Before anything else. I suggested a captcha in a previous post and thought people would click the link to view it that would do something to (all those places I say click here for additional solutions from a previous post is said article). However despite how many people think a captcha is a good idea, every time it goes to feedback it is massively downvoted for some reason.

Thanks so so much for responding, I have respect for you as a card player and have enjoyed my matches against you in ranked and tournaments (often enough suffering defeat but always having fun). And you raised good points in your comments about scaring people, so I added a little section for people to read before they get the wrong idea in what I want this article to do.

The purpose of this article was not to just be doomy and gloomy (however I did want to get people's attention), but what I wanted was to have people speak their thoughts on this and have it be a public forum of discussion. And for such a good response which splinter would you like for your random RARE delegation for 15 days?

I added a section based on replies to preemptively answer and questions and sort of also explain how the article was not meant to knock the pack sale numbers (or the devs) or how many packs there are. And clear up some things about the intent of this article for those reading it. You have no idea how much I appreciate the feedback and comments.

I created a proposal actually also (615) if you want to vote on it, but I didn't want to seem like I was only promoting my proposal in this post (but I have since added it to this post as per your suggestion) this was to have the community submit their own solutions. Not mine alone. Submit what anyone thinks will work for player retention. I also added a section to clear up my intent in this article aswell, I wasn't trying to be a doomsday preacher. Overall I have hope and love Splinterlands (read my little section where I talk more about how much I respect the development and though into the gameplay) but think botting shouldn't be a "phantom player" statistic and more people should participate in the feedback section. Whatever your thoughts are.

I think continued transparency is important, and developers being active with the community is a good thing. However I think they should hire a PR person for the projected future of the project (The Biggest Leagues, because I believe the game itself is worthy of being at the table). If botting was transparent so that anyone hopping in (web2.0 users new to hive etc.) would know what they are jumping into, then maybe they would be even be more into it because of that fact. Rather than finding out about it later through their own research and potentially being soured or feeling tricked. This is a matter of perspective, as personally I don't mind bots as opponents. HOWEVER, It's when bots fight bots. It's the perspective of bots fighting bots SHOULDN'T make income. Bots fighting people should have that income potential and is a part of the game that is unlikely to go away. And if bots only earned when they beat a person that is more than fair. Bots should just not earn against another bot at least.

Again, I'm super appreciative of your reply and have nothing but respect (on and off the battlefield). Let me know which splinter you would like for your rare delegation. You earned it by saying your thoughts concisely and not pulling punches. Feel free to comment on this comment too, as the overall goal of this post was discussion.