots?
- Final Thoughts
The overall market is depressed
I think this is probably one of the biggest factors and I think what is most frustrating about it is there is nothing we can do about it. In turn, there probably isn't much the team can do about it. After watching deck values top the six figure mark, it's just human nature to be depressed seeing your valued struggle to reach four or five figures. I don't really fault the team for this, but I do blame them and link this to another reason I will cover in my final thoughts.
Old cards have no value
While some might argue this isn't true due to cards being allowed to be locked on land, I feel like there should be a bigger multiplier added to those cards to make them more desirable to people. Personally, I am sitting on a stack of Rift Watchers packs that apparently nobody wants to buy. I'm not willing to give them away for free either.
My initial argument was that the team maybe released too many packs too quickly, but I did a little research and from the time Hearthstone launched in 2014 something like 25 major expansions have been released along with several smaller ones.
When you compare that to Splinterlands, it actually doesn't look as bad for our favorite on chain game. I'm willing to admit I was wrong that they released too many expansions too quickly, but I think we can all agree they did have some issues with how many packs in each expansion they created. I also think they should consider adding a multiplier to some of those alpha, beta, and chaos cards for land. At least more than there currently is.
Past budget issues by the team are conerning
I'm not going to dig into this one too much, but the mismanagement of funds is concerning. While those issues have supposedly been resolved, it's still kind of the elephant in the room.
The delay of lands lost a lot of people
This is one of the big ones. I understand it takes time to create things, but the long bear market in hand with the previous topic cost the team a lot of momentum when it comes to lands. I know a lot of people were super excited and they dumped a ton of money into lands. Then they waited, and waited, and waited. Then we got sort of lands, but not really lands. Then we got lands, but not really what lands is ultimately going to be. The problem is by the time they started releasing lands people had already checked out. Then they made it a complex system with a target that keeps moving, and it's easy to understand why people are ready to be done.
Things are too complex
While it's cool that they come up with new rule sets and are adding all of this stuff to lands, I think it has become overall too complex for the casual player. Maybe complex isn't the right word. I just think like a lot of games these days, you have to put a lot of capital in to actually make it worth playing. Which I will talk about more in my final thoughts.
Bots
I'm not going to dig into this one too much. It's an age old debate and for some people it is a deal breaker when it comes to the game. Others embrace them and use them appropriately, while others use them and abuse them. I don't have any solutions for this one. For me it isn't a deal breaker, but like a lot of people I am half checked out anyway. I have never been good at the strategy side of things. I do well in Guild Brawls, but that's about it.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, I think the biggest issue with Splinterlands goes back to the long time players and how the game was sold to them. It's one thing when the game is just a game and if you make a bit of money on it, then that is cool. However, for the people who have been in it since the beginning, Splinterlands wasn't just advertised as a game. It was sold as an investment. One that would ultimately (and for a while it was) be something that could bring you a profit.
For people joining now, they likely have a more optimistic and less jaded view of the game, but for the OG players... I think we were sold a lie. At the very least sold a dream that turned into a nightmare.
I could look past a lot of this if perhaps some life was brought back to the rental market. Like the game itself, everyone probably has an opinion on that (bots ruined it, etc), but something needs to change.
I can tell you right now, if the price of HIVE ever goes back up, I know at least 10 users who are planning on liquidating their considerable Splinterlands collection. Many already have. If the team doesn't make some changes to bring more value to those assets, I fear it could be the end for the game.
Afterword
In closing, I will fully admit I haven't kept up with every aspect of the game. I account that partially to it becoming too complex, but also to the fact that my investment feels beyond recovery.
If I got any of the facts wrong above, please feel free to correct me. If you simply disagree with my opinion, you can try to correct me, but I might not listen! :)
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