Splinterlands | Pay2Win Balance Issues !

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I have played Splinterlands on a daily basis during 2020 which brought me some enjoyment and certainly nice earnings, but also a lot of frustration with the direction things have gone as they completely broke the actual gameplay making it right now feel like nothing more than a scheme. This is what playing Splinterlands feels like right now...

I have been complaining about how Splinterlands turned full pay2win mode (See Post) in the most extreme way since they introduced the Collection Power Score and the League Leaderboards. I was told things were going to balance themselves out and matching would eventually become more even. Now, many months later, nothing has changed and the worst part is that these issues don't even seem to be on the radar of the devs to be fixed as it has all been about the land sale and the rewards.

Basically right now when you play the game, you need to choose between 2 options.

  1. Try to compete for the League Leaderboard Rewards, deliberately staying in a lower league which reduces the daily & season rewards while you get matched with lower-level opponents which gives you a lot of easy wins making it so that completing the daily quest doesn't take any time.
  2. Try to reach a rank as high as possible to maximize the daily quest & season rewards with the side effect that you will get matched against players you have literally zero chance to win against in many of the matches
  • The 1st option gives fewer rewards but also less frustration.
  • The 2nd option gives more rewards and a lot more frustration.
  • Both options don't provide a fun gaming experience 90% of the time!

Before the League Leaderboard was implemented, I had the idea to make a fun contest post making screenshots of decks that face each other making other players guess who ends up winning the match. Right now as a player who is competing for a top 30 spot in the Gold League with mostly Level 5 Summoners, this is what matches look like for me...


These 6 matches were not selected to make a point, they are just played in chronological order getting the wins handed out to me and it continues for many more matches. ( 7 | 8 | 9 |10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |15 | ... )

When you look at the top of the Leaderboards you see these insane win rates which are 95% pay2win and maybe 5% skill.


It is such a shame to see a game that used to be fun turn into nothing more than a money milking scheme for both the devs and the players. There is so much potential to it and despite everything, I still kind of enjoy the collecting part while following the developments that are made seeing where it all goes despite the current direction. For as far as the game itself goes, right now it's only a question if the rewards are worth the time at the moment and I guess they still are with the naive hope these ridiculous pay2win balance issues will be fixed on day by the team (@aggroed, @yabapmatt, @byzantinist, @cryptomancer, ...)

I do plan to make a post with possible solutions somewhere in January.



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7 comments
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I agree with you 100%. It is all well and good accumulating cards when you have more crypto assets to play with but most people are playing for the rewards.

I evaluated my position and decided to sell my collection and invest the money in HP and Leo.

I am buying up cards again for the new meta which is competing for packs especially the OP legendary summoners. It is cheaper and although less fun to play, it is the best way to earn more value at the moment.

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Exactly, Splinterlands has turned into nothing more than a money milking scheme disguised as a game.
The problem in a way is that it is holding up so far, I don't see much chance of it getting mainstream adoption in the gaming world though (which should be the aim) if nothing drastically changes. It will be interesting to see what happens if the net bull run with bring in a lot of new people.

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(Edited)

It's getting a bit dull too.

I think the pay to win aspect is going to be even more obvious in LAND - as in not hidden at all.

I also think people who have bought regions are going to be in for a bit of shock as they find there is literally no demand for the items they craft!

I mean let's face it, who outside of the T100 players is going to chuck even more money at the game, and this time around it'd have to be real money not funny crypto money.

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I see the Land Sale as nothing more than a way for the devs to sell cards now getting their money before the bull run pitching it as 'we allow players to mint the cards and earn all the profit'. I have no clue how it will play out but given the direction the game has gone, I can't say I have any confidence that it will bring fun to the game which seems to be the last thing they care about.

Like you say, if anything the land might increase the pay2win factor even more if that is even possible.

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I have little confidence that it'll be fun either - what I do have confidence in is human greed and fomo - imagine if BTC and ETH keep increasing into 2021 - could drive a lot of speculation into Splinterlands.

I do know I've got my out point planned, I'm quite bored of the game so I'll be happy to wave it farewell when my collection value hits $10K.

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Other than the initial $10 for the Summoner's Spellbook, I have not put any money into the game. My plan is to enjoy it as a game and not an investment. I am interested to see how the land sales play out. Will it create an aristocracy where the land owners can dominate matches, will the land be a waste of money, or will it contribute to a more fully developed artificial world? I guess we will have to see!

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I do guess that the initial discovery of the game and how it all works building somewhat of a collection is a different experience compared to having played it daily for 1+ year coming to the point where getting more cards or upgrading gets extremely expensive making no sense.

Following the developments with the game is quite fun actually, I a way it's somewhat of a soap and I look forward how it will all play out. Could be a drama or a happy end. I also have no clue how the Land sale will play out and I'm not willing to gamble on it.

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