My three week newbie experience in Splinterlands

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I know! I know! Thousands of people are playing already and I'm late to the game. Actually, I don't even know if I can consider myself IN the game. I started playing a week before it migrated over to Hive, and three weeks in, I still don't have much idea what I'm doing.
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My account says I've been battling since September 2018, @travelgirl is a big fan and she's been trying to get me to play for ages. She even gave me some cards a while ago that's why I set up my account back in 2018.

Not being a gamer - I can't even manage Super Mario, though I do play 2048 and Jewel Quest 😄 - I took one look at it, had absolutely no freakin idea what I was supposed to do, and logged out as quick as I could. If I had a spade, I probably would have buried it six foot under for good!
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Fast forward 21 months, and I blame it on Covid lockdown. BOREDOM!!!!!!

This time it was a tad better than last time. A few months ago I had a go at playing Holybread. Someone had written a really detailed guide about it, so I had an idea how these games work. It was totally different from 2048 and Jewel Quest!!!! I played religiously for about a week and battled up to 600+ without investing any fiat into it. Then I can't remember what happened. Might have been Covid again, as it was the beginning of February. Covid had hit Taiwan already. That was the end of my gaming journey.

Anyway, with a bit of Holybread experience under my belt, this time Splinterlands seemed a bit less alien. I mean it was still scarey, having to choose all the right cards within the time limit. All I did was to make sure I maximised the mana count. I won some battles but I think only because I was up against a lot of crappy bots. All my cards were pretty weak, as expected when one doesn't invest in the game.
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Help from friends
Then my friends came to help!!! Don't you just love it when you have powerful friends!!!! @travelgirl leased a bunch of cards to me including The Peakrider. And then @revisesociology leased me the Yodin Zaku. I was on fire!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥
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On top of these two legendary summoners, @ybanezkim26 said he's started playing recently and has already reached Diamond league!!!! He was in a celebrating mode and shared his happiness by sending me a Diamond Dragon monster! Well, I'm not one for turning down a celebration, so congrats @ybanezkim26 for reaching Diamond so soon! I'll catch up with you ...... one day
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Another card I got was from @louis88. I used to see lots of Splinterland posts around but always ignored them. Now I will take a look to understand more about the game, and pick up a freebie when available, who doesn't love freebies 😃 @louis88 was giving out free cards in one of his posts. This was a few weeks ago, very early in my gaming journey. I had no idea what the cards were all about, so randomly choose the Ettin Spearman, a high mana card.
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End of my second season
You know before I started to play, I thought a season lasted like at least a few months, like the TV programs! I didn't realise they lasted two weeks only. No wonder I seem to see end of season reports cropping up on my feed all the time, which of course I used to ignore!

With my lovely friends' help, I managed to finish in Silver II in my first season. I consider that an achievement, yeah I have low expectations of my gaming abilities, no point stressing myself. For my second season, I finished in Silver II again, just. I forgot what time the season ends today, and when I logged on I only had 21 minutes left. I needed about 100 points to edge up to Silver II, so quickly played a few games and got there with 12 minutes to spare. Phew!!! I didn't even watch the battles to save time.

In fact, I've stopped watching the battles now as it's too stressful. Sometimes, if I win, I will watch the replay to satisfy my ego. 😄
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My three-week thoughts
I don't know if I'm going to be sticking around Splinterlands. So far I'm not bored with it yet as there is a lot I don't know

  • I don't know how to tell the difference between all the cards. I mean there must be hundreds, if not thousands of them
  • I don't know how you can tell if a card is a monster or a summoner
  • I don't know how to identify an edition or rarity on a card
  • I don't know about all the abilities
  • I don't know why some cards are in cooldown
  • I don't know why Splinterlands is sometimes called Steemmonsters as well
  • I don't know why my account shows 297 all cards, but I have 80 playable cards, and only own 51 of them
  • and most important of all, I don't know why people spend thousands of $$$$$$ on the game!!! Are they crazy??!!!

