Survival Not Guaranteed

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(Edited)

Survival Mode Needs Saving

Tales from the Cryptmancer (@synist3r) recently dropped a video unpacking some of his biggest concerns facing Splinterlands right now — from inflated leaderboard ratings to the deeper problems with liquidity bots, Glint mechanics & Survival Mode.

It’s a solid listen & well worth your time.

But today, I want to zero in on just one piece of it.

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Cool Format, Shame About the Execution

On the most recent episode of The People's Guild – Episode 142: An Azircon Conversation, we raised an uncomfortable but important question:

What happens if Survival Mode—after all this build-up—flops when it goes to a DAO vote?

Because – let’s be real – if nothing changes, that’s a real possibility.

So I wanted to take a minute and throw my two cents into the ring — not to again echo the frustration, but to offer a few practical suggestions that I believe could steer this format back on course.

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Three Ways to Fix Survival Mode

  1. Reinstate league-based card caps
    Let players compete in the league they choose — Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond — & cap cards accordingly. This brings back some structure & gives low and mid-level players a reason to show up and participate. Accessibility matters.

  2. Scale cooldown duration to league level
    A Silver-league player shouldn’t be punished by the same rules that a Champion-level player is. Adjust cooldowns based on the league players compete in — so a Silver card’s cooldown behaves differently than a maxed-out Champion deck.

  3. Remove cooldown penalties outside of Survival
    If a card is depleted in Survival Mode, it should only be unavailable for that format. Players should still be able to use those cards in Ranked, Brawls & Tournaments. Depleting cards across all formats only discourages engagement.

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Of course, there are plenty of other ideas floating around—many of which could also help shape this into a more accessible & compelling format. These just happen to be what I would look to see come to the format.

I’m rooting for Survival Mode to succeed. But if we want it to serve the broader player base — & this is the key to its success in my opinion — we’re going to need to course-correct before it’s too late.

Let’s get it right.

Until next time

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11 comments
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Those three points, in particular 1 and 3 would see me try Survival mode and very likely go to the market to build up multiples of summoners and key cards for Bronze or Silver level, I mean with CL prices as they are, why wouldn't I ?

Up to now I have not played Survival mode for two reasons, firstly I have only one real viable deck, my additional cards, particularly summoners are not viable for any kind of run at Survival and they live in my rental account. Secondly, I can't risk losing my cards from my deck for Brawls or ranked ( Mainly Brawls as I have a responsibility to fill a Brawl fray,ranked play is more "optional")

Those are solid suggestions.

I feel a bit left out of Survival, and seeing as I've dropped in excess of $20k into this game in the last four years, I think that is definitely a bit of a "miss"

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Completely agree. Accessibility for as many players as possible is the key. Survival was very exciting in the early seasons for me, especially with my Silver alt account – I've a ton of depth in that deck that makes it much more interesting. However, being able to only really play once a season before the cooldown reset makes it completely unviable. Anyway, thanks for the thoughts here Tarabh! Looking forward to how this whole thing shakes out

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Great stuff Jangles. I really enjoyed the conversation you had with Az on the show and thank you for this post. Thank you for positing these possible solutions. Keep the posts coming bud.

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Thanks man! Me, too. Definitely trying to contribute where I can towards turning this format into something sustainable & accessible for all of us. Cheers OFG!

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I don't partake very much in Survival mode anymore, but every game mode that Splinterlands has is a huge positive. So when this comes up for a DAO vote you can make a safe bet that my 1 million+ staked SPS is voting for funding it :)

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I agree that every additional format is a win for all of us but we've gotta get as many formats to be as widely-accessible as possible in order for them to be rewards-supported by the DAO long term. Fully expect a big revamp to survival before it's all said and done - lookin forward to seein how it shakes out! Cheers Seattle!

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I really like 1 and 2! I was always a fan of level caps in the leagues, just makes it more fun in my opinion. And I never really understood why they were removed, and not fixed.

On 3. - I think that part is the excitement of Survival. Having to be very careful with your cards, or just not use the key cards. It also ties nicely to what was promised for Land - the Revival Potion. If that was implemented, the Cooldown wouldn't be a problem anymore. If you need a card urgently, you can quickly revive it, if you're willing to pay the price. Or be more careful in using it next time.

Thanks for this summary!

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