Splinterlands | Why I Gave Up After 6 Years!
Not (Yet) Leaving
Even though I totally lost the belief that things will change for Splinterlands and it will ever really go anywhere (maybe aside from some temporary hype), I'm not leaving or selling at this moment. Prices are simply too low and I don't believe the game will completely go offline anytime soon. However, I pretty much completely stopped playing ranked as there is no point to do so while running Archmage. I still play the Brawls and will continue to make content and even strive to reach 300k Staked SPS. There is just no way that I will ever buy packs, promo cards, or anything else that is put for sale as it is a near sure thing that those will turn completely worthless and useless over time.
These are Fundamental Issues I Have with Splinterlands right now which don't look like they are getting fixed ever...
1. Crazy Required Time Investment!
The problem with this crazy time investment requirement is that it narrows down the potential user base immensely. It also makes the game less fun and feels like work because you have to play not to miss out instead of being able to pick up the game for the fun of it at times you actually can and want to play. Almost nobody has time for any of this even if it would all be super fun and reasonably profitable. The reality is that there probably are a couple hundred players like this in the ecosystem like this. 95% of Splinterlands activity now is just bots playing bots.
This is also an issue that has never been addressed for as far as I know. It's unrealistic to expect a user growth if each new users is required to play Splinterlands almost 'full time'
Solution: Splinterlands needs a game mode that is fun and where players can come in to play the game at times that they want without any obligations or without missing out on returns on their investment.
2. Untapped Gameplay Potential!
Honestly, I think Splinterlands actually has the potential to be an extremely fun game with excellent addictive gameplay. However, this is left totally untapped because the game design always had the economy in mind which came at the cost of fun.
- Splinterlands is the most Pay2Win Game ever and many of the outcomes of the matches come down to which player has more, better, more expensive, or higher level cards. There are just not that many matches where you really feel that you fairly outplayed your opponent or where you got outplayed.
- Game Rules for each match are designed so each card one way or another has a use case and many cards are designed to be overpowered based on certain game rules. This also leaves very little room for experimentation as your are forced to play according to the game rules. I bough multiple cards (Like the Sthispa) just because I felt it was going to be fun to actually play with it. The reality though is that it's almost never possible to actually use it as there is a better strategy.
The game just doesn't allow players to have fun with the cards that they want to experiment with as it will always come at the cost of lower earnings.
- The Removal of League Caps in ranked also was a measure done to incentivize players to level up their cards but it created a situation where only max level cards are good enough since it's a matter of time before you just start facing opponents that are too strong. It's not realistic to demand that all players strive toward max level decks. The way it used to be is that only a handful of whales were able to reach that level which is what it should be.
- Tournaments are also completely stupid as they are line Poker Tournaments with an entry fee where some players get better odds compared to other players making it so that it's only attractive for the ones that are able to get the good odds (own all the cards)
There is just no way that tournaments ever going to get a bigger player base the way they work right now and I haven't entered one in a long time even though I have quite a big card collection. - ...
Solution: Splinterlands needs a game mode that maximizes the fun and the potential of the game where everyone is on a level playing field and where it isn't all about pay2win and needing to optimize the economy.
3. Guaranteed Asset Devaluation!
The way Splinterlads works right now is that after 2 years, all utility of cards is taken away as they are dumped into Wild format where it's better to just run a bot with the cheapest or free Soulbound cards. The idea that land will provide utility and value for older cards by now remains an empty promise.
Players are expected to buy packs paying 4$ a pack which most of the time will include 4 Commons and a rare which have a burn value of 0.04$ which it eventually will trend toward. The only case that can be made is for holding SPS since that needs to be burned by players who need DEC when it's trading above Peg.
There has been a complete disregard toward card owners as the solution for everything is always 'Let's Print More Cards'. This in a game where the main investment from all players are the cards and it's near impossible to out-earn the expected value decline. This is also another aspect that is completely ignored as it's always about 'getting DEC to peg' in the hope that enough SPS will get burned to increase the price and the rewards so cards get a bit more value again. The reality however is that players who buy packs will almost surely get crushed financially.
