Splinterlands Town Hall Unofficial Summary - May 15, 2025

Conclave Arcana Success and What's Next

Team celebrated a major milestone: the release of the Conclave Arcana set, described as potentially one of the biggest and most exciting events in Splinterlands history, comparable to the launch of playable battles in 2018. The team expressed immense satisfaction at delivering on a significant six-month plan and even going above and beyond expectations.

A Smooth and Successful Launch

Despite the massive scope and amount of new content, the Conclave Arcana launch went remarkably smoothly. There was only a brief delay in processing pack openings right after maintenance, which was quickly fixed. This success is attributed to the tireless work and dedication of the entire Splinterlands team, who put in extensive hours, including weekends. Key individuals were praised for their crucial contributions:

• Dave: For improving internal operations and allowing others to focus on design.
• Blaze: The marketing lead, for being deeply involved in product development, testing, and ensuring the set was something players would love.
• Investigator: For leading the development team and overseeing the smooth releases.
• Royal Eagle and the Support/QA Team: Essential to the process and testing.

The team highlighted that many members are also players who are passionate about the game, driving their commitment, especially during challenging times.

The community's support was also vital. Players, including testers, streamers like Bulldog, walkingkeys and Jeffopenscards, and other influencers like Bangles, Brave Tofu, helped amplify the message and provided invaluable feedback. Extensive player testing for Conclave Arcana significantly improved the final product, demonstrating the value of community involvement. The team encouraged the community to be welcoming to the wave of new players expected to join.

Financial Strength and Inflection Point

Financially, the Conclave Arcana release has been a significant success. The pre-sale exceeded expectations, with 1,688 distinct buyers and $2.41 million in sales. Since the general sale, sales have remained strong, adding 1362 more buyers (a 30% increase in distinct players buying packs) and bringing total sales to approximately $2.54 million. The secondary market is also performing very well, with high trading volumes in the last 30 days ($320,000) and 24 hours ($60,000 as of the town hall).

This financial performance, combined with the positive community sentiment and successful delivery, is seen as a major inflection point for Splinterlands, marking a potential shift from a period of struggle to one of significant growth. This solid position allows the company to continue moving forward and investing in future development.

Looking Ahead: Key Projects and Initiatives

Several exciting projects and priorities were discussed for the coming months:

• High-Priority Development:
  • Campaign Mode: A top focus aimed at improving new player onboarding and expanding the Player vs. Environment (PVE) experience. It will serve as a structured tutorial and introduction to the game, with future expansions planned for existing players.
  • Front Page Redesign: A redesign of the game's website front page is underway to improve signup rates and player retention.

• Marketing & Growth:
  • The marketing strategy is shifting to an incremental, metrics-driven approach rather than large, upfront spending. The focus is on ensuring effectiveness and attracting/retaining new players, especially as key features like Campaign Mode come online.
  • The Google Play mobile app is live and functional. An iOS app is in development and expected to be approved soon, despite a more challenging review process.
  • Community members are encouraged and supported in their marketing efforts.
  • A partnership with YG for Season 10 was announced.
  • New players coming into Discord via marketing efforts will have a visible indicator (green hearts). The community was urged to be welcoming in public channels.

• Game Modes & Features:
  • Practice and Challenge modes are being redesigned with new UI and battlefield backgrounds to improve visibility and user experience. Community feedback will be sought for future expansion.
  • New game modes like Draft or Sealed are being considered for development within the next six months.

• New Cards and Distribution:
  • A new common card, Yaba's Pickle, inspired by Matt's Discord avatar holding a pickle, is coming soon. It will have unique lore and stats. Distribution is expected to be via the shop for DEC/credits and will require staked SPS to purchase.
  • New, land-integrated distribution methods are planned for Arcane foil cards.
    • Gold foil arcanes will be distributed via a 50-day raffle (one card per day). Raffle tickets will need to be crafted using land resources (like Aura).
    • Black foil arcanes (20 numbered copies) will be distributed via a 20-day auction (starting with number 20 down to 1). Auction points used for bidding will also need to be crafted on land.
  • The possibility of an in-game auction system for players to sell cards was discussed as a future idea, particularly for unique cards like 1/1 black foils. In-game trading and sending offers was also mentioned as a desired feature.

