Lately, I've been into a mood to rewatch episodes of Hardcore Pawn. For those unfamiliar, it's a reality show-style series in the 2010s depicting the daily happenings of a well-known pawnshop in Detroit. It's a hard deviation from the family friendly vibe of Pawnstars because Hardcore Pawn is more grounded to reality and portrays scenarios that are likely to happen in a pawnshop business.
As I was watching it, from time totime I would see a booth in the background with a huge layaway sign. I was unfamiliar with what it meant back then and the show later explained what it was. Layaway is a kind of purchase where customers pay a deposit for a merchandise and set it aside. The customer then slowly pays the remaining value of the item plus some fees over an agreed length of time, similar to an installment plan.
Layaway on Splinterlands Cards
And while I was playing Splinterlands, it got me thinking, what if the game offered a layaway feature on cards? One of the main issues new players have when playing a blockchain game is the upfront cost. You can buy your first cards depending on your budget but it costs a lot higher if you want to be competitive. One way to solve this is to enter a scholarship deal with other players where they pilot accounts in exchange for shared revenue. But not all are comfortable with transactions like this and would rather play the game at their own pace than be pressured. They would typically rent what they can afford and grind the game.
So what if new players can have the option to enter a layaway agreement with the game? For starters, they can target high-ticket items like Lorkus or Eternal Tofu, something that they can never afford usually, and set it aside for layaway. The price would be locked for when the layaway agreement is created. The player can then be delegated that card and play with it while they are paying for their layaway obligation.
Since Splinterlands already has a reward delegation system in place, maybe we can make the payments in terms of SPS and have it be taken per battle win. They can also have an option to pay ahead of time.
Terms and Conditions
Like layaway transactions in pawnshops, players would also be charged a small extra on top of the actual value plus storage fees and late fees. Now, there's always the risk of players defaulting on their obligations due to many factors like game inactivity or price drop. The player can still refund what they paid but a hefty penalty will be imposed on the amount. This provides an incentive for the owner of the card since they carry the risk of locking up their asset for a layaway purchase.
Reputation Building
We can set the system up to where new players can only select cards of certain rarities. And as they continuously complete layaway transactions, they can then gain access to higher end cards. We can also open it to other Splinterlands assets like land plots, packs, tower defense assets, titles, etc. If their reputation is really, really high, maybe they can even choose a max-level card.
DAO Funded?
I know I've pitched the idea of the whole layaway thing to Jarvis of Peakmonsters a year or so ago. And if I remember correctly, he said that it will take some resources to develop a feature like this. So why not have the DAO fund for the development? It is already sitting on tons of Splinterlands packs. We can allocate some of those for layaways and have an additional income stream for the fund. The DAO would gain benefit whether or not the player pushes through with the agreement.
Advantage of Having a Layaway Feature
Layaway is a big carrot for new players who have financial restrictions but are willing to grind the game. It's something that they can look forward to on top of the token and chest rewards. It's a great motivation for players to slowly build their long-term positions in Splinterlands and to keep on playing. This would be a good player retention method, in my opinion.
This has been my official entry for @thepeoplesguild's weekly challenge. If you guys want to join as well, feel free to check out this week's theme.
If you're new to Splinterlands and would like to give this game a try, feel free to use my affiliate link here. 👉https://splinterlands.com?ref=sudeon👈
Thank you for reading and see you in the battlefield!
