I haven't done a Splinterlands post for a very long time, so let me batch a few of my thoughts together on a couple things and go from there. As always there is a lot happening, but there is also "nothing happening" in many respects. I think that given a decent run on the markets, things will turn around on the value of assets, but it should be remembered that it is a game first. If the only attractor is the potential to earn, like all crypto projects, it will eventually fail, because there will be another product that can offer higher potential earnings.
So... Game first.
I am no expert.
(At anything)
There are a couple things on my mind today regarding Splinterlands.
Validator Nodes
Brawls
Reward Cards
1. Validator Nodes
This is not for the game itself, but more for @peakmonsters. To be honest, I have very little understanding of what is going on with these currently, but essentially the Splinterlands Validators are processing the transactions of the game. People bought licences (many years ago) in order to be able to run a node and get rewards for processing, like a Hive witness. Fair enough. There are Full nodes where people are running them independently, and then there are hosted nodes, like mine, which I did through @PeakMonsters. Since I am a technical klutz, having it hosted is great!
Except....
Besides blocks, am I missing something?
Then I have a question around the rewards. While I am receiving the rewards....
I assume this is because I had to give posting rights to @peakmonsters for them to run the validator for me (though I am missing many blocks), but it also is quite inconvenient and off putting. Because I didn't make these claims.
I claim once a day so that I can get a sense of what is happening on my account without having to dive into the numbers with a fine-tooth comb and a magnifying glass. As easy as it was to set up (@peakmonsters do a good job of these things), I am still unsure of what is happening, if it is worth it, and all of that - this will likely shake out in time.
2. Brawls
My next issue to talk about a little is Brawls, because over the last months there has been a marked decline in interest and attendance, and it is seemingly across guilds, not just the one I am in. I have been Brawling for a couple years now, and there used to be a lot of excitement around it, but I think due to changes, it has become far less valuable.
Firstly there was the change to add Gladiator cards into ranked play. This was a great move, because since Gladiator cards are soulbound, to benefit one would have to have brawled, earned some merits as prizes, and bought gladiator packs to have some. And, merits were hard to come by. Winning a brawl in a top tier would bring about 12,000 merits, which could buy 6 packs. It was a slow process to build a Gladiator set! People would get super excited when they got a Quora....
Not any more.
Because merits are easy to get now as they are distributed when people buy reward chests with Glint.
I am the 7th largest holder of Merits
And I don't have a full deck of Gladiators.
Because, while they used to be valuable to hold, many of them are now underpowered, so I don't see the point in trying to max them. And since so many people have them already, they don't bring much advantage in ranked play anyway. They are bit players, rather than an edge given from years of brawling. Every man and his dog, whether brawled or not, can have them, and I think that this is the driving force behind people being less interested in brawling, because being in a brawl doesn't bring much extra benefit than not. The SPS rewards are pretty low, and the Merit rewards are insignificant compared to what is possible to get in chests.
MBGA
Something has to happen to Make Brawls Great Again, and that is likely going to have to come through exclusivity. Where there are benefits that only brawlers get.
3. Reward Cards
Speaking of exclusivity...
This is me being somewhat selfish, but I also think it is important considering what was said about a year ago in regards to Splinterlands-Hive cooperation. I have also noticed that finally there are more Splinterlands players branching into building Hive content that is outside a season review, or some sill card giveaway.
The reward card system is pretty good and I think that the various campaigns that have been run like with Heloise the Hollow, Legends and Exclusives have been pretty successful at attracting various resources to be purchased and spent in the ecosystem. However, what I would like to see is something that ties Hive into the mix occasionally, where for example there would be a reward card that is toed to HIVE holdings. Or perhaps an additional multiplier for ranked play and SPS earnings that factors it in. Just like there should be a significant benefit for participating in Brawls, there should also be some benefit for participating on Hive, which is part of the underlying infrastructure and has played a key role since the inception of Splinterlands.
I am sure many will be against this.
Because many in Splinterlands don't have any HIVE holdings, as evidenced by @azircon's article a few weeks ago. In my Hive-holder opinion, we should be encouraging cross-ownership participation, not just taking Hive rewards to sell into Splinterlands assets, or whatever people do with what they get (probably sell for those in the art contests).
4. There was no four!
And that is why I am going to end it here and see what kind of discussion comes from this. I think Splinterlands still has some legs in it as both a game and an investment, but it has to be a game first, because it can't compete with other investment vehicles and is dependent on market cycles. If it is a good game that people want to play though, then when those markets boom as might be the case later in the year, people will be willing to invest more into playing the game. The stickiness of the game can't just come from potential to earn token rewards, but players should be rewarded for participating with decent assets that make playing the game more fun, more interesting, and give an edge over opponents who haven't participated in value-adding ways.
Thoughts?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]