Waving The White Flag To Splinterlands
I am surrendering my crusade against reigning in the bots.
I realize they are here to stay and I can only hope in the future the developers of the game will come up with an authorized bot program so the bots are both properly rewarded but also follow acceptable rules.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still pro-human... but the humans will have to accept (like me) that bots are better at playing more matches, maximizing the utilization of their card investments, and in many cases playing the game better.
I still love the game and still think its fun, but from an investment standpoint I have lowered my expectations. There was once a big hope on my part that the brilliance of the game would naturally create a snowball effect and the game would go viral. To achieve that though, there would have to be a high retention rate to go along with the quality of the game. And this is where the bots have caused the biggest problem in my opinion.
From the day I noticed the bots were playing in the quests, I can remember the frustration and complaints from my teammates. One time when @yabapmatt and @aggroed were out of town for a large event, the bots went wild and there were tens of thousands of beta packs taken in just a few days from the rewards. While of course the developers fixed the glitch and stopped it from happening going forward, the same feeling of frustration was happening by the humans. What would happen to the game if these guys who cared nothing about the long term weren't stopped?
Well to make a long story short, the game survived... and prospered! While the bots created stumbling blocks that frustrated the humans, the amazing things being done by the developers overcame the negatives on balance. Sure we lost a lot of players over the years, but at the same time we also gained enough new ones to make it a net gain. On top of that, with each additional upgrade (such as DEC system), the mistakes of the past were dwarfed by the promise of the future!
So this brings me to now.
While I would suggest they pay more attention to the feedback of their players, it is not my game to manage. I admittedly have a lot of respect for the quality of the game and feel that their ability to overcome obstacles is incredible. So if they feel the bots are welcome, then how can I fight it any longer?
The bots are clearly part of their strategy, and they have said many times that they support the rights of people to bot the game. I have stubbornly refused to embrace this concept because I have seen the impact from the churn of players that leave the game over it, and I have taken a hit relative to the others because I didn't bot myself. I have not maximized my investment out of stubbornness, clear and simple. I had some weird belief that the devs would realize the frustration of the humans over the bot issue was holding them back, they would fix it, and then this game would go viral. But now I see that isn't the case, and will not be the case for a very long time.
While of course the bot issue is only one issue out of the many they face each day, but to me it was the biggest. However I can't be stubborn any more, and I can't assume that I know what's best for the game. As I said its not my game to manage and what I want is not important.
I will from this point forward explain my thoughts on botting this way. It is legal and supported by the developers, so get used to it. If you like to play the game, then great. If you want to bot the game, then that's fine too. If we have churn from people that don't like it, then I will live with them leaving. I will stand behind the game as long as I feel it still has a chance to be huge one day (which I do by the way).
There are many wonderful things about Splinterlands and I'm still super happy that I have been involved as a player/investor since the beginning. I will leave the policies to the leaders of the organization, and I will instead focus on what makes me the happiest and the most money (for me and my friends).
So the white flag of surrender has been raised and you won't hear me bitch again about bots in the future!
I am so glad you are still here! I know we both love Splinterlands, you have been here from the start and are a true Original Monster just like me, lol! You are a great part of the community! You have helped a ton of new players and I appreciate that. An upvote is on the way to you from SM/Splinterlands! Have a great weekend and please stay safe and healthy out there!
lol yes we are OM's... Not quite as good as OGs, but pretty cool nonetheless! I am too glad I'm still here and also very happy you have stuck with the game too. You don't get the recognition as much, but you have done a lot over the past years to keep people around and deserve the credit you deserve! Thank you very much for the vote, I am honored to receive it! Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!!!
Good to see you blogging and commenting on HIVE Dave!!!!
We are all living with these bots since many days and hopefully there will be something positive soon.
Have a Good day :)
Thank you @coolguy123! :) ... And yes I'm with you in hoping something positive soon!!! You have a fantastic day and rest of your week too :D
If you can't beat them join them. I am not sure I can return to the game, I am glad you still find it mostly enjoyable, but bots was why I left, and bots are why I won't return. It stopped being a game, and more of an online gambling system.
Yes I understand that @bashadow. I have seen many of my friends leave because of exactly your sentiment. I definitely enjoy the playing part, and a lot of the other things they have done have been good and bad (on balance they still get a good mark, but I will admit they have made plenty of mistakes too). Hopefully one day they will take a focus group of people like you and find out how they can improve the game and what will draw in those that have left. As they get bigger then hopefully they can afford to do things like that. And as you know, you are always welcome back at anytime and you are of course always a part of our guild! :)
Thank you @steemmonsters! and @clove71 :)
You and many like you (I agree with this) can surrender to the evidence that the bots will stay on the game, what I personally refuse to do is to stop claiming that the bots should be properly ruled, I mean that the team has to avoid their exploit and therefore their growing amount of them.
If they don't do that then a lot of players will leave the game, because as an investment might be fine but as a game will turn into trash. Nobody wants to use a manual account to see how other players are benefited by botting.
And if only bots play the game then it has no purpose as a game itself and will fail in its development and expansion. Is crystal clear to anybody who is passionated about this game.
I am with you on the bots being ruled... I have proposed that they create an "authorized bot program". This way they can create rules for the bots that both reward them properly and also keep them from doing abusive behavior. While I'm sure many will say that people will cheat, I'm sure they can figure out who follows the rules and registers and who doesn't. Plus if they made the rewards good for the bot makers, then they would have incentive to play nice. (ex a silver level bot plays in the silver level and has a certain size deck)
On your second point, that is the point I have been making since the bots arrived on the scene. I think you are right, but the devs don't have as much fear as you or I do. The bottom line is they know my opinion on the subject and its time for me to accept they have made their decision. I do think they will work to keep the bots in line (like the new DEC based system), but how well that succeeds will depend on its implementation. They have hopes for it succeeding, and I'm sure we all hope they do it right!
I don't know what devs fear or not but I can't understand that they don't care about opinions of respected players like you or others that already have leaved the game. I'm starting to think that they've won enough money from it and that don't care if is sustainable or not, this, or they simply think that can hold their bussiness with the bot owners, sacrifying the rest of manual players.
The last genius proposal to stop the bots from ravaging the pool has been commented by j6969 to the team. And consist in making a separation of leagues taking in count the DEC of the user. Is supposed to avoid the exploit the low level bots, but imo is absurd because the main problem are the high levelled bots that win a lot of tournaments and that are a plague in the top100.
And yes you're right I hope that they will do right. Have a nice day Dave, I really appreciate your honesty for writing this article and for your nice answer.
Thank you for both the replies and your honesty too @palasatenea! And I think they care if its sustainable, but not sure they have their minds around all the complicated issues. Its one thing to make an amazing game (which is not easy by itself), but to build a company around it from scratch takes a lot of learning too. I do hope they get it right and I'm optimistic they will too :D
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Thank you very much for the nice vote @bdvoter.cur! It is appreciated for sure :)
I have never played but I have watched it evolve. Sadly where ever there is money there will be bots. Heck even platforms like Instagram are now overtaken with bots.
Yes bots are rising for sure. I first noticed them on twitter, but they seem to be everywhere now. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Quit your complaining please. I found the perfect bot for you. It's a little old and cranky, but will do the job you're after!
lol... you are always funny PK... Where did you get that futuristic picture of me from my birthday party next year?
I hacked your discord and stole your photo album. How else do think I got it? :P
Congratulations @davemccoy!
You raised your level and are now a Minnow!
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I tossed in the towel as well.....
!BEER