Introduction to the SPSDAO Packs Issue
This is my first TPG challenge and I'm excited to discuss this topic since I have a great idea for these packs. The biggest issue facing the packs in the SPSDAO account is that the whales who went heavy on buying packs from the shop do not want to see their investment depreciated.
Unfortunately, they would likely vote against most initiatives to give these packs away as promotions for less than they are worth. Therefore, whatever plan we have for these packs needs to include some provision to remunerate the SPSDAO for the use of these promo packs.
On-Demand Events
I've been calling for these events for some time. Having on-demand, single-elim events for 8 people would be good for the game as alternatives to ranked play and asynchronous tournament events. As a competitive player, I want to play in events with synchronous battles, so we can leverage tactics to their full potential.
The push back against on-demand events has been that we have the ability to schedule real-time synchronous events through the tournament page. However, those events have had limited success due to the fixed time they are scheduled and a prize structure that is unable to scale based on the number of players in the event.
On-demand events don't have this issue because the number of entrants is fixed and the tournament fires as soon as the 8-player queue is full. These 8-player queues can have events in different formats (Wild/Modern/New Set Only) and leagues (bronze/silver/gold/max), allowing people to queue up in a format that best suits their collection and skill. I would propose to make each round a race to three wins (as opposed to best out of 5 because of potential draws).
Tournament Prizing
As you may have guessed by now, my solution to the extra packs in the SPSDAO is to use them as prizes for the 8-player single-elim queues. The way to get the whales on board is to make the entry fee for the on-demand event equal to the number of packs put into the prize pool for each player.
For example, Rebellion packs were selling from the store for 4000 DEC/Credits, so for an 8-player on-demand event, each player could pay a 4000 DEC entry fee and 1 pack would go into the prize pool per player. Higher stakes events could be played for more DEC, so if people paid 20000 DEC entry, then there would be 5 packs in the prize pool for each player.
How the prizes are given out for finishes should be based on the competitiveness of the specific event. More competitive on-demand events might only pay out to the Top2 in a 3:1 ratio, while less competitive events might pay out in a 4/2/1/1 ratio for Top4. The factor of the prize pool (how many packs per player) might depend on format or league, but these smaller details can be sorted out by the SPSDAO manager or by stake-weighted SPS polling done by the SPSDAO.
This solution should only use packs that are already out of print, meaning they cannot be purchased through the shop store anymore. It would make these on-demand events special as a way to win pack prizes for cards that are technically out of print. The proposal for such events might need to put a % cap on the amount of these SPSDAO treasury packs that we can use for these purposes.
I won't even pretend like I know what this number is. It will come down to the community vote on the proposal for this concept, and likely it should make sense based on the estimated demand for these on-demand events.
This is a solution the whales would likely get behind. I've even floated it around to some of the whales I speak with to get their impression of it. As long as players are paying the store sticker price back to the SPSDAO for each pack used as a prize, then I believe the whales would support this concept/proposal, even if that meant diluting the card pool. In essence, the players in the tournaments are buying these packs from the SPSDAO at MSRP during a period when the packs are out of print. It seems like a win for everyone because the entire ecosystem benefits when the SPSDAO locks up more DEC, even if the card pool becomes more diluted!
I will also acknowledge the somewhat obvious player response that the packs can be bought below store price on the secondary market. Why would they pay full price for a pack they can get at a discount?
Well, they're not wrong. The premium is for the opportunity to win more than you paid for, of course! These events are for the competitive players in the community, people who want to have more varied ways to play and earn from the game outside of ranked and asynchronous tournament events.
Who knows, these on-demand events might offer Splinterlands streamers an opportunity to provide more engaging tournament content since the synchronous battles will be played out live. Also, when there is more opportunity to earn prizes with cards, it should make the demand and price of the cards increase.
Conclusion
Well there you have it. Simply sell the packs back to players at MSRP by using them as tournament prizes. Anytime, 8-player, on-demand, single-elim events would be great for the competitive environment of the game.
This proposal should be able to earn the vote of the whales, since the SPSDAO is getting paid in DEC for the packs and the dilution of the card base could be offset by the increased demand of cards to be used in tournaments.
Now I want to hear what you, the Splinterlands community, think about this idea. How would you structure the prize payout of the events? What percent of the SPSDAO packs should we use as tournament support? Which tournament formats and leagues should we have events for? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time, may all your chests be gold!
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I should've known your angle was going to be tourneys and on-demand events & I love it! Long overdue, in my opinion, and is one on a very short-list of items I would prioritize as high-impact for 2025. Great call dude
Also, welcome to the TPG Challenge hombre! Great to see ya toss your name in the ring
This challenge was right in my wheelhouse and I think this is one of the only ways we will be able to get the support of the community whales to release these packs. There is no way they will just approve giving them out and depreciating the value of the current cards/packs without the SPSDAO getting some benefit from them.
Thanks for sharing! - @azircon
Thanks for the curation. This issue is very important to me. I think it would make an excellent use of the packs.