Important: None of what I write in this article is an absolute truth and for all I know, things could get a lot more crazy (It's crypto after all). I have written down my personal views as a long-term player with an explanation and the advice I would give a version of myself that is not yet in the game now looking to get in during all this hype. Make sure to check the Sign-Up Deal I'm still Offering if you plan to get in on the game...
The Cryptocurrency world always kind of has "narratives-of-the-moment", there are times when everything is just about Bitcoin, other times when it's "Altseason" where all those coins go up like crazy, DeFi-Summer when all the Defi related coins exploded, there was a time when meme-coins outperformed everything with Doge leading the way, ...
Right now without a doubt, the narrative of the moment is Play2Earn Gaming and the metaverse with Axie Infinity leading the way. Splinterlands has been in active development for 3+ years with a rather small but very loyal player base during that time even though there was no hype around it whatsoever on popular crypto youtube channels.
The play2earn craze came just at a time in between Splinterlands expansions with packs from the Untamed Set being sold out making it so that cards can now only be bought from other players and the new Chaos Legion Set (which provides a 'cheap entry' for new players) being a couple of months away. At the same time, the Splinterlands Governance token (SPS) was released and is being generously airdropped to players who hold assets in the game over the course of the next 365 days with a daily snapshot. This made prices go up because existing players don't want to sell in order to get the airdrop and more new players coming in trying to buy or rent cards. The prices going up is causing more eyes in the crypto world to be on Splinterlands as they cover what people search to get more views which gave more exposure to the game bringing in even more players. The increasing prices also made long-term players have very nice paydays playing the game which is shared all over crypto social media giving those that are not in yet also want to get these earnings.
There also was a new renting system implemented recently which makes it so that Splinterlands is very cheap to get into for new players as it can be tested for free and only requires the Summoner's Spellbook which is priced at 10$ in order to unlock rewards for the game. Since card rentals has to be paid in Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) the demand increased a lot while the new daily supply remained the same and many players are not selling because having it in a liquidity pool gives the most SPS airdrop points. This caused DEC to go above the 1$ for 1000 DEC peg which it can be used for to buy things from the shop (which is sold out). When this happens, the amount of DEC that is being printed daily increases in order to meet the demand giving exponential earnings. Not only is more DEC being printed, it also sells for a lot more. With DEC now trading at an x7.7 multiplier compared to the peg (7.7$ for 1000 DEC instead of 1$ for 1000 DEC) and the amount of DEC players receive having gone x7.7 it brings in even more demand for the game, ...
So basically it's a cycle that feeds itself with everything being connected and things going totally bonkers.
https://hivedata.space/statistics/splinterlands
In the next 2 months, prices will likely stay high as existing players are not selling while new players have to wait for Chaos Legion to be released which will introduce new cards that can be bought in packs for a "cheap price" which will results that demand for older cards will go down dropping those prices. (most likely)
All the money that players earn with play2earn games is not being made out of thin air and for every winner, there will eventually be someone that lost or paid money. As long as more new players come in compared to those that want out everything is fine but once these two cross, it will likely turn into a negative spiral where decreasing prices lead to more players getting out followed by more selling pressure and so on. The 2 main questions are how early we are in the cycle and how long the game can remain popular.
Starting with the bad news, the Splinterlands Rocket Ship most likely has already left the spaceport, and actively chasing it will likely get you burned. The good news is that is very much still possible to do very well with the game without the risk of getting burned if you play it smart and work yourself in a position for a seat on the next flight.
Doing really well making good money from play2earn games requires time and a lot of commitment. You really need to find a game that you actually enjoy and where you are convinced enough new people will still come in to make the entire economy hold up for at least that long. Once you have found that, you make that your main game to play with a community to engage with on a daily basis and you become an expert (or follow a few of them) on everything around that game. This makes you able to make better decisions always being 1 step ahead spotting nice opportunities or times when you need a lot more caution. If anything, consistency is key as everything does add up which showcases now for pretty much all players that accumulated without selling or taking any profit these past years completing the Daily quests religiously. 1 or 2 years from now, those who get into Splinterlands today with this exact approach will most likely be in a very good position.
I have looked at many other crypto games myself wanting to get in just to earn but keeping myself from doing so since I understand the commitment it requires. Most of these play2earn games also are expensive to get into which makes no sense for as far as future adoption goes while increasing the risk or have pre-sales that already go at crazy prices without having enough guarantees that they will do well which points toward cash grabs. For this reason, I only have 2 main Crypto games I play right now, these are...
Splinterlands which I have been playing and covering for the last 2+ years with a plan to keep playing for years to come as I still see it as being very early despite the current overpriced market conditions. Right now after 2 years of religiously playing, this is now really starting to pay off even if the market cools down again.
