Splinterlands: Is This the End of the Road?
Before I say anything else, I would like to applaud @yabapmatt of Splinterlands for taking on a job that no one wants. I understand that many people believe they can do a better job, but believe me when everything goes wrong, it is the person in charge who gets the stick. Nonetheless, this is how things will always be, and we will always have to confront the elephant in the room.
The bot issues on splinterlands is one of the most controversial, and once again it has warranted for yet another change; the wild pass: a sort of fee that's required for all players in the wild format before they can compete every season
So, starting next season, players in wild format are now required to pay some form of fees: The wild season pass costs 40 VOUCHERS, 2,000 DEC, 2,000 DECB, or 2,000 CREDITS
On the surface, it appears to be a terrible situation, and I have seen a lot of genuine Wild players come out to express their displeasure. I am extremely calm, and this is not because I intend to spend 2000 DEC each season to play the game. It is just that I understand how it feels to watch one of the best web3 games go through difficult times.
I understand where the team is coming from, but I believe some people oppose this change because asking people to cough up money again to address a problem they did not cause is unfair.
However, this change is not meant to be morbid or selfish.
I believe that the constant drop in SPS price may have necessitated another dive into the game's tokenomics to determine where the problems are coming from, and that splinterlands INC has deemed it necessary to curtail the rampant farming in the game. So apparently, people create thousands of bots to take advantage of the wild format and farm indefinitely, then dump the SPS on the market.
However, bots are merely tools, and I believe that people are using them for malicious purposes. There are players who love the game and there are those who just wants to farm and selloff. Unfortunately, people like this exist in all ecosystems, not just splinterlands, and unless this is addressed, no changes to the bot will work.
Splinterlands is not addressing the problem in the appropriate manner. I will not pretend to know the answer, but I believe a long-term solution should be found for bot runners rather than plastic solutions that only burn out. I understand that bots will never be completely removed from the game (and I do not believe they should be). They help sustain an important part of the ecosystem, namely the rental aspects.
The fact that Splinterlands had to reinstate non-earning bots in modern to compensate for a lack of players only proves that bots will continue to exist in the game; the way and manner in which they operate is what needs to be addressed.
I am not one of those who wants the bots to be banned; it might turn this place into a ghost town. The modern format is proof that setting the bar too high makes it difficult for regular players to compete. Modern demonstrates that it is not only the big players who keep a game functional. I understand that earning 30 SPS per game appears to be beneficial, but what good is that when it is difficult to find an actual player to compete against?
Splinterlands may have developed the modern format to keep large investors earning and satisfied with the game. However, allowing the bots to run wild (pun intended) has demonstrated that, once again, real players are bearing the consequences of people farming the game. It only means one thing: we are on the verge of a mass exodus of players who may abandon the game.
I made a comment on the post of @dalz on the recent splinterlands stats and to be honest, it's truly not looking good.
I am an avid lover of this game and this post is not to FUD
I virtually played splinterlands when I recently lost my only brother, and I have been suffering from multiple health complications due to my chronic condition and have spent a lot of money. Even so, I recently upgraded my deck so that I could continue to play as much as possible, and the value of the cards I purchased has dropped even more.
I am not sure if this is the end of the road for me and Splinterlands, but as much as I enjoy the game, I do not think I can afford to play every season. I understand that many people will write posts in support of the system, but punishing real players with bot farmers is unacceptable. However, the proposal was signed, giving the impression that big investors may want this.
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I think the latest changes caught many by surprise, because it was called an action against bot farmers, but actually it has nerfed anyone using a single bot. This is without even banning bots.
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You're right, it was literally meant to be a change that intended to ban bots, but even natural players are burned in the process. I don't think I can pay to play at this point in the bear market. It's unbelievable
Thanks for the curation
Ooh wow
So what do you think can be done to this?
It won’t make sense to be playing with bots when there are humans one can play with
It's a lot of information at the moment, and the only way is to follow up on the development. For now, it might become tedious to play from next season
this is a surprise, but if we have to play we must adopt the changes. lets is going to be beneficial for all of us. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, agree with you.
I don't really think everyone would adopt to pay to play in this period. It's the bear market and it's currently very harsh at the moment.
Thanks for the curation
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You're trying to stay positive in a rather bad situation. While I do understand what they are trying to do, it's the general controversy bots versus non-bots with talks about "cheating" when you use even a single bot (because time is precious) that pisses me off the most.
I am trying to stay positive. I loved this game a lot. I still do. It's terrible to see how bad things have now become. If I can't really pay to play, I then I'll just have to sell off the assets I have and just move on.
Yeah, I'd have plenty to say, but I'd rather not. Splinterlands won't have many more chances if this attempt misses, like many others.
Well, this is mostly all I can say, I know the intent of the guys at this top is good, and they're probably feeling that the proposal passed hence everyone is good with it
Hopefully, it will have positive effects on the game. It's definitely a tough spot to be in and they are trying different things, maybe something works...
I'm not sure it's a good move, it may start to the end of the game. I understand why they want to, but it's getting expensive to play as is. It may help DEC prices buy surely won't help SPS prices. I've been worried about the game for awhile since I have so many assets in there, now I'm becoming more worried...
