I know I'm going to get a lot of shit for being brutally honest here but I couldn't care less. I'm sick and tired of the cult-like following not speaking up on pressing issues because of fears of repercussions so I'm going to do it myself.
Without furder due let's get into the meat and potatoes of why Splinterlands is a failed project for unfortunate people that still play it and why it's a massive WIN for both aggi and jaba.
With a heavy heart, after hodling a decent Splinterlands collection ever since their first presale more than 3 years ago I'm making the decision to liquidate every single card I have.
Why?
Oh, I'm so glad that you are asking anon because I've been holding this in for a long time.
Time to vent.
While there were some things in the game that annoyed me for a long time, none of them were enough to make me rage quit but what I've found out yesterday has been enough to tip me over the edge.
This is just unacceptable imho and at this point, I've had it with this shit!
Here's the list of things that made me decide to quit and lastly the main reason I'm quitting:
- The game mechanics still hasn't improved since the release
Although it was said in the beginning that they will develop the game so that players can decide who to attack/heal, the gameplay is left unchanged after more than 3 years which is a decade in crypto. It's still the boring kind of game which you just skip through the match as there is literally nothing for you to do after placing your fighters in the right order.
- Imho Splinterlands sadly turned out to be just a money-grab, enriching aggi and jaba for years while providing very little in return
I stopped counting after first few new pack releases but they banked at least 5 mil dollars just from selling packs yet they haven't done shit to improve the game other than some minor visual improvements, implementing tournaments, a shitty mobile app and a few new money-grabs like land, guild and governance token sales.
They were even greedy enough to create few fundraising campaigns through kickstarter and another platform which I forgot the name of. Anyway, they got a couple hundred thousand dollars from each of the campaigns and in return they did absolutely nothing to improve the game.
It's still the same as it was when they first released it minus some small visual improvements, addition of guilds and additional features which also further enrich you know who.
This is beyond unacceptable.
- Random Hive Keychan bugs
Result in having to re-arrange my team every other game. It's annoying as all hell and makes the whole experience of "playing" the game even more unbearable.
- The game is riddled with bots
There are probably more bots playing this game than real people. Wonder who controls the bots? Also wonder who has a massive collection of both cards and in-game currency from doing so?
This should be an easy one fellas.
If you can't answer these two simple and obvious questions correctly then you are ngmi in crypto.
- Play to Earn with Splinterlands is weak af
The rewards just aren't good enough to be worth spending time playing unless you re earning 10 dollars a month from your day job. I've been playing some other P2E blockchain games lately and I must say that they are:
A) a lot more fun to play and
B) pay A LOT MORE
C) look a lot better
D) have much more active development
Combined, all of this wasn't enough to get me to sell out of something I've been holding onto for such a long time, believing that one day they will deliver on the promise of making the gameplay better but what I'm about to tell you now tipped me over the edge.
The most recent money-grab aggi tried to spin for splinterlands is a governance token.
This wouldn't be an issue on it's own as I'm already used to his scumbaggery by now but what really pissed me off about this is the fact that it isn't even a Hive-based token.
Instead, they decided to launch the governance token on Binance Shit Chain probably thinking there is more money in that market than on Hive.
Smart move if you want to milk more money.
Shitty move if you want to keep your loyal following.
Thankfully for him, judging by reading the comments on the announcement post, people didn't even notice or think much of the fact that it's on BSC rather than on Hive but it really pisses me off how he's trying to milk this shit for all he can.
For this reason, I'm out!
I'm selling my entire collection.
If there is anyone interested in buying it, be sure to DM me.
I'm selling in bulk and in bulk only so you can either take the entire collection or none of it.
Because I'm only selling in bulk I'm giving a massive 500 bucks discount to the buyer!
I plan to take the proceeds and invest the full amount into other blockchain games like Axie Infinity and Lost Relics. Although I'm not a financial advisor, I'd suggest others consider doing the same as it seems that Splinterlands is not going to lift off the ground.
Why?
Because Aggi wants all of the monies for himself while investing as little as possible into developing the game into what it was supposed to be from the get-go.
Please point to the chart and show me where the splinterlands hurt you.
Also, we're hiring devs left and right, adding bridges, adding content, adding rental and leasing, onboarding community members. We're about to hit 100k users we've brought to Hive. I think you have very limited thinking on all the benefits that come with our approach.
Aggy I respect you as a Dev and a witness and I agree the topic is nuanced but don't you see that you're kind of proving his point by trying to flex that chart? Did you not even read his points? He said you are money focused at the expense of UX and you didn't even refute any of his points.
Even your point about onboarding 100k users is severely diluted when you consider botting and multiple duplicate accounts not to mention how many accounts just spam their seasonal rewards/quests while linking their referral code multiple times in the post. How does that add value not bloat to Hive?
You have the opportunity to resolve some tension and embrace some free QA but you're kind of just using that opportunity to punch down at someone who supported you from your first presale.
