SPLINTERLANDS (a.k.a. STEEM MONSTERS):AN HONEST ATTEMPT AT A FAIR AND BALANCED CRITIQUE.

I'll start by getting the standard praise out of the way. I love this game. Everyone who plays it loves this game. All the people who have yet to play it are going to love this game. I can see how it could be addictive. All of that isn't to say there aren't things to be addressed, though, and that's what I hope to do here.

Below I'll attempt to go through the things I consider strengths and weaknesses (for lack of a better phrase) and hopefully stumble across something of value for future implementation or discussion.

However, I humbly admit I probably won't mention anything the devs haven't already thought of and dismissed or plan on implementing at some point. In fact, most of this is likely to just be a rant because I want instant gratification and the devs are only human. So no disrespect intended. I'm mostly just rambling. I think everyone is doing great work and I have nothing but faith in them to keep this train rolling faster and farther. But I'm a guy with an opinion about something I'm excited about and some free time, so let's get to it!

I'm going to present a, more or less, standard pros and cons format without rehashing how great the game is, although there will be biased praise scattered throughout.

First of all some basic pros:
Splinterlands has all the qualities of a great game. Its fast pace makes it easy to get in a few quick matches to kill a few minutes and the variety of teams,ever-expanding variety of cards, shifting rules and mana caps make it all too easy to spend hours on end in the heat of battle.

Skill matters but luck happens.
This is something I think every game struggles with and I think Splinterrlands has balanced excellently. There's no fun in a game when as a player you've zeroed out your potential to be challenged, and it's equally unsatisfying when all your time spent amounts to nothing because too many unlucky breaks can leave you ruined because nothing you can do will matter. Splinterlands can have lucky and unlucky moments but overall if you're skilled you can minimize your chances of bad luck affecting the experience.

I have so many great things to say about this game, but for the sake of balance I'm going to diverge from praise for a moment to point out a few problems I have.

I think first and foremost is the lack of a practice room. On the few occasions I've tried to play a non-ranked practice match no suitable opponent was found. I think this is problematic in a significant way, which I'll try to explain.

First of all, if it's possible, practice should be single player against a bot. This would allow productive play anytime. In addition to wanting to practice with a new card before I risk my rating on it, there are the occasional times when there aren't enough players in my league to enjoy quick back to back matches. If I could practice with my weaker teams during those times I'd spend more time playing.
I also think practice should be customizable, so the player can set the rules, splinters, and mana cap for each practice match, or a predetermined set of matches.

I'd like to re-iterate here that I imagine something like this or better is on the horizon, as I believe the devs are on top of things, but as a player with no inside knowledge of things to come it feels worth mentioning, as I never get to play with my dragon team because it's just too expensive to keep every team competitive and since I don't need dragons for daily quests they collect dust on the bench. I think customizable practice matches would give players more opportunity to familiarize themselves with the cards than we get while having to rush when building a team.

This also touches on another issue I've had, which is there's a lot of grinding if you want to try to remain competitive. I think a single player-practice option would be refreshing. I believe the subtle difference between trying to grind out wins and meticulously practicing tactics would be a welcome break after a 20 game losing streak, and being able to practice with and against a specific team that's giving me problems would keep me playing longer and feeling like my time was spent wisely (relatively speaking, of course :D).

This next issue may be in the works and I'm not not aware, so disregard if i'm Johnny come lately on it.

Gambling.
I appreciate the challenge a friend for booster packs option, but it's so limiting. I'm not a lawyer. I can't even play one on tv, but even I know that when it comes to gambling laws are complicated at best, so I'm not presuming the devs haven't considered this so much as pointing out how enriching it would be to both the game and the community.

I hope in the future we can gamble for booster packs, STEEM, SBD, individual cards, or entire decks. I also hope that will apply across the board, from player to player matches, to spectators, to tournaments.

My last complaint, or to be more honest, wish-list item, is customization.
These cards still aren't really uniquely mine. I know there are balance issues to contend with so I'm not sure if it's even possible, but I think the summoners are boring. What if you could add a temporary bonus (like a ring or axe) for an increase in mana cost? In addition to the extra layer of uncertainty it brings to the match, I think it would allow more play time with the low level summoners that never get used because they can't compete.

And my other last complaint is just old fashioned, justified only in my own mind, whining. No more BETA rewards. That just hurts. Getting "locked out" halfway through building a collection dampens my spirit for the game a little. I have cards I'll never max out without spending a small fortune and I find it slightly alienating, but I think I understand the marketing/economic reason for it, as well as the reward aspect for the contributors who helped early on to help it this far. So I take it with a grain of salt when I say I wish I could occasionally win a booster pack in place of daily or season rewards, even if it had the rarity of a gold foil legendary elite, it'd be nice to know somewhere out there is the chance of winning some of the cards I've grown so fond of. But that's not a deal-breaker by any stretch.

Before I get back to praising and wrapping up I want to mention an issue that lies outside Splinterlands, but impacts the community and the game's popularity, and that's the slow adoption rate of STEEM (and cryptocurrencies) as a whole. Even though everyone in the community is warm, friendly, and welcoming, the platform as a whole just isn't very inviting to people who just want to jump on Facebook and play Dopeking, or whatever, for likes. It's still too inaccessible for the folks who want to keep it simple. Case in point. I recently tried to introduce it to some people IRL and in both situations it was just too much hassle to even get it in front of them.

I know there's an app due to be released in Q3, last I heard, anyway, and I think that's going to be a big leap toward bringing in the masses. I'm really excited about being able to play without having to have my pc on hand and maybe more excited to have a tool to quickly and easily show it to others I think will enjoy it.

So getting back to praise...
When I see how the development of Splinterlands has unfolded, just since my fairly recent arrival to the scene, and think about where it has the potential to go I get excited. So many new cards, abilities, and surprises that could be on the horizon and so much growth to come. I don't think anyone would argue this is just the beginning of something big, and I'm glad to be along for the ride.

Thanks for letting me rant! :D

For anyone who still isn't in the game you can learn more at https://steemmonsters.com/

If you'd like to sign up using my reference code it's https://steemmonsters.com?ref=sinistry

SPLINTERLANDS (a.k.a. STEEM MONSTERS):AN HONEST ATTEMPT AT A FAIR AND BALANCED CRITIQUE.

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