As I have now been playing "Splinterlands" and "Drug Wars" for over a year, I've wanted to contribute something of ACTIONABLE value to my fellow players (and FUTURE players) - but NOT just fill my Steemit feed with daily images of quest reward - or battle - SPAM (no offense to those doing so). Ultimately, Steemit is about ADDING VALUE to the social experience - that is the magic of blockchain social media technology. So, after some serious pondering, I decided that a weekly "Splinterlands + "Drugs Wars" player strategy diary" type series, with CONCISE and ACTIONABLE tips, would be of most value to my audience. Please let me know your thoughts (good and/or bad), and I hope that readers (now and into the future) will benefit from this series. If you gain a better understanding of blockchain, gaming, "blockchain gaming", marketing, psychology, forensics, philosophy, finance, ethics, law, and/or any other area(s) of knowledge I end up exploring (voluntarily or involuntarily) as this series naturally progresses, then I will have done my "good deed" (of providing value) for the week. Also, feel free to hit me up on the battlefield.
1 ) Since I am now ending the season at AT LEAST the "Champion III" level, and as a result starting the new season at at least "Diamond II" this means that the MAXIMUM number of milestone levels I can reach in one season is four ("Champion I") - and reaching that highest level is quite a challenge. In addition, I notice that opening only the "one pack per day" has become a bit "slow", as well as the fact that speeding up the pace a bit will also increase the power of my decks as I open more of the valuable cards in the packs (especially the gold cards). In addition, I COULD eventually buy more Untamed pack batches, especially if they do additional promotions (like the "Halfling Alchemist" promo this past month. But even if I DO NOT buy additional Untamed packs/batches I am now also getting about just as much pleasure buying cards with my daily DEC earnings at the end of each day of play. So, all of these factors considered, I have decided to PARTIALLY go back to the "two packs per day" pack-opening strategy, but ONLY when I reach each higher season level. That means that I would add a MAXIMUM of five milestone packs per season, which would NOT be too fast, but also not too slow, and will help incentivize me to reach the higher levels. The first day I did this this season I hit TWO GOLD CARDS in the pack (June 8th, 2020), which was a significant morale booster. Also, if I start to run low on packs I could FEASIBLY buy five extra packs per season to slow down the pace. That is within my current budget ( 5 x 2,000 DEC = only 10,000 DEC). I think this is a good middle-ground to enable me to get TWO daily "dopamine hits" on those days when I reach the next higher season level (that is, the "dopamine hit" of buying cards with the daily DEC earnings, PLUS the "dopamine hit" of opening those extra five milestone packs.
2 ) At the beginning of the week I was considering going in for another 100 ( + 10 free ) *** Orbs *** pack batch, and then on June 6th, 2020 I got THREE *** Orbs *** packs in my quest rewards. Adding this to the TWO Orbs packs I got in another quest rewards batch LAST week I decided to reconsider the cost-benefits analysis of spending ~ 300,000 DEC worth of Bitcoin ( ~ 0.026 BTC ) to buy another 100 ( + 10 free ) Orbs pack batch (plus full potions for the 550 cards) versus taking that chance that I will hit one (or all) of the remaining select Orbs cards which I have wanted since purchasing the several pack batches earlier in the year. For instance, as of writing this sentence there are 19,257 Orbs packs remaining for sale. So if we assume that I will get ONE Orbs pack per week out of ALL of the weekly completed quests going forward, then that would work out to 52 packs in one year. The main issue is that we don't know how long it will take to sell out of the remaining packs. So the issue is: Do I sell the Bitcoin, which may very likely be worth MUCH more than whatever remaining Orbs cards I get, or would it be better to simply hope that I continue to get more Orbs packs in the quest rewards? Another option is to simply buy the remaining cards on the market, but a few of them are too expensive for that. I am thinking that the LESS RISKY option is to continue focusing on the Orbs packs I get in the quest rewards. I will monitor the number of packs I get per week for the next month or two, as well as the pace at which the packs are selling out, to get a better metric on the risk versus reward of going in for another pack batch. My ULTIMATE concern is that when the remaining Orbs packs sell out that the value of the more rare ones I need will become BEYOND MY BUDGET, and I will never be able to obtain them. Related to this is the fact that I