Splinterlands rushes to launch a new card edition entitled Rebellion and in my opinion this might do more damage than good. There was a lot of talking about change and a better and healthier way moving forward in the last AMA, but with this announcement it seems that the game is doomed to repeat the past mistakes. I agree that they need an infusion of money to keep things going, but seeing how fast they've moved with a new card edition launch simply proves that they cannot source funds from other places. Thus, they get back to the players and try to squeeze them for some more, but I am not sure that it will work like intended. Why? Simply because overflowing the Splinterlands game market with a plethora of NFTs will have adverse effects on the game's tokenomics, touching every corner of it.
Market Saturation
The first thing that will happen as many NFTs are ready to flood the market, it will lead to oversaturation. This will dilute the value of individual NFTs, making it challenging for players and collectors to distinguish between assets value, sending them to Oblivion. As a result, the scarcity and uniqueness of valuable NFTs will be compromised, undermining the core concept of NFT-based collectibles and utilities.
Inflation of In-Game Currency
Game economies often rely on a native currency or tokens that hold value within the game and in case of Splinterlands that would be either Splintershards (governance token) or Dark Energy Crystals (the stablecoin that was never stable and de-pegged itself drastically). Introducing an excessive number of NFTs can lead to players accumulating vast amounts of in-game currency through the sale of NFTs, resulting in high inflation. Inflation can disrupt the balance of the in-game economy which is already poor, making it difficult for new players to participate. I wonder about what will come and I see new All Time Lows all over the Splinterlands assets unfortunately.
Power Creep
If we are thinking about the competitive aspects of the assets, certain NFTs can confer advantages to players, such as improved stats or abilities. When an abundance of NFTs is introduced, it can lead to power creep, where newer NFTs outclass the older ones, making the game less enjoyable for those who don't own the latest, most powerful NFTs. This will create an imbalance in gameplay and frustrate players. I am a Splinterlands investor before the game saw the light of day, I am holding Beta cards and I look to the new ones and cannot but wonder how those will compete. Overwhelming cards coming from everywhere and flooding the game might end up to its peril.
Lack of Scarcity and Value
One of the key attractions of NFTs is their scarcity and value. Excessive NFTs as Rebellion will bring to Splinterlands will only diminish this scarcity, resulting in a loss of perceived value. When players feel that NFTs are no longer unique or rare, they may lose interest in collecting or trading them. I have over 700 Chaos Legion packs standing idle and losing value, so I will not invest a penny more while this strategy and vision is in place. Survival at players cost is not the answer, but I feel that the game founders simply don't know to do good business and keep this ecosystem balanced.
Complexity in Game Design and Strategy
A game like Splinterlands with too many NFTs will become overly complex and challenging to manage. Developers may struggle to balance the gameplay, leading to issues related to fairness, rewards, and game progression. This complexity can deter new players and reduce overall engagement. I have friends loving to strategize, but when you throws millions after millions of NFTs on the market, they will simply not be able to do that anymore and will not enjoy the game as before.
These are just some of the example on how a new Edition of millions of NFTs at this point in time can do more damage than good for Splinterlands and the players. Promises of a new vision and that things are going to change seem to have vanished in just two weeks as the Splinterlands team is hungry for money from wherever they can get it. And instead finding investors, they've turned around to the players to once again put their investments on the line while seeing value diminishing each passing day. This will not last long and while with the Land and current cards supply, I would have still see a light of the end of the tunnel, with the new cards thrown on the market feels more like sending us into the Oblivion. Dark days are coming and I still try to find a bit of hope to keep on going...