Hello to any of my readers and "Dear (weekly) Diary" 😜

It's that day of the week in which I find the most interesting Splinterlands experience I've had over the past week to share! That fits in perfectly with the theme of the weekly Splinterlands Social Media Challenge too!

It's the 4th week in a row of Splinterlands 6th Anniversary as the Social Media Challenge topic! That isn't a problem though as 6 years of a game means every player will probably have lots of reminiscing to do! 🤣

It has been an entire month of the so called 6th anniversary and to be honest, I'm surprised it has dragged on for such a long time. A month long celebration seems to take the uniqueness of an anniversary celebration away. That said, this is probably a good chance to talk about some impending changes that will likely affect Splinterlands's future! But first, a quick look at what happened this week in the world of crypto.

This week has seen BTC rise back up to its 67-68k support levels. It seems like this is a very strong support level as any wild swing always leads back here! I had anticipated a much stronger and sustained gain with the Ethereum ETF approval narrative but it seems like everyone is cautious over the interest rates. However, I would say that the future looks bright, but we'll never know what lies around the corner. That's crypto for you! 📈🚀

---

A brief introduction before I start though...

Good Day to all Splinterlands players! (and people of HIVE! 😜) I've made it a point to blog about my weekly progress and experiences in Splinterlands/HIVE in my "weekly diary". Splinterlands & HIVE are what I'd consider to be my entry point into the World of Crypto, and I intend to use this as a means to look back on the path I've taken in the years ahead.⏳⏳⏳

This is now the 132nd consecutive week writing in my Diary (of sorts) detailing my Splinterlands Journey ever since I started this game. I talk about what has gone on my personal Splinterlands playing experience, my weekly Guild Brawl Reports, and also any Splinterlands ingame news. 🎉🥳🎊

No week goes by in Splinterlands without some news event happening though. And here's my pick of some of the most interesting ones in my opinion. 📰📰📰

---

🗺️🧳✈️Updates on my Splinterlands Journey🗺️🧳✈️

---

This week's Social Media Challenge is all about the 6 years Splinterlands has been around. I think this is an amazing accomplishment even if the current situation is still on the more negative side. The past 2 years of the bear market has absolutely crushed the majority of crypto projects out there. Just being still around is an achievement unto itself.

That said, there has been a lot of news about yet MORE CHANGES to the game especially in the WILD format. For more details, take a look at the original link as proposed by @yabapmatt.

https://peakd.com/@yabapmatt.sps/sps-governance-proposal-alternate-solution-to-address-bot-farms-and-wildmodern-format-discrepancies

It is quite a lengthy read and to help readers out, here's a condensed summary of the entire proposal. Of course, the reason I placed the original link up there is also for players who want to know it in detail after reading my summary. 😉

---

Summary of Proposal:

Problem Identification:

• Bot farms in Wild format: Bots earn rewards indefinitely without new investments, draining assets and exploiting rewards.
• Easy Wild format: Players face bots with low-level cards, making it easier to earn higher rewards, causing a shift from Modern to Wild format and creating a negative spiral.

Issues with Current Proposal:

• Collection Power issues: Resource-intensive to calculate, prone to exploits, and causes server issues. Collection Power calculations are complicated and create confusion.

Alternate Proposal:

• Increase staked SPS requirements: Double the amount of staked SPS needed at each rating level to maintain the same reward multiplier.
• Introduce Wild Season Permit: Players must purchase a permit (2000 DEC/DEC-B or 40 VOUCHER tokens) each season to participate in Wild format, reducing bot accounts and increasing rewards for remaining players.

Expected Outcomes:

• Reduced bot accounts: Decreased number of bots, preventing easy exploitation of rewards.
• Improved game dynamics: Players facing higher-level opponents in Wild, encouraging a return to Modern format and improving match liquidity.
• Financial impact: Permit fees will burn DEC/Voucher tokens, enhancing the ecosystem's health.

Numbers and Impact:

• Current statistics: Around 75k unique Wild accounts per season, with 30k playing more than 50 battles.
• Projected outcomes: Significant reduction in bot accounts, increased SPS rewards for remaining players, and a positive economic impact from burned tokens.

Governance Vote:

• Proposal does not require a governance vote but is put up for community feedback.
  Discussion scheduled for Town Hall call to gather additional feedback.

---

Well, I must say I have mixed thoughts about this. On one hand, I personally moved both my (MANUAL) playing accounts to the WILD format after the removal of League limits in the MODERN format because of the ridiculous no holds barred battles. Whilst WILD also had no such limitations, the proliferation of "easy" bots definitely made it more like the old system. This led to a lot of players with lower level decks also moving to WILD and enjoying the experience.

I won't say I have a solution, but hopefully, the upcoming public discussion will brainstorm more ideas for the team to take in before they make any drastic and rash implementation of changes.

---

💭🧐💭Ending Thoughts💭🧐💭

Well, it has been quite a journey for myself and I'm sure the feelings are mostly mutual amongst all the players who are still around. Anyone who has persevered through the bear market are most definitely loyal die hard fans of Splinterlands.

We are all sticking with the game and hoping to see a new and brighter dawn. This probably isn't entirely altruistic as existing players will obviously benefit the most from increasing valuation of their in game assets. It would be a well deserved pay out for keeping the faith though.

Here's to another year of Splinterlands. I'll definitely hope to be checking back on this post come the 7th anniversary next year! 😉

---

---

🤑💰🍕Added Bonus of PIZZA Token🤑💰🍕

_{I will use my staked 🍕PIZZA🍕 to share a slice of 🍕PIZZA🍕 with anyone in the comments who also FOLLOWS & REBLOGS my post in the interests of spreading the Word of Pizza 🤣🤣🤣
Just let me know if you've done that so I can easily keep track. 👍
Any fellow 🍕PIZZA🍕 connoisseurs who !PIZZA me will also receive 🍕PIZZA🍕 back from me. 😊}

📣🍕SHOUTOUT to HivePizza📣🍕

_{The guys over at PIZZA DISCORD have been very helpful throughout my Splinterlands journey. I strongly recommend that you guys check it out if you haven't already done so.
PIZZA is an active gaming and creative arts crypto community on the HIVE blockchain. Popular games on HIVE like SPLINTERLANDS, RISING STAR, EXODE, HASHKINGS, WOO, BANG!DEFENSE have their own PIZZA communities here.}

---

_{Don't miss out more events that are always being organised. Join the PIZZA DISCORD. Even if you aren't interested in the 💰🍕🎁GIVEAWAYS & AIRDROPS💰🍕🎁, there is a vibrant and friendly community there awaiting you.}

---

_{Here's to wishing everyone all the best for the upcoming week 🎉🍀.}

_{To any new players who wish to explore the world of Splinterlands, do feel free to sign up with my REFERRAL LINK😊.}