This is a thought provoking post, doc. I think it reaches out beyond Rabona to most blockchain games. I think we both agree that blockchain games WILL have bots. This is simply because, there is not enough human players. This is a fact.
That being said, we saw what mis used of bots can do to Splinterlands, and how it was handled, I would argue quite effectively. Any game runs of balance of rules, and proper distribution of in-game wealth.
I think our cumulative suggestions will address this problem in a effective way. From my point of view, I see a lot of blockchain players/developers do not have a long term vision. This is an endemic problem. It should be our constant effort to think about the greater good of the blockchain. We need to make any/all games more appealing to the masses, so that people play more. People use more, enjoy more and use this blockchain as much as possible.
Absolutely dada. There will be bots and that's fine. Even splinterlands still has bots but see how the complains about bots has gone down to zero. That should be the ideal balance....bots can and will exist, without any "unfair" advantage. Bots will have certain advantages, that's a given, but as long as it's not unfair we don't really have any problem.
Even regarding the issue at hand, rabona, there has been botting for a while now and it's an issue only now because of the unfarness in the timing. Once that gets fixed, I'm sure we'll move forward.
Splinterlands is indeed set the standard and showed a resilient way to handle bots, there's lessons to be taken from there.
This needs fixing and the way is to stop looking at blockchain games as "money making games." I know it's hard to ignore that when there's an opportunity to make money, but playing for the fun of playing is healthier for any ecosystem.