Clash Of Streamers: Which I invested in as a project since I'm quite confident the rocketship will take off at some point in time while nobody is really watching this one yet. I also play daily slowly but surely building my account getting stronger in-game assets as a player with absolute minimum spendings not expecting to earn anything short-term anticipating potential rewards later down the line. I also follow the development closely and bring regular reports and guides about this game on my blog.
It is right now really cheap to get started with Splinterlands since anyone can test it out for free and in order to unlock rewards from the game, it only requires a one-time cost of 10$ to purchase the Summoner's Spellbook (which can very easily be earned back -> see below). In-game earnings on top can be used to rent more cards without the need for extra investment allowing more skilled players to climb the rankings to get even more rewards. These are things you want to do if you have FOMO around Splinterlands and you want to do well without getting crushed...
1. Take Me Up on My Sign-Up Deal!
Using my referral link is the best way to get started with Splinterlands as I'm offering a win-win deal to everyone who is listed under my referral that buys the 10$ Summoner's Spellbook. Within 24h, I will send 100 DEC (which is currently more than what I'm actually earning from the initial referral) and you will be getting some Free Rental Cards. Those who want can also get some Personal Guidance if you have specific questions on Discord. You can see the Full Sign-Up Deal ditails Here
2. Learn The Game Without Spending Extra Money!
Basically, now is not the time to start buying DEC or cards as big as the temptation may be. Sure prices can go up even more but the higher they go, the less likely and riskier it all becomes. Skilled players right now have shown that it's possible to climb the rankings without investments aside from the Summoner's Spellbook. So put your time into learning all the dynamics of the game and all the cards and their abilities.
3. Complete Daily Quests!
Playing a bit each day and completing the daily quests regardless of how small the rewards might be right from the start is the way to go. 1 out of 100 Chests contains 2000 DEC / 1 out of 380 contains a Legendary card so you certainly can get lucky. If you hit the collection power wall, make use of the 100 DEC you got from my Sign-Up Deal to rent some cards to get you above the needed level.
4. Blog About Your Splinterlands Journey!
For new players, this is by far the easiest way to earn and if they want quickly recover the initial 10$ investment. There are 2 main platforms I would use
- Splintertalk.io: This is the native blogging platform for Splinterlands content which automatically also puts it on Hive.blog. If you put some effort into your post, you are likely to earn some SPT on your posts there which counts toward the SPS airdrop if you don't sell it. I can recommend staking it in Hive-engine and delegating it to @monster-curator which will both get you some passive SPS from the airdrop and extra SPT from curation rewards both paid daily. You can Stake that SPS to earn more of it and get some good benefits later down the line. You can also join the official Challenges organized and upvotes (with a big Hive upvote) by the team behind the @splinterlands account. All these things are part of learning the game and the entire Hive ecosystem.
- Noise.cash: Many are sharing their daily rewards in Twitter-Style posts on noise.cash where upvotes are rewarded with some Bitcoin Cash which adds up if you are a bit more active on that platform also making some comments here and there. Bitcoin Cash is also a currency accepted in the Splinterlands Shop to buy credits with.
5. Engage in the Community!
Having friends in the game is something that is very enjoyable and also allows helping each other grow faster. Being a bit engaged on Splintertalk.io and/or the Splinterlands Discord makes it quite easy to find like-minded players and there are on top many giveaways to benefit from.
6. Follow The Development!
Every week there is an AMA of the team on their Discord which is also posted on Youtube Here on the channel of @aggroed. You can also follow the official Splinterlands account on Hive/Splintertalk for the latstes news. This helps to learn and stay up to date with everything that is going on.
7. Prepare For Chaos Legion Expansion!
News cards that come in packs will become available in a couple of months from now which will most likely cool down the market dropping card prices and the DEC price as it will be a lot cheaper to get in on the new card set. This is basically the time when you really going to want to start building your collection with a lot more knowlegde one the game and possibly some savings from playing/blogging in the first ~2 months.
8. Keep Playing Daily growing your collection!
From there on out you just keep playing a bit on a daily basis using all your earnings to grow you card collection along with other assets in the game. Once you are at a level of earnings that you are happy with, you can start taking a bit of profit daily or even fully get out at some point if you want to.
If you are having a lot of FOMO to get into Splinterlands right now because you see everyone earning a ton, start and try it out for free or with the small initial 10$ investment especially if you use my referral link which will get you a nice win-win Sign-Up Deal. Don't get tempted buying expensive cards but instead try to learn about the game as much as you can while playing a bit daily completing the daily quests also engaging with the community exploring alternative ways to earns like blogging and save up to really get in once the Chaos Legion Expansion is released in a couple of months from now which will offer a much cheaper entry.
For more Info Around the Splinterlands Game see...
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