In sales, what makes it or breaks it for the most competitive markets is keeping the 5 star reviews.
I can see SPS is on the way out.
I've been watching Splinterlands from the beginning before there was a game to play. I've been working in the card game industry for years. Long time MTG analyst and I've worked in LGS and 3rd party tourneys in a lot of different roles. Judge, TO, secondary market sales. I started an account but could never bring myself to pay for the spellbook. I almost moved all my steem into the game once when I wanted to join the land expansion but I didn't like how the first round went. I guess I'll probably never join now.
That being said I think you're missing some key factors around SPS. I'm not surprised because there's lots of bad analysis on it and few people have really gone through it with a fine tooth comb. One aspect to consider about it and the impact of the VC and strategic partnerships they are trading the sps to as 'private offerings'. It will be interesting to see what impact these partnerships will have over time but there are already some observable instances.
One of these partnerships is with a PR group called Market Across based in Israel.
From this not only can we have a deeper understanding of how they define 'partners' but the long term expectations of the PR firm's efficacy on social media. I'm sure that 0.5 likes per month will really do lots for the community long term and was fake money well spent.
So you're basically saying, the same PR firm that Justin "Hernan Cortez" Sun sponsored is now funding SPS?
They aren't funding it. They are just doing sponsored content for them and passing it off as third party validation
The same third parties that were okay with the 20 false witnesses on Hive?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_journalism this cycle of yesmanism 'content' has been around for some time. It's not strictly unethical but it's like an infomercial. The main problem with is when there is a lack of transparency and they are major offenders. I've already noticed sponsored content on YouTube and YouTube requires their channel to be transparent about ads. Lots of channels I like do sponsored content like this and it's good as long as the consumers know the information is biased.
For reference this is what disclosing sponsored content looks like
@rawbe @darkflame
Thank you. This made my day
Lol did you see the other comments?
Not the bottom of the threads but all the root comments. I don't think everything criticized is entirely accurate but that's the beauty of rants and rage quitting. Its supposed to be messy like that
Lol some of them shit talk about Cyberpunk and the irony is great here
Cyberpunk and splinterlands are on the opposite sides of the spectrum so I'm not surprised they don't like it. Cyberpunk is like the next skyrim or no man's sky. A big vision that requires delayed gratification. Skyrim was buggy as hell when it came out and it took time to carve out its vision. Like the author pointed our Splinterlands is unapologetically a minimum viable product. They never took the time to fulfill their promises to increase complexity. Games like those have a market though. Idle games autobattlers and such actually pull in lots of money but it's usually considered scummy like mobile games. Just look at all the Earth 2 controversy. There's a lot of parallels. https://open.lbry.com/@BigfryTV:e/earth-2-influencer-wants-to-go-to-war:3?r=Avnb9CE8xHHQ9TPsNSA4tk2XXKhze8fq
The splinterlands sycophants will attack people just for saying splinterlands is pay to win which isn't even that much of an allegation.
Lol you couldn't pay me to play splinterlands. It seems so boring I don't really have words or the will to discuss it.
Also if you want to destroy the psycho fans just go start downvoting new users they've recruited to the game, you'll train wreck it if you start downloading new users on hive oh, it makes people leave really quickly if they get downvotes within their first 100 posts
I actually resonate with your sentiment there! I've played the game less than a year and realized it's not a good use of my time and stopped playing a few months back. I can only imagine how frustrating it is for people playing the game for years.
I never spoke out about it....well I tried to quite a while back, but as you say...."loyal followers!" If you don't hold a decent chunk, the team isn't gonna give shit about your opinions.
Having said all that, I do know a few people personally who do make quite a decent amount from the game. Very, very few! For the majority of the players the rewards are as shit as it can get with not much attempts from the team to do anything about it.
To sum up how much annoyed I got with splinterlands, after I stopped playing SL, I started playing pokemon go which pays zero...in fact costs a little bit money (guess where I put the money from...? yeah, selling SL cards LOL)....and yet I feel it is STILL a zillion times more worth my time than SL. Go figure! When players leave a game that pays "something" to go and play another that "costs" something......something is very very wrong with the game.
Few people making 90% while the rest makes 10% no surprise there, right? :D
How much do you have to invest first to be able to be in the top?
I used to play pokemon go when it first came out. Shit was so addictive I literally had to stop playing it.
Tell me about it hahaha....and I've been a pokemon addict since I was a kid!
Hmm, I don't know really....i'm not really targeting for any leader boards or anything...Just playing for fun....winning battles in the leagues....that's all really! I guess I put in a total of $40-45.....and doesn't seem like I have to put in more anytime soon.
I like Splinterlands, I won't deny it. However, there are always things that end up driving me away from the game again, whether it's lack of time, the amount of misses that turn the battles into a game of luck rather than strategy, among other things. These annoy me for a certain amount of time and then as in any toxic relationship I end up going back to play it. Lol... And btw I think I also bought my starter pack 3 years ago.
