This was supposed to be a clickbait title but it's true, I stopped playing.
The reason I thought I stopped playing today was that I reached Bronze 1 and would get 9 Loot Chests at the end of the Season!
That's huge for me because I'm not a good player and I know I will likely lose a ton of games and lose my Bronze 1 chests. That was a change in the game that I didn't like because it was so hard for me to win enough games to stay in Bronze 1. In fact, I made it to Silver for 2 matches a few weeks ago but then ended up in Bronze III.
So I figure If I stopped playing for 1 day I could end the season and be up by one chest because If I did my quest, I'd only win 1 chest.
Yes, I'm addicted to playing so today is super hard for me. But then I read the announcement from Splinterlands about the next round of upcoming changes.
Now these updates really put pressure on Bronze players. I get why they are making the changes and I sort of agree with them but it is going to kill the growth of the game.
New players will drop out at a much higher rate because there won't be much excitement in playing Novice & Bronze matches. The addiction comes from winning cards and also realizing that the disappointing DEC you win in your loot chests actually have real value.
Credits are ok but no card? That's a killer and while I thought Splinterlands was on it's way to being a Unicorn level game approaching critical mass now I think it cut itself off at the knees.
It's a great game but I'm honestly a Bronze player. I'm not skilled enough to go further. Even with tons of practice, I wouldn't do well.
The time commitment required to play the game at a high level is too much for me and I suspect, many new players looking to try it out.
I may invest in the tokens but no more cards because I won't play my way out of Bronze and there won't be any fun left in for me. That 1 loot chest and the thought that I could win a cool card was enough for me and it got me addicted to the game.
Without that I fear the game won't "stick" with new players. But I do think the changes are fine for higher leagues. Let's just hope that enough people will devote themselves to enough gameplay to make it sustainable.