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The moment has arrived and the Rift Watchers Presale is now live. And, I am hoping that I am able to  grab some in this round, because essentially, I want the legendary drops. I am not sure if they are going to be as good as the blight, but still, I am sure they will be okay. 

>Worth the money?


*Probably not.*

But it's just paper.

![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/241QXfSzUMHErVi166QTR7T5UaMYBJatmx7QbajvvnPpJ7YKjuC7ueZntyj1nu6men1cn.png)

Not even - 

# it is 0s and 1s

![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/EoJy6GVBEBDTYTzW5oqhB6x9wgQwGXjfcrnYLcL1776dzYAqZDGS9jC84qQS2NGxr9S.png)

>This will be my last large purchase for Splinterlands.

*I always say this.*

But, perhaps I mean it this time. After all, the money to buy has to come from somewhere and I don't have an endless supply. At some point, I am going to have to start earning on this too, since it is *meant to be* an investment - not just entertainment. I am hoping that LAND will be able to put at least some of my cards into a cycle of better earning potential, but I am not sure if it is going to ever cover the outlay. As someone who was by no means early in, I am well in the red and will likely be for some time to come. 

>Am I crazy?

*Are we crazy?*

Yes.

But, crazy is what crazy does and if this is what crazy looks like, at least we are crazy in a way that people have the chance to improve their lives, by being part of a new industry yet to take hold globally. If it takes hold. 

# So, what was I able to grab?


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/23uQGLWETFDZAWVFCsm9tWt7jqjoVJbkrK6KFhqozh8zqgp3sDUBsNe5tN31Vo3kKgs4P.png)

And I had these within the first minute of go live. 


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/23t76kUhd1sKwxHyG3wGe3bP1hAxCHw19g9oCdkxxvSV1zq3PPqgP1GpqJ1ZBBMbcxuSt.png)


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/Eo6BjQP9EyctxR6BwSwpy4qNLkv2UYXEAg76MToEPoaQDtAbkkqQ6mqGHGfxUMqQEzU.png)



After 4 mins:


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/23tRsveWYDL71HBeLVKcUkSw71FP9jfvY5PeG9z6YZU6yNJRzpM48gYxsozvHaExn4t93.png)

For those counting, that is 2.8 million worth of SPS spent, plus 563,000 vouchers - in 4 minutes. The presale 500K went in under two minutes. 

And fourteen minutes later:


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/23t773K27dNV26bSeKfFyp953tXoeHxAcDn3AfmahmshVwvSxkBD3aaRbEuADLpmaew9z.png)

That is another node license. I have four now - but *1000* have sold today. That is driven by the slightly higher value of SPS and the extra vouchers floating around. I hadn't enough myself, so had to loan some from a friend. If I remember correctly, 80% of that SPS is burned - so that is about 16M SPS that will be taken out of the supply. - Around 2% of the total. 

# Success?

Well, for Splinterlands at least and remember, that even though they put all the work in to create the release, the SPS will go into the DAO fund, which will then be directed by the staked Splinterlands community in the future, so what happens to it from here is going to be interesting too, as it could return more value back into the community in various ways or, *be burned.*

>I am pretty excited

*And relieved.* 

I know that a lot of people didn't think this would go so fast, but those who really wanted the cards, are also those who have been collecting SPS the last year through the drop on their very generous holdings, collecting vouchers too, so it is a no brainer that they are going to spend on these. Getting in from outside is expensive - from inside, *far less so.* But of course, there is an opportunity cost involved, though for many, the opportunity far outweighs the cost, especially for those early in users who with relatively minimal investment, have made *a fortune.*

>Am I bitter?

No! It is *fucking awesome* that people are actually churning life-changing amounts of value through Splinterlands and all on Hive - it is brilliant! 

>How come there is no mainstream press on this shit?? 

But, I don't mind it being a little fringe for now either - it gives me time to make some inroads and invest, before they do start to flock. I just hope that the Splinterlands Team don't spread their focus too wide into other games so that they break their attention on the core. Spreading too thin can be a disaster for a company, and that is what they are - a company. 

>How many companies dilute their ownership and power to their users?

*Not too many.*

The model of business is changing and has been for sometime with the way SaaS has taken over in many of the consumer-facing products, as well as the backend business products. While it is a rent model, it s one that requires constant contentment from the audience, otherwise they will abandon ship - they will churn.

The model that Splinterlands uses is a bit different though, as it encourages ownership of the SaaS model, so usage comes with return, making it far less likely that user churn happens at the investor level. I wonder what the player churn is on Splinterlands - I wonder how many significant investors have *sold everything* and taken off? It would be interesting to see the numbers - but I suspect, *the percentage is relatively low.*

But now - it is time for me to step away - after spending the whole day in anticipation of this moment and, the adrenaline of getting in at the change of the splash page and purchasing all the packs I will get from the Rift Watcher set. 

>Is 2400 enough?

*I hope so.*

Time to relax.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]


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