Max Level Even Playing Field !
I have been a big advocate for there to be a game mode where everyone gets access max-level cards to allow Splinterlands to be played at a fully level playing field. Right now for 99% of the players, Splinterlands is an extreme Pay2Win game where it's possible to buy the most expensive cards to stomp most opponents.
The Custom Challenge Experience!
So I tried it out and these are my findings.
#1 Overwhelming Number Of Cards & Choices
There right now are 719 Unique cards available in Splinterlands Wild Mode of which 84 of them are summoners. Just choosing the option where everything is available left me stressed because there was such a big and complicated choice. To be honest, I stopped knowing what most of the cards are after Chaos Legion as it's simply too much information. Splinterlands used to be more fun for me with less cards as I used to be able to wrap my mind around them and the game lost my in that regard as I'm stuck in the Pre-Rebellion mindset.
Even when having only 1 Splinter to choose from and 3 rules which narrow down the useful cards, it still is just too much to grasp.
#2 Time Limitation Stress
The next thing that came up was the limited time available to create and select a deck with less than 3 minutes time. I know this is a feature of 'Splinterlands Gameplay' but I don't think it's a good one especially when given so much choice. I really enjoy games where I can theorycraft without any pressure on it but this simply isn't possible in Splinterlands since it's rare to get similar game rules.
#3 Everyone Left Splinterlands
As someone who played almost since the start, I made some good friends in the game and the guild but the reality unfortunately is that there are not many of them left by now as most either capitulated and left or no longer care just letting their bot play for them while doing the Bralws when it suits them. So I asked around to some of the players that I know bets to play a game but couldn't really find someone available over the weekend which is quite sad.
Where everyone would talk about the game an love it way back, right now the Guild is somewhat of a ghost town with very little enthusiasm and many having left while it feels impossible to attract new active players since there aren't any at the moment. So I actually tested the Custom Challenge out against my old Alt Account.
The Custom Challenge Battle!
My goal was to try the custom challenge at Max Level with everything available and see what I could come up with on both accounts without directly countering anything. The first experience though was one of being overwhelmed by choice so I went back to what I knew. but by the time I was ready with my deck there was not enough time left for another one. So I tried again and failed again just to set the rule that I would stake one of my favorite Death Speed decks (at 42 Mana) and on the other side create a deck with only Modern cards of which many are expensive also setting the max to 42 Mana.
I still didn't really have enough time to come up with something that had better synergy as I simply don't have the knowledge on all the cards. So I picked Tofu as a summoner as it's seen as the most overpowered and the new Helloise The Hollow promo card. As my take I opted for the Grimbardum Smithas I see it used a lot of times these days and it's also expensive. For the middle I opted to maximise the new Weapons Training ability with both the Aves Sturgis and the Zyriel giving Magic and Melee attack to the tank along with the Scavo Hireling and the imbledook explorer
My Speed Deck actually held up mainly because it was almost a direct counter against what were rather low speed cards. I'm sure that I would come up with something way better if I put some hours into it. In a way it also kind of reassured me that the power creep isn't as extreme as I though it could be.
How To Fix Splinterlands!
I stick with the belief that the way to fix Splinterlands for New Players, Old Players, and investors is to create a game mode where everyone is given a limited amount of max level cards they can make lineups with an more time to do so. This in a way where a entry fee is payed and rewards are given as an indirect way to buy packs. Only max level cards should be available and those who provide them by simply staking them on land get part of the fee generation.
This makes it so that anyone can come in experiencing Splinterlands at Max Level without being overwhelmed by choice, enough time to create what they believe is an optimal deck while investors have a better way to make passive returns. It also fully counters the power creep and allows players to play when they actually want to plau
Conclusion!
Doing this experiment of trying the custom challenge actually increased the gap that there already was between me and Splinterlands. I experienced that I'm stuck in the knowledge of older cards while the new ones just are too much for my mind (and wallet) to handle. I still believe Splinterlands has great potential but I fear that it will continue to run around in circles where economical choices come at the cost of fun gameplay which highly reduces the potential playerbase.
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