COULD burn, or try to sell on the market, my one extra "Minotaur Warlord" (Gold - Level 2 - $134.28 USD - 150,000 DEC) in order to buy the ONE additional "Corrupted Pegasys" (Gold - Level 2 - $138.00 USD - 150,000 DEC), which would enable me to bump the Corrupted Pegasys card to Level 3, thereby unlocking the "tank heal", which makes this card - both gold and non-gold - a POWER-HOUSE card in "death" battles. Having the "tank heal" would enable me to use this "gold promo" card in regular battles, since in many battle situations (for instance, using "death" deck with a "dragon" summoner), the non-gold card is limited to Level 3 ANYWAY. The main issue is that in order to liquidate the "Minotaur Warrior" card I will likely need to BURN it, and that would further decrease the supply, and then actually make it more likely that the cost of the card will go up, beyond my budget. It's a tough call, but I think the best thing to do is wait it out for now, even if that means missing out on the 20% "gold promo" DEC bonus that I COULD earn with the Level 3 "Corrupted Pegasys" gold card. If I can hit one of EITHER of these cards with the Orbs packs earned through quests that would solve the issue immediately. Fingers crossed.
3 ) On the #DrugWars front, although the new strategy of using the 'bunker" to protect my army has been successful this past week (since I set out to focus specifically on that project), and I spent the larger part of the week releasing troops from the bunker for just enough time to do the solo jobs (actually getting all the way back up to the Level 10 solo job (with some help from the other gang member who got back to the capacity to be able to resume doing the Level 7-10 gang jobs)) I was negligent one night (by forgetting to put my troops into the bunker before bedtime) and overnight I got wiped out AGAIN by one of the SCAVANGER bosses of another gang. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, however, as it forced me to move into my next phase of experimentation, which is to see how fast I could bounce back from this new wipe-out, now that the other gang member is fully operational again (being able to continue doing gang jobs - using the bunker - which will hopefully enable me to bounce back faster than the last time (last week) when we all got wiped out, but could NOT help each other get back up faster). In addition, I decided this would be an ideal time to start building my army AND bunker capacity of my second largest resource-producing base, with the goal of being able to use MY OWN secondary base as a backup if my 1st one gets wiped out, and vice versa. By the end of the week I had INDEED well-achieved the goal of upgrading the bunkers of my second-most-productive base (and even the OTHER five bases as well, to a smaller degree), AND managed to build enough of an army in the second base (protected in the bunker) to be able to do up to Level 5 solo jobs. So I now how TWO bases doing jobs daily, and will continue to work on upgrading the other five bases so I can do LOTS of daily jobs. So, this current weeks goal will be to work on upgrading the remaining five bases.
4 ) One thing I have been neglecting a bit is my original goal, set out earlier in the year, that I would "consume one article related to #splinterlands and one article related to #drugwars each day. In the past month or two I have gotten sidetracked with keeping pace with that, and have missed a few important posts from the official 
Splinterlands League Updates
@splinterlands/splinterlands-league-updates
I actualy AGREE with the logic behind this decision, but if I had not seen that post I would have been missing some key info about the game. In the case of this new "collection score" update, my long-term strategy has actually put me on the WINNING side of the equations, because my whole strategy has been to progressively use my daily DEC winnings to buy up more cards and make my collection stronger. This means that I will naturally be at an advantage when this new "collection score" element is added to the game. But the point is that these are new changes to the game that ANY player MUST be informed about, so that we can adjust for the "new rules" into our overall strategy. Therefore, this week I will RE-FOCUS my effort on going back and consuming any/all of the most important articles/videos related to the game which I have been too distracted to consume in the past month. It's been a HELLISH one to two months for me (as I have mentioned in previous posts in this series), but "sh*t happens", and sometimes the best/only thing we can do is fall off the bike, get up, dust ourselves off, and get back on the bike and move forward. on the positive side, I HAVE been able to maintain daily play, and completion of quests, consistently during this challenging period, so all is NOT lost.
