Splinterlands: Blockchain Collectible Card Game

[Splinterlands]

Any Splinterlands players here?

I know there has to be at least one? If anyone wants to try the game out, DM me for some free starter codes!

http://playsplinterlands.com

[Splinterlands]

Update: 4/23/2020




As the next 100k Untamed edition booster packs get closer to selling out, it's time to announce the second Untamed Legendary Summoner card! For those of you who may have missed it, the first Untamed Legendary Summoner was Mimosa Nightshade.

The Fire Splinter Summoner - Yodin Zaku - is the second of six total Untamed edition Legendary Summoner cards to be added into the game via airdrop. The character design was a joint effort by Splinterlands players and Kickstarter backers @neoxian and @zaku (as part of the “Selenia Sky’s War Effort” Kickstarter contribution package reward) and will be the fifth Untamed card to be airdropped to early pack purchasers!

Even though the card is being revealed now, it won’t be “unlocked” and available in the game until after the remaining ~20,000 packs are sold. Yodin will be the 15th Legendary card to be available in Untamed edition booster packs, so the chances of receiving the card in the airdrop (as well as in booster packs going forward, without the use of potions) will be approximately 0.267% or 1 in every 375 packs on average, with an average of 1 in 50 of them (or 2%) being Gold Foil. Please note that the Chain Golem was a crowdfund exclusive card and is not available in Untamed booster packs.

Show Me the Stats!




Like Mimosa, Yodin Zaku will also cost 7 mana making him most useful in higher mana cap battles. He increases both the Ranged Attack and Health of all friendly Monsters which should be a big boost to the many ranged Fire Splinter Monsters.

Most importantly, though, he also gives the Blast ability to ALL friendly Monsters as well! The Fire Splinter is all about damage and destruction, and Yodin will take that theme to the next level!

Here are some notes about Yodin's interactions with some other abilities and rulesets (for those of you who are into that sort of thing):

Monsters cannot have two of the same ability, so Monsters that already have the Blast ability will not get an additional benefit from Yodin’s Blast ability.
Monsters will not receive the Blast ability from Yodin in the Silenced Summoners ruleset.
Yodin's abilities and effects WILL apply in the Back to Basics ruleset, as this ruleset states that “Monsters lose all of their abilities”, but not that they cannot have abilities applied during a battle by the Summoner or in the future by Items or Spells.
Get In On the Airdrop!
At the time of writing there are around 20,000 Untamed booster packs available for purchase that will be eligible for the Yodin Zaku airdrop. Of course, all Untamed booster packs purchased to date either through the site or through the crowdfunding campaign are also eligible, and after the airdrop the card will be available to be found in all packs opened going forward.

These packs will also be eligible for all 9 of the remaining new Untamed card airdrops that will happen every time another set of 100,000 packs are sold. The next 4 of those will be the additional Legendary Summoner cards from the other Splinters.

We plan for the other four new Untamed Legendary Summoners to also cost 7 mana and have abilities similar in power level to Mimosa's and Yodin’s, so you’ll definitely want to get your hands on as many of those as you can to compete in the higher mana cap battles!

Yodin Zaku - Lore
Yodin Zaku was a War Demon of the times before the Splintering so long ago. He was a hybrid child born of two warring races, the Efreet and the Bulludae, the Demons of War. But he never perished. His being was imprisoned in an ancient artifact that preserved his life, and now, nearly a thousand years after the Splintering, Yodin has opened his eyes and risen from his bondage.

His parents married in secret, since their bondage was strictly forbidden by the Great Orderlies. The Efreet and the Bulludae had been at war for thousands of years, but the two noble families of both parents had themselves been locked into an especially bitter feud for centuries. When the relationship was finally discovered by the Estath authorities, the result was quite unexpected.

Their union of the unlikely couple compelled the leaders of the two warring factions into diplomacy. After wildly successful peace talks, many generations of peace and plenty followed. There was a great mingling of the two races; together, they accomplished great things, and had their growth not been suddenly halted by the catastrophic Splintering, the Estath would have driven the world forward in prosperity.

