Like many Filipinos, I was attracted by the idea of earning money from games way before blockchain was a thing. Back in the early 2000s, I was part of the computer retail industry. I would sometimes meet clients who would tell their stories of farming in-game gold and gears from MMORPGs in exchange for cash. And that was their daily grind. That really piqued my interest and I wanted to try it for myself.
The problem with grinding for value in MMORPGs is that it was extremely frowned upon by developers as it creates a black market type of economy that does not benefit them at all. In most cases, accounts are temporarily or even permanently banned once they find out that the users take part in these transactions that they deemed illegal.
Searching for new games like these had become my hobby then. I came across Planet Calypso/ Entropia Universe where trading items for monetary value were sanctioned by the developers. They called it Real Cash Economy. You can buy in-game credits with your local currency, use it to buy and trade in the market, hunt monsters, mine for minerals, etc. You can then convert the in-game currency for fiat and out to your bank account. It was like a gamified version of casino.
And then came the infamous Diablo 3 with their Real Money Auction House. Diablo 2 was so well-received that it spawned a thriving economy of third party gear trading. Blizzard wanted a piece of the pie so they introduced the auction house where players can buy and sell gears and gold using fiat currency. I was so happy back then as I was earning a small amount from grinding in the game. But it was short-lived as Blizzard decided to shut down the real money auction house due to various factors such as exploits, abuse and balancing issues.
I've been around during the heydays of Bitcoin and Ethereum but was not able to fully commit investing as I did not believe it will be as valuable as they are today. I also did not have too much disposable income to heavily invest in uncertain projects.
Then a couple of years ago, right before the pandemic hit the world, NFT play-to-earn games were gaining popularity. I started to dip my toes in the Wax blockchain with Alien Worlds and R-Planet. Then Axie Infinity exploded. I did not have enough capital to buy Axies so I tried various Binance Smart Chain games, including Cryptoblades. I was lucky enough to position early in Cryptoblades and I gained a sizable profit from my investment. It was my first real win in my gaming journey.
Then everything started to crash and rugpull projects were beginning to flood the space. I then realized that NFT play-to-earn projects followed the pattern similar to most high yield investment websites, accumulation, peak, and then crash. I also lost a lot of funds during this time. However, through these experiences, I began to do my due diligence before commiting to a project.
I've been lingering around the Hive ecosystem for more than a year now since I started playing Splinterlands. And I started using the blogging platform because I wanted to grow my Splinterlands collection through its rewards. I was infrequently joining various sponsored blogging contests and discovered that there were a lot of communities outside of Splinterlands. I was amazed at how diverse the groups are.
I got tired of getting scammed and rugpulled so I stopped looking at other play-to-earn games and focused on Hive. Out of all the projects on its ecosystem, there were two that I decided to devote my time and attention, Splinterlands and Wrestling Organization Online.
My history with Splinterlands is like a dance of cha-cha-cha, forward and backward steps. I heavily invest, pull everything out, invest again. This was due to me forcing to inject funds even if I know there's a chance that I would need that money later. I even had the opportunity to buy lands on the website for 20 bucks. But like bitcoin, at the time, I did not see the value of lands and I also did not have the financial capability to buy and hold them long term.
But what separates Splinterlands from any other NFT project out there is the team behind them. Unlike most who hide behind anonymous aliases, Aggroed, Yabapmatt, Nate and others are real people that are visible every week through the town halls. They have a clear goal in mind and they deliver on their promises even if the time frames are sometimes not met.
Aggroed's interview in Kitco News source
Peace, prosperity, and freedom, the mantra that Aggroed always talks about. Every time I see his interviews, I can tell that he really takes this to heart and is a driving force for the project. There's also one instance in the town hall where Matt has said that even if everything goes down, Aggroed and him will still be there working on Splinterlands.
Another thing that separates the Splinterlands company from any other NFT project is their support to the community through the SPS DAO. They spent thousands of dollars in resources and manpower to create a subset, Riftwatchers, and then delegated 100% of the profit from pack sales into the DAO fund. A company that works on a project without gaining monetary benefit, I've yet to see another NFT development team that does that kind of feat. These are just some of the things that solidifies my trust in the project.
I've talked about TeamPH in a previous blog. But basically, it caught my attention when I heard that they were offering land plots on a 12-month installment basis. This was huge for me since I really wanted to lock in the price of a land plot and not worry about it appreciating in value as land utility draws near.
Its founders, Leveluplife and Mangomayhem are really dedicated to supporting the Filipino community. What I like about them is that despite growing up in Western culture, they value and appreciate what's good about Filipinos and the Philippines. Something that sadly, some of my fellow countrymen fail to see.
So finding TeamPH on Discord is like finally having a home in the Splinterlands community. The members are friendly and supportive of each other. You can regularly hang out with whoever is on the voice chat and talk about anything that's on your mind. They make me feel at ease even though I rarely interact and just read through the conversations.
Don't try this at home. That's the PSA I always hear whenever I watch WWE programs growing up. The storylines may be scripted but the injuries are very, very real. And when I looked into this Hive project called Wrestling Organization Online, I learned about the dark side of the wrestling business. Apparently, wrestlers are considered independent contractors which means they are not entitled to healthcare benefits and even pensions. They also pay for their own travel expenses and the gears they use in-ring.
WOO CEO Bookerman has worked in the wrestling industry and has an advocacy to make a positive impact on the lives of these wrestling personalities. This has been the main goal of Wrestling Organization Online. The project offers partnerships for wrestlers where their names and likeness are made into NFTs that have utility in the game. These partnerships include a portion of the revenue from pack sales as well as the transaction fees of their NFTs given to them.
So far, WOO has three active partner wrestlers, Perry Saturn, Raven, and Sonny Onoo. Not many Hive projects can claim that they have partnership with well-known individuals, except maybe for Splinterlands and Waka Flocka Flame. And it is this passion to make a difference in the world that drew me towards this project as well. The fact that there are individuals who directly benefit from an NFT game is a great motivation for me to participate in the project.
I'm actually an introvert and not very good at communicating with other people so I know it'd be hard for me to work on a traditional business. But in this age where can people make money on the most absurd things, I knew that I can achieve financial freedom through digital means. Through the years, I've had a few successes and a lot, and I mean A LOT, of failures. But I still cling on to my dream of making it happen one day.
And I believe that I finally found my way by being in the Hive ecosystem. In order for me to not be forced to remove my investments, I plan to use Hive blog rewards as the main source of funds to slowly build up liquidity pool positions, grow my Splinterlands collection, and increase my staked tokens. It may take a couple more years but through focus, hardwork and consistency, I know that I can make it happen one day.
If you're new to Splinterlands and would like to give this game a try, feel free to use my affiliate link here. 馃憠https://splinterlands.com?ref=sudeon馃憟
Thank you for reading and see you in the battlefield!
Come join the TEAMPH community and let's help each other in this great Splinterlands journey. Together we thrive, kapamilya!
Join TEAMPH Discord Here.
