There is an unique card level-up system in Splinterlands, here are some ideas to make players want to level up their cards to Max Level...
The Problems With Card Levels
So common cards in Splinterlands have 10 different levels and to get a card to max level, you need to combine at least 400 cards which is a lot. With most packs containing 4 common cards, that's 100 packs on average to get one card to Max level. Kowing a single pack costs ~4$ (at DEC Peg) and there are ~30 common cards in a core set it really gets expensive to reach max level not even counting all the Rare, Epic, & Legendary Cards.
All this while many of the older common cards can be bought directly at max level for under 2$ due to the oversupply which is just ridiculous.
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Leveling Cards Destroys Value: Right now, each time you combine cards you pretty much destroy some of their value as they generally can be sold for more at lower levels for each BXC compared to Max Level. Especially in case the game would get hot again, everyone who kept single cards will benefit massively as those will go at prices multiple times more than the Max Level. This because max level on Classic cards no longer becomes affordable and there are simply far less buyers for them while all new players that come in start out at the lowest level creating a lot demand for them. So in a way, players are punished in a way for leveling their cards aside from the benefit of being able to play at higher levels.
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Gameplay Inequality: Another disadvantage of having card levels is that it very much adds to the Pay2Win experience and inequality. Especially since league levels were scrapped and max level can be used in bronze already. Also players that only are able to afford up to a certain level of cards sooner than later will get to face a wall where the card levels of their opponents is just too high to realistically beat creating gameplay that just isnt' fun.
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It Overcomplicates Things: Since each card has different stats and abilities at different levels, it makes the game overly complicated also because there are 600+ different cards already. This generally gives bots a big advantage as they aren't limited like humans when it comes down to the knowledge they can have.
Max Level Should Be The Norm (In Wild)
The advantage of Splinterlands played at Max Level is that it's the most fun as there are the most available abilities and stats. It also creates a more level playing field and far less info for players to remember. Cards right now are also generally affordable at that level. To me, the most logical choice would be to just swap Wild Mode with the new Survival Mode and create a new game mode instead which just uses Max Level Cards who are put available to players with a pay2Play entry fee of which part goes to card owners who provide their cards.
Other Ideas To Incentivize Card Level Ups...
To offset the capital destruction mechanic that comes along with Leveling up cards, some more things might be in place to encourage them.
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Re-introduce League Cap Requirements: The removal of Collection Power really messed up the incentive for players to hold cards and helped to collapse their value which sucks as players still see cards as their main investment in the game. Something that easily could be done in wild & Moderm is to re-introduce leagues and only allow players to go to a higher one if they hold a certain number of cards at the max level of that league. This would give an incentive for players to level up cards without making it crazy high requirements.
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Max Level Land Staking Bonus: Right now from what understand, the land staking is very linear with lower level cards getting an equivalent of rewards. If only the Max Level cards got just a +5% or +10% bonus, it would make max level cards on Land the norm and give a great incentive for players to level up their cards fully as it properly gets rewarded.
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Cheaper Packs: at 4$, packs now simply are way too expensive as they are set at peak bull market max extraction value for the team. This just makes it too high of a goal for new players to buy them and get cards at max level. If packs were put back at 2$, this would make it a lot easier and affordable for players to level cards and also more fun.
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New Max level Game Mode: I stick to the best thing that the Splinterlands team could do is to create a game mode where players pay2play with packs as rewards and an indirect way to buy them. This with limited choices and only Max level cards that are provided on land by players go passively earn part of the fees by doing so. This would make the game most fun, easy and affordable to enter for new players, easy for investors in assets to earn passive income, ...
Conclusion!
Right now, when you level up cards, it means you indirectly are destroying a lot of their value and there simply aren't enough incentives for players to reach Max Level which in my view in Wild should one way or another become the norm as it removes the Pay2Win aspect and makes Splinterlands less complex and more fun.
