Hey AZ,
I think there could be a danger of having this experiment depending on the vision motivating it. If its truly just a test to see how things will work, then I don't mind a test at all.
There is a hypothesis by the team that if we do this, then they expect certain things to happen. Some will be positive, some will be negative. We can all have our opinions of what is a positive or a negative result, but I think its vital that the team clearly states what "they think" will happen so we have a basis for evaluation later. In other words, "we are doing this to: 1) ... 2) ... 3) ..."... and "we expect the following things to happen as a result: 1) ... 2) ... 3) ..."
The way this is being done can be structured in many different ways, and already we've seen many suggestions about how it can be altered to be acceptable to a person's beliefs. Underlying those thoughts are definitely a fear that it won't be done a particular way, and thus creates automatic negativity.
Is this process worth it? Everyone can draw their own conclusions, but the team should definitely be aware that these conversations are taking place and be super sensitive to communicate when making such a big step.
This could fundamentally alter things in both directions, so I really hope as many issues as possible are addressed on a timely basis as possible so that nothing gets out of control.
If its truly a test, then that should be desired by everyone - the team and the community alike.
The problem with this way of thinking is that you can never truly measure the results until it’s too late.
If this new mode is released tomorrow, sure, some cards will go up, some tokens will rise in value, and everything will seem great... for a time.
But at some point, bot developers will catch on and figure out the best way to automate things. By then, it will be too late—the damage will already be done.
We need to learn from our mistakes. From the moment we started shouting at the team about bots to the moment they finally took action, a year or more had passed. The damage was done. It was, in fact, too late.
We can’t release this mode, spend resources on it, dilute player rewards, and then (six months down the line) realize we made an obvious mistake.
This needs to be stopped before it’s implemented, or it will be too late.
I do not think this will bring new players. I think it will only help a limited numbers of legacy players and bot farms. I am uncomfortable in running this experiment as well.
I fully understand all those points.