Steemmonsters Experiment - SE6 EP7: Having Trouble To Stay Motivated

Only 2 days left before season 6 comes to an end. I'm really looking forward to the rating reset, because frustration is growing bigger every day.

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Losing Motivation

The end of season 6 is near, and I will welcome it with open arms. I simply can't wait for the rating reset, which will send me back to Bronze 1.

I must admit that I have been thinking about stopping the experiment a couple of times. I'm experiencing frustration more than anything else these last couple of days, and I think I have already found the answer to the question that was the base of this entire experiment.

What is it like to start from scratch in season 6 without having money to invest?
For the moment, I'd say: frustrating and almost impossible, unless you are stubborn as hell.

When I started this experiment, I wanted to make my experience resemble a real situation as much as possible. After 24 days, I can say I failed that goal big time. Little by little, it has moved further away from what I had in mind. It hasn't been a reflection of what a new Steemian who starts playing with only a starter deck experiences for a long time now.

There are several reasons for that:

• I can't erase the fact that I know my way around SteemIt. I know about ways to earn some extra Steem which are unknown to someone who is new to the platform

• I should have done a better job hiding my real identity. The fact that some (most?) people know who I am has given me privileges new users don't have.

• I cheated by giving this account way more SP than a new user has, because it was the only way to be able to play, post and enter contests and giveaways.

And in spite of all those privileges, and all the luck I have had along the way, I'm feeling demotivated and frustrated.

I'm not sure how I should feel about that. After all, I started this experiment because I wanted to make a point. I wanted to prove that Hive account@steemmonsters was heading the wrong way by making the game less accessible for people who couldn't invest with every new change they made. And I'm close to proving my point, but instead of feeling satisfied, it makes me feel sad.

Don't worry, I didn't live under the illusion that making that point would change anything. Right before I decided to start this experiment, I had a short conversation with Matt, in which he made clear that they were aiming for players who could invest rather than let 'freeriders' have a little fun.
Business is business, I guess.... no exceptions on the blockchain. Part of me understands, the other part thinks it is unfair...

What Keeps Me Going

One of the things that keep me going is the fact that this account and the experiment has allowed me to meet some new people, or to get to know some people a little better.

I really appreciate the people who are in this with me, who are following up, and who sacrifice some of their precious time to comment on the posts I make.

Some of them, like Hive account@rentmoney and Hive account@bashadow, have been part of my SteemIt adventure for months. Others, like Hive account@senstless and Hive account@stiant, I only knew because I played against them with my higher level decks. I can't even count the times I lost from Hive account@stiant in a tournament, lol.
And then there are the ones I may have seen pass by on SteemIt every once in a while, like Hive account@stortebeker and Hive account@wonderwop - but with whom I never really connected before.

That's something that has made this experiment a success already - no matter what the outcome will be.

I'm really thankful for all the people who have been in this with me.

^Source

I'm afraid the intro turned out a little longer than I originally intended. Sorry for that.
It has been 4 days since my last update, and a lot has happened in these 4 days. I guess I'd better start telling you about my successes and failures....

Giveaways And Contests

I'm still joining every card giveaway and easy to join contest I can find.
This has been rather rewarding, I must say.

Not only did I win my first Hive account@steembasicincome share, I now also have my first Hive account@incinboost share. I forgot to write down who sponsored it, but I'm really thankful for it.

I'm actually thinking about getting myself some extra Hive account@incinboost shares.... it is an investment that will pay out in the long run. I haven't made up my mind yet, though.

I did win a couple of cards too.

I won a Rusty Android in a giveaway hosted by Hive account@uncommonriad.

And one of Hive account@stever82's giveaways gave my deck a real boost: I won two cards, of which one was a Lyanna Natura, summoner of the Earth splinter. Luck was one my side once again.

^Source

My Deck

I had already leveled up my Water splinter and my Fire splinter, and thanks to Hive account@stever82, I only had to buy one Lyanna Natura to be able to start leveling my Earth splinter.

I made the 'mistake' to buy a beta booster pack, hoping to be lucky and find an epic or legendary card in there, but I should have known better. Buying booster packs is like playing the lottery: the chance that you get a valuable card that covers the cost of the booster pack is small.

This is what I got:

^Source

The good thing about it was that I didn't have to spend any money to level up my Minotaur Warrior and I only had to purchase one Giant Roc to turn it into a level 2, but the cards didn't cover the cost of the pack at all.

I've been selling and buying quite some cards. I'm not going to list everything - after 4 days, it would take up too much time, but I will give you an idea of what my deck looks like in a minute.

I've been buying quite some alpha cards. They are often not only cheaper than betas, you also need only 2 to level up. In some cases, they are just a little more expensive, which makes it is still profitable, because buying two alphas gives you a level 2, while you can sell the beta card you have and get part of your money back.

Just now, I bought 2 alpha Tyrus Paladium cards, enough to turn them into a level 2.

If I would have bought two betas, I would have spent 3.898 Steem.

I paid only 3.569 Steem for the two alphas, plus, I can sell the beta card I already had for 1.930 Steem, which makes it way less costly to level up.

I also check the market quite regularly to see if I can buy level 2 cards that are listed at a lower or the same BCX than level 1 cards. If I can get my hands on one of those, I can also sell the card I already have and reduce the costs.

Thanks to the extra source of income I told you about in yesterday's post, I was able to get all my summoners up to level 2.

^Source

Now I still have to decide which cards of which splinter to level up.

So far, my Water splinter is definitely the strongest.

Daily Quests And Rewards

Up until yesterday, completing the daily quests wasn't such a big deal. But the closer I got to Silver 1, the more difficult it became.

Let me show you what it took to complete yesterday's DQ, and you'll understand why I am feeling so frustrated.

^Source

I should really wait until around midnight to get matched with real players, but I'm often too tired... this is the result.

Fortunately, somewhere along the way during yesterday's marathon, I managed to touch Silver 1, so at least I will receive 18 reward cards once the season has ended. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hoping there will be at least some valuable cards included.

Okay, gotta go, there's a tourney I want to attend, and I really got to run.

I'll leave you with the latest stats for the account:

^Source

 

 

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^{All screenshots are taken from th Steemmosters website. All other images were created with The Logo Creator 7.}