Yodin’s mother’s name was Eha Balan. She was an expert in the most ancient arts of fire, some of which are unknown to even the high priestess Mitreyya. Eha was considered throughout the Estath lands to be the best sorceress in her class. His father was an old and endlessly wise Demon known as Zer’geroth Mozran; with his mighty wings, Zer’geroth could summon powers greater than those of any Splintral Wizard.

In the era of peace, Yodin was born. As he grew his mother and father infused their ancient arts of magic and strength into what became a vast arsenal of knowledge. His mother taught him how to wield fire to an unmatched degree, and his father taught him to strike with unparalleled vengeance. Through this extensive training and deep counsel, he came to be one of the most famous Belludae Demons to ever walk the Splinterlands. He quickly rose to the rank of Great Orderly.

The Great Orderlies were the overseers of defense, offense, war, peace and prosperity in the Estath-lands. They were the silent but deadly, ever-present over-watchers. Their punishments were swift, and they brought havoc upon all who challenged them. In spite of all their toughness and the fear they evoked, the Great Orderlies also held a boundless love for growth and a deep compassion for all the living.

As with all times of peace, it came to a sudden end at the whims of a single jealous shaman. The histories do not remember his name, but the war, once rekindled, threatened the existence of both races, Efreet and Belludae. The jealous shaman captured the consciousnesses of several powerful Demons, taking over the Estath state and plunging order into turmoil and violence. The Great Orderlies were hunted down one by one and slaughtered. Those Orderlies who could not be killed were imprisoned by unbreakable enchantments in boxes, chains and cages. In a battle against a vile Efreet sorcerer, Yodin’s parents were vaporized before his eyes by the most powerful spell of lightning he had ever seen. From then, Yodin was on his own. His life became war, and he never stopped fighting until he was finally imprisoned in an enchanted chest by another Efreet sorcerer (Yodin could not be vaporized). The war, which lasted all the way until the great Splintering, became known as the Thousand Year War.

As the years passed after the Splintering, the stories of the Thousand Year War and the (presumed extinct) Belludae Demons faded from memory in the Burning Lands. The new order was the Ferexia and the Torch; they cared little for history while there were enough problems in the present. The sealed souls of the Belludae Demons have sat quietly in a region of the Burning Lands that is utterly deserted, a land which is now called The Unknown, simply waiting to be awakened.

Yodin, being trapped while fully aware, knew of his predicament. In the last few centuries of his soul bondage, he could feel the enchantments that held him growing weaker. Finally, when he could take no more captivity, Yodin Zaku used all his magical energy to summon the most powerful forces within his reach. His unlikely call was answered by a Giant Roc gliding high through the Burning Lands’ skies, who swooped down and picked up the enchanted chest in its great talons. The massive bird then flew to the precipice of Glover’s Steep, from whence it dropped the chest. When finally it struck the rocks below, the chest was broken into many pieces and the binding enchantments were shattered. Yodin Zaku’s soul began to rise, and he morphed into his favorite physical form, which he still remembered well.

Standing alone in the Unknown, Yodin looked out over the deserted lands that were once thriving with his ancestors. A tear fell from his feline eye as he thought about his long-gone mother and father, sizzling into steam as it landed on his whiskered cheekbone. Thousands of years had passed since the world Yodin knew. With raging fire in his heart and the taste of Efreet blood’s memory in his teeth, Yodin Zaku began to make his way west, toward the Molten Mountains and the cities of the Burning Lands. He walked faster and faster, eventually breaking into a full and wild run of freedom. As the air whipped by his face, Yodin hoped that there were still people left to conquer.

[Splinterlands]

Update 4/26/2020

Ranked Updates for Champion I League
At the start of the current ranked play season we removed the win streak bonus and minimum 10 rating point gain for players in the Champion I league. These changes were made in order to try to prevent players from being able to run their ratings up to very high levels just by playing more games.

