You got yourself another follower, @itsjustme, simply because I am curious how your experiment unfolds. I'm a relative newcomer to steemmonsters (been playing since early Dec.) and my initial impression has been just that: a bit of a letdown, especially after hearing those stories "from the good old days" when you got beta-cards in your reward,or let alone get free booster packs. Still, I believe it's not as bad as if I were to enter this season. So I'm curious to see what your experiment reveals. Also, I like how you put into words your experience of starting out from nothing.
To me it seems like steemmonsters is changing so fast and suddenly that they may undergo the danger of turning players away... until... there are only the die-hard players / early adopters left, along with a bunch of bots. That's when the game will become a spent fad, and instead of battling users will stick to "collecting" cards. Would hate to see it come to that, and the folks behind the game would also, I'm sure, but it wouldn't be the first game that went beyond its peak... until then, let's get some more cards, hehehe!