Greeting Praetorians!
It is I, the Psi, back with another SPLINTERLANDS article!
Have YOU been having problems trying to get that elusive 10x Glint boost multiplier?
Confused by the right amount of SPS to rent?
Waiting impatiently for your bids to get filled?
Frustrated by an interface that's lacking information?
In this article I am looking at some of the difficulties I have experienced with the in game SPS rental system, some possible solutions, as well as alternatives that already exist!
(NOTE: There is a link to my YouTube that talks about these issues linked into this post below if you would prefer to watch a video or have audio!)
FIRST!
I would like to talk about a NEW CONTEST that I will be running for the next 4 Splinterlands seasons (this season included) to give back to the Splinterlands and HIVE community! If you leave a comment on my YouTube videos and/or my HIVE posts and include your Splinterlands in game username or HIVE name, you will be entered into a draw at the end of the Splinterlands season! I will be giving away 2x Chaos Legion packs every season, 1 to each of our lucky winners! You will get 1 entry per post and 1 per video. So if you leave a comment on BOTH my video as well as post, that would give you 2x entries! You can only win once per season, but you can accumulate multiple entries between all my posts and videos! Just my way to say "THANKS!" for all your support! I am really enjoying posting on HIVE and making content (especially my new "Path to Power" series) and since I've been well rewarded, let's share some of the wealth!
(DON'T forget to include your user name! And a comment with a little meat on the bones would be appreciated so that I can properly reply to it)
NAVIGATING THE SCREENS AND PLACING SPS BIDS
Your current GLINT BOOST multiplier can be seen on the main battle screen. The Glint boost multiplier is one of the most important aspects of Splinterlands. They dictate your rewards, which includes how much Glint and SPS you earn for a battle win. As such, ensuring it is at an appropriate level is fundamental to maximizing your earnings! Most people tend to suggest an 8x to 10x multiplier for maximum SPS to BOOST efficiency.
Clicking on "MANAGE" will bring up your "BOOST OVERVIEW" which will show more detailed information about your "BOOST MODIFIERS" which help dictate how much glint you can expect to earn for every win (in modern) barring bonuses from the cards you use like: Promos, Gold Foils, Alpha cards (in Wild), etc.
On this screen you will be able to access the SPS Rental Market by pressing the "RENT" button!
And here we meet our first of the problems in my humble opinion. The "CREATE A SPS RENTAL BID" screen.
It does not show any information on how MUCH you need to rent to hit the various multipliers, nor information on the asking prices. To get that information, you need to go other places to collect data before placing your bid!
OK, so now you need to find the current "Going Rates" and "Open Bids" so that you make an educated rental!
You find this on the "BIDS" screen to determine the current asking rates. You can get there by pressing "BACK" on the rental screen in the upper left, displayed HERE:
OR you can go the LONG way, bypassing the easy to use "MANAGE" button on the Battle Screen by clicking on your Available SPS BALANCE in the upper right. This will show you more SPS information, as well as allow you to once again "MANAGE" aspects of your SPS.
Let's click the "MANAGE" button on this screen:
Now we have made it to the "OTHERS BIDS" screen, where we can see the competing bids for SPS. You will want to reference this screen as you want to get the best "Market Price" when renting SPS. No one wants to overpay on a rental by blindly paying 2x or more!
When you then click on the "REQUEST SPS" button you are brought back to the "CREATE A SPS RENTAL BID" screen as we'd discussed above.
If there was a way to simplify these screens and give ALL of the information required on the "CREATE A SPS RENTAL BID", it would be MUCH better for the user experience! Perhaps a button from HERE that links to the "OTHERS BIDS" screen with a caption "See Other Bids Here", or even a display which shows "Current Lowest Bid Price" so that there was less bouncing around.
I know we don't want a "cluttered" interface, but having to navigate multiple pages to find the relevant information seems wasteful when a one stop shop that displays everything clearly and concisely without confusion would be optimal.
SPS STAKING REQUIREMENTS SPREADSHEET
Speaking of "Relevant Information", something else that's missing from the "CREATE A SPS BID" page that is absolutely essential is knowing HOW MUCH SPS you need to rent!
This information is found on the SPS Staking Requirement Spreadsheet found in the "Support" section, but not in the actual SPS rental section. Without knowing how much you need in various leagues and ratings within the game, how would you know how much to bid to reach 8x, 10x, or whatever multiplier you desire?
