Just my thoughts right now about Splinterlands, I am open to any respectful discussion.
I really like the game and have a silver deck, 1 plot and SPS staked.
However, it must be said that the game lacks some things.
One is the fun of playing especially in the lower levels, the focus right now is almost exclusively on the earn factor for investors (big or small).
The idea of blockchain games is very good, but I think that the gameplay should still be in the spotlight so that a GAME can be successful.
Meaning even if you don't invest it should just be a good gaming experience.
Without investment the game is like a slightly better version of rock, paper, scissors.
Once you understand the game, skill is no longer relevant , only how big your bank account is.
I know that in the future there will be a lot of things to include, SPS as rewards, land, mini games, etc..
However, I don't think these changes will change much of the actual gameplay to generate new players.
The reality is that you play 5-10 games a day to farm your chest and that's it.
And I know that there will be changes in this direction as announced in the last AMA.
The rest of the Splinterlands universe is just about when are the packs sold out, when SPS Moon,
Stocking up on cards to sell again later for 10x.
Sure when Splinterlands 100x a lot of new players will come, but then only because the investment opportunity is seen and not the gameplay.
And what after Splinterlands has achieved the success?
The threshold for new players will be all the higher than right now, cards 100x, land-plots will not be available, new packs for 10$ etc..
This could allow a company to reach a critical maximum threshold relatively quickly, because the investors need to be bigger.
I think once the player experience improves for everyone the earnings will automatically increase with new players.
What I have seen so far from the Splinterlands team I found very positive. The transparency through the weekly AMAs, the resources that flow back into the company, the constant changes and adjustments.
Please don't get me wrong about the economy of Splinterlands, I'm a business student myself and can get excited about complicated markets and structures, but I think this aspect should be optional for new players.
Maybe the complexity comes through the spells of the land plots, in the lower leagues, however, I see heir again a probably high entry threshold for new players.
Let's assume that a new player invests as much as for a AAA computer/PlayStation game, so about 70$. With that you could not put together a competitive deck to get into a higher Elo our having a fun game against others, which is a problem for me.
I Play on 2000 rating myself and have about 500$ in cards, gameplay is maybe 10% harder than in bronze even with such a "high" investment.
Sure I earn airdrops, vouchers etc. I don't play more than 10 games a day because why should I. To farm 50 (0.2$)Dec a day ? To boost my rating without needed power for the league.
I could try to get into the lead-boards but I would have to increase my investment by a lot.
I think this just contradicts the concept of a game and hope that the future announced changes will take these aspects into account.
I really believe in the game and its future, but I also find it important to show the current state of the game.
While I see where you are coming from and generally agree, I don't think that comparing Splinterlands to any random AAA title is fair since the genre of the game itself is what also matters for both the gameplay and the accessibility. There aren't many CCGs or TCGs where you can pay 70 bucks and say alright, I'm ready to compete at the highest level. Card games generally involve a larger investment in order for a person to be able to compete, and have access to all viable meta decks. Take Hearthstone as an example. If you just buy the large bundle for each expansion that's 3x 80.00 = 240 bucks per year for just the existence minimum amount of packs which would not provide you with all the cards you need. There are also small sets released in the middle of each expansion which cost 2000 in-game gold, or 20 bucks. But if you want to get all the cards you might have to spend 300-400 bucks per expansion which means the game could cost over 1,000 bucks per year easily. And this is provided you do not buy any additional skins, cardbacks, etc. However, you cannot sell anything you spent your money on in Hearthstone. It is all property of Blizzard Entertainment and you have agreed to just use it according to their TOS. At least in Splinterlands whatever you have in your collection has value and can be sold.
I definitely agree with you that traditional games like Hearthstone do not provide any financial benefits to the player.
However, there are plenty of card games, or turn-based competitive games where you don't have to invest, and can just play for 20-30$.
I also like the Splinterlands economy and would like to profit myself.
I just think that the game is generally too little motivating in all leagues but especially in novice and bronze, which is bad to inspire new players for Splinterlands.
Yup, there is definitely a lot of space for improvement. The main reason Bronze feels so bad is - bots. Unfortunately I don't think we'll ever get rid of them. Games with no profit can't get rid of them, so I don't think games where there is actual real incentive to bot have any chance to find a fair solution to the issue.