We have already reached the 6th anniversary for @splinterlands after surviving 2 bear markets. It is easy to survive a bull market where speculation and optimism is high and unbacked by fundamentals. Going through a bear market on the other hand is something even good projects fail to accomplish. @splinterlands didn't merely survive; we grew with more features and opportunities to earn.

High Accessibility

There are games coming out with some Web 3 features that require powerful computers to run them. Some of these require downloads and others can run on the browser. Many of these games are beyond the capabilities of many devices that are old and/or low cost. There will be millions of potential gamers left out by these fancy looking games, especially in the developing world.

In contrast, recently there were new additions to settings that were covered during latest Town Hall. There are new visual upgrades planned for the future mentioned in the same Town Hall. What is important is that the players will be able to adjust the settings to match the performance of their devices.

Intelligent Discussions Helps The DAO

Unlike traditional games, @splinterlands players have the ability to have their voices heard in financial and design matters. If you can win at lest one Battle, it can lead to some SPS staked. Those with a stake can vote with their stake. I have over 110K SPS staked and IIRC, I have sold (mostly spent) more SPS than what I bought. The balance I have was earned either through gameplay or Airdrops.

What is even better is that HIVE started out as a decentralized social media project and have the means to foster discussion right on the blockchain free from censorship. Recently I had a discussion with @davemccoy about decentralization and bots. Full context can is in the Proposal discussion.

What If We Allow Bots With a Penalty on Rewards?

I want to see better match liquidity. I also want to see bigger separation with Steem Monsters Inc, both for the sake of decentralization and to avoid potential SEC threats. Giving special privileges to a centralized party is a Web 2 solution to a Web 3 problem.

• Anyone purchasing assets is helping the game.
• Anyone providing gameplay activity is helping the game.

The problem is that bots are extracting more value with less effort demotivating those who earn by playing the game manually. There have been many cases of MMOs suffering due to banning bots. We would not be talking about Ghost Card bots to provide match liquidity if the community bots were around.

I don't like seeing Ghost Cards above Level 1. I don't want representation without assets. Since the community is ready to accept the principle that bots are a solution; the implementation must come in a decentralized manner.

1. Anyone should be able to run bots.
2. Bots must be registered.
3. No fake assets AKA Ghost Cards.
4. Reward penalty of at lest 50%.

Without a reward for the community bots, we will be asking for charity or communism. With regular rewards we will be discouraging manual gameplay. The community will have to decide on an appropriate middle ground. My suggestion is a penalty of 50% - 90%.

Responses and Discussion

We Have Many Smart Players With Skin in The Game

Nobody will be helping out some company with their time and cognitive capabilities. My understanding and suggestions got further refined through discussion and the same could happen for many others and their ideas. If @splinterlands does well, we all get to win. We may have different sized stakes. Some are Whales and others are simple Minnows, I have managed to earn my way into the middle of SPS DAO.

We will all win in some capacity. That is not something capable with Web 2 due to their structure and technologies involved. We have a long way to go and my most optimistic price target for $SPS is $5. I will be happy to see SPS reach $1. I won't be passively waiting. I have a game to Play.

Happy Gaming! Happy Investing!