How are you feeling today?
I think I'll just have to stop then. Coughing out 2k Dec every season might look cheap but it isn't. However, I think if this comes at the expense of natural players, then what has the game achieved?
I've been here, although it's been a lot busier for me these days. I'm trying to sort a lot on my end. How about you?
A large percentage of the population have been calling out bots as a detriment to the game for years. They are only just now caring because humans have widely stopped playing due to the bots. They were greedy for far to long and were complacent to get their kickbacks from the bot owners via account sales etc.
I applaud your positivity but I think I am on the 'end times are nigh' boat. I've completely stopped playing the game. I don't enjoy the new set at all, I don't enjoy brawls any more, the game is stale and new development to keep it fresh constantly backfires or is never delivered.
I just want a good TCG yet all that gets focused on is wringing more money out of people. A good TCG would yield more money naturally...
What can I say. I truly have been positive. However I don't know anymore if my positivity is enough. Truly, no newer development has happened and I think this is because they're focused on firstly keeping the value in the game.
As for the bots, you're right, it could have been banned clearer and maybe we wouldn't still be looking for ways to curb it's effect and the consequences it's has on the game. It's saddening.
Even a ban from simply a ToS perspective would have been a move in the right direction. Yes it can be harder to prove and enforce but having at least the right tone at the top in this area is a critical foundation step.
Problem is Not the 2000 DEC. Problem is the doubling in sps requirements. People are leaving because you need to invest More and more but no New experience is made.
Introducing sps requirement started the Exodus. Now we May see the final hour.
SPS requirement had it's upside i think we could all see that. Even I feel that players could still rent SPS for cheaper, but paying 2k Dec is what breaks the camel back for me. It's truly unfortunate
I'm just happy that something is happening again after a while.
I have played and will keep playing for years to come.
Only thing that could make me quit Splinterlands is if they shut down the website.
I mentioned that 2000 is too high, and needed to be a scale for your level same like the energy price, with different price for Bronze, Silver,Gold and Diamond. This is my issue.
This too would have worked, but no, expecting everyone to pay 2k irrespective of league or anything.
This is an issue, $2 per season is 4$ per month, and the SPS gained is not that much, I barely make 10$ of SPS in Champion, with 150K staked. I presume in Gold with 10-20K you are not even making $1 in SPS per season, not counting the cards.
This is an issue, $2 per season is 4$ per month, and the SPS gained is not that much, I barely make 10$ of SPS in Champion, with 150K staked. I presume in Gold with 10-20K you are not even making $1 in SPS per season, not counting the cards.
I disagree that this is a "bot issue" and almost everyone is pointing fingers in the wrong direction... It looks like everyone forgot that those "bots" had to buy cards to be able to play, and they were good when they were buying overpriced cards from the market... (I have 1 account where a bot is playing for me as I lost interest in the game and I play only brawls manually, as I like team play...)
IMO, the problem is bad tokenomics from the very beginning, or better said after adding the second token to the game, and then the third, etc... Side effects of this "bot witchhunt" is that early adopters and old cards owners are screwed, instead of being appreciated... It's all about pushing everyone into Modern, to buy new cards every season, while earnings are dropping... Don't know the solution, but pissing off early investors and adopters isn't the right way...
Well I said it in one part of my post too, it's mostly an attempt to sell modern as the go-to league.
You're right. It's a witch hunt. I myself agree that banning bot will not be good as it's bad players who use them to farm. There are genuine people who use bot because they do not have the time to play.
Like you've said, people who own old cards seems to be screwed, but I hope Matt and Co can begin to look at where it's all gone wrong and begin to retrace their steps. It's a terrible situation to be in.
It's not looking good at splinc, that is for sure.
I stopped playing years ago, but kept renting, now that is a waste of time, too.
It's a blockchain, the accounts doing the selling should be pretty easy to find.
I don't like it but there isn't much I can do about it. I think I'll go back to modern and sell off my wild cards. I don't really think it's worth the costs because I haven't been able to play Splinterlands as much. Maybe increasing my modern deck will help me out more.
You're right, it means wild isn't not worth the money anymore and as you've said. It seems you've already got a plan on what to actually do next. I think it's a good thing to do. Congratulations on figuring out how to go about it next
Good Content!
Honestly bro it's tough when changes like these affect players who love the game. Hoping things stabilize soon for you and other dedicated players. Wishing you the best bro !BEER
Splinterlands players feel that the introduction of the Wild Pass fee is an unfair solution to address bot issues. I believe that the amount of SPS is too high for new players. Also, I propose to reduce the fee and set up a "Captcha system just before submission of the team to validate the battle played by Human, making the utilization of bot difficult after multiple battle in a row from one account. If the bot failed to complete the captcha his team automatically surrender.
I believe that a solution can be found in the community.
Have a good day
That's a very good solution too, it'll make it very stressful for one bot owner to actually run a thousand or let's say more than a hundred accounts.
I say splinterlands may have want to also use this to actually raise money at the expense of the players.
What you've suggested is a brilliant solution