Thank you for your thoughtful and considered response.
I think the parent post about legendary cards (and the need to quickly release 2 new legendary reward cards when new ones were already recently released) illustrates why they needed to stop allowing potions to be used on reward cards. It was just accelerating the speed of legendary cards too much.
I am looking at your account and it is mainly Level 1 cards. You have a Level 3 Delwyn and a handful of gold foil cards. The current inflationary rating system is distorting people's perceptions of what the leagues should be like. Instead of comparing it to what the leagues are like now, I think it is better to compare it to competing against accounts with appropriate leveled decks. Although Silver 1 might be "too easy and dull" to you right now, can your Level 1 deck consistently beat accounts with Silver level cards? I think the lower leagues will definitely be a lot more lively and competitive after this Power update.
"The current inflationary rating system is distorting people's perceptions of what the leagues should be like. Instead of comparing it to what the leagues are like now, I think it is better to compare it to competing against accounts with appropriate leveled decks."
+1
I am new here so I just have to ask this. Did Splinterlands try to adjust the so-called" inflationary rating system" before they come to this Power Level Lock idea? Cuz it all looks like the rating system isn't properly balanced for inflation to happen. A proper ranking system wouldn't have inflation problem, cuz it'd actually put Silver level players to silver league without the need of anything else -- and maybe the more skillful silver players would get gold by using silver cards better than most, but certainly not everyone of them would get to champions like now.
Now it just all sounds like "we don't know how to solve our faulty rating system that is actually giving out free ratings so everyone go up, so let's just roll in a hard block mechanic".
I remember reading about some sort of adjustment. I think it only impacted Champion tier players though. I don't know for sure how broad it was, but I didn't notice any changes personally.
Thanks for taking the time to reply!
While I don't like the potion change, I do understand it. Restricting the number of legendaries is reasonable. The problem is more along the lines of I am receiving all these potions which I can no longer use. Typically half my rewards are these potions which is highly discouraging since I'll probably get dozens of potions before I have earned enough DEC for a single booster. Rather than receiving a reward, I am effectively being told to spend more money.
Yes, I have mostly level 1 cards. I've only been playing since March and its been a long road just getting a single copy of the summoners I need. Since I'm playing for fun, and only playing until I complete my daily quest each day, having more options is a higher priority than leveling up. Its no fun using a -1 ranged summoner when no ranged monsters are allowed after all!
I can't really comment on facing silver level cards, its rare for me to see them. My opponents are usually obviously bots or accounts which are on par with my own. Certainly when I'm out leveled (or the one out leveling) the battles tend to be rather one sided, and those are no fun, but as I said, that's a rare situation to face.
I don't actually anticipate much change in my opponents from this power based bracketing. I'll probably still be stuck with all the bots. rus23-bot actually has a higher power level than myself for instance. More importantly though, the main part that makes it interesting is the rulesets. Unless I'm remembering incorrectly, its not until gold that you get the chance of having two different rules. Having to adapt to the rules is the strongest point of the game.
My biggest concern is I will be stuck in "easy mode", playing bots, with no hope for advancement or rewards without paying to win.
I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the competition factor after this change. One of the reasons for it was that everyone (level 1 to level 8 summoners) could make it to champion level with enough matches played... that is not fun... but in the new system, you will see true competition and they will even have their own leader boards for each league with separate rewards. You seem like you have an open mind and that's awesome. I think you will see within a month that this was a very wise decision (and necessary for the game to prosper going forward).
I do try to keep an open mind, so I'll reserve judgement until its released. Thanks for taking the time to reply!