I've always wanted to compare the price of Splinterlands packs/gems to the value of assets I find inside them. Today, I finally got the chance to do that experiment, as I opened 50 Rift Watcher gems in one sitting.
Now, for the simple maths, I'll evaluate the price of each Rift Watcher gems. As you already know, you need $5 worth of SPS token and a voucher to pay for a Rift Watcher gem. That amounts to $5.235 per gem.
On top of the price of vouchers, I also bought 5 of each potion to open the gems. That price will be added to the price of gems but instead of doing it individually, I'll just drop a grand sum to simplify the calculation.
So, for 50 gems, I'll need 250 Legendary and 250 Alchemy potions. Thanks to my guild, I get a discount, which amounts to 9600 DEC for all the legendary potions and 12000 DEC for all the alchemy potions. Summing both puts it at 21600 DEC for the entire operation.
At the time of writing, 21600 DEC is equivalent to $11.88. Add that to the $261.75 that is derived by multiplying the individual price of gems by 50, we have a total spend of $273.63 to open 50 Rift Watcher gems.
Now, it must be stated these prices are only based on the current state of the crypto market ad it could differ in the future. Also, keep in mind that Rift Watcher gems could also be bought in the secondary market, and the entire calculation will be much different then.
Also keep in mind that while I didn't have to outrightly buy all the potions because I had a few from doing daily quests, I'll evaluate them based on their price.
What did I get?
So, I opened 50 Rift Watcher gems in one sitting and according to Peakmonster, the total value of assets I found inside them is currently worth $199. This means that at the end of the day, I'm actually incurring a $74.63 loss.
Now, it is important to state that these prices are solely based on the prevalent market condition at the moment. So, it is not out of the question to think that these prices could still soar at some point in the distant future.
Also, considering the rarity and uniqueness of a lot of the monsters in the Rift Watcher collection, it is very possible to see a lot of them go down the same route as their untamed and beta counterparts by skyrocketing.
There will always be a lot of attention on the Epic summoners and the legendaries but there are also certain less glamorous assets that look like they're set for a big future.
Out of the lot, I have a good feeling about the above rare and common monsters. I reckon that we'll see these monsters experience a dramatic rise in value somewhere down the line. SKyclaw is already upwards of $1 while Tinderlock is following closely behind.
Junker is the least glamorous of the lot but having that reach ability and also being neutral means that it could find itself in a lot of decks in the future.
In summary
Opening 50 Rift Watcher gems amounted to a $74.63 loss but that's only realised if I sell. Technically speaking, I didn't lose anything since the assets are still with me.
Frankly speaking, I have no intention to sell at the current market condition. I'll instead be upgrading my deck and trying to improve my standing.
In Splinterlands, it is possible to convert unrealised loss into profit by simply putting your asset to work. The Rift Watcher assets will add more firepower to my deck, enabling me to win more battles, and earn more SPS and that will cover the losses in the long run.
Even if I wasn't playing ranked battles, I could simply just put these monsters into a rental shop and earn passively without moving a muscle. All I'm saying is that a loss is only a loss when you accept to lose.
