99 Not Out
After the change in Splinterlands' Modern Format that has removed the majority of bots, I was getting a lot more wins and made it up into Champions 1. Normally when I get there I stop playing, because I am scared about slipping back again, but I kept on going, as I had some Energy to burn and I even reached up into position 37 on the ladder - the first time I have ever been in the Top 50 this late in the season.
I got Greedy.
I am not used to having such a high win rate, and even though I was losing a few games that cost me big, and drop me out of C1, I was able to get back into it again. I used to play at around 50% or a bit above win rate, but I have been more like 43. However, after the change, I have almost closed the gap back to the 50% rate and I am confident that next season I will get over the line by EOS.
The Greed was because losing so much, I am not used to getting a lot of daily chests, even though it is affected by Staked SPS and Guild bonus.
But, getting some wins and even some streaks, it means that my wins look something like 100K-140K RP and earning between 9 and 12 SPS in Champions League. This means that I am able to get more daily chests and also, more End of Season Chests too.
Daily, I am lucky to get between 6 and 12 chests, if I play well, but last night after 35 games, I had 21 and after about the same again today (losing a bit), I have 18 more. Normally at the end of the season, I have just under 80 chests, but as you can see, I have almost 100 EOS, with about 20 being added in the last two days. Granted, I have bought quite a few Energy tokens this season, because I wanted to play more. However, if my win rate is better, it will be okay to buy some and burn the DEC occasionally, because the return will be "subsidized" by the battle SPS and the cards in the daily rewards.
After months of feeling pretty crap about playing Splinterlands as I am just not good enough to consistently beat the bots and Battle Helper users, it feels okay currently, even though I got myself knocked out of Champion 1. There has only been a few days of the mostly no bots (I suspect there are still some operating), so next season is going to be very interesting in Modern, because there won't be the bot head start that leaps up the rankings.
It is also going to be interesting to see how many of the players who were using bots return to play themselves and whether they are rusty or not. When those with full decks and unfamiliar new cards start playing manually, do they win as much? Perhaps they will just turn to the Battle Helpers instead, but it is still a step in the right direction.
While I don't have a lot of data yet, the difference in my daily reward value has jumped significantly, moving from between 3-6 dollars a day (not including potions) to 12 yesterday. And, my Battle SPS has gone from about 80-100 a day, to about 250 a day, because my win rate is significantly higher, with more streaks, albeit short ones.
I am definitely not the greatest player, but over the last months I have felt pretty bad, considering I don't think I am that terrible as a player either. It was getting depressing, playing so much, but losing so often, knowing that there are people out there getting huge benefits and doing far less work for them. I was told by @azircon to be patient, which is something I am used to after being on Hive for so long, but it isn't always easy.
Yes, it is early days, but I really hope that this drive continues and Splinterlands has decent spaces for humans to play and like me, get excited about the game again, rather than just checking in from time to time on how the farming bots are going.
My goal is that one day I will finish in the top 50 players at EOS and score a DEC prize. The DEC might not be worth much perhaps, but I would like to get there once at least.
Maybe this is my window of opportunity.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
You are an above average player. I am not telling this because you are my friend. I am telling this based on consulting Luis on your brawl performance where you manage a very diffifult fray and fight against BH and bots.
Your comment, coming from a manual player, who is relatively new, but still play for 1.5 years plus, if I remember correct, is a significant one. You played manual the whole time and luckily we have been able to impliment this change just when your were beginning to feel frustrated. It is a win for you. It is a win for the community.
Automated players have an addiction to winning. BHs and Bots made it easy for them. It is hard to get rid of addiction, but the first step is to accept that you are an addict. That is what I am telling to people.
OH! PS
This is important to note and it is one of the things that hit people who were buying votes back in the day hard. Even though they knew that they were buying their way, they still felt the feeling they deserved the votes. When that was no longer possible, many felt the pain - like withdrawals.
And this is what some are going to have to come to terms with.
