I get what you are saying but is it really a Ponzi scheme?
I never saw the game own or developers claiming that you could make money from this game, or if they did I was not aware of it.
The people put out there that there was money to be made were the players themselves that were making money from the game.
Games themselves cost money to make add into that continued costs like server costs to keep them running the game is always going to need people making purchases to keep them running. Either that or the owner has to continually spend money so that we can play the game and no one is going to do that forever.
I personally don't think this particular game was a Ponzi scheme but rather became unsustainable.
The real issue is people play these games with the idea that it will make them rich or at least make them money. whilst yes you can make money playing that is not the main goal of the developer, their main goal is to make a game that people enjoy playing. this i believe is the reason most blockchain games die as we as users/players have a different goal to the developers. If you look at traditional games you buy a game for $100 or more from the shop it is a finished version (no updates ever) but you pay for it as you want to play to have fun. the game developer made it with this in mind. both are happy if the game is popular as the developer makes money and the customer has a game that they can talk about with their friends and enjoy playing.
Will web 3 games ever be thought of as anything other then a way to make money? I hope so.
The game has always been promoted as a play&earn. This makes it a Ponzi scheme. Because obviously only a small part of the players can earn and practically only among the first players. Those who start playing today will never be able to earn from the game, even if it still promotes itself as play&earn.
You're right: a game must have players willing to pay to have fun. Is Splinterlands like that? I don't think so: the majority of players of a certain level don't even really play but use BOTs. Where's the fun?
Yes I agree some do not play to have fun. They are merely looking to make money and will resort to bots to get that. It is sad as it take possible profits from those that play without them.
You can still play to earn though. you just don't get much for what you sell, but i do get what you mean there is always a few players that manage to make money early in the game and the rest get very little back and would lose money on it if they saw it as an investment.