Maybe I'm missing out on something...... only time will tell.

See you all around in Splinterlands!!

splinterlands steemmonsters gaming teamuk palnet creativechallenge neoxian
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(Edited)
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Of all those do not know I am only sure of I would know what to do with those two summoners.
Cheers!
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Those two summoners have helped a lot!!

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I think that monsters are only posing while they two do the job. Especially Zaku. It is hilarious walking with them in lower leagues.
Cheers!
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There's a lot to consider especially the placement of your cards. Maximizing your mana is just the start. There's a lot of rules and variations to remember. Sometimes the difference between victory and defeat is that furious chicken which has no mana. You must also remember the abilities of each monster and how they will affect the game.

Oh! You have to watch how the battle goes in order to understand the rules of the game and the nuances of each card. 😂

I'm hooked! I'm spending a lot of dollars (from my Steem powerdown) to build up my deck. And I plan to collect more cards. I hope this is a good investment.

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I've seen the chicken around, it's quite hilarious!

And I agree with watching the battles, even if it's quite stressful. It's a good way to see how the abilities work

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Hahaha! Let's go! Earn some DEC and then buy more cards. I'm sure the cards will become more expensive as the game becomes more famous.

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yay!!!! finally got your to play!!! how long did it take?!?!?!?

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Can't believe it took you THAT long to join us and I'm glad you at least tried! I'm so proud of you, for someone who doesn't play many games, this is a hugggggeee milestone!!!

curated by @travelgirl

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Thank you, nice to get on board at last, better late than never!

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Welcome to the game!

  • I don't know how to tell the difference between all the cards. I mean there must be hundreds, if not thousands of them >> There are hundreds of cards and every monster has unique stats and abilities. Not all cards are useful. There are many hive posts written to help newbie. Remember to read them. Or just trial and error with your battles.

  • I don't know how you can tell if a card is a monster or a summoner >> Did you look at your cards collection or the market page? There is a filtering button under "Type". Just remember you need to have a summoner for the splinter (eg, Alric for Water). Hmmm I looked at your collection and seems like you don't have the phantom cards.

  • I don't know how to identify an edition or rarity on a card >> Same as above. There is a filter buttong for "Edition"

  • I don't know about all the abilities >> Did you read this https://steemmonsters.com/?p=gameplay all the stats and abilities are explained there. Or you can ask in the Discord or Telegram. The community is always ready to help.

  • I don't know why some cards are in cooldown >> When a card is used in a Ranked Battle and subsequently Transferred to another player, the card will enter a cooldown period of 7 days. This is to counter abuse.

  • I don't know why Splinterlands is sometimes called Steemmonsters as well >> The game started as Steemmonsters but later rebranded to Splinterlands. Best choice ever. We want nothing to do with Steem.

  • I don't know why my account shows 297 all cards, but I have 80 playable cards, and only own 51 of them >> Where did you see this? You can also look at peakmonster site https://peakmonsters.com/@livinguktaiwan/collection

  • and most important of all, I don't know why people spend thousands of $$$$$$ on the game!!! Are they crazy??!!! >> Yes they are crazy.

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Good to know crazy people are enjoying themselves here😂

About the cards, I have filtered them already, but I was curious if there's anyway to tell the edition or rarity just by looking at them?

Also, on the number of cards, I saw those numbers when I filtered them on Splinterlands.

I guess it will all come with time, it's like suddenly meeting hundreds if new friends and you have to remember who's who 😅

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I have never heard of rarity of a card being visible, while all the rest is.
Cheers!
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YAY! So fun you are playing. There are lots of cards and it takes a while to learn what they do. @jarvie and I are some of those crazy people. He got me into it at the beginning when it was Steemmonsters. I haven't played in awhile. I will have to go look at my cards and send you a present. :)

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Good to know there are so many crazy people around me 😁

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