Preparing for Land 1.75 in Splinterlands

Splinterlands has had a number of major updates this quarter, and they haven't stopped yet. From May it is likely they will have a major marketing push too, which will bring many eyeballs (back) to the game.

The latest major update will come next week, a new iteration for their land expansion "The Secret of Praetoria".

We've had enough time since the official announcement to the time Land 1.75 is released this Tuesday to get informed and make whatever decisions and changes we deem appropriate for our plots. If we account for the public testing server, no one should complain they didn't have time to prepare...

Moreover, the announcement itself warns Splinterlands landlords:

• No stockpile of new resources will exist at launch! If your land is producing Research or SPS, you’ll need Wood, Stone, & Iron for your first harvest.
• Pro Tip: Claim your SPS and Grain BEFORE the update to avoid delays and maximize your production from Day 1!

What Are the Expected Breaking Changes?

Note that I say "breaking" changes, meaning the ones that could break your previous setup on land. This is not a full list of changes for 1.75.

• Natural resource farming will become terrain dependent from Land 1.75. All existing Grain Farms at the switch to 1.75 will automatically transform to the appropriate buildings based on terrain type at the first harvest after the release of 1.75.
• If you have worksites harvesting SPS or Research, they will require Wood, Stone, and Iron, on top of Grain, to harvest starting from Land 1.75.
• Totem fragments can only be found by harvesting from Research Huts, Castles, and Keeps from 1.75.

What Else Should We Consider?

Most players won't have enough Grain going forward to feed all their workers due to the specialization of farms based on terrain type, and unless they stockpiled for this event, this could be a problem. Sure, Grain can be found on the market, but its price will likely go up.

To harvest 1 hour of SPS or Research you will need 1 hour of Grain, Wood, Stone, and Iron (at the same PP), but if you want to calculate it to be self-sustainable, for the same hour of SPS or Research you need 4 hours of Grain, and 1 of each other resources. The additional Grain-hours are needed to harvest the respective resources on your own plots.

As the warning from the announcement mentions, there will be no stockpile of the new resources, so everyone starts from zero. Also, remember that swaps on the internal market are subject to a 10% fee, and inter-region transfers to a 12.5% fee (if that hasn't been changed). The only no-fee transfer option, as far as I know, is between players of the same region. I imagine we will/should see more cooperation between players of the same regions.

The Obvious Plan to Follow

We have already been put on guard of this in the official announcement, if you have read it, so this is not something only a few know. But if you don't read the details, and don't don't take action at the right time, that's on you.

The idea is to harvest all resources close to the maintenance starting time on Tuesday, so that you can harvest as much SPS and Research only at the cost of Grain, instead of additionally paying Wood, Stone, and Iron, too (which you don't have!).

The second step is to harvest Grain immediately after Land 1.75 is released, so that Grain farms switch to the appropriate type based on terrain as soon as possible, so that you can build up the new resources from the beginning.

What Were My Decisions?

Well, I had quite a big focus on Research, leaning more toward Grain lately. I have only had 3 plots with SPS mining, the ones that had an 'occupied' land type.

It was obvious I could maybe harvest a fraction of them after Land 1.75 was released, due to lack of resources. I only have a common plot where I'll mine Iron, two common plots where I'll mine Wood, and a lot of them for Stone. I may or may not be sustainable for Grain, depending what I do after 1.75 is released. But I have a good stockpile of Grain anyway, so I'm not worried at all.

My decision was to change ALL my plots to Grain farming right now, so that they'll be Grain farms and working when 1.75 happens. This means I lose some SPS and Research, but I start 1.75 fresh and don't force a re-balance then, based on the availability of resources, rather I turn back on SPS & Research plots after I see how the situation stands.

It may not be the most optimal solution, but it is very safe and without headaches after 1.75 is launched. Plus, I may have some stone for sale while the demand is high.

Depending on how much stone I'll stockpile, it may be a good idea to provide some liquidity to the Stone-DEC pool. I probably won't return to the Grain pool, since I will probably have a net negative Grain production, in time.

I know there are people in my region (Kithden) who will have resources I will likely need as they might need resources I have. For example, @bitcoinflood will likely have plenty of wood, and I will have stone... Transfers intra-region could be a way to avoid the 10% swap fee on the internal market...

I wonder if there is a discord channel/server for our region or if we should create one... Cooperation will be more and more important going forward.

Posted Using INLEO