RE: Better Late Than Never: The Much-Anticipated Results of the Modern Bot Ban Guessing Game!

@sharkmonsters - To ensure Splinterlands stands strong, rather than facing huge market fluctuations, it's indeed preferable. If players join for the joy and thrill of the game, rather than just financial returns, it's a win for everyone.

If you've invested a significant amount, it's reassuring to understand that having more people play for fun can positively impact your investment. For context, here's an article comparing the costs of a similar pastime, Magic the Gathering: https://cardboardkeeper.com/is-magic-the-gathering-an-expensive-hobby/

I can't speak for anyone other than myself, but I've happily invested 5-digit sums into Splinterlands to be able to play and collect the cards. Regardless of the play2earn aspect of the game, the cards have strategic and collectible value.

I did the same over my 30-year career playing Magic the Gathering. It is also not a true play2earn game, but there are ways to earn prizes through tournaments as well as the natural card appreciation value as they become more and more rare.

While Splinterlands cards in general are inflationary, the individual cards themselves are deflationary since they are often combined to make more powerful cards to be played at higher levels.

If people bought into Splinterlands solely for the ROI, well then it sucks for them. For me, Splinterlands is so much more than just a way to make money. This supports my original point, that I feel sorry for people who bought into Splinterlands solely for the ROI. While asset prices are down across the board during this brutal bear market and the unfortunate overprinting of Chaos Legion, this too shall pass.

It reminds me of when Magic the Gathering was very early on in its life cycle. It had finally broken through to the masses with its Revised base set and then came Fallen Empires. That expansion nearly killed the game it was so badly done and overprinted. But Wizards of the Coast (who makes magic) learned its lesson and over the years the product became so much better and grew into the behemoth TCG that it is today.

While I don't know what the future holds for Splinterlands, I still love the gameplay, I love the tokenomics, I love the ecosystem, and I love the community of decentralized gamers who value what we are building on Hive.

Of course, people can pout about their diminishing collection value, but I would say that the value of my cards has held up better than a bunch of the alt-coins I held in my portfolio after taking profits. I hope this helps you better understand my point.