!LOL Back to bots, first thing. I totally agree with @mattclarke on this one. In the early days the only people who were botting were those who could write the code themselves or find someone for hire, and pay for the work and maintenance, neither of which is particularly player friendly.

Now botting has become an economy in and of itself, and I think that epitomizes what Splinterlands and Hive are supposed to be in favor of, anyway. A level playing field for anyone to bring what they have to compete for as big of a piece of pie as they can honestly earn. Banning, frankly, shits all over that.

Lol, sorry to cut you off at 5:54, @bobaphet but you seem like you're about to pass by a complaint I'd like to interject into the discussion. @giotrix mentioned it in the episode before last I believe, but it warrants mentioning, here, too. I paid to max out cards because I want to play max level battles. having to start in a ranking that caps my levels frustrates me. I appreciate having to earn my way back each season conceptually, but in practice it's annoying to not be able to get the full power of my cards for most of the season. Bots allow me to play more on my own terms. They can do the tedious work of getting me back into higher leagues, then I can take over when I feel like it, or not, without the frustrations of having to scratch and claw my way back to where I was before I can scratch and claw to move forward.

Moving on, around 11 minutes when @mattclarke is talking about watching every battle... I haven't really thought of it in the terms of "showing your work", but that makes a lot of sense. Lately, unless I'm playing manually and watching in real time, I've only been watching battles won by the bot... so I know who to $KOG, for one thing, but also, it's just a nice way to spend a few minutes. I'm going to have to rethink that and maybe actually "study" a bit more.

@bobaphet I've had similar experiences with knowing something without knowing how I know it, and my experience makes me think it was something of a matter of being able to imagine the out come but not work through it... like I had solved the problem creatively, but logically I still didn't quite grasp it. Once I learned the logical path, the creative just sort of gave way from then on out, since for problem solving logic is a more reliable tool than imagination, in the modern world at least. Also, I might have just rambled a lot of bullshit, so you guys watch your step as you navigate that last part.

OMG! Are you not entertained?! It's a trap! A MOTHER FUCKING TRAP!! You can't not use fucking Quora if fucking Quora is an option! Goddamn it, my ranking is fucked for the next 2 seasons until I get gladiators out of my system.

But you did bring up a good point. If soul bound reward cards will be eligible for conversion to fungible, why wouldn't Gladiator cards enjoy the same benefit?

Totally agree with @giotrix about the martyr ability. Just because it's death is a benefit doesn't mean you gotta cash it out right up front. Particularly with the fungus flinger, which gives blind until it dies to grant that +1. Sacrifice seems to work best for the weaken/redemption builds.

LMAO!! First battle! I was betting on @giotrix. I thought armor would give him enough protection for all his magic to take out @mattclarke 's front row, but I wasn't sure if he'd be able to hold out long enough for bonesmith to leech enough life to hold the first position. Poison and stun really made the difference, though.

I also thought Bob was gonna take the gio match for a second, too. It didn't last long, though, but for one shining moment it looked possible.

Can't stop !LOL 'ing at Matt "Two Losses"! Swing by the glory hole and we'll gripe about Dr.Blight not poisoning with you. Son of a bitch he is.

Later guys. I'm out. NINJA SMOKE TELEPORT... silent mystery... fade to black.