When I first joined Steem Monsters I was looking for a community of like-minded people looking to advance the Steem blockchain and to have a little fun along the way.
And for the first few months, I couldn't have been happier.
But now the bots are here it feels like they are destroying the community and the energy within. However, bots aren't the problem, they are actually the solution.
WTF!
Yeah, you heard right, the bots aren't ruining the game, they are just highlighting the problem.
The Real Problem
People just want a competitive game.
Yeah, when you click 'Battle' in all honesty people just want to play a competitive game.
Sure there are incentives to winning more than losing but if you win some and lose less you'll probably be happy enough to keep trying.
win some and lose less
The real problem at the moment is highlighted when people reach the 'Diamond League'.
At 'Diamond League', you can be paired with players from The 'Champion League' as you now have zero summoner restrictions so you start getting matched with maxed teams.
And this is where the bots with maxed teams start making this game less FUN. As they beat you down, battle after battle as they claw their way up the leaderboard +10 points at a time.
Ultimately for a 100 SBD prize.
Bots don't have emotions and can do this all day long. (That's why this season the max player rating, for top players, is likely to be over 20K more than it was last season)
And if you look at the top battles in any given conflict, 90% of the teams are exactly the same. Again no FUN!
Side Note: The other perceived problem with bots is they can be used for pack farming, but I have other thoughts on this too. Regardless, hang onto your hats as I might solve that problem as well.
A Possible Solution
So if we can all agree, having a chance of winning every game based on your skill and not the size of your wallet will improve this game, maybe we can make this game more FUN.
And you probably wouldn't even care if you were playing a bot as a win is a win, isn't it?
And this is not a hard problem to solve either.
Every game you play should be against the same level summoner.
Yeap that's right, you'll have an equal chance of beating someone else if you both have the same level summoner.
Why?
Because the 
So how would this work?
Well, instead of everyone holding summoners from level 1-8 for each splinter, in the interface you could select the level of summoner you want to play.
Then the interface would limit the rest of the cards in your team similar to what it does now for different leagues.
Of course, you'd still need to own these higher level summoners if you wanted to play them so collecting and maxing cards would still be a thing.
Nobody can be pissed competing on a level playing field, can they?
And if you wanted to test your skills against higher level teams then you make the choice to play a higher level summoner with the lower level cards you own.
There is nothing like the feeling of crushing a team with lower level cards when it's a choice you make and not against an auto-assigned maxed bot team.
But surely we don't have a big enough player base to sustain this sort of matchmaking 24x7?
Or do we?
Bots are Part of the Solution
So if you accept this idea, maybe we can talk about making bots part of the solution and not the problem.
Yes, 
In fact, I'm sure a tweak in the matchmaking algorithm could also ensure these bots have a lower priority and are only used as a backup when a 'real player' match can't be found.
This would only be a temporary requirement until the player base supports auto-matching and could also be supplemented with community bots to ensure this is a more distributed game.
Oh, and the bot team difficulty could be refined over time so it's not too hard to play against and not too easy, as nobody enjoys playing against a 1 card team, ever!
A Level Playing Field
OK, so how would the season work with this solution in place?
Well essentially, it would be the same although the league restrictions currently in place would be removed, as you can choose which level summoner you play in any league.
But to stop people just playing single level decks and reaching higher reward tiers with botting, the points awarded for a win should be scaled per summoner level.
Summoner Win Max Points
Level 1 - 5
Level 2 - 10
Level 3 - 15
etc.
Thus, if you play with a lower level summoner you earn fewer points for a win and lose fewer points for a loss.
Of course, if you put your balls on the line and play maxed decks the win-loss value should be higher, and perhaps similar to what it is today.
And because 'player bots' are playing against 'real players' on a level playing field, it'll be much easier to counter their deck if one exists.
So based on the fact that @SteemMonsters have put so much time into balancing cards, there is usually a deck that will beat another. This gives real players a chance to counter the bot decks that simply play the same team over and over again.
Oh, and because bots will be forced to play each other, in their chosen tier, the +10 point matches will no longer exist, and the bots will have a harder time grinding to the top as they experience more losses.
Then maybe someone like 
Conclusion
Making matches on a level playing field is the only solution here, and will ensure bots have to play bots, which is not happening enough at the moment.
I've been saying this for a long time, and it'll ensure the NOOBS joining this awesome community can enjoy the FUN of Steem Monsters even with just a Starter Deck.
Which is what I've promoting all along.
After all, more new players will grow a community quicker than fewer rich ones.
Good Luck Have Fun!