Welcome to another article where I write about my journey playing Splinterlands! I'm a bit behind in my update this week, and we're a few days past the middle of the season at this point. Part of that is work being busy, and the other half is my failing a will save and buying Baldur's Gate 3. I probably should write up an article on that and Diablo IV at some point.
But, to stay on the topic of Splinterlands, there were not a lot of changes released during this last update. The biggest news is that the burning of Riftwatcher packs, which was voted in by the community, officially started. This gives a timeline on when Riftwatcher packs will stop being available from the store, and I believe the hope is that it will drive some sales.
Other than that, there were a few bug fixes and a third-party site has taken over all Crypto swaps for Splintershards (SPS) and Dark Energy Crystals (DEC). The big news from this past Town Square with the CEO of the game was that the next phase of land should go out for public testing this weekend, and that it will get released this month. Still no real word on what's going on with the tower defense game, Soulkeep, which is also supposed to be released.
While I cut recording all my rewards, I did get a couple of big hits this season. I finally got a Terraceous Hulk on my main account, and a gold foil copy at that. Then I got three gold foil Drybone Raiders out of a chest, meaning I only need to get one more for a max gold foil copy. Not sure how many months that will take to happen, but even the level 3 copy is powerful.
I keep forgetting to play this new card in reverse speed matches.
I started opening some more of my reward Chaos legion packs too, since opening packs is fun!
Not a great pack, with just the single minimum rare card.
A better pack with a Summoner and a gold foil common!
Guild Brawls:
Guild Brawl #164, playing Bronze League Gold Foil Only. The guild came in 5th place overall, the same as the prior brawl. I did particularly well, as half my opponents didn't submit teams.
Vs. JONARO of SCARYONE'S - opponent fled
Vs. DINIJI of THE WILD DOGS - opponent fled
Vs. RACHELREDHAIR of SPECIAL OPPS - opponent fled
Vs. WELLINGT567 of WELLINGTON GROUP
Vs. KANTARAS of DECIPHER'S CLAN
Guild Brawl #165, playing Bronze League Gold Foil Only. The guild came in last place, with 2 people failing to submit teams.
Vs. MIDDLE-EARTHLING of MITRIIMAN SQUAD
Vs. BROCCOLATE of TEAM POSSIBLE SHIELD
Vs. BBGKEVIN of LEGENDARY DRAGON BABIES
Vs. GODFIRST of GLADIATORS III
I also opened one Gladiator pack:
The Rest:
No tournaments or trading, though I really need to get onto getting things set up for land soon. It seems like some of the initial scope for the next phase of land is getting bumped to get it out in August, with some features coming out in a later intermediate release. The Land Serfing idea, where you can put cards on unworked land, and unlocking the new reward cards for land use seem to be the main items not making this upcoming release.
Initially it was said Runi use wasn't going to be in for land 1.5, but that got backtracked on after it upset quite a few people. That or people on Town Halls don't know what is actually going on with development. But, with working other people's land not in this upcoming release, it is going to just be content for those that own land.
Getting back to the main card game, I've moved to only really playing in Modern league. I've gotten to Silver I on my alternate account, and been stuck in Gold I on my main. I have certainly been getting a lot fewer chests on my alternate account, partially due to the SPS staking requirements for earning rewards and partially due to the mass of bots with low-level cards getting removed from the field.
Proposals were passed to ban bots in Tournaments & Brawls, and to ban battle helpers in those formats, along with Modern ranked play. This has yet to be implemented, and the initial banning bots took a good month or so to happen after it was passed. The banning of battle helpers was also somewhat contentious, as it was argued that what that means was poorly defined.
Anyhow, that's all the news for now. I don't think the land update will be out before this season ends, but probably by the end of the month. We'll see if that ends up being the big boost for the game that people have been hoping it would be. Thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments, please let me know below!