• Conflicts:
  • Conflicts are returning soon. Players will be able to stake Conclave Arcana and Rebellion cards/packs to earn new legendary airdrop summoners.
  • Land resources will be used to craft new wagons for conflicts.
  • Black foil and arcane cards will be included in future conflict airdrops.
  • The possibility of adding utility for Runi in conflicts will be discussed.

• Survival Mode: Updates are being worked on, and the mode is currently paused. It is planned to return, and potential use cases for land resources, such as Phoenix Ash revival potions that could affect survival mode or card cooldowns, are being considered.

• Land:
  • Cryptomancer is focused on backend improvements, such as routing resource transfers through the market to add volume and fees for liquidity providers.
  • More use cases for land resources are being added, including crafting items for the new arcane distribution methods and potential survival mode potions.
  • Land 2.0 (new work sites, buildings) remains a future focus.
  • Discussions around bloodline synergy with land abilities were mentioned as possibilities for the future.

• Other Concepts Discussed: Custom avatars, a new gladiator set (potentially coinciding with the ability to unlock soulbound gladiator cards), and even potentially growing pickles on land were mentioned as ideas on the long list of possibilities. In-game chat is also being considered, though with necessary precautions regarding moderation. Bridging to other chains like Cosmos is open for consideration in the future, focusing initially on EVM chains.

Q&A

Expectations for Runi Holders

Can we expect more things to come to holders of Runi? We have planned to allow combined traits to create super Runis and to burn excess Runis increasing value, but this never materialized. Currently rare Runis don't matter for utility and aren't worth much more than a floor Runi. Allowing for the rare traits to have utility perhaps on land and if done in combination with combining would offer more trade activity project visibility and maintain values on open sea.

The team definitely wants to do more things for Runi holders, specifically focusing on the utility of individual traits rather than just Runi in general. However, this is a prioritization exercise based on available resources compared to the entire project's needs. They need to look at how much work such a feature would require and where it makes sense to slot it in among everything else that needs to be done. Nate added that it's on everyone's mind on the team, and as they see "low lift opportunities," they want to implement them. Dave emphasized that a lot of the current focus is on broadening the player base and attracting/retaining new players, so much of the future development will prioritize features that support this goal. While things like Runi utility and black foils for older sets are on the list, the primary focus is currently on new player acquisition and retention.

How to Get the Yaba's Pickle Card

How do we get our hands on that pickle?

Details about obtaining the Yaba's Pickle card will be released in a post in the near future. It will be available in the shop for DEC and credits. You will also need to have SPS staked in order to purchase them. It will be a common card. You will be able to use gold foil and black foil potions for a chance to mint those versions. Nate mentioned the cost is expected to be 150 DEC or credits. Royal Eagle and Matt came up with the price. Similar to the VUS card, you will need 1,000 SPS staked per card you want to buy. For example, if you have 10,000 SPS staked, you can buy up to 10 cards.

Official Info about Yaba's Pickle
@splinterlands/yabas-pickle-release-and-arcane-event

Ideas for Development by Year End

To each of you, if you could, what would you want to develop by year end?

Each team member shared a personal wish from the long list of potential projects:

• Matt: An in-game auction system that's open to everybody. He believes it's especially important for unique cards like the 1 of 1 arcanes, as listing them on the regular market makes proper pricing and value realization difficult. Having more regular auctions in-game would also be exciting.
• Dave: Whatever it takes to get at least 2,000 new people a month coming into the game. His focus is squarely on increasing the player base, regardless of the specific feature or mechanic that achieves it.
• Investigator: Some of the new game modes, such as a draft mode or a sealed mode, or another new gameplay mechanic that has been discussed but not finished.
• Blaze: In-game trading and the ability to send buy or trade offers to other players. He feels this would complete the "collector circle" and add a level of trustless interaction for card trading, making it easier to acquire specific cards like mint number 1 black foils.
• Nate: Custom avatars, allowing players to choose race and other features to make them feel more like "battle mages". He believes a lot more can be done with story and immersion, especially through campaign mode.

These are personal desires and not necessarily the only things planned or guaranteed to be done by the end of the year. The team will collectively decide on priorities.

Land Permit Requirements for Pickle Raffle Tickets and Wagons

Will the will the pickle raffle tickets or the wagons require a new permit for a special building to be bought for secret points that means research points?

Probably not. The plan is to use Aura and other existing land resources for crafting raffle tickets for gold foil arcanes and auction points for black foil arcanes. For conflicts, land resources will be used to craft new wagons. The team prefers to use existing resources for now while simultaneously building out Land 2.0, which will introduce many new buildings and resources.

