I had the pleasure of watching @yabapmatt address issues on Discord yesterday. If you missed it, its well worth going back and reading the conversations. It helped me put proper perspective on several topics, and made me evaluate why I spend so much time and money over the past 2 years on this game.
Growing Pains
There is no doubt Splinterlands has had its share of issues over the years. I've been there from the beginning and witnessed them all firsthand. I, like many, have been frustrated many times and have voiced my frustration visibly.
I think there are 2 different types of issues that we see, and sometimes those don't get separated in our minds (including my mind). The first type is natural and unavoidable, and always going to happen whenever you doing something that has never been done before. I'll call this Try-Fail-Fix. Because everything's new, every idea doesn't always translate to the way it was intended and as a result, it needs to be fixed. This is natural and needed. You can never succeed if you don't try, and all you can do is to fix what fails and continue to move forward.
The second type of issue we see is a perceived lack of listening to the players concerns. I'll call this Communication. This might sound strange to say that we have an issue with Communication when the developers and the team are on Discord 7 days a week, but I can understand where there is a disconnect. While the SPL team hears every one of our issues, they don't necessarily acknowledge them. Successful communication requires doing what Yabapmatt did yesterday, explaining 1) they understand a particular issue as legitimate (or not, as both are important) 2) addressing what solutions are being worked on and 3) accepting responsibility for Try-Fail-Fix Issues and explaining what they've learned.
Grading The Growing Pains
I give the Splinterlands team an A+ for the efforts they've made in the Try-Fail-Fix issues they've encountered. I've been here before the cards even had stats and there was no game to play. I've witnessed the tremendous growth in not only the infrastructure, but in the mistakes made along the way as well. Making mistakes is inevitable when you grow at such a fast pace with no template to follow, but the team has done a fantastic job of learning from each of them, made changes and adjustments, and made this dynamic game system we see today. Very well done!
I give the Splinterlands team a C for the efforts they've made in the Communication issues they've encountered. The C score is because they are "average" in communication and make many common mistakes made by most companies in the world today. The good news is the Communication issues can be fixed much easier than the Try-Fail-Fix issues they encounter. They need to not only "hear" the complaints people have, they need to "address" them in a thoughtful, respectful, and responsive manner. They need to accept responsibility when things don't progress as planned, and keep the players updated when things change. I would suggest that the Splinterlands team always keep this thought in their minds: The players complain because they care, make suggestions because they see ways to improve things, and can accept failure because they see opportunity. Put another way, we all want to see the game succeed and reach its amazing potential, so keep us in the loop and understand we are tougher and more loyal than you realize.
Amazing Game And Great Opportunity
Watching the growth of Steemmonsters Splinterlands has been truly fantastic. From the days when we bought cards and didn't even know how the game would be played, we started to build a community. In those early days we didn't have a Market, didn't have leasing, didn't have rewards, didn't have leagues/quests/loot boxes, and didn't have a currency to transact in. But we could tell there was some magic forthcoming. We felt there was opportunity ahead and we believed the developers would build something special. And guess what? They did!
I have a ton of respect for what the Splinterlands team has accomplished. In two short years they've turned this game into something special unlike anying else out there. While I am among the people that recognize issues and have expressed my dissatisfaction on certain issues, I have never been close to selling my cards. In fact, I have bought at least one card on 99% of the days since we've had a market. And that's because I have faith in the long term prospects for the game. I can see this game going mainstream one day, and if it does then the growing pains we've experienced will be a very small footnote in time. Put simply, I love to play the game and I love the financial opportunity that comes with growth from here.
Finally, here's a direct quote from Matt from yesterday:
I also 100% appreciate that everything good I have going is due to everyone here. My goal in life is one way or another make it so that all of you can retire off your Splinterlands cards one day.
And you know what? I BELIEVE HIM!!!
If you are new to the game and want to play, you can check out the game at splinterlands.com!
First, it's always great to see you on the chain. Secondly it's also always nice to hear your amazing perspective on things that matter to me, such as this game. I think you have made a great point and I also believe that Matt does a wonderful job. 🤗🤗
Thank you JD... That's very nice of you to say and Matt is awesome, no doubt about that :D ... Always good to see you my friend!!!
Great post chief. I do hope what we are experiencing is indeed growing pains. The space is full of hype when it comes to games, yet Splinterlands is enjoyable enough to become a staple of the block chain space. Even when I've had my gripes, I still find a way to enjoy the game... Granted mainly when I get real human players or... I begrudgingly admit... the well set up bot. Basically I like the challenge aspect that comes with strategy. I've seen block chain card games go down before (Spells Of Genesis) but Splinterlands does have the benefit of a committed community, and developers behind it so I do hope it continues to grow. I do know I would sorely miss it out of my daily block chain routine if it were to fold. Great post my friend. Hope your keeping safe and healthy.
Thanks @mudcat36! I agree with you. I definitely enjoy playing it and think there are so many things they can do to add even more to the future play as well. Sometimes we forget how fast they've come (from scratch), but the bottom line is they have a solid concept with some developed infrastructure around it. Every week it gets more depth too. So while we have growing pains as they learn their lessons of growing, lets hope we all keep our eye on the bigger picture! Always good to see you and I hope you are doing well across the pond ;)
Hi! I loved Matt's Discord Q& A too! I am thinking a channel in Discord too where players could ask questions and I could keep track of the ones that get asked the most- pin them and then aggroed or yabapmatt could address them sometime later that week or so. Great post! I am glad you ar where in Splinterlands still! Thank you for being a great part of this community and helping out so many players!
I think that's a great idea @clove71... The more people feel heard (and responded to), the better! Even if they get answers they don't like, it still gives them a good impression and feeling about the game. And thank you about the post, I knew I had to say something when I saw Matt's reactions in the discord channel. Sometimes we forget to say nice things and recognize people for their efforts. Big picture is Splinterlands is great and will get greater, and sometimes that gets lost in the enthusiasm to fix every single issue. Thank you for all you do too Chris and I'm glad to be part of the Originals right there with you :D
I mentioned it- Aggroed said he will have a regular AMA soon after all the Hive work. (Ask me anything) :-)
Awesome @clove71 :D
Man it would be amazing to retire someday off of this crazy ride. Thanks for the write up. It was well done!
Thanks @dkid14... That's a nice compliment :) ... and yes it would be amazing... I was glad to see you still have a lot of cards on the video Aggy did the other day, so maybe one day this crazy day might pay off :P
I missed the video. I’ll have to go check it out.
Here is the link so you can check it out... It was good to see your name in it :) https://hive.blog/splinterlands/@aggroed/state-of-splinterlands-may-27-2020
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