What I would say is by far the most frustrating about being an invested Splinterlands player is to see how 95% of the hard work is actually done, while the development keeps making moves that are at least to say very questionable which screws things up more. The latest is how the Splinterlands company is trying to milk money out of the DAO to do developments that at least in the short term won't make any difference whatsoever aside from getting overpaid devs their paycheck. The latstest is the request for the DOA to hire Cryptomancer to develop land at 90$ an hour and close to 200k a year. This while even big land owners are saying to drop it for now and focus on bringing in new players as land is not going to do anything to help the game.
To take it into the extreme, it feels like cards are being printed like crazy to mainly be able to pay the cost of devs for creating these cards while the last thing the game needs is even more cards as there is a crazy oversupply and things getting more complicated has made the gaming experience worse.
I'm not exactly sure what it costs to run Splinterlands right now aside from the dev salaries but it can't be a crazy number. This brings me with things that actually fundamentally are great about Splinterlands...
Fundamental Strengths of Splinterlands!
1. The Technical Infrastructure
While an argument can be made that Splinterlands running on Hive is something that holds it back, the fact remains that everything just runs super smooth and the entire experience from a player perspective once you have things set up (which isn't that hard) is as good as any web2 game.
I would say the lack of listing of DEC and SPS on an A-List Exchange like Binance or Coinbase makes it harder but at the same time there are plenty of easy payment options with the credits system. Also the fact that it's a browser game and doesn't require a manual install which is one of the things that held me back to ever try games like god's unchained is great.
This on itself is a massive achievement but all of it is completely put to waste as the experience of new players is still just horrible and I honestly don't think the 'New Player Experience' will improve things all that much. The visuals of the battles themselves with the same low-effort background which hasn't changed since the game was released is one of those things that with very low effort could easily be improved.
2. The Core Gameplay Loop
One of the things I would say nearly everyone who actually gets into Splinterlands agrees upon is that the core gameplay loop as an actual game is just fun and works. The battles where you allow to pick your cards and select a team based on the game rules also anticipating what your opponent potentially would do and seeing afterward how the battle plays out is a loop that you potentially could play forever without it really getting bored since there is so much variation possible.
The cards, abilities, and game rules are generally also designed very well (even though the newer abilities and game rule have made things overly complicated) and allow for enough variation. On top the aspect of collecting cardsand leveling them up is also highly enjoyable.
However, all of this is there but right now it's nothing more than merely potential as nearly all of the game mechanics that are in place with an eye to 'help the economy' screw up all the fun. There is an extreme Pay2Win factor especially after the leagues were removed in Ranked in order to force players toward max level which for 99% is not realistic. The game rules also are done in a way that players are forces in a certain direction and there is no option to really experiment and have fun with that. The neverending card printing and the split between Modern and wild also makes it so that cards lose their usecase and value so it sucks to actually hold cards as assets. Players are also forced to play at least 1 hour daily or run a bot in wild instead of being able to play when they feel like it and there are very few matches where you actually are up against a real player that doesn't has some kind of battle helper or an edge/disadvantage based on the owned cards.
So here it's really the case that 95% of the work is done and in reality the game doesn't need any new cards let along another new complete set in 6 months or so. What is needed most is new game modes that utilize existing cards and makes it super fun to play with them without making everything overly complicated.
3. The Splinterlands Community
Even at times when everything has gone to shit and when many players are very displeased with Splinterlands, the community stays pretty awesome. The entire model where content is being rewarded with upvotes on Hive is one of the things that keeps me and many others sticking to the game
There are still plenty of podcasts around and youtube channels like @aftersound which make Splinterlands really feel alive and kicking.
There are also still many active Twitter accounts that spike discussion about the game there.
The community for sure is a big strength of the Splinterlands ecosystem I it hasn't really had a major decline I would say despite the game not really doing well. Once you fall in love with Splinterlands, it's really hard to give up on it no matter how bad it is getting.
What Splinterlands Needs!
I would say the game right now doesn't need any new card sets, land to be developed, nodes to be developed. Instead it needs to feed on the core strengths of what is already built which is a game with an excellent gameplay loop and infrastructure that works flawlessly while it has an awesome community. A new Game Mode that utilizes existing cards and is really fun and accessible for new players when done properly could make a world of difference. Once new players actually start to come in, some of the revenue made from that should be used responsibly to move onto the next step.
Conclusion
I would argue that 95% of the work and development in Splinterlands is actually done with great infrastructure, a solid Gameplay loop and a still very strong community. All of this makes it extra frustrating to see how the mismanagement and the failure to identify and fix some of the fundamental issues have kind of ruined the game and made it 'unplayable'. Also no matter how much the community is shouting, none of it really seems to be picked up even though a lot of it makes so much sense. |  |  |
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