Land Requirements for Yaba's Pickle Card

What lands are needed for for pickles?

You will not need any land just to buy the regular Yaba's Pickle card. You will only need SPS staked and DEC or credits. However, to get the arcane versions through the raffle or auction, you will need to craft the necessary items (raffle tickets or auction points) using land resources. If you don't own land, you can buy these resources on the market.

Potions to Remove Card Cooldowns

When will you create a potion and remove the three-day cooldown for cards?

Matt has been thinking that when they add the revival or phoenix ash potions for Survival Mode, these could potentially also be used to remove the cooldowns on cards, providing double value for those items.

Inclusion of Black Foils in Conflict Airdrops

Are you planning to include black foils in the air drops for conflicts?

Yes, black foil cards will be included in future airdrops for conflicts. Arcane foil cards will also be added to the pool of cards that can be pulled from packs earned in conflicts. In previous conflicts, players had a chance to get gold foil cards; in future conflicts, you will have a chance to get gold foil, a smaller chance to get black foil, and everyone opening packs will have a chance to pull arcanes.

Bloodline Synergy with Land

Now that bloodlines are added, what do you guys think about adding bloodline synergy with land similar to the ways we spoke about bonuses to certain rare cards way back when land was just theory crafting and ideas of what it could be?

The team is exploring many different things for land cards. One discussed idea is potentially adding some land abilities to cards. Something like bloodline synergy with land could certainly be part of that discussion, although it's not something they are ready to do right now. Matt added that all these ideas are currently on the table.

Combining Campaign Mode with Land Resources

Are you planning to combine campaign mode with land resources?

Possibly, yes. The initial Campaign Mode focuses on new player onboarding and will not involve land or land resources. However, when designing new campaigns for existing players, they will have discussions about integrating land, vouchers, glint, or other game elements. The goal is for all parts of the game to work together as one interconnected ecosystem, rather than feeling like separate buckets.

Amount of Hive/HBD Left from DAO Proposal

How much of the HBD do we have left from the hive proposal?

All of the HBD from the proposal has been converted over to Hive. Off the top of his head, Matt estimates they have maybe about half of it left and available. If more funds are needed, they will use revenue from the Conclave Arcana sale and other sources. The proposal funds have been combined with other available business funds. These funds have been spent on work like the redesigned homepage, campaign mode development, the Foundation Set, and the mobile apps (like hiring Stokev). This is considered part of their marketing spend, even though it's focused on backend infrastructure to support future marketing efforts.

Favorite Periodic Table Element

We know water is your favorite element but the real question is what's your favorite periodic table element?

Matt stated he has no idea and has never been asked that. Nate and Dave also couldn't immediately come up with an answer, prompting Nate to suggest Matt could think about it and answer on a future show.

Growing Pickles on Land

Can pickles be grown on land at some point as a superfood or let us grow cucumbers processed into pickles as a special brinery building?

Matt chuckled and said "maybe". He suggested putting it on the list of ideas. He mentioned that they have ideas for salt and desalinization, which could potentially be used to brine cucumbers and make pickles on land.

Impact of Black Foils on Pack Sales

The black foil seems to significantly alter the pack buying and opening behaviors of players relative to the card market because each black foil is maxed. One could consider a common black foil represents hundreds of packs worth of opening to max that same card with 400 regular foils or 38 gold foils copies required. Those regular and gold foils now go on the market. Did your calculations consider the effect and how do you think it'll play out? Are you concerned it will inadvertently reduce pack sales?

Yes, this effect was definitely considered. The short summary is that it's possible players who get black foil cards will sell more regular or gold foil copies on the market since the black foil is max level. Predicting the exact outcome is extremely difficult. Matt's expectation is that while this might happen a little, the black foil cards are rare enough that the amount of cards sold won't cause a significant overall difference. He also pointed out that other features like land and Survival Mode encourage holding multiple copies of cards, potentially offsetting the inclination to sell duplicates. For instance, he plans to use his black foil cards in Modern format and his other copies in Survival Mode.

Matt highly doubts it will reduce pack sales based on current trends. He mentioned he and others have already opened and planned to buy more packs specifically because of the black foils and arcane cards. Ultimately, they will have to see how it plays out.

