Paying for the Gold Seats

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So close.

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This Splinterlands season has been incredibly difficult, which I think is down to a number of reasons, and unfortunately, I wasn't able to squeeze into C1 in the Modern format, which means I freaken' have to start from Gold 1. It has been a while since the last time and I am not looking forward to it.

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I did better in the Wild format though, but only just. I was sweating a bit last night, as I had an ECR in the low-50s and about 100 points left to get, but luckily I got a mini-streak to get me just over the line. I had already been within 2 points of getting there much earlier, but I got pushed back almost 300 points and had to claw back. And I do mean claw. For me at least, getting win streaks has been very difficult.

So, while in the Modern format I only played a total of 116 rounds (and still short), in Wild I churned through 344 all up - about 150 more than I would have liked to play, since I have so much work ongoing at home.

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But it really felt like a difficult season and I have my suspicions as to why, since there seems to be renewed vigor being put into building playing bots. Sure, time is an issue, but I also don't see the point of "playing" when it is a bot making the decisions - even if the bot is better than me. As I said to someone today,

I am not that good in bed, but it doesn't mean I hire someone to satisfy my wife.

Much to her dismay, no doubt.

But because there is money on the table and in most circumstances, us humans are inherently lazy, people don't mind pimping out their property to walk the streets of Splinterlands, turning tricks.

My problem with the bots is that at some point, the code is going to be that good using the playing conditions, plus cross-referencing millions of rounds and probabilities, that they will be near unbeatable, making playing the game redundant. That would also reduce the value of the game too in my opinion. It is just that the bots so far haven't been "good enough" to beat the better players consistently. And, they don't actually have to be unbeatable, they just have to play better than the better players on average.

This opens up for new opportunities for the game though, where it moves more into the realm of the live gaming eSports arena. Wouldn't it be embarrassing to have a bot do all the work to get into a tournament, only to get slaughtered in reality? It is kind of like going into a war, after using an aimbot to "win" in an FPS.

But, this is a big opportunity and as eSports combined with Web3 P2E, starts to take more of the gaming world market share, the "live performance" is going to be increasingly important and, those who are really able to perform under pressure consistently, are going to be the ones who earn large consistently. Sure, they might even be able to be beaten by a bot, but that is beside the point when people want to see people like them perform at the height of human ability.

So, while I really am not a fan of the bots in every day gameplay, ultimately, they are not going to take the majority of the attention and very likely at some point, there will probably be some kind of "proof of human" component added that doesn't interrupt the gameplay and can be trusted. What that looks like though, is anyone's guess at this point, but I think that in time, it will be necessary in many of the business sectors that have earning potential.

Who you are matters?

Due to the anonymity, "who you are" might not seem like it matters in the world of online gaming. Yet, if you look at the majority of those who have been able to monetize their gameplay, they are nearly always known, and generally their streams include them talking to a camera. And, even if they were to be anonymous to their audience, they can't be to the platform they are monetized on, or demonetized on as the case may be.

And, I think that the "consumer" monetization models of web3 are going to be similar, where the lion's share will be taken by the personalities and those who are able to exhibit in demand skills for their audience. And, because of the potential to get rewarded by the audience directly, it isn't going to necessarily all need to be for mass consumption in order to get monetized, it will have a lot more "bespoke" to it - attracting and engaging those who are willing to pay, and some are willing to pay a lot for the things they like. It is like the people willing to sponsor the ballet, compared to the people who buy tickets to see Ed Sheeran - There is a lot of money moving on both sides.

I remember as a student someone said the easiest way to make a million dollars is to sell something for a dollar, that a million people want. Making a million dollars selling one thing is far harder, because the parting with a million for the individual, is a much larger investment than any of the million individuals spending the dollar. However, the people who can attract the masses in sports or build a company people are willing to invest highly into, are rare.

And, it is the same for the bots. The people who can code them are far rarer than the people who can use them and if it is on sale and available to anyone with a dollar, like any ubiquitous skill, it loses value. An in demand scarce skill will always attract more value than a common skill a lot of people have, because if you can have it easily, why pay another to do it for you.

There are only a few people in the world that can perform on the court like Le Bron, kick like Messi or float and Sting like Ali. And, very few people want to pay to consume mediocrity.

When you are paying for a show, you want to see a good performance.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]

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29 comments
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Interesting...Who you are will always matter! I love what your friend said about the fastest way to make a million dollar. I love that line @tarazkp

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When you are paying for a show, you want to see a good performance.

