RE: If only I had listened and if only someone had told me straight...

I've just started playing it and am very impressed both as an (addicted) consumer and from a professional business standpoint.
It precisely combines the benefits of blockchain decentralisation (digital uniqueness & scarcity, trustless trust, and instant friction free markets) with a more standard centralised business revenue model (selling card packs and taking a cut on the market).
This is a perfect hybrid, taking the benefits of both decentralised peer production and centralised firms to produce a compelling product and a solid business.
I plan to write a proper post about this next week. Or maybe I'm just trying to justify staying up to midnight two nights in a row playing it! :-)@aggroed I have to say that I think your Steem Monsters is a real killer app on Steem.