Image Source: Chaos Trade Graph (TribalDex)
Splinterlands (SPL);
---------> Abundance Built On Scarcity
There is no shortages of things to do in the SPL universe and that can be a good thing. If you are looking for a game/ community/ investment to keep you occupied SPL will do that. Maintaining your in-game land. Battling in the ever competitive ranked matches. Perhaps you fancy yourself some Tournament Play. How about trading the numerous assets available. Blogging token, they got that too (SPT). There is always something to do within the Splinterlands universe. Of course Splinterlands being a #Play2Earn game most these actions and others will have you earning rewards which are tradable in-game and on many other secondary markets. The game itself has a loyal player-base (Some players been with the game since before there was even a game to play). So how did all this came to be? Not the build up, Not the technical aspects, Not the marketing, Not the funding. In the context of this post the but how refers to How did Splinterlands manage to stick around through the years even when up against multiple different bear markets? Despite any Bear/ dip in market Splinterlands assets still remain the top assets traded within the Hive Blockchains very own Dex's (TribalDex/ Hive-Engine). What's 
Scarcity & Friendly Entry Point
When the Splinterlands game first released its first NFT set (ALPHA) the total Booster Pack supply was 100,000. The cost per NFT Pack was just $2.00 USD. The icing on the cake was that the Splinterlands Team managed to create a fiat bridge by using PayPal as a payment option for these packs. Things have changed a little as now we purchase credits using Paypal and then use those credits to trade for NFT Packs/ Cards. A small but necessary extra step. During the Second Set of NFT's released (known as BETA) we once again were introduced to scarcity and an enticing price point per pack. Beta Booster Packs cost just $2.00 USD. The total Pack Supply increased to 300,000. I believe this is where the core base of players got hooked. Cheap entry point (Check) Scarcity in assets (Check) Profits (Heck Yeah!). This brings me to the now, there was a little hiccup with CHAOS Packs and too many got printed but to be fair we were in a crazy bull run at the time. The NFT craze was at its peak and if things progressed with NFT's as things were forecasting the 15 Million Supply of CHAOS Packs on the market likely would of been eaten up. Unfortunately that was not the case: instead we were introduced to a Bear Market and left with excess of CHAOS Packs on secondary markets. The "grace period" between set releases helped with trades, increasing value of all NFT's/ SPL Asssets across the board. I always thought Splinterlands taking the action of having no NFT Sets for sale for a set period of time between core sets was ingenious. It directly allows those who invested in the previous year and beyond to attain liquidity and get ready for the next set. Which brings me to my next point.
Upcoming Changes To Pack Sales
I'm a little late to this discussion but I'll toss my two cents in anyways. The new NFT set Splinterland plans on making is named Conclave Arcana. The Packs will cost the standard 4000 DEC or Credits but will have no bulk purchase bonus. So far so good, no pack bonus (I believe) will help scarcity; which as noted above is one of the main attributes I associate to Splinterlands initial success. However I think that scarcity will now come at the cost of slightly diminished sales (the dangling carrot that entices us to get those extra bonus packs is no more). The next change I would like to talk about is the Introduction of Starter Packs which will contain 25 cards from the Conclave Arcana set for 5,000 (5k) DEC or Credits. Five of those cards are guaranteed to be Rare. These packs will only contain Common and Rare cards from the set and no Gold Foil cards. Potions will not be able to be used with Starter packs as they do not contain Legendary or Gold Foil cards. Interesting, I'm down with all that. I also like to note I think 5,000 DEC is great value for the purchaser here. Unfortunately this next part is where my interest decreases. There is planned to be no limit on the number of Starter packs available for sale, and they are planned to remain available for purchase in the in-game shop until the following major set is released. Unlimited and scarcity don't go well together. I believe this change will further diminish the overall trade value of common and rare cards. I understand the point of view of always ensuring there is a set for sale for new players. To that I say there is always something for sale on the card market which allows new players to pick the exact card they want; placed for trade by Splinterland Players for Splinterland players. Linked below is the source that originally purposed these changes (Splinterlands). For those of the Splinterlands community I recommend you reading it if you haven't already. Its full of all sorts of useful information including the introduction of three new purchasable packs. The print rate for Conclave Arcana Packs is set at 5 Million with a daily burn in place (if needed) to ensure supply and demand co-concede with each other.
---> Original Purposed Contract Linked Below That Prompted This Post
SPS Governance Proposal - Hire Splinterlands to Develop the Next Major Card Set - Conclave Arcana
What Is Splinterlands?
Splinterlands (SPL) is a #play2earn game hosted on the Hive Blockchain. The game hosts a multitude of assets that have real monetary value that can be traded within various markets including but not limited to the games very own onsite marketplace and Hive's very own Dex's (TribalDex : Hive-Engine).
Lets Hear Your Thoughts on everything Splinterlands related. Do you plan on participating in the next Core Pack Set known as Conclave Arcana? What changes would you like to see in-game?
Click Here To Get Started With Splinterlands
Disclaimer:
Unless otherwise sourced all screenshots have been taking from the official Splinterlands site. The