After spending some time clawing my way back up to Bronze I today, I was amazed at how few matches had external rules on them. The fights were boring and repetitive. Luckily, I got out of there quickly. But what if you don't have the 5K power to leave Bronze II?
If you've ever spent any time in low-level Bronze you probably realize how boring and repetitive the matches can get. You can only play so many 12 - 20 mana matches before you are bored out of your mind with Splinterlands.
You'll also notice that there are very few viable teams that have high win percentages. Oh, and I bet you know that there's a ton of bots out there. Gameplay in Bronze is plagued with problems but there's a way to make bronze league fun again.
I propose a simple and elegant solution to these problems in Splinterlands that has nothing to do with reward balancing or banning bots.
Increase Match Rules Usage in Bronze League
Once you reach Bronze I you start to get a constant stream of new rules for every match. Unfortunately, getting to Bronze I is behind a paywall in the game and deters plenty of players from continuing to advance.
Increasing the number of matches that come with match rules for Bronze III and II would be a huge leap in the right direction for Splinterlands. How would this change affect the game?
What are Match Rules?
Match rules are a set of additional rules added to each match. You see them often when playing in tournaments, brawls, and bronze 1+. They put restrictions or buffs on cards in the game. Some examples include:
- Only melee cards can be played this round
- All monsters get the blast ability
- Summoners do not grant their abilities in this match
The addition of these rules encourages smart deck building and forces meta teams to readjust their deck. It also makes every match more fun.
Bronze matches sometimes do have rules. I'm proposing we greatly increase the number of matches that have additional rules.
Bronze is Boring and Repetitive
When I play a tournament or guild brawl, I get to play all these exciting games with interesting rules. They make me think outside the box and give you an opportunity to beat better decks with the basic starter deck. The changing rulesets allow players to experiment with cards they never play and make this game engaging.
Unfortunately, this is not the case in bronze. Yes, you may get 1 fight a day that has special rules but I propose to increase that number dramatically. It will increase players' fun and keep them engaged.
Meta teams dominate in Bronze
It's no fun winning by using the exact same team every match. It's insanely easy to pick a meta team from starter cards and steamroll your wins. This can greatly discourage new players who don't understand the game yet and could lead many players to quit the game.
The addition of more rulesets means players can't just play a water-magic or other meta team every round for free wins. New rulesets also mean we get to try some of these new common reward cards that seem quite useless at the moment.
Adding More Ruleset Games Can Decrease Bots
The developers have said time and time again they won't ban bots but then decide to nerf rewards to stop some bots. How about just adding more ruleset games to bronze?
While this won't stop bots, it will surely lower their win percentages. I honestly don't know how advanced the bots are but the ones I come across don't seem that bright and can barely put a good team together. So I don't know how effective they would be against different rules every match.
Adding in Rules to Matches can take a huge chunk of rewards away from bots and give it to skilled and knowledgeable players.
Negatives About Adding More Rules to Bronze
OK, there surely have to be some negatives if the Splinterlands developers made this change. Right?
New Players Would be Confused?
This game isn't rocket science. It can be picked up and learned in a few hours. Making a few matches that say "no melee allowed" is not going to confuse new players.
In fact, adding these rules from the first levels will prepare them for advancing to higher levels. New players will need to learn more than "play this team all the time" to win matches.
It Will Deter Players From Advancing?
Yeah, we get it... "Get good and just advance to silver to play more rule games"
The only thing deterring players from advancing is account power. 5K power for bronze I and 15K power requires a ton of money to purchase cards or a ton of time to rent cards and the rental system is pretty broken in the game at the moment. (we'll save that issue for another time)
It will also take ages to collect enough reward cards to reach 15K unless you are extremely lucky with loot boxes. Even if you pulled a legendary a day, it would take 30 days to earn enough power to make it to silver. 5K for bronze one might not seem as bad but still 5K while you barely have a chance to win a common is a huge feat without paying for cards or rentals.
Maybe the power issue will be resolved once Chaos packs are out but no one knows the power levels yet.
Skilled players will still want to advance to get greater rewards per win and better loot chest rewards.
What do you think about this change to Splinterlands?
Obviously, I don't expect a change like this to be instantly implemented but it's a thought for the future.
Adding this simple change can fix a fundamental problem for new players and low-spend players. It's already in the game and can be turned on with a simple switch. Can you think of any negatives to this change or why it hasn't been implemented yet in the game? I'd love to hear it.
Thanks for Reading!
If you made it this far I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time out of your day to read my post. I hope it was informative and helps you make better teams in Splinterlands!
A little about me...
Currently based in Siem Reap, Cambodia, I'm a solo-traveling digital nomad. Due to the pandemic, I've been living in Siem Reap for almost 2 years now. While I'm hoping to get back on the road soon, I'm not in a rush.
I'd love to connect with other travelers, digital nomads, gamers, or residents of Cambodia. Don't hesitate to say hi or send me an upvote!
You can learn more about me and my company at OneZen.me.