After reviewing the results and feedback from this season it is clear that these changes made it too difficult to move up in rating at all at the Champion I level, so we need to dial it back a little bit.

Starting with the next ranked play season, which begins on Thursday, April 30th at 02:00 UTC we will be re-instating the 10 point minimum rating increase for Champion I league players. Please note that the win streak bonus will still be disabled in the Champion I league.

We hope that this change will help adjust the base ELO rating system to account for the element of randomness in Splinterlands battles (as compared to a game like chess) while also prioritizing win rate over sheer number of battles in the highest league.

Swiss Format / Anytime Tournaments
We are extremely excited to announce the first end-to-end test of the new swiss format / "anytime" tournament system has recently taken place on our test environment! We identified a number of relatively small bugs and UI improvements that we are working on, but technically it all went very smoothly - kudos to @cryptomancer once again for that!

We plan to open the system up to the Mavericks to help test on the test environment in the near future, and then barring any unforeseen issues it will be released to the live site for everyone!

We will likely start off with smaller tournaments to make sure the system is working properly at first, but after that - get your collections ready for some big tournaments with high dollar-value prizes to celebrate the launch!

Please note that when the new tournament format is released, cards played in ANY tournament game will have the 7-day cooldown applied if they are transferred (just like they currently do when used in Ranked battles). Additionally, cards that are on cooldown due to having been recently transferred will not be able to be used in any tournaments. This is necessary to prevent players from using the same set of cards across multiple accounts in the same tournament. This change will apply to both the new and existing types of tournaments.

Steem/Hive Engine Booster Pack Transfers
As a small, but hopefully helpful update, we have added the ability to transfer booster pack tokens into the game from either Steem or Hive Engine directly from the game website. You can click on the 3 dots icon next to the quantity of booster packs in the "open packs" page and choose the new "Deposit Tokens" option.

That will bring up a popup allowing you to specify how many pack tokens of the selected type you want to deposit into the game, and from which platform you want to deposit them.

Then it will set up the transaction for you and prompt you to approve it either through Steem/Hive Keychain or SteemConnect/HiveSigner. This should hopefully alleviate the issues of players sending the pack tokens to the wrong account by accident.

We are also working on updating the design for the pack options to make it easier to see and use than the 3-dots button, which is very easy to miss.

Mobile Web App Updates
We realize it has been a long time since the last update to the mobile web app. There have been a number of issues that have come up that have slowed down the development there but we hope for the pace to pick back up in the near future.

We expect the next update to be within the next week and it will primarily include the addition of the "Shop" section and the ability to purchase Credits, Untamed booster packs, Essence Orbs, and Potions. It will also include a number of bug fixes for issues reported by the player community.

Finally, we have been simultaneously working on the version that we will submit to the Google and Apple app stores which we hope to have ready for submission within the next month.

Splinterlands at Virtual Blockchain Week
Finally, Splinterlands will be taking part in the upcoming Virtual Blockchain Week being put on by the team from the Bad Crypto Podcast (on which we were also featured last September).

From their website (virtualblockchainweek.com):

Virtual Blockchain Week promises to be a one-of-a-kind virtual conference focused on creating valuable education and entertainment by hosting a dynamic mix of industry leaders, innovators, futurists, and thought leaders who will share valuable insights on the current state of the blockchain industry, how our digital future is being shaped, and what is NEW on our horizon after the effects of the global crisis. The event is free for general admission tickets and will be streamed live on major social and video platforms for six consecutive evenings from 6:30pm -10pm Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Splinterlands is currently scheduled to make a brief presentation on Thursday, April 30th at approximately 9 PM EST. There will likely be booster pack and Summoner's Spellbook promo code giveaways at that time too, so be sure to check it out!

