Good Morning Manager!!!!!Hello there guys!
Playing Axie Infinity seems to be a lucrative income source for others but what they didn't understand is that players also need to invest some good hours of their day to get an acceptable return. Scholars are specially keen to this because they work on a quota basis. They need to target a certain amount of SLP per day to continue working as one. Sometimes they have no choice but to grind lower levels in adventure for many hours because the managers require them to spend almost all energy in the Arena.
Scholars Hardships
The term 'scholar' is used to refer those who don't own a team of Axies, instead they 'rent' it from the investors or what we commonly referred to as 'managers'. When we say 'rent' it doesn't mean that they have to pay an upfront fee for renting, it's more on profit sharing. Some managers offer it 50-50 (50% goes to the scholar, 50% goes to the manager) , some 40-60 etc. If I'm not mistaken withdrawal is available every 15 days and most the time the managers set it every 15th and 30th of the month.
I know players who bought their first axies from their scholarship earnings, some of them even became manager themselves. When I'm planning to start the game I was also considering being a scholar. Although I have some money to invest, being a scholar seems to be on the safer side of things. But what dissuade me for doing so is the exorbitant requirements for applying. You need to pass documents like a number of valid I.D.'s, clearances and other documentation. I know that most managers have good intentions on requiring these things but it's a big hassle for someone like me who wants to work privately as much as possible. Also, I read some facebook posts about some scholars having their identity stolen and were being used to scam people. It's only a small chance but I would never want to be in an awkward position like that.
If you want to enter the game through scholarship there's no problem with that. I think that it is the safest route moneywise but you better do your research on your manager. There are many good managers out there, some even offered a 70-30 (70% scholar,30% manager) split to help the smaller guys but also be mindful because there are also those who abuse ones necessity for their own good. It's not a waste of time to ask about the community (discord, facebook, twitter) if they are legit, you can also chat some of their current scholars just to make sure that this is really the person you want to be your manager. Scholar-manager relation is mostly based on trust. If you know yourself that you are a trustworthy person better find someone who deserves that great quality of yours.
Below are some frustrations of scholars I've often seen in social media
1. The Scholar Slave
Like we said earlier, there are lots of good manager out there that are more than willing to help those smaller guys offering them as much as 70-30 profit sharing in favor of the scholars. But on the flipside, there are those who are doing the reverse. In my opinion, 70-30 in favor of the manager is still acceptable given that the axie team the scholar is playing is playable at least in the 1400-1500 MMR to at least have 9 SLP per win. If a scholar has 50% win rate in this bracket he/she can farm 165 SLP on the average(90SLP from the arena + 75 from the daily quest). Thirty percent of that is 49.5 SLP which is a bit over $6 base on the current market prices. It's not that big but still not bad if you're living in a developing country like the Philippines.
Secondly, the 70-30 partition is still acceptable if the manager would let the scholar level the axies for a few days. Although a few energy will be sacrificed the scholar wouldn't waste his/her time grinding more than 30 times in the lower levels of adventure mode. Their mental and physical well being is also important in the long run.
Although 70-30 partition of the manager is still acceptable for us given some conditions. 80-20 in favor of the manager is outright brutal, separated by a thin fine line to those forced laborers we often see in documentaries. Although scholars most of the times are the ones seeking favor, we need to understand that we are all human. The least thing managers can do is at least be fair and not exploit the weaknesses of others.
2. Mission Impossible
The most basic condition in playing the game is to have a team consisting of three axies. The frontline most of the time plays as a meatshield, the midline or support usually have energy gain and the backline is something with good damage and great in 1v1 endgame battles. This is not fixed as there are innumerable combinations you can play.
The problem comes in when a scholar is assigned with three axies but they are weak or they are hard to play. What axies are hard to play? Those with more than 2 zero costs cards and those with redundant skills. If a scholar is given a team of 3 and one of the axies have 2 zero cost card that is still playable but it's a different story if you have 3 zero costs in one axie. If you watch Elijah he often say in his videos (about buying axies) that do not buy something with more than 1 zero costs. It's rare but we do see someone playing with 2 zero costs in 1500-1600 mmr so it is still playable in these brackets. I bet that he referred to competition builds like we see in the 2400+ mmr bracket. But 3 zero costs in one axie is impossible you'll find them in the lowest of the floor levels when you browse the market place.
Axies with redundant skills are also hard to play. Example of this is an axie with sneaky raid + shrimp which are both backdoor cards with the same effect and have low atk and def values. It's like playing only 3 cards when you have 4 slots to utilize. This puts a player in a disadvantage, especially in competitive play. So, before you sign in as a scholar you can tell your manager to send a screenshot of team you will use. Better be sure than wasting your time playing something that is not playable at all. Much worse is that when you are assigned a quota above 75 when you have teams like these which is tedious to play even in adventure mode.
3. Hit-and-Run
The worst I've seen in discord with regards to scholarship is someone getting scammed just before the 15 day period ended. This is when the manager and scholar split the income from the farmed SLP. Imagine working 3-4 hours for two weeks everyday and not getting paid for it. That's definitely one the most terrible feelings to experience. Expecting everyday and when you are about to realize those expectations into reality they are suddenly deprived from you.
This is why information is very important. Although a scholar is the one asking a favor it doesn't mean that they are to be abused or deprived of something that they worked hard for. Research things and be patient as this will beneficial in the long run.
And that's all for today.
Thanks for reading.
Ciao~
Sources:
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