I did not think I would care too much about STEEM, after all, I had left STEEMit for greener pastures shortly after on-boarding.
Splinterlands {SteemMonsters} was always a game I admired, for become so popular on the STEEM chain; and darn it I wanted to play!
What was stopping me? Back in those days, it was common for most blockchain to impose an entry barrier - in order to start playing, you had to make an investment, buy some type of creature or item which was considered the 'starter'.. For SteemMonsters, it was a $10 starter deck I just couldn't spring the money on. I was brand new to crypto so I would have had to spend FIAT back then.
Then of course I eventually left STEEMit shortly after that and I didn't really think about SteemMonsters again until I saw a similar game calling it's self Splinterlands in a directory of Tron compatible games.
I was curious to know more, so I joined their good old [Telegram Group][] and found out that Splinterlands was aka SteemMonsters, and the re-branding was due to the branching out to other compatible cryptos.
I lurked for a long while in that TG group, and then one day I started to notice a contest had been running where new interested players could snatch up a starter deck from commenting on a video.. But as my luck usually has it, the contest had ended when I finally came around.. but you know that the community and staff of Splinterlands are so grand that I was rewarded with a free starter deck code by one of the admins anyways! It was a very happy moment in my crypto life!
Thanks @grapthar!
I've been playing for a little over a month now but I always thought SL would be a lot cooler if winning battles won us some STEEM, for the longest time they didn't have their own game token, $DEC, so all you won from battles were reward cards and there was no real way to earn funds to go towards purchasing booster packs. Now there is DEC which can be traded for both TRX or STEEM, but I've recently discovered an awesome external 'gym' where I can train with other duelers and earn STEEM whether I win or lose! I say, the more ways to earn free tokens, the better!
So how does this work?
Great question, but very easy! So easy that I am not able to describe the back end of how it all functions together, but as long as you follow the simple instructions you will be earning STEEM for your matchups!
One of the reasons I am STEEMing about this is so that more battlers become aware and start using it so that we all can find matches more easily.
While we wait, we can go off and make some coffee, pull up another tab, or daydream at the screen as it rotates different facts about the game.
Speaking of Alpha packs, did you know that the BetaPacks are almost extinct too? I believe we are now under 25% of BetaPacks left..
There is no need to keep the tab in the foreground, you can switch tabs and play ranked battles while you wait for a match.
You will have 5 minutes to initiate a challenge to your opponent, or to accept your opponents challenge, once paired in the matchmaker.
What I do is quickly play through ranked battles (using fast-forward or 'skip to results') and just have a quick peek back to the matchmaking tab before jumping into another ranked game.
You will see the screen change to the image displayed below. This will provide a link straight to the battle page on Splinterlands, it also shows who your opponent will be, and if you scroll down to just under where my screenshot ends, you see a handy button to "copy opponents name to clipboard" which does exactly as it says.
(Note: if you do copy your opponents name manually, be sure to not include the @ symbol)
Oh! Look who decided to show up for training!
So, the trainee gets to 'school' the mentor? I hope they are ready for a fight!
You can either initiate the challenge yourself, by selecting "Challenge" from the battle screen on Splinterlands - be sure you also select Bronze level from the drop down - or it's possible your opponent will beat you to it, in which case you should see the challenge invite at the top left of your screen on Splinterlands.
... I stood no chance!
Everything is the same for these battles, except that your cards will be limited to bronze level limitations, and you will not receive any DEC nor will your ranking change.
You will however, receive some STEEM deposited to your STEEM wallet shortly after the battle, regardless of whether you win or lose!
Also, once a day if you get matched, a link to enter a free card giveaway will appear on the screen that shows your opponent! All you need to do is click on that link and sign the transaction to enter!
* sometimes if no one is around and matchmaking takes too long, you will have to enter your name again and to re-enter the queue
I really think this is a useful tool for players of all ranks and styles, even though it doesn't count in a ranked match, count towards quests, nor earns any DEC. Hear me out!
Firstly, it's super quick and easy to play the challenge match. You can set up your team, rumble and skip straight to the results. DONE! Cha-ching. STEEM in pocket.
Second, and this point might be more useful for someone going through a losing streak, but it allows for a 'change of pace' since there is no pressure to win necessarily (you get STEEM either way), you don't have to feel guilty for using a Summoner outside of your current quest assignment, and most of all it allows you to practise a team you may not have used in a ranked match because you weren't confident enough that they would win. Go ahead, experiment, have more fun with the challenge match than the fun you've already been having playing Splinterlands!
Third, you can be matched with anyone who is also waiting for a match, since Splinterland's ranked games prioritize matching you with someone closer to your rank, over at SteemMonsters.club gym you will be able to meet new people and see some cards you might not yet have seen in action if you are a lower level player.
Of course, I think the greatest use for the club is the ease of earning STEEM instantly. I am not an active participant of the STEEM ecosystem, I am a TRX player. Being able to earn STEEM directly means I have an additional source of income for purchasing more cards! I would normally exchange my DEC for TRX, so on top of that I can now accumulate a little extra STEEM between earning DEC. I'm an advocate of free crypto, I've yet to spend a single FIAT dollar on my coin collection, so utilizing more ways to earn for free is important to me. Trust me when I say every little bit helps and pennies of pennies DO add up (and truly, to anyone not a minnow, the amount of STEEM earned per match won't be very significant).
So, have you tried out steemmonsters.club? What did you think?
I think that more people should come and play so that matches are made faster, and more STEEM can be earned by everyone (by playing more matches, since we'd be matched faster xD)!!
Spread the word, play more games, earn more cards! See you all in battle!
© KharmaScribbles || ~ 2019
Originally posted on steemit, possibly will be cross-posted to publish0x.
