#1 - Nov. 22, 2016, 12:45 a.m.
We are all well aware of the issues that botting is beginning to present to the community. It is very disheartening when I myself am willing to spend 30 hours a week to earn a spot on the LB, and finding out that someone who is botting can play 5 hours a week even, just running GR's, earn 4000 paragon etc......
Bottom line, if you want to bot and break the rules, I could care less. However, when your cheating affects me and what I want to attain, we begin to have an issue.
If there was a way to at least mitigate the damage caused by botting, I would certainly be more open to continuing my pursuit of finishing top 100-500 each season (goal based on time available).
What if they capped the "USEABLE" paragon when trying to qualify on the LB's. For this example lets just say that you can only use 800 paragon when qualifying for a LB spot. This amount is open for debate among the community as to what a healthy number would be to strike a good balance between rewarding those that play often, while minimizing the gains of botting ever so slightly.
Some Pro's:
1 - Botting would be less effective due to a limit of useable paragon. The difference between 800 paragon and 4000 paragon is 3200. Take that *5 and we are talking about a massive 16,000 main stat, or a likely 150% increase in damage.
2 - We may actually see more variety and competition on the LB's. Rather than the top 10 spots being the META build that scales well, limiting the clears to 800 paragon would certainly change the mechanics of how players clear the content.
3 - The game would be more open to competition on all levels. If only 800 paragon could be used in LB clears, even a casual that plays 5 hours a week could compete for a top 1,000 spot with 550-600 paragon assuming they understand their build and how to push effectively.
4 - You can still use all "EARNED" paragon for farming higher GR's to get legendary gem upgrades, more gear, etc....
Some Cons(Only one atm that I can think of):
1 - Players that legit earn and grind the paragon may feel it is unfair to punish them by reducing the amount of useable paragon when qualifying for a LB spot.
2 - Botters would still have more mats for crafting items, more bloods to roll for gear, more keys to run Greaters, etc.... but at least the benefit of botting would be minimized.
Those are the only cons I can think of, and I would be curious to hear more from the community.
Regarding the idea that it would be unfair to those that play more, I would like to ask why? If you play more, you will still have better gear, higher legendary gems, more keys to fish with, etc....
In the end, I think having a check box that asks if you are trying to qualify for a LB spot with your clear, which then limits the amount of paragon you can use, would be a very healthy addition to the game, EVEN WITHOUT CONSIDERATION OF BOTTING, which is just a healthy side affect of the change.
Look at it this way, by capping paragon at 800, we would essentially be getting challenge rifts, the way they should have been. A fun open competition for all players, but a more equal playing ground for even more intense competition.
I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts regarding this suggestion.
Thanks,
Demonmonger