I've tried my best to keep faith in Splinterlands' team over the years because I felt it was a great team that cared about its community, but watching this company consciously sacrifice OG/current players for potential future players is infuriating.
They ask for patience, but treat us like patients in clinical trial.
Future marketing of a "better game" is NOT the fix. Building around those who've supported the company and sustained its operations IS. I'd think it'd be wiser to build value around its core community, not imaginary future friends.
How long are current investors expected to be treated like cannon fodder? How much lower can asset prices go while the general markets stretch impermanent loss to gut-wrenching marks?
Prices are at rock bottom. SPS is roughly a penny. DEC is over 25% off peg. Card and rental markets are abysmal. Most of us are stuck. Proposals to tweak things are never-ending, but they generally seem to continue to make things worse.
Sounds like a good time to buy, right? Not a chance. How can anyone invest more funds, time, and attention, when the team aggressively continues pursuing pyrrhic victories?
Yes, crypto is pure risk, but asset prices aren't the main issue. My investment has been my biggest financial regret after allowing hype to open my crypto wallet, but it feels like it's mostly from the team shooting themselves in the foot. If feels like tunnel vision. Alternatively, if certain stakeholders are driving some of these decisions, look where it's gotten us. Enough is enough.
Making the game look great and function better than ever is not more important. It's simply not worth the cost. There needs to be a BALANCE, and that balance is nowhere near. That's the crux. Anything less feels like we're disposable, and that's what gets me most.
This isn't just an opinion. The number of players, thin match liquidity, and asset demand tell the story, but the team doesn't seem to mind them going lower. It sucks to see an increasing number of people dumping their cards, clearly unhappy and desperate to get out. Again, as long as they can keep the lights on, sacrificing its current player base doesn't seem to be critical. Making former loyal enthusiasts not want to touch assets with a 10-foot pole should speak volumes.
Patience to endure a bear market is one thing, but there's a reason SPL has been left in the dust with its internal markets on the cusp of being flat-lined. It's like they can't get out of their own way.
This is all quite the gamble when there's virtually no guarantee that there will be such a wave... the real risk. This is redundant, but it's worth repeating. There is no guarantee of tomorrow, yet the team is planning for new players many months and years out. Perhaps the plan is to sell the company with a more polished game at that time. I can't think of why else it'd be worth it.
So please snap out of it, team. Stop driving current players away and making them suffer financially. We gave you good faith and it's time to right the ship for today's players with more balance. You already overshot SPS supply, CL supply, and are overshooting your hope that a future player base will make everything better. It's just not good business and probably won't be worth it. First mover advantage has been thrown into the wind, and it's not quite all the bear's fault. Hope can only get us so far.