Hello Dave.
Splinterlands is based on hiveblockchain which is very very niche, which means it is very hard to get NEW exposure, not just for Splinterlands but also for the SPS token.
Sure you can go ahead and say SPS is available plenty, just use pancakeswap or something similair - but lets be honest here... ETH-based games has by far outperformed BSC-based games (and hive-based games for that matter).
I remember back in 2021, where I looked at SPS and compaired it to Axie Infinity. Axie had a $9.8B marketcap at the top, where SPS only had a $155M, and why is that? It is surely not because Axie Infinity is just a better game? In my opinion, that is for sure not the case. I strongly believe it has been all about exposure and opportunity and SPS is STILL lacking behind in that front.
I do believe the timing is right for a tier 1 listing, we are in an ongoing raging bullmarket and Aggroed has just been featured with Splinterlands on Hello labs, which is showing huge upside potentiel! Eyes are on us and new people need a way to invest easily - Making them either go to Hive or use pancakeswap after adding BSC-network to their metamask simply wont do...
Now, I am all for a casual discussion, so if you don't agree with what I am writing, then what are your thoughts on "how to get new eyes/exposure on Splinterlands while also making it easy for them to invest".
Maybe I am missing a key perpespective, so I am looking forward to your (or any others) response. :)
Hey @xensational I appreciate the thoughtful comment. I responded to Michealb above with a lengthy reply that would be helpful to answer a lot of the things in my mind.
I understand your points but I don't agree with some of your premises. I don't think we are ready for a tier 1 listing yet, both in terms of our ability to retain new players and in our capitalization (we would be giving up too high of a % of our assets to literally just be listed). To me its a hail mary approach (reactive) if done at this time, as opposed to a planned part of a long term growth agenda.
Finally when comparing SPL to other games, then I think many factors are relevant. One is "who is backing them" and what are their plans?
I think you will find big money behind the Axie Project. They succeeded not because of their game, but because the money behind them. We have no such money behind our project. At least not yet.
So until we get the money from the people that are in the "big time", then we will not have the same impact as projects that do have that money. Its just the way the world works. Some people think that big investors jump behind a project because they somehow found it randomly on coinbase, but that's not how it works at all.
The big money that backs a project will never be random about anything. They will extract a lot of value and demand a lot of things to put their money to work. So we won't be attracting that kind of money with a listing no matter how many times people repeat that message on discord today. The players we will attract are the small fries and the momo chasers that want the action. While attracting any kind of new money is fine, I would definitely question the long term value of what we end up with our $2.5m investment.
I appreciate again the thoughtful response and I will live with this vote no matter how it turns out. I definitely don't agree with it at this time, but I do respect that many have a different opinion and support their right to have it.
I appriciate you taking the time to respond Dave.
I don't think this is an easy vote at all, I see alot of upside potential with getting more eyes on Splinterlands itself but I also 100% understand your point of view that it might be too early and that we are not ready yet and that this will just artificially pump bags for those who want to get out at a favorable price.
With that said, I personally think the timing couldn't be better, in the sense that the bullmarket is underway. My thinking is, even though we might not be ready that it is still worth while - alternatively, we end up being ready in 1 year (just an example) for a tier 1 listing but then have hit a bearmarket, which brings very little new money into any ecosystems resulting in a tier 1 listing not being worth 'anything'...
There is a fine line in between for sure!
We will see what happens and no matter what, I wont be mad and I will still be sticking around. :)
We will definitely see and everyone has their own way to view things. That's what I love about the DAO process, people that have stake will decide this. So win or lose, the process will give our community what they wanted. Even if its not what I wanted, I definitely appreciate the process.
I'm glad you see both sides and I'm not upset at all that we are voting differently on it.
ps... regarding your point about you sticking around. I made an opposite statement yesterday and stated I would be selling my assets into such a pump. While that is true for many reasons outlined throughout the post comments, I do want to say that I'm not trying to do anything more than be honest. I'm just one player though, and I appreciate everyone voting for what they think it right, and wouldn't have it any other way!
Personally I have never understood the appeal of Axie, as a game or an investment, although the way it enabled a lot of people to earn a living was impressive and inspiring. Its valuation was bonkers though.
I play Splinterlands literally every day and am quite well invested in it, so I have a stake in its future. I am also a binance and coinbase user but don't and wouldn't use them for investing in any small game token. Hive is already on Binance by the way, so there is a fairly simple path to it now.
Axie allowed Filipinas ppl to have an income because it was a ponzi. The game sucks, the team was driven only for short time gains and the ponzinomics were awful.
Splinterlands is not even comparable, it plays in another league of incentives, game theory and tokens flywheel. It is the finest I have seen, and I've seen something on my life.
Good point on the Hive onboarding from Binance, if the newcomer experience is good enough a new player should not need Binance in first instance, only when looking to compose his assets he would need to go outside Splinterlands, tipically to Hive-Engine and eventually reaching Binance. By that time I think we will have more DeFi and other products around. Im pro-proposal but if it doesn't pass the world is not ending.