Dave agreed and does not think it will be a problem. He believes the market is very efficient and will price cards to match pack prices. If demand is low, players will buy cards on the market instead of packs, and arbitrageurs will help balance this. He argued that black foils might even increase pack sales for players aiming for the specific black foil card, and that the structure creates less "waste" by providing a max-level card directly. He also noted that packs may become more valuable over time, which is another factor. The goal of bringing in many new players should also increase pack sales and reduce cards available on the market.

Company's Financial Status and Runway

How's the company's financial status? Do we have enough runway to turn these ideas into reality?

Yes, the company's financial status is very solid, especially considering the success of Conclave Arcana. The Conclave Arcana release significantly exceeded expectations, putting the company in a strong position. Assuming decent pack sales continue, they have the runway to keep moving forward and potentially grow, shifting away from a period of struggle. The successful sales and secondary market activity are seen as a major inflection point. The secondary market is doing well, with high trading volume.

Removing Tax for Moving Land Resources Between Regions

Now resources are very hard to get. It will be nice if we remove the 12% tax for moving resources in your account between regions. They should require vouchers research aura etc.

The team does not have current plans to remove the cost of moving resources between regions. However, the suggestion to potentially use land tokens, vouchers, research, or aura to reduce that cost is a possible option that would require internal and community feedback. Cryptomancer is working on improvements to make transfers easier by routing them through the internal market, which would result in a standard 10% market fee instead of the separate fee, adding volume to the market and fees for liquidity providers. Dave added that the economy is getting tighter, which means as new money comes in, players need to bring funds into the game to get the resources, which is a positive sign of the economy maturing. Matt reiterated that any fees in the game benefit token burning or the DAO, ultimately benefiting SPS holders and asset holders, not the company directly.

In-Game Chat

It looks like when in-game chat?

In-game chat is on the big list of features the team is looking into implementing. There are many considerations, particularly regarding moderation and avoiding potential pitfalls that come with running a chat platform. While adding chats is technically easy (similar to guild chat), they want to ensure all potential problems are addressed. They discussed it recently, so it is a current topic.

Alignment of Marketing Plans with DHF Proposal

The primary use of the DHF was promised to be used on a top web 3 marketer and running a number of marketing and promotional campaigns. Are your current plans and decisions in line with the proposal 10 months ago? When does the hive community get to see these campaigns?

The team believes their current plans and decisions are pretty much in line with what was stated in the DAO proposal. Blaze, their marketing lead, was hired using funds from that proposal. The Hive and Splinterlands community will start seeing the campaigns as they come live in the near future. They are being strategic and incremental with marketing spending to ensure effectiveness rather than spending large amounts upfront. Test runs are being conducted (e.g., ads for X), and they are focusing on metrics to identify the most effective campaigns before amplifying spending. Blaze emphasized that marketing involves building a product that retains players, not just getting new signups. They are currently leading the marketing efforts internally, ensuring necessary features like the iOS app and Campaign Mode are in place before larger campaigns.

Royalties for Printing SPL T-shirts in Peru

If I want to print my own SPL t-shirt in Peru how much it would cost in DEEC royalties to do so? This is for one or two shirts of cards I like.

Typically, Splinterlands does not require any royalties or payment for making shirts or merchandise. You can reach out to them to get an okay, ensuring it's nothing that would cause problems. They are happy for people to make merch to support the project and spread the word. You shouldn't have to pay anything to do it.

Another Voucher Card and DAO Share of Pickle DEC Sales

Is another voucher card in the works? Does the Dao get a piece of the sweet pickle DEC?

Yes to both. There is still one more voucher card planned out of the original set of four. They are also discussing doing additional voucher cards after that. The DAO definitely gets a piece of everything they are doing. Matt's general vision is that the DAO sells everything in the game, and the company works for the DAO in that sense.

Converting Undonated Guild Points

With the change of brawls because of conclave arcana release guilds have to rearrange. It would be great if there's a possibility to change the set undonate the set undonated guild points to permanent guild points without leaving a guild. Would this be a big deal to implement?

Investigator and Matt expressed confusion as to why changing brawls relates to converting undonated guild points to permanent ones without leaving a guild. Investigator said they could look at it, but he doesn't see why you would want to do that. He doesn't see it as a high-value change. He suggested submitting a support ticket with more detail or discussing it in the suggestions channel on Discord, where the team checks feedback. If it makes sense, they don't see why it wouldn't be possible to implement.

Nate's Game Thinking/Ideas

I want Nate to let loose on the game thinking.

