1. Great Gameplay Loop
One of the most important things when it comes down the Play2Earn games in order for them to be a success in the long run is that the game actually needs to be fun. With Splinterlands, this for sure is the case as the core gameplay look continues to be fun and challenging. Since there are so many possible scenarios, each game is unique in its own way.
There is also a fast pace at which matches can be played and the game is unique in a way where it has some different mechanics compared to other teams. While the target audience for sure is rather niche. Looking how many players there are now and comparing that to how many Hearthstone players there are / were, it still shows a massive room for growth.
The process of collecting cards and opening packs also can get quite addictive even though the cost adds up if you want to complete each new set not even talking about max levels.
Some possible improvements that I would like to see are better game graphics especially with the old background during games which really feels outdated. During splinterfest, battles 2.0 was shown (Link) which really looked like a great improvements. There is also the pay2win aspect and it would be nice to see a game mode in the future where everyone is actually at a level playing field.
2. Great Development Team
This is often one of the most frustrating things and the biggest liability when it comes down to most crypto projects. Even though I can't say I always fully agree with everything, it must be said that the Splinterlands team with both Aggroed & Matt in charge has been top-notch in many aspects.
The game has improved a lot over the years and development kept going all the time at quite a rapid pace despite the land delay.
Communication is also key and it's quite insane how systematic they have approached this with Weekly Town Halls now for many years in a row without any major exceptions. There is also quite a large part of transparency both when it comes down to good and bad things that are happening.
Even though there is always a conflict between the devs wanting to earn and money flowing back to players of the game, it's clear that the overall intentions are good keep a healthy balance. In the end all power in this regard lies with the team and a lot of trust is needed as the entire proposal voting remains somewhat of a fugazi.
3. Great Community
One of the important things, when it comes down to having a good project, is to have a community that is alive and somewhat emotionally attacked. This for sure is the case with Splinterlands and many continue to make content and play the game spreading the word. On top of this, there are also many 3rd party sites and services around the game. All this despite the fact that also many did leave and the number of bots that play is quite high?
4. Good Economy
Even though prices of assets have come down quite a lot compared to their peak. It needs to be said that this peak was completely crazy and never sustainable. It's inevitable that these things go in boom and bust cycles as when new players come in, they tend to do so all at once and when players are leaving it's the same story. I do believe that those who stick with it will get rewarded over time for it. At the same time the will come a time when simply not enough new players come in to hold prices up and key will be to get out or reduce exposure before this.
SPS also has come down quite a bit and a lot of this comes down to the mining mechanics where not much is in circulation early on while returns are crazy. This is always followed by a race to the bottom before things change and it very much feels like we are getting closer to this. Especially with land 1.5 coming up which will lock up a lot of assets.
Despite everything, when combining all the different ways to earns from the game I'm still getting well over 200$ worth for playing each month. The asset I believe most in in SPS since that simply will need to go up in order to get bigger adoption. Old cards kind of have proven not to keep their use-case and value at the moment but some new game modes might totally change this. I don't think it will happen however as it's simply too much in favor of the team earnings to make the newest cards the most valuable ones.
Conclusion
The combination of a good Game, Great Team & Community along with the economy which despite the crash is still somewhat holding up really make me confident in Splinterlands as a game going forward. If the time comes when there is another adoption wave, I likely wlll use the opportunity to take some profit and maybe move on as at some point it feels inevitable that the music will stop if not enough new players come in anymore.Play2Earn Games I'm Playing...
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