And before you are going to upvote a post on HIVE, you want to see the quality.

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Very interesting post, it's a pity they didn't manage to hammer C1, I hope next time you show them!

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I got to within about 50 points of C1 near the end - then a couple big losses killed me! :D

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I barely have time for Wild, how do you do both? And I am doing them optimal from 95% to 100%, with 90% before going to sleep.

:)

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You mean the ECR percentage? From what I have heard, optimal is down to around 80% - It is a bit like Hive voting - 20% a day :)

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I was on holiday 2 weeks, i had the time. Now that I start work, i'll do 10% at the time, and wait for 100% again.

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I fail hard at ECR so often burn through mine far too fast.

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i did too when i started, up to 40% but I learn to control myself, as doing the matches optimally will get me a lot more chests at the end of the season.

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Definitely a rough Season and what was worst for me were the pretty horrible rewards as I did not get one Epic or Legendary card! Bots is a love/hate subject as I have used them in the past when too busy but have been playing myself now for a couple of months. While I have improved, I feel that the bots are getting better which frustrates me often. In the past, I would take the “if you can’t beat them, join them” mentality but I continue to enjoy playing and learning the evolving meta. I also think that once land comes, cards will have an added utility and the economic game will be even more interesting!

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as I did not get one Epic or Legendary card!

I got three legendaries - but they aren't worth much at the moment :D

In the past, I would take the “if you can’t beat them, join them” mentality but I continue to enjoy playing and learning the evolving meta.

At some point, they are able to replace everything (not just Splinterlands) we do though, so then what? Do we just give up as a species and live like in Wall-E :)

I also think that once land comes, cards will have an added utility and the economic game will be even more interesting!

This will likely affect the bots too, especially for those who are renting their cards to play.

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I think at this point Splinterland needs to introduce a league where only humans can play with a proof of live camera or something similar.

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Proof of camera wouldn't work either :D
It is actually quite a tricky problem I think, because even if there is a capture or fingerprint, it doesn't mean that people aren't using a bot for the selection process. When there is money on the table, people will happily do whatever they can to get to it.

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Money is the motive to change our behaviour if is easy to get it with a bot or other meaning.

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we all work on incentives - money is a large one for most of us.

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Even when you are volunteering, you have an incentive to the cause without money, of course.

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It's been tough in Splinterlands and I also think the bots have improved. I have seen myself lose quite often to bots and my own win rate is about 50% or so.

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I also get the feeling that some of the people who used to play 100% are using bots some of the time too. People get busy, lazy, go on holidays...

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I actually think humans are adaptable and I personally never had any issues with bots. At the end of the day, it's practice and more practice. So far, I am comfortable playing in Silver and am accumulating the chest rewards bit by bit. :)

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I assume it is challenging in silver, as there is likely a lot of variability with so many players of different skills. Is that the case?

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So far it has been okay. I was discussing with another friend on this and I did a check on my win rates.

Last season my win rate is 57% (252/442) and for the season before, my win rate is 59% (308/520). I think it's all about practice. Of course, renting some good cards would help.

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That is a great win rate! Well done.

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Thanks! Always looking to improve hehe!

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When you are paying for a show, you want to see a good performance— certainly paying for the gold seats means one is expecting premium entertainment. Seems we won’t see an end to this human vs bots tussle !

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There is no end to the human v bot fight - until the bots take over and farm us.

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LOL

But it really felt like a difficult season and I have my suspicions as to why, since there seems to be renewed vigor being put into building playing bots. Sure, time is an issue, but I also don't see the point of "playing" when it is a bot making the decisions - even if the bot is better than me. As I said to someone today, I am not that good in bed, but it doesn't mean I hire someone to satisfy my wife.

A funny but good comparative illustration.

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This is an interesting problem, as it relates to AI becoming a part of our life:

My problem with the bots is that at some point, the code is going to be that good using the playing conditions, plus cross-referencing millions of rounds and probabilities, that they will be near unbeatable, making playing the game redundant. That would also reduce the value of the game too in my opinion. It is just that the bots so far haven't been "good enough" to beat the better players consistently. And, they don't actually have to be unbeatable, they just have to play better than the better players on average.

No one thinks about AI until it starts to effect them. This is the tip of the AI iceberg.

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