I definitely agree with you that traditional games like Hearthstone do not provide any financial benefits to the player.
However, there are plenty of card games, or turn-based competitive games where you don't have to invest, and can just play for 20-30$.
I also like the Splinterlands economy and would like to profit myself.
I just think that the game is generally too little motivating in all leagues but especially in novice and bronze, which is bad to inspire new players for Splinterlands.
Yup, there is definitely a lot of space for improvement. The main reason Bronze feels so bad is - bots. Unfortunately I don't think we'll ever get rid of them. Games with no profit can't get rid of them, so I don't think games where there is actual real incentive to bot have any chance to find a fair solution to the issue.