Years ago, when I first learned about Splinterlands, I loved the idea that I could buy NFT cards for a game that was not only fun, but had the potential to earn money. I decided that it was worth investing in strong monster and summoner cards, because - unlike with assets in traditional Web 2 games - I truly owned these assets on a decentralized blockchain, and they could serve me forever, or at least for as long as Splinterlands existed as a game.

I'll bet that a lot of people who are attracted to P2E NFT games have a similar wealth-preservation mindset. That is why I always want to buy a house, instead of paying a landlord every month for an apartment that I will never own. That is why I always prefer owning a car, rather than leasing one. That is why I opt to purchase my own living room furniture for my home, rather than pay a monthly fee for the privilege of borrowing one from Rent-A-Center.

Here's the funny thing though - no one tries to make me feel bad or selfish because I choose to buy and not rent my home, car, or furniture. And yet, when it comes to Splinterlands, I am met with a non-stop barrage of proposals and rule changes aimed at making Wild players feel like they are parasites who don't contribute to the game. Aimed at making my hard-earned card collection worthless if I am unwilling - or unable - to pay an endless stream of money for the latest cards on a perpetual basis.

Sure,these proposals use the term "bot farms" to make it sounds we're fighting some evil, soulless enemy that must be defeated. But if you think about it, it is all about keeping players - whether they own bots or not - from getting any kind of value from old cards, so that we are forced to continuously spend money on new ones.

The pattern here has been clear and relentless. I think it is naive to think that this $2 fee to play in Wild will be the end of the war on older cards. If this proposal passes, get ready to see even more proposals aimed at further devaluing our card collections. How about a tax for anyone using Wild cards for land staking? Too far fetched? I don't think so.

One by one, proposal by proposal, every remaining benefit of owning Wild cards will be systematically eliminated. I don't even really blame the Splinterlands team - their actions are completely rational. They want and need your money, and your old card collection - that you already paid for - is a huge hinderance to that goal, as long as it holds any kind of income generating potential for you. Their only lever is to destroy the value of your existing collection, which is exactly what they have been, and will continue to try to do.