While everything you've discussed certainly applies to Splinterlands, its dev team and its economy, I'd go a step further and say every game should prioritize this kind of interaction with its community regardless of the platform or (lack of) economy. Even if a game has no intention of using the blockchain or allowing in-game transactions, players want to know what's happening with a game and where it's going.

Put simply, amazing games have failed for no other reason than lack of transparency and communication by its dev team. We see this happen far more often for AAA game studios that focus too much on hitting deadlines or have restrictive PR policies to the point that gamers abandon what might have been a solid game given time (and more communication).

!1UP