Splinterlands people Gather here. How did we let this pass? This is a rant!

Earlier today I woke up to find out that you can’t burn Gladius cards for DEC anymore, yes I must have missed the update, but it doesn’t matter, the fact remains that we can’t burn Gladius soul bound cards for DEC anymore.

Thankfully I burnt majority of mine of what could be burnt for personal reasons before the update was made, but how did we even let that one pass?

One thing I used to look forward to at the end of my brawls was the amount of merits I got so I could buy gladius packs, the gladius packs could contain badass cards that are also sometimes valuable in DEC which can come in handy in paying for stuff or cashing out.

So Help me get it

Could it have been that this was exploited or it was bringing negative pressure on the economy? Because I’m really struggling to understand the change.

So what you get now is merit instead of Dec. Get merit, buy more gladius packs, burn, get merit, buy more gladius packs, burn, get merit……..

the cycle goes on, but the essence of immediate gratification and liquidity that DEC provided is gone. This shift has subtly altered the dynamics of the game economy, which is worrisome for players like me who strategized around accumulating DEC for quicker gains.

Now, the focus is evidently shifting towards long-term engagement and collection rather than quick liquidity.

At what cost?

This could be seen as a move to strengthen the game's economy by promoting more sustained play and investment in assets, but at what cost?

For the casual player or those who relied on burning for immediate DEC to reinvest or trade, this is a significant setback.

What does this mean for the future of trading within the game? It appears that the developers are nudging us towards a more hoard-and-hold mentality.

Stability

By making it harder to liquidate assets quickly, they might be aiming to reduce the volatility of DEC and stabilize the market. However, this comes at the expense of player flexibility and could potentially deter new players who are attracted to the game for the potential of quick returns.

Furthermore, how will this affect the secondary market for Gladius cards? Previously, the ability to burn G.cards for DEC made every card valuable, at least as a potential source of DEC.

Now, the value of a card is solely dependent on its utility in the game and its rarity, which could lead to a decrease in the overall market activity as players become more selective about what cards they purchase or trade.

Thankfully there’s still $SPS

At the end of the day I’m glad there’s still SPS rewards from Brawls, I could at least use that to slowly build up my Sps stake but I wonder how long that would last for as well, before they take it off again and replace it with something else since that’s what we are doing now.

Okay rant over!

while I understand the need for sustainable economic measures, the removal of the ability to burn Gladius cards for DEC feels like a step back in terms of player empowerment and flexibility.

It will be interesting to see how the community adapts to this change and whether the developers will consider tweaking these dynamics if there's enough pushback from the community.

As it stands, we're in a wait-and-see phase, but one thing is for sure – the days of quick DEC from Gladius packs are over, and we must adjust our strategies accordingly.

What do you think about these recent changes?

Thanks for reading.

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