Solution: Splinterlands needs a game mode that gives proper use case again to older cards instead of just dumping them in wild or on land where cheaper options take all of their use case away since it's just bots playing each other there.
4. Dead Rental Market!
As someone who loves to hold assets to put to work, the potential of the rental market in Splinterlands always interested me. However, all their use case has been stripped away since the introduction of Wild Format not even to talk about the Tax to enter while renting has always been a massive hassle both as someone who is looking to rent or rent out cards.
The Set Rentals also doesn't solve this as few people actually have complete sets while the rewards these days are so low that the cost of renting even at cheap prices.
In the past there always was talk about how important the rental market was for the game but this now with the insane devaluation of cards feels completely dead with nothing on the horizon to change this.
Solution: Splinterlands needs a game mode with an entry fee and packs as rewards where players play on a level playing field and where part of the earnings go to those who 1-click delegate/lock cards that are used in this game mode.
5. Development Mistakes!
While I believe that making mistakes is part of the journey as it's not easy to run a crypto game. I also don't see clear malicious intentions, especially from @yabapmatt. The fact remains that an insane amount of obvious mistakes have been made over the years and I don't feel a lot has been learned from them.
Some of these on the top of my head are
- Ignoring the bot problem during the bull
- Removing Collection Power
- Copy-Pasting the economy model to other games (GLX / COLONY)
- Land & the Delays
- DEC-B
- Crazy Overprinting
- Expensive Price Setting
- Free Soulbound Summoners
- Focus on Economy over Gameplay
- .............
I also don't believe the 'new player experience' will be able to do much as there are just too many things fundamentally broken right now and there is just no selling point toward new players whatsoever. So I lost trust in the development direction of the game and feel the only way for things to (temporarily) work is if there would be another irrational bull market which pumps all prices and gets the sentiment up again creating a positive feedback loop before the eventual crash again.
6. Conclusion
As much as I have loved Splinterlands these past 6 years, it has come to the point where I lost the belief that it will actually tap into its potential and go somewhere. There are just too many fundamental flaws that aren't even on the radar anywhere. What the game in my view needs the most is a new fun game mode that actually gives and easy and fun entry point for new players to have fun with while it gives use case back to older cards. I won't leave Splinterlands just yet even though mentally I'm out at this point as I just have archmage running for me in Wild while I still submit my brawl battles and make some content which I still enjoy and which is rewarding. If the time comes when things pump again, I will start selling my assets and just stick with running the Max Level Soulbound cards on my account.
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kind of agree with you, I think you are not alone who feels like this. I hope things will change soon else it is not going the good for the game. 🙂
That's the thing, I stopped believing things will change despite some of the points made being so painfully obvious. I do still see how a new altseason and crypto bull run might temporary pump things up and get some excitement back, but without any of these fundamental flaws fixed it likely will be short lived before the same problems arise again. If SPS pumps it's also once again going to create a DEC overflow which will have to be dealt with later down the line.
I agree with some of your points. At your level, the p2win aspect is more defined. For us casual gamers, we still find some fun just playing the game and not focus on earnings.
I would argue the opposite as I'm mostly able to play max-level cards. For new players who are at lower levels the pay2win aspect is even worse. Unless you throw a lot of money at the game, it's going to be hard to get anywhere let alone reach the levels where it's much more fun. Once you are invested, card prices somewhat holding up matters as it's just not fun to see them drop and drop and drop.
I just rent everything to play. The earnings are next to none as I swap the SPS to DEC to rent cards and SPS. I have fun getting new reward cards though.
It's nice to read you are still having fun with it!
I didn't realise that the rental market had compeletly collapsed. Sticking with Splinterlands has been a great learning experience for me and your insights really show many of the dynamics at play. There is still lots of hope that there will be another alt season, it isn't a given still.
