(Chill and be Zen like Monkey and Rewards Will Follow!)
When I started playing Splinterlands, way back in June hahaha, it was easy to imagine that I had missed the Good Ol' Days of the game. You would wander into a battle and get destroyed by some crazy eyeball creature you never had heard of, or go up against a summoner that equipped every rival warrior with an impossible array of bonuses. Or, you would read posts about the incredible earnings and trove of reward chests more experienced players earned... EVERY DAY!... while you were lucky to earn 0.0021 DEC. Or, you would see a post about someone buying 20 packs or selling a card for hundreds of fiat dollars. And you would look at your Owned cards and see that the best one was worth $.09.
I am writing this to reflect the experiences of a new player who was not in a position to pour any more money into the game that what I paid for the spellbook. My main message....
The Good Ol' Days are Still Here!
Yes, it is frustrating and confusing to start trying to play this game. Yes, there are players who got in early or bought in big who are earning tons of money and game assets, more than you ever will. But even with all of that being true. It is a great time to start playing Splinterlands. Here are three reasons why:
The game, though seemingly simple and even unfair at the beginning, continues to reward thoughtful play and to reveal its complexities and nuances over time. Eventually you start to feel like there is a way to win nearly every match, even with the borrowed basic cards, and it does not matter as much if you win this match because you believe you can win the next match.
The community is amazing. I suppose I should have started with this one, but not everyone gets into these things for the social component. But, even as someone who does not use social media much, every time I have had a question or shared an experience about Splinterlands in any channel (especially on SplinterTalk of course) the response has been helpful or at least funny!
It might take time, but you will earn back your initial investment. Especially now during the SPS-fueled boom, it is really pretty quick. I thought it would take me 6 months. Then the SPS boom happened, DEC prices went up, and without being a great player, I surely am in the green
To help you get to your Happy Place in Splinterlands, here are a few tips, some of which you probably have already heard:
Complete the Daily Quests. I does not matter if you go on a 10 game losing streak, just complete those quests. They teach you the game, the nuances of the splinters and some of the effects, and they reward you, sometimes with really special cards. Just do it (I know, this is an obvious one).
Do not worry about DEC Capture Rate early on. When you are battling to get your rating high enough to start earning a decent amount of DEC per battle, you are essentially not earning enough DEC per match for a higher Capture Rate to make a difference. Just get that Rating up!
Develop a plan for how you want to engage with the SPS airdrop. To my mind there are 3 approaches: 1. ignore it (why would you do that though?), 2. sell it as it comes in (I have not actually done this yet, but it means, I think, that you leave it on HIVE and learn how to use Hive-Exchange to trade), 3. maximize SPS holdings. If you are attracted to this governance token or to the staking mechanism, then it might make sense for you to invest time in learning how to accumulate SPS Airdrop points. The easiest two to understand are 1 DEC = 1 airdrop point, and 1 Power = 1 Airdrop point. So you might not want to sell too much of your DEC as you earn it.
For me, I have gone from disgruntled Splinterlands punching bag to long-term believer, all without ever really rising through the ranks very high or even finding a Guild to accept me! I think this is a game that will reward your effort over time, and it is fun enough to play that even if that reward takes a little longer than you hope, you will enjoy the ride.
Have At Ye!