Nate explained that while he has many ideas, his strength lies in various creative skills (drawing, video editing, etc.), but the real "magic sauce" comes from the collective brainstorming and refinement of ideas by the entire creative team and then integrating feedback from the rest of the Splinterlands team (support, engineering, marketing, etc.). He highlighted that many talented individuals, both permanent team members and contractors, contribute significantly to the creative process and come up with great ideas. The upcoming plan for the second half of 2025 will come from this collaborative process.

Team Attendance at Hivefest

Is anyone from the team going to Hivefest?

Hivefest is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October. Matt attended last year in Croatia but doubts he can make the trip to Malaysia due to distance. Dave and Nate both indicated they have a lot of work to do and likely need to stay. Blaze jokingly volunteered Dave. If anyone from the team is able to go, the community will be informed. Matt mentioned he is planning to attend Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas at the end of May personally for fun and suggested a possible impromptu get-together if other Splinterlands players will be there.

Unlocking Soulbound Gladiator Cards

When can we unlock soulbound gladiator cards?

This is on the big list of ideas. A new gladiator set is also being considered, as they are overdue for one. Allowing soulbound gladiator cards to be unlocked would probably coincide with the release of a new gladiator set. Matt noted that if the community strongly desires this feature, they can use the proposal system to advocate for it and potentially influence prioritization.

Creating DEC (DEC Locked on Land)

What would it take to create DEC? The reason is every time I bring in DEC for land I buy cards or packs.

Matt mentioned he's been thinking about potentially using his land reserves (which are in DEC) for the first time due to the new card releases, hinting that a mechanism like DECL might be useful to keep funds allocated to land. This implies the idea is being considered or exists internally, though no specifics were given about the implementation process or timeline based on this question.

Guerrilla Marketing Ideas

Since the community is spread all over the world you have some sort of gorilla marketing in mind? I'd be happy to spread cool Splinterland stickers around big cities and guild members are living where guild members are living for example. Just need pictures and would print them here at a printing company.

Yes, empowering the community in marketing efforts is a big focus. Matt knows he's discussed with Blaze and Dave how they can enable the community to be as effective as possible in marketing, viewing the community as their biggest asset. He expects to see some sort of organized push led by Blaze on how the community can help support marketing campaigns. Many community members are already doing marketing. Blaze mentioned they need to get a media kit with new images and assets ready for the community, planning to work on that the following week. They are already working with community members like streamers (Tails, Bulldog) and influencers on things like Twitch drops and recruitment efforts.

Desolation Card and Lore

I'd like to give a shout out to Joey for helping get the desolation card into the game which furthers the lore of possibleist the wise. It really shows how the team works great in conjunction with the top six summoner winners from the core set pre-sales.

This was a comment more than a question. Matt acknowledged Joey's significant work on lore, card names, and bloodline integration. He noted it was cool that Desolation is related to Possibilist, admitting he hasn't read the lore for most cards himself. He expressed hope that the opportunity for top Summoner winners to help design a card remains an exciting and coveted reward. Nate added that Joey put a "ton load of work" into the lore site (splinterlure.com or lord.splends.com) to have it ready for the Conclave launch and make the world-building taxonomy make sense with Bloodlines. He also shared (perhaps playfully) that Joey actually lives in Ptoria, which is why he knows how to write the lore so well.

Bridging to Cosmos with IBC

Splinterlands to cosmos with IBC Eureka? Have you looked into it?

Matt stated that they do not think they have looked into bridging to Cosmos specifically. Generally, he is very open to bridging tokens to as many chains and platforms as possible. He is unaware of the specific technical requirements for Cosmos and IBC. At some point, they would look at it, but would probably focus on EVM chains first as they have experience with them. However, if an opportunity exists on Cosmos, they are 100% open to it.

Runi Utility for Conflicts

Any chance Runi shows up with utility for conflicts?

That's a good question. While Runi hasn't had utility in previous conflicts, it's possibly something they could look into for the new conflicts. Matt plans to add it to the list of items to discuss with the team as they begin working on the new conflicts soon. He called it a "cool idea".

Team and Community as One

The team emphasized that the success of Conclave Arcana and the future of Splinterlands rely on the continued collaboration between the development team and the community. They see themselves and the players as "one big team". The project feels like "all coming together," with the necessary pieces now in place for success after years of effort.

There might be some errors in this summary