I see there is vitriol when it comes to Bots, Battle Helpers, and any other, "Automated Assistant".

I get it.

You want a fair playing field

But you have 3 elements that will make that an impossibility.

1. There are Rewards
2. There are always Imbalances
3. Do you want Decentralisation?

There are Rewards

Anytime, that you have rewards on offer you will always incentivise ingenuity - and not always for The Greater Good.

Pirates roamed the Oceans in order to pilfer the riches of Nations.
Nations, hired Privateers (Pirates), to reap the wealth of other Nations.
Nations created conglomerates, like the East India Company, to wage Commercial warfare against the competition.

You can sulk about it.
However, weatlh will attract all kinds, who will use all kinds of technology to maximise their returns.

There will always be imbalances

You figure that Bots are the reason you are losing.
Then, you figure that Battle Helpers are the reason you are losing.
Then, you will figure that certain cards should be banned, or nerfed, to explain why you are losing.

Then you will have IQ tests to ban people who are better players than you.

Then you will want to ban "rich people" who can afford more than you can.

Then you will want to ban "Communities", or Guilds, who pool resources together to maximise their returns.

And how do you shut down the 3 degrees of separation?
You know, like PC games used to have.
The hotline you would call to figure out how to pass a level.
Or the Chinese farm of players who would grind your, World of Warcraft Account, to max level while you were working.

What if, I don't use a Battle Helper, but my mate beside me tells me the team to pick - is that cheating?

To what definition can you have an equal footing?

Decentralisation

If you want a decentralised platform then you will need to toughen up.
You cannot send out the Enforcers to regulate an economy that you want to be decentralised.
How many resources do you despatch?
How many accounts do you ban, until, some poor sucker is banned unjustly?
Who will be the arbiters? How do you punish fairly, equally, over a game?

We are here for many motivations.
I know it is not perfect.
I ride the bumps and I relish the moments when the rewards fall my way.

Again, I re-emphasise, my catch phrase;

"Once upon a time, this game did not exist..."

We are riding the coat tails of an idea, germinated out of wonder, polished by the community, and is an amazing experience to be part of.

Solutions

We are in a macro-economic downturn.
The down forces that we feel in SPlinterlands are the same as any other part of the Global Economy - things are tough.

Japan's Central Bank is starting to print again, but they need to be careful not to spook the markets.
As the markets are only reliant on Unicorn Fairy Confidence Dust.

So, batten down your hatches, cause things will be uncertain for a while.

Also, the expanse of Splinterlands is wide.
We need to settle where we feel the most comfortable.

If you want to leave the game, go for it.
If you want to delve in other areas, also, go for it.

There are other Web3 projects, try them out, just like @Stever82 & @bulldog1205, have done.

If you can't afford to get out because of the downturn then hold on tight. Focus on other areas of enjoyment.

All of the assets in Splinterlands are affordable.

It is easy to complain. To throw salt.
But, it doesn't help.

The solution is to just participate, to play, to enjoy the whole environment that we are priviledged to be a part of.

@bobaphet Splinterlands 101, @thepeoplesguild, and many other content creators, are making Splinterlands a super fun, and informative, place to be!

You want to groan about "how unfair it is for you"? Go for it!

But, I'd rather focus on all of the amazing experiences that I have had.
How much value do you put on that?

Even the arguments about BOTS, Battle Helpers, Token Prices, Wen Land, Town Halls, Discords, Twitches ... and all FREE content!

And the Nay-Sayers are more than welcome.
I love reading the threads on Twitter and watching the content on YouTube.

There are issues that are to be worked upon.
We need a more fun on-boarding experience.
Many a person is averted as soon as I mention the "C" word.
Crypto scares the common folk.
So, we need a reason for them to play, without it being about earning.
Just like people play many casual games for no reason apart from playing a game.
$10 is not alot of money for most people, especially, when other forms of entertainment are much more expensive.
We just require the optics to change and to attract the casual dollar into a fun game experience.
The Tokenomics can come later - if that is of interest.

It is an amazing time!