5 ) Okay. As I did in the last post in this series, the highly-detailed "diary" of my daily #steemmonsters / #splinterlands activity is laid out in the last part of this post, for those of you who are inclined to follow, more closely, what I am doing. It occurred to me that this "diary" section is JUST THAT - a highly detailed record of my daily activity in the game, with some JUICY "play-by-play" analysis notes, and commentary, on what works, what doesn't, and some suggestions for further tweaking and experimentation. So, with this in mind, I hope some/any of you will enjoy this information. If not, you are under no pressure to read it fully, and are free to SKIM, or even IGNORE, any parts, or ALL parts, completely - at your discretion. I lay this out because it also HELPS ME to document my progress in the game over time, and may help some people NOW, and into the perpetual future...
Starting DEC : 37,832 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 89.49%
Ending DEC - 34,217 DEC ( + 44,050 DEC ) = 78,267 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 70.98%
Balance = DEC Earning = 40,435 DEC = -> 135.209 HIVE x ~ $00.25 USD/Hive = ~ $33.80 USD
Spent :
1 x "Halfling Alchemist" (Gold - Level 3 - $38.00 USD - 48,591 DEC -- bumped up to Level 4 (to increase health from "+2" to "+3")
Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack)
keepers -
Daily Quest (today's "win three battles without neutral monsters" quest)
keepers -
converted 2nd Hive power-down payout of 141.900 HIve to 44,050 DEC to buy cards
Starting DEC : 34,457 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 84.29%
Ending DEC - 34,947 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 87.00%
Balance = DEC Earning = 490 DEC = -> 1.509 HIVE x ~ $00.206 USD/Hive = ~ $00.3108 USD
Spent :
Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack)
keepers -
Daily Quest (today's "water" quest)
keepers -
"The Kraken" (non-gold (legendary) - Level 1 - $1.38 USD - 1,500 DEC)
Starting DEC : 34,947 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 92.76%
Ending DEC - 36,299 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 84.28%
Balance = DEC Earning = 1,352 DEC = -> 4.254 HIVE x ~ $00.251 USD/Hive = ~ $01.067 USD
Spent :
1 x "Screeching Vulture" (Gold - Level 4 - $0.67 USD - 900 DEC -- five (5) more cards to Level 9)
2 x "Undead Priest" (non-gold - Level 1 - 508 DEC -- 23 cards remaining to Level 7)
Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack)
keepers -
Daily Quest (today's "win three battles without neutral monsters" quest)
keepers -
Starting DEC : 34,891 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 90.31%
Ending DEC - 35,555 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 92.53%
Balance = DEC Earning = 661 DEC = -> 2.103 HIVE x ~ $00.250 USD/Hive = ~ $00.525 USD
Spent :
1 x "Goblin Thief" (Gold - Level 3 - $0.60 USD - 790 DEC -- eight (8) more cards to Level 10 (max))
Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack + celebration pack for reaching "Diamond I" season level - + 10 season loot chests)
keepers -
Daily Quest (today's "win three battles without neutral monsters" quest)
keepers -
Starting DEC : 34,764 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ xx.xx%
Ending DEC - xx,xxx DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ xx.xx%
Balance = DEC Earning = xxx DEC = -> x.xxx HIVE x ~ $00.xx USD/Hive = ~ $00.xx USD
Spent :
Notes: Had to take the day off today to do some serious surivival prep stuff. Will make up for the lost day's activity tomorrow, by DOUBLING the play, and finishing today's "dragon" quest. Life happens, and the serious stuff is more important than a "one day break" from the game.
Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack)
keepers -
"Feasting Seaweed" (Gold - Level 3 - $0.64 USD - 500 DEC -- four (4) more cards to go to Level 7)
Starting DEC : 34,799 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 99.00%
Ending DEC - 55,256 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 87.25%
Balance = DEC Earning = 20,457 DEC = -> 66.589 HIVE x ~ $00.251 USD/Hive = ~ $16.71 USD
Spent :
1 x 10 charges ( + 1 free ) "Quest" potion promo batch --> $7.13 USD - 7,125 DEC -- I was down to 3 charges today and so need to top-up.
20,457 - 7,125 = 13,332 DEC
11 x "Spark Pixies" (non-gold - Level 1 - 4,241 DEC -- bumped up to Level 5 to unlock the very powerful "stun" ability)
13,332 - 4,241 = 9,091 DEC
8 x "Goblin Thief" (Gold - Level 3 - 6,148 DEC -- reached Level 10 (max))
9,091 - 6,148 = 2,943 DEC
3 x "Screeching Vulture" (Gold - Level 4 - 2,753 DEC -- two (2) more cards remaining to Level 9)
Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack)
keepers -
"Feasting Seaweed" (Gold - Level 3 - $0.64 USD - 500 DEC -- three (3) more cards to go to Level 7)
Daily Quest (YESTERDAY'S "dragon" quest)
keepers -
converted 61.800 Steem (from first of new round of power-downs) into
converted 112 DWD (Drug Wars Dollars ( ~ $0.48 USD) into ~ 2.00 Steem, and then
Total conversion --> 63.26 --> 19,171 DEC
Untamed (Pack #2 : celebration pack for reaching "Champion III" season level --> + 20 loot chests --> +80 season loot chests)
keepers -
"Serpentine Sky" (Gold - Level 3 - $1.22 USD - 500 DEC -- four (4) more cards to go to Level 7)
"Crystal Jaguar" (Gold - Level 3 - $0.74 USD - 500 DEC -- one (1) more card remaining to Level 5)
Starting DEC : 34,989 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 97.71%
Ending DEC - 41,101 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 83.67%
Balance = DEC Earning = 6,112 DEC = -> 19.83 HIVE x ~ $00.248 USD/Hive = ~ $4.917 USD
Spent :
1 x "Furious Chicken" (Gold - Level 3 - $3.14 USD - 4,128 DEC -- three (3) more cards to go to max)
6,112 - 4,128 = 1,984
2 x "Screeching Vulture" (Gold - Level 4 - 1,771 DEC -- bumped up to Level 9)
Converted 2.500 Hive to 746.8 DEC (from previous previous series post) :
@transcript-junky/trending-blockchain-gaming-news-29-june-1st-2020
Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack)
keepers -
Daily Quest (today's "win three battles without neutral monsters" quest)
keepers -
converted 2.630 HIve Power into 10.621 HIve into 3,386.366 DEC (to buy more cards)
converted 4.396 Steem into ~ 1,331 DEC
Total DEC = 4,717.336 DEC --> enough to buy one more "Furious Chicken" (Gold) card
Starting DEC : 35,201 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 95.80%
Ending DEC - 79,033 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 79.11%
Balance = DEC Earning = 43,832 DEC = -> 145.85 HIVE x ~ $00.254 USD/Hive = ~ $37.04 USD
Spent :
Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack)
keepers -
Daily Quest (today's "win three battles without neutral monsters" quest)
keepers -
"Nectar Queen" (Gold - Level 3 - $0.45 USD - 500 DEC)
Whew! These posts are growing dense - but that's okay. Take what resonates with you,and leave the rest. I hope you find some/any of these tips useful in increasing your understanding and/or skill level in the SteemMonsters (Splinterlands) and/or Drug Wars, and/or "Prospectors, and/or any other game(s) - and the " blockchain gaming " industry as whole - which I end up exploring as this series evolves. More JUICY tips to come with each weekly update, as I dig deeper into this whole REVOLUTIONARY PHENOMENON, and become more experienced and successful in the game(s).
See you on the battlefield...
@transcript-junky