This has been an incredible year for Splinterlands with a lot of exciting new features added to the game. We've got Foundation Mode, we've got the Campaign Storyline, we've got Gold and Black Foil Arcanes, and now we have the Inaugural Land Cards. So, in today's post, I'd like to briefly review my thoughts on some of these land cards and what it could mean for the game.
Where To Start??
Although I love playing Splinterlands, I want to point out that I am by no means an expert, and I'm not even a land owner. That being said, I am excited by these cards because I think they can help solve the problem of card oversupply and benefit all players in the game, including those who don't own land.
Good For Landowners??
As this screen shot indicates, crafting land cards will consume a variety of resources, such as grain, wood, iron, and cinder. Many of these resources, such as grain and wood, are produced by land holders, so my completely speculative opinion is that these land cards could increase the value of being a land owner.
Solving the Excess Card Problem
However, I'm not a land owner, so I don't want to step too much out of my lane and talk about something I am unfamiliar with. Instead, I would like to focus on something with which I am very familiar, the excess supply of cards, specifically Chaos Legion cards.
The Chaos Legion era of Splinterlands was an absolutely wild time to be a player. When the set was first being released, we were in the middle of one of the biggest crypto bull markets in history. But, by the end of Chaos Legion, we had entered a pretty heavy bear market. Therefore, there was a huge mismatch between the amount of cards that were expected to sell and the number of cards that actually did end up selling. This led to a massive oversupply in the market and significantly depressed the value of many of the cards. I want to be clear that I'm not blaming anyone for this overprinting. I think it was just an inherent consequence of a really volatile crypto market that skewed the value of many cards.
For several years, people have been trying to come up with solutions to solve this excess supply issue, specifically when it comes to Chaos Legion cards. However, I think many of these proposals have faced difficulties. By contrast, I see the Cinder mechanism of the inaugural land cards as a viable solution not just for decreasing the excess supply of Chaos Legion cards, but for also serving as a template to ensure that future card sets have a release valve to transform oversupply into something players can actually use.
As the official post from Splinterlands indicates, crafting these inaugural land cards will require the player to use Cinder, which is a non-transferable resource that is created when a player burns an unlocked card that has a DEC burn value. I think this could be a great balancing mechanism that ensures all cards have at least some minimum utility in the game. If a player has a card that they enjoy playing with, then they can keep playing with. However, if a land owner gets a lot of cards that they don't find valuable on the battlefield, the Cinder mechanism gives them a way to turn that card, which isn't valuable on the battlefield, into something that could be potentially valuable in the land game.
But I Don't Own Land!
I think that even players such as myself that don't currently own land could benefit from this. If landowners start burning the cards that they aren't using, this could decrease the supply from the market. As the supply decreases, it could make the remaining cards potentially more valuable. This means that players, such as myself, that don't own land, could potentially sell our cards at a higher price since there is less supply on the market.
Final Thoughts
As I have said, I am not a land owner, so I don't want to pretend that I could predict how these land cards could influence the land economy or the price and production of the various resources. That being said, Splinterlands is a collectible trading card game. As a collector, I'm not expecting to get rich overnight from my Splinterlands collection, but I also don't like seeing the prices of my assets absolutely plummet. Therefore, I'm excited about the Cinder mechanic of the inaugural land cards. I think that the Cinder mechanic gives land owners an additional way of using their excess cards. Providing an outlet mechanism that allows players to burn the excess cards could help reduce the oversupply and increase the value of some of these cards.
Join Me In Splinterlands
As you could probably tell by reading this post, I am not an expert when it comes to land in Splinter Lands. However, I don't have to be a land expert to understand how intricate and complex and engaging the in-game economy can be. And that's one of my favorite things about Splinterlands. It isn't just a trading card game. It is a diverse ecosystem of interconnected pieces that all work together and reinforce each other. So, if you're interested in joining a blockchain-based game that is more than just a trading card game and requires complex strategy, then I'd invite you to join me in Splinterlands using my referral link.
Disclaimer
As a US resident, I am required to disclose that I might receive a benefit, such as reward or incentive, if you join using my affiliate link. All image credits belong to Splinterlands. Nothing is financial advice.