Splinterlands | Experiencing The New Ranked Rewards System

It's now day 2 since the new ranked rewards system was introduced in Splinterlands. These are my thoughts on it so far ...

---

I wrote about my general expectations a couple weeks ago (Link) with my main expectation that nearly all changes were going to be good for the game aside from the fact that you now will need to force a specific summoner onto the rules all day long in order to win as many daily chests as possible.

My absolute first impression when experiencing the new system was quite horrible as the season reset made it so that the initial matches were really hard while there also were very few Reward Shares earned for each win with the required playtime having gone up a lot. As time went by, the overall experience improved, however, especially when seeing the increased rewards for higher leagues.

It had been a long time since I grinded my capture rate down to 75% as I usually just got the daily quest over with to get the chests like most players just because the game by itself simply lacks the skill challenge making it more of an obligatory grind. I did reach 7 Diamond Chests which included a packs and also a highly increased amount of DEC compared to what it used to be in the past

I did get the Life Summoner as the daily focus which by default is quite strong with good cards for all different kinds of game rules so I was spared a ton of frustration in case this would have been something like the Fire Splinter. My account has Level 5 Summoners so most opponents have stronger cards than me even though I have a pretty wide collection to make up for that. On my Alt account with Level 3 Summoners, I also reached Diamond last season which kind of puts me stuck to earn enough chests as I'm just not strong enough.

---

Positive Aspects

Generally, I'm still quite optimistic about the update even though I know I speak from an ivory tower having quite a big card collection. The new player experience likely is vastly different and way more frustrating. Bots seem to have been crushed by this new update as a combination of winrate and Capture rate is key to earn more Reward Shares. This also makes every match count a lot more actually making Splinterlands more fun and Challenging. The rewards also increased a lot making it more worth the time for real players. I also like the fact that you kind of want to keep playing to get the next reward.

---

Negative Aspects

I still don't really like the Daily Focus system which forces sub-optimal and less fun play in order to get more daily chests. I might try to play more optimal as that does earn season chests. Ideally, players with a balanced collection should just be able to play the actual game instead of forcing themselves onto the focus. It also feels right now that having just 2 or 3 Strong Summoners and class cards will result in way more profitable results grinding capture rate down on days when they are featured instead of having all summoners available. The daily time requirement also went up a lot with this update. While the first days still have some excitement attached to it, it eventually will become a rather frustrating obligatory grind unless the game becomes less pay2win and much more of a skill-based game which is unlikely to happen.

With the Life Summoner as Daily Focus, I literally play every match with it even though other splinters are more optimal.

---

Possible Improvements

Some suggestions for quality of life changes that could make the game a lot more enjoyable.

• Instantly Open Chests: If would be nice and give an extra dopamine rush if reward chests could be opened instantly after earning the next one. It would give more motivation to keep playing unlocking the next one.

• Automated Daily Focus Reset: I never really liked the system of having the reset the daily quest manually each day which followed by a 23 hour counter. Instead, players should get the option to have their focus automatically be reset at a chosen time in the day. While with the new system, it's less of an issue it would still be nice to have something like this as it brings more structure.

• Fix Daily Focus Model :so it's possible to actually play more optimally instead of having to play 1 single splinter all day long forcing that upon the rules. There are many ways that this can be done without this meaning players with a smaller collection can exploit this.

• In-Game Asset Reward Share Boost: Soon the SPS Airdrop will come to an end which means there is less incentive for players to hold assets like Cards, Packs, DEC, SPT, SPS ... I really like the model of the daily snapshot and it could be used to give players with more assets a boost in Reward Shares earned for winning games. Right now with the rewards that are given, it feels like they might have been a bit too generous for everyone. Rewarding players to hold in-game Assets by making it easier for them to earn more chests might be a good incentive to hodl.

• Allow Moving Down in League: I don't see a reason why players should not be able to move down in league during the season. I pushed it too far on my alt account last season and if possible I would instantly switch to Gold League even when my earned season chests were changed from Diamond Chests to Gold Chests.

---

Personal Strategy Changes

On days I get a good Focus (Water or Life), I will aim to get as many Daily chests as possible grinding my capture rate down as much as possible playing less optimal in many games. On Days when getting a worthless focus like Fire, I will just try to play optimally while letting my capture rate recover. This should result in a less frustrating game experience providing a bit more challenge. With my main account (Level 5) I aim to reach Diamond League while on ly Level 3 Alt account I aim to just stick in Gold League.

---

Conclusion

Overall, as a player with quite a big card collection, I'm quite positive about the changes right now. New players might have a more frustrating experience and the fact that more playtime is needed eventually also likely will turn into something of a drag. For sure the changes feel like a big step forward even though there is a lot of room for improvement still. If for sure gives more incentives for players to reach higher leagues while it hurts the bots which is a good thing even though the rental market seems to have collapsed because of that.

Play2Earn Games I'm Currently Playing...

Posted Using LeoFinance ^Beta