I believe this information should not only be within easy access of the "CREATE SPS RENTAL BID", but also a feature that can be auto populated with the press of a button!
How convenient would it be to simply press a button that said "10x" and have it automatically enter the correct amount you'd need to bid to achieve this amount, based on your current staked SPS holdings? This would make things quick and convenient for the player to rent the correct amount to reach their target SPS stake and enjoy the desired multiplier.
WAITING FOR BIDS TO BE FILLED
Let's say there now WAS a way to see how much SPS you needed. And there WAS a way to see current bids for the SPS so that you could undercut them and get your bid filled ASAP. There is still no guarantee that some generous SPS renter would actually FILL the bid when you needed it!
Therefore you run into the problem of either:
- Not playing while you wait for the bid to be filled so as not to waste energy battling with a low multiplier. OR
- You have to bid above market price to have a bid filled quickly to keep playing!
If we look at current bids of 0.001, since you can not add more decimals to increase your bid, you are stuck waiting to get one of the MANY requests at 0.001 to be filled (and they DO fill!) OR pay 2x the market price and bid 0.002 to have it filled more quickly!
This system of "waiting for your bid to be filled" is strange in that it does not offer the typical buy/ sell method like HIVE Engine or other exchanges do. As such, it does not allow for immediately "accepting" a rental "asking" price (perhaps the SPS is held in escrow until it is?), nor placing your own "bid" for a lower price.
Adopting a system with a "BUY" and a "SELL" mechanic would allow those who wanted instant delegated SPS to rent it right away, while those who preferred to save on the "spread" could enter a bid and WAIT for someone to fill it!
NO CONVERSION BETWEEN DEC AND CREDITS
Another thing I have noticed is that there is no conversion between CREDITS and DEC when renting SPS, despite there being an oftentimes large deviation in price between them both!
When I created my new account and had to start renting SPS, I was forced to buy cards using credits, then burn them into DEC in order to not overpay on my SPS rentals. Clearly this was not at a 1:1 conversion rate, as the price I paid for the card did not equal the DEC I received for burning the card. Yes, it was cheaper than renting using CREDITS, but it was still not "full value".
Since new players are only given credits, they would not have DEC, and may not even KNOW about the aforementioned "trick" to get DEC. Therefore they would be over playing for the SPS rental right from the start.
There should be a built in way to calculate the difference in renting SPS in the same way as there is in buying cards. This promotes the purchase of credits and is "fair" to all users regardless of if they pay in CREDITS or DEC.
ALTERNATIVES TO USING THE SPS RENTAL MARKETPLACE
There are currently other ways to "bypass" the existing in game SPS marketplace, although ideally, you shouldn't have to.
The first is a way to gain IMMEDIATE access to SPS, although it is more expensive.
This is by using the XBot SPS Rental Marketplace:
https://xbot.app/spsmarket
While convenient, it is presently more expensive than waiting on a bid for 0.001 to fill. You pay more for the rental AND you need to expend XCredits at a ratio of "approximately" 1:100 to make the rental itself. XCredits are purchased at a rate of 1:1 for DEC, so renting 50000 SPS would cost you an additional (approx) 500 DEC on top of the rental costs in XCredits. This is fine if you are getting free or discounted XCredits, or renting very small amounts, but overall it is more expensive.
My PERSONAL favorite way!
You can also rent SPS and bypass the system by simply finding a reliable member of the Splinterlands community to rent from DIRECTLY!
In the past I have rented from Dave McCoy, and I am currently renting from BraveTofu.
Renting directly from a player both ensures you will have immediate and ongoing access to the required SPS, and prevents you from running out of delegation suddenly and needing to scramble to find more.
Check on discord and ask if anyone is willing to help out and maybe you too can find a kind and generous soul to delegate you a long term SPS rental!
If you prefer to watch a video where I go into all of these topics in depth, you can see my visit my YouTube channel here:
And thus ends the saga that is the SPS rental dilemma!
I hope this article will reach those in power, and some of these suggestions can be implemented to make SPS renting more efficient. Maybe I'm the only one having these problems and frustrations, but for such an important part of the game, I feel it should be seamless and easy to rent SPS.
Please do not forget about the little contest I am running right now to give back! Leave me a comment with your Splinterlands in Game name / your HIVE name and when the season ends, I'll be drawing 2x names to win a Chaos Legion Pack each!
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you around Praetoria!
The Psilence
(NOTE: This is NOT a part of my P2P series, and no HIVE generated from this post will be applied to my alt account.)