Yesterday when I decided to walk away again I seemed to see something that disappointed me too much. When I went to sell my cards I discovered that they can be paid for with credits and these credits in turn can only be used as in-game currency, unlike the DECs that you can sell in Hive Engine. This bothered me a bit since if that's my money I'm supposed to be able to do what I want with it. I hope to be wrong or that no one buys a card from me with credits. Lol
You are wrong. Every time credits are used to buy cards from players, they are used in the background to buy back DEC from the market and the owner of the sold card gets DEC. The only way you can get credits is by making a $$$ purchase from within the game. It is impossible to move credits from one account to another and would also go against US regulations, as far as I understand it.
Thank you so much for explaining this to me. I was honestly disappointed about it.
I regret buying the spell book and a small number of packs so much. I liked the concept at first but it got boring real fast. I was expecting that spending around $40 would be enough to get going but apparently I had to pour more money in it to advance. Unless I wanted to do boring battles for 4 months hoping to get a win by timeout and eventually buying a game changing card. Quit it pretty quickly.
I have some of the same complaints. It will make money for some years, I think. Bots and mutli-account are my biggest peeve.
I was told the SL team THEMSELVES run low level bots for 'match liquidity', but these bots don't 'win prizes'
I guess it's okay in their mind, to waste people's time! They have no respect for REAL players, but just BOTS! NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY BOTS. PERIOD.
As author points out, only your pandering groupies go along with the 'it's fine' narrative. The baby-mods in training looking for their brownie points so that they can oh so coy and subtley insult anyone that speaks against the way things are.
I hate how the chat is run. 'Purples' publically petitioning for other members to get banned. This adds fuel to the fire. A REAL mod would shut those snowflakes up and tell them, that they have no right to petition for a ban! Weaklings.
They need bots because of the high range of cards, from level 1 to level 10. The value between this is extreme. The players are too thin because of this. They match against people with an ELO SO LOW that the opponet stastiically has a 0% chance to win. This is not fun.
So yea I sold 2/3 of what I had and only hold the rest to delegate to the guild I made. I'll probably trade the things while some people still enjoy the game.
Haha - Yup!
I just responded to your comment on my post and now see that you posted this. So funny! I said the same thing in a recent video where I was covering the new Splinterlands SPS token.
Totally shocked, can't believe Splinterlands didn't make their governance token on Hive.
Well tbh, I found this out in your video so sorry for not giving credit where credit is due 😅
Been watching you ever since I started playing Axies a few weeks back after a familiar name popped up on YT. Gotta say my man you have perfected your narration skills, love the character!
It's only a matter of time before you blow up and I couldn't be happier about you finally getting the deserved recognition/monetary compensation.
🙏
Lol, nice post, especially as of right now. Hope you enjoy that delicious taste of shit on your face. You dumb fucking cunt!
lmfao the only dumb cunt in this conversation is the one I'm replying to rn. I couldn't care less about the profits I could have had by keeping the collection, unlike your disgusting, retarded ass
gtfo of my feed retard and come back when the game will be playable
Lol, that's funny, real funny. Says the pussy ass loser with shit smeared on his face. It's so easy to crap all over someone else's hard work UNTIL it becomes successful. What have you ever done of use in your pathetic life, apart from fuck your own mum to give yourself an inbred baby brother. I know all about you, cunt. How unpopular you are here because of running your spunk filled mouth up in here. Well, I'm glad you sold your collection. Fucking BS failure. Burn in the absolute hottest depths of hell, retard of retards.
Go suck a dick or something, I'm sure that's an area of expertise you excel at, dipshit
Lucky you :D I wasted way too much time on it but at least I didn't lose money as my collection is still worth more than I paid for it so that's a plus.
They always overpromised and underdelivered. Think his motto was to deliver only the MVP, never improve the core game and only add as many ways to separate players from their crypto as possible. All while leading them on to believe that the game will over time evolve into something worth playing.
ooof I used to love them as a kid too. Never had the money to buy packs and my parents never bought me any but I never stole a single card.
We used to play this game with any cards we could get our hands on.
Not sure how it's called in English though.
Have you ever played it?
This was btw the way how I used to borrow a few cards to be able to play at the beginning of the day and come home with a couple hundred brand new cards.
Man I had around 100 cards in mint condition (all holo) gifted to me by my cousin which for years I thought fell behind the closet as they were hidden on top of it but when we were moving out of the apartment and finally moved the closet they weren't there.
I guess one of my "friends" stole them when we were chillin' at my place....
Lucky move on buying the collection before the craze began!
Did you get anything exciting?
Also, what's the condition of the cards?
If you looked at it objectively from the start, the irony being that people who played splinterlands spoke down about Cyberpunk 2077 lol then they play this shit game lol