Reaching for the Gold

over 2 years ago

This last Splinterlands season was a bit of a grind for me, but I am glad to be back in the game on a more regular basis. I started playing Splinterlands as somewhat of an "early adopter", kicking off my adventure in May 2018. I played fairly consistently for a few months, doing everything that I could to learn how the cards worked, what combinations were the best to play with, and trying to earn the most rewards as possible at the highest tier I could reach.

The part that made me most excited about starting early was the fairly level playing field of the game. I bought maybe 2 packs with some Steem earned from creator and curation rewards .. long before SteemMonsters blended into the multi-platform re-branded Splinterlands.

SteemMonsters, circa December 2018

The game eventually evolved into having Guilds and Tournaments, which was a lot of fun -- as long as you could afford the crazy DEC fees that the "Good" Guilds were charging just to be part of their exclusive club.. eventually, more and more bots started popping up in the game and I couldn't help but feel like the 'Pay to Play' model was rearing its ugly head. This time period also coincided with a steep drop in my free time IRL .. so once the Card Power Limits were implemented, truly putting a ceiling on how many rewards a player could earn (and I was no longer able to earn my way into the Diamond League - unless I bought countless cards using external funds), I took a bit of a hiatus and stepped away from Splinterlands.

R.I.P. play-to-earn ... Pay-to-Play, Born: September 2020

Before this change, anyone with the right cards, luck, and skills could reach the Champion League .. I understand that this change was not made lightly - and it was done to prevent bots from reaching higher League positions, but I don't have to like it or agree with the decision - and I didn't - so I left for a while.

However, I've seen a few more folks that I follow posting about their matches and the new cards - and I read about Chaos Legion .. and I decided to take a few baby steps back into the game.

Over the last month or so, I've slowly clawed my way back up the ladder. It was a lot more difficult than I expected to get out of the Bronze League - potentially because of those previously-mentioned bots who are now stuck there? Eventually, I did make it up to the Silver League!

...and last season, I progressed back to the Gold League!:

My loot this season was OK. No Legendary or Epic cards on this pull.. just a handful of commons, 3 rare cards, 48 DEC and 5 potions. At this point, I have so many potions that I'll never use - I wish that you could "burn" them into DEC, SPS or even Credits.

Overall, I'm glad that I'm back on Spliterlands. I like the new cards, and I like some of the new game-play. I've noticed a number of new summoners who are seriously OP, .. hopefully one of these days I'll get lucky enough to pull one of those for myself too! :)

Do you play Splinterlands?
How long have you played?
What's your experience so far?