[mjohnatgt]

Well, I joined right after you posted the first message a couple of days ago. I've spent about $100 on site (mostly on packs) and am enjoying it. It really has the feel of Magic the Gathering, which seems to be the point.
I have about 135 different unique cards from all the various sets (mostly purchased individually through the card market). I have sold some of my dupes and also converted some of my cards to credits. Gameplay came pretty quick; I was able to learn the strategies and importance of having many different cards based on the randomness of the game rule modifications. It's nice because you can beat a much more powerful player if you have the right cards and read the rules beforehand. I've even been able to become competitive in only 3 days (Gold Level II) and won some matches in the tournaments. I joined a guild, but it doesn't seem to be active. Not sure what the benefit to being in a guild is in.
It really seems like the only ways to be really competitive (where you earn money) is through either paying strong to try and win tournaments, or those that joined the site way back when and have a treasure trove of cards in inventory that they can barter for the best gameplay cards. I'll just be a small fish, but it can be fun. Looks like it will be a very long time for the next set of cards to be released.

Some of my comments/recommendations:
1) There don't seem to be notifications when cards I've listed for sale sold, and I can't check the monetary records of the credits and DEC in my account to confirm I received the payments. Or do they show up in a digital wallet not connected to the game?
2) The only packs that can be wagered in a direct match are Beta, and you can't purchase those in the game. You have to go to a separate exchange. I might do it if I could trade current packs (Untamed).
3) Tournaments don't tell you how many players are still involved. Would be nice to see a countdown so you know how many more people (or rounds) you need to clear to be in the money. I realize most pay 32 slots, which means four rounds before the championship game. But displaying it on site would be useful.
4) Historical card sale information for cards someone else bought and sold. I see some cards listed for hundreds that only seem to have value due to rarity. I'd like to be able to look up past sales of those cards to see whether or anyone paid up for them in the past.
5) Spellings and lack of updating pages. Attention to detail is critical to me, and these grammatical things annoy me. Like on the pack purchase page, it states "All packs bought before March 10 are eligible..." Well, that was 1.5 months ago. Needs to be updated after every group sells.
Added after edit:
6) There needs to be a search field/filter box in the market section. I dislike having to scroll through hundreds of cards to find the ones I want to purchase.
7) The options in the settings don't seem to be working. As in, I've set the mute box, but half the times I start a match, the audio starts playing despite the computer showing that it's muted. Maybe a legend to say which button is turned on and which one is turned off (or red and green lights instead of white/blue color scheme). I don't think the "hide battle results" works because neither options shows me the results while the battle is being displayed.

[mjohnatgt]

If anyone else decides to join, use my referral code:
https://splinterlands.com?ref=swarmee

[mjohnatgt]

What is going on with Splinterlands? It's crazy right now. I cashed out middle of last year but still got some cards by airdrop and sold them for 16,000 DEC over the year. Now earning Splintershards for those DEC and staking rewards.
Put in $200 from PayPal to convert to DEC, but it seems like there is no way to do that right now until they open up another set of packs you can buy with coins.

All the common cards which used to sell for a penny are now minimum 20 cents? Wow.

[Lockford88]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

What is going on with Splinterlands? It's crazy right now. I cashed out middle of last year but still got some cards by airdrop and sold them for 16,000 DEC over the year. Now earning Splintershards for those DEC and staking rewards.
Put in $200 from PayPal to convert to DEC, but it seems like there is no way to do that right now until they open up another set of packs you can buy with coins.

All the common cards which used to sell for a penny are now minimum 20 cents? Wow.

Yeah it’s blown the F up!!!! Highly recommend anyone and everyone to pop in and take a look.

[mjohnatgt]

And the crash was fierce. Some of the in-game currencies are trading at 80-90% of their earlier peaks, while their main token is down from $15 per thousand to $4 (down 73%). I was able to cash out and still make a few hundred bucks profit. Guess I'll reinvest it in a low point for bitcoin.

[Lockford88]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

And the crash was fierce. Some of the in-game currencies are trading at 80-90% of their earlier peaks, while their main token is down from $15 per thousand to $4 (down 73%). I was able to cash out and still make a few hundred bucks profit. Guess I'll reinvest it in a low point for bitcoin.

Oh I think we are still super early. Tons on the horizon. Super bullish.