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The rental market always has been a massive hassle and the only way to manage it is by using a bot service which takes away part of the earnings and with the 1 DEC listing price that also became impossible. In the end players aren't going to pay more than what they earn for rentals.
Unless card prices are high because there is limited supply and high demand, rentals aren't really going to make a comeback. One of the ideas of investing in cards has always been that it would be possible to just keep them as assets and just put them to work. However, flooding the market with an insane amount of cards while making old cards useless in Wild killed that idea.
The only way I see rentals working properly is with a game mode that has an entry fee and where players who delegate cards for it get part of the earnings. That way it's 1-click easy for those who want to rent out cards and those who are renting don't even have to do anything as it's all included in the entry price.
Yeah that makes sense. I think the whole staking/renting NFTs isn't a sustainable activity generally anyhow, it was quite novel in Splinterlands but the bots probably extracted more value than any benefit from a rental market.
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That's saddening, well, there was a time I mentally checked out too, but I wasn't going to sell my assets at loss, because I was already in 90% loss, so all I can do is keep playing and enjoying the brawl until the market begins to recover then I can sell.
I do believe many are waiting to sell and get out. However, if there would be another bull market in which Splinterlands is actually included, many will flip sentiment and change their mind of it even be tempted to buy more possibly.
Unless the fundamental issues get fixed, I won't fall into that trap this time around though.
Great post. You make some good points. I understand your frustration and mental fatigue, especially when the tokenomics and card values are at their lowest. I have been here since the beginning alpha days and I too came to a point where I gave up mentally when land first became available for sale. At the at point I was just like you where I have poured so much fiat into the game and have decided that I cannot invest anymore. I was still having fun battling/competing and engaging with my guild members and the community spending about 3 hour per day in the game. Dave McCoy kept us all hopeful. Then one day the game started to explode along with the macro crypto market. Card values set new records so some people sold while others kept holding on the for long term (me). In hind sight, I wish I had cashed out some which would help me fund future card collecting, but I did not, and I have regretted those decisions. However, I still believe in this game, this community, and Matt & team. I have always invested and played this game for the long long haul. I have held on in hopes that there will have another bull run, but if it never does, I am OK with my decision because it has been one hell of a ride.
Let the bots and rental market continue to earn for you while you take a long mental break. Regroup and try to stay hopeful. Splinterlands will rise again!! Stay hopeful.
Actually, when it comes down to Splinterlands, I'm in an overall profit even if everything would go down to zero (I don't see the investment of blogging earnings as bringing in outside money)
I was also around in the old days when things were going badly but I used those to accumulate cards which I delegated to players who signed up with my link way before even the Untamed days. In those days the game was much more simple, required less time investment and I had the belief that everything could go up. By now though, the game has become way more complicated, and time intensive while I just lack the belief that fundamental improvements will be made (even though I hope that I'm wrong).
All I can see now is a temporary hype and pump which allows new and old players to overlook the fundamental issues. It's sad because I really liked Splinterlands for many years and had good hopes for it.
Thanks for sharing! - @alokkumar121
Totally agree with most of your points. Not worried about the devaluation as much as I am about the everpresent bot problem, and anyone without modern cards becoming unable to have fun; just banning bots from a wild league would probably increase old cards value. And given the vast majority of players doesn't have a maxed rebellion set, I can't really see a working game when CL gets relegated to wild if things stay as they are. At this point it's feels we're shouting at a brick all, since all these issues have been apparent for years now.
I also most of all want to have fun playing the game which right now is just not possible. I would not be surprised if banning bots from Wild would cause cards and SPS prices to drop even more. You just can't force players to grind the game at least an hour each and every day. The entire setup is totally broken and like you say, it's like shouting at a brick wall.
The most frustrating thing is that the hardest work is actually done as they have a game that potentially could be super fun to play for a wide audience.
Spot on
Thanks for this thoughtful post, I agree with many of your points.