Two days left! :D
the similarity to bid bot and vote buying to this BH and Bot situation is uncanny. It is not surprise that some of the same people who vote buying scheme we fought against and won are some exact same individuals this time.
It isn't a surprise at all. And similarly, the only way to really change behavior, is at the code level.
Thanks for sharing! - @azircon
Thank you :)
Love hearing your thoughts and positive experience @tarazkp! I looking forward to seeing how you do next season as well! :)
It is going to be an interesting test for many of us I think and hopefully, at least in time, people will return to playing manually and enjoying it again. Thanks for putting in the effort for all this time Dave!
Agree completely and thank you too Taraz for being here and supportive for so long!!! :)
Awesome to see you not only enjoying the game, but doing well AND earning!
I am a gamer if nothing else in life but I have not gotten into any of the Hive games really. I mean I really want to, love Hive and do have the time. Seems whenever I start one, I am either confused like I have never played a game before (Dcrops? Couldn't even get started!) or the game feels so ghetto and dated the ONLY reason I would even look at it is because it is part of the Hive ecosystem. This is partly bad excuse because I haven't really looked to close at others and have plenty on my plate too.
Still, I live vicariously through your exploits and will one day jump into one of these games....probably a little too much. ;)
Splinterlands is like this a bit as a game, though more polished than earlier. However, what makes it more interesting is the ecosystem of it, as "part of the game" is the economy, not just the game itself. And of course, the ability to influence and interact with the direction it takes, like has happened with the bots at the moment.
It took me ages to get involved and if I had more time, I would be more involved. :D
I still plan on running things the same way I have been over the past several months. It's worked out well for me although I wish the rental market would recover. I missing earning what I used to earn on renting out my cards. I still am focused mainly on brawls. That's where I find my enjoyment in the game these days. At least until land comes out.
At least there is a chance, though it will take time. The bots soak up cards, but without SPS, they aren't necessarily earning so much battle reward. It makes it hard to justify renting. But, for the players, there is more on offer, so they might return, needing cards from the market. I have heard that bronze league is doing well.
Interesting. I will need to keep an eye on my returns and see if they start to trend up. Hard to tell right now because we are near the end of season.
Yep. It is going to take a few seasons to see what actually happens with it.
When people say things about Splinterlands, I always feel lost because I'm not playing the game and I've been procrastinating even though I know I can earn from the game...
Goodluck to you
You are a good player if you are doing your best, you will never been suspected that either you have played good or bad. Best thing is participating or playing.
My experience this season has also been positive. I have 45 EOS. In the last seasons I only had something like 20+.
That is great to hear!!
Wow, you tend to have a great season. I tend to get happy with like 50 gold chests or maybe 75 silver chests if I don't advance. So I am nowhere close to anything like 100 chests. Good luck with ending in the top 50 but I still need to work on my deck more to get a better win rate.
The chests are a "bit of a lie" this season, because I ended up buying a lot of play tokens in the last days. Still, perhaps if I get something good in one or two of them, it will be worth it :)
Building the deck takes time. I wish I had taken more time to build mine, as I feel I have a lot of useless stuff too.
Well, I don't play this game, but after reading this post, I am going to give it a try.
I got an idea that you have improved yourself in this game, am I right?
Best of luck for the future ✨️
I don’t know what this game is about, but reading this I was able to know that having patience is a virtue. And I just needed that motivation to go through my day. I hope you play better and not get much losses
I'm right there with you buddy. After the bot ban went into effect, I put a stop on my champ wild account to immediately stop once it got me to Wild Champ 1. Then I spent the rest of the season playing modern champ and it was so much fun again. I won my first 7 battles in modern champ 3 and made it straight to modern champ 2.
I only had 3 days left in the season, so I was not able to make it to modern champ 1 before the rating reset, but I am happily continuing to play in modern champ league while my wild champ format is simply ratings frozen in champ 3.
I look forward to meeting you human to human on the battlefield!