Personal reasoning
First, a disclaimer: This is my opinion. Though I am doing my due diligence by researching and attempting to broaden my experience, your experience may differ greatly from mine. I am not advising anyone to make investments, I am just allowing you all to see what I am going through.
So I had been writing exclusively on the game Doctor Who: Worlds Apart. I realized that my experience was limited to gaming outside of the block-chain. I was looking at it in terms of NFTs (collectibles) and the game itself (from the point of view of physical card games). This point of view was extremely limiting. So I decided to start playing other block-chain or NFT games. I did some basic research and read some articles here on PublishOx. I found a few possible options for feasible comparisons. I started trying to get myself some Axies for Axie Infinity, and I started playing Splinterlands. I found quite a few barriers and realized just how out of my element I truly was.
Barriers
There are many gates to figure out if one wants to play NFT or block-chain based games. The most important is that you absolutely must be well-versed in crypto currencies and the way they are exchanged. I will first admit that I truly wanted to play Axie Infinity but absolutely could not get enough money into their system to make any purchases. The gas fees that I found for transferring funds through crypto currencies in several levels prevented me from buying event a single Axie. After installing three different programs to transfer money around in the crypto markets, I just gave up. So I moved on to a game that would allow me to start playing without actually owning anything: Splinterlands.
Splinterlands was playable from day one, but it did involve an initial investment of $10usd. Now, I was able to directly pay this from my basic account with no transfers or additional fees. So I started playing. I realized quickly that if I wanted to have any meaningful experience, I needed more cards. So I tried to buy some. I found that this was extremely difficult. Again, I found that I needed a crypto currency, this time specifically DEC (Dark Energy Crystals). To this day, I haven't found an exchange where I could actually just buy some.
Even without the ability to buy DEC, I was able to continue playing. After a few weeks, I was able to earn DEC in game and begin advancing my Power Level (an in-game balancing feature meant to match you against players of roughly the same ability). Power level also determines the maximum rewards you can earn through the daily quests and the ranked seasons (which last about 2 weeks). It is through these rewards that I was able to progress. It takes time, but it's there. I was even able to participate in a tournament.
Gameplay
Splinterlands has a very accessible gameplay. It takes literally seconds to get through a game (once it loads) - unless you decide to watch the match in detail. This allows you to get through many games in a relatively short time. The learning curve on how the game works also very short. Once you know how a few basic gaming principles work, you can easily play and even start winning. Then, advancing is also easy as you start winning games (even if it takes a long time at first). I was able to trade my earned DEC for cards on the marketplace and combine cards all within the system. There is a directly purchasable resource, but the entire time I've been playing (admittedly only about 2 months) I haven't seen anything to purchase with that particular in-game currency.
Comparatively, I can already see that the gameplay at DWWA will be longer and more in-depth than the play of Splinterlands. The learning curve will be steeper, but if you've played popular CCGs, you'll be able to pick it up fairly quickly.
Why will DWWA be better than Splinterlands?
In my humble opinion, DWWA will be a better game and a better investment than Splinterlands. While I am enjoying Splinterlands, I realize that this is only because I'm looking to play a game (any game at this point) that allows me a nice, smooth experience. Splinterlands - while fun - doesn't really scratch my itch for a deep game. It may get better with higher levels of play, and playing in a tournament allowed for a deeper gameplay through limitations on specific mechanics and such. But at a beginning level, the gameplay is quick and the strategies I use to win are admittedly basic and shallow. On the other hand (even though the game is not yet playable) DWWA has given me enough to look at that I can see a complex, deep dive already into strategy and possible counters.
Importantly, DWWA is using an already popular IP (intellectual property) which will keep the values higher and will help the initial collectability of the NFTs. In fact, even without the game, the NFTs for DWWA already have a higher average value than the comparable ones from Splinterlands. This may be due to the fact that Splinterlands cards are accessible and ownable with just the $10 initial investment. DWWA is not yet at a point where you can earn rewards with little to no monetary investment. But the popularity of Doctor Who as a series is certainly a factor we cannot ignore. **EDIT I was reminded - once again - on the discord (Thank you yet again Ian!) that DWWA does have a reward system active. Pandeks are earnable currency for doing pretty much nothing (just signing in on a daily basis) or by participating in the many contests on the discord and other social media mediums. I must admit, while I don't participate in the contests they have been so much fun to watch. The most important piece to all this editing is that you can buy packs at all times using the Pandeks.
There are also fewer barriers in DWWA. The fact that after months of playing, I still can't just buy DEC is frustrating. In DWWA I have already been able to directly purchase packs and cards, a thing I have not been able to do in Splinterlands. While I understand that there is apparently an upcoming pack that I will be able to directly buy, the inability to do so in my first month of playing has been infinitely disappointing (and don't get me started on Axie infinity, I spent $60 and still don't have a single Axie).
Conclusion
After reading several other people's articles, trying for months to buy NFTs, and playing Splinterlands for a while, I have come to a conclusion. DWWA will be the best thing to happen to NFTs since the block-chain was created. My reasoning is three-fold. Other block-chain games are not backed by a recognizable IP and are far too simple in their functionality (in some cases I'd hesitate to actually call them games). Other CCGs that are playable at the complexity that DWWA will show are not block-chain compatible and thus don't have the same collectability . Finally, other NFT-based things have far too many barriers that I don't see being a problem in DWWA.
In other words, I'm just waiting for the game to be playable. Once it is, I will likely be playing DWWA exclusively. I see no point in playing other games with the same regularity that I plan to dedicate to DWWA. I will likely keep playing Splinterlands, but with a lack of complexity and such a short time investment for each game, there will really be no comparison.
