I am writing this post both to express a concern that I have, and to solicit opinions from the community, about the effect that one specific gameplay element will have on any future competitive gameplay which may occur: flag locks.
I am concerned because in a competitive setting between two teams of "pros", a match of demigod could very well be determined in the first 2 minutes of a match where one team locks down flags, and will then proceed to keep them locked for the remainder of the match. The resulting bonuses, be they +15 health or mana, 20% exp, gold mine, debilitating or whatever the flag is (not to mention the resulting warscore advantage) completly and totally justify the expense of the locks and teleport scrolls required to maintain complete map control for the entire duration of the game. Heck, a 250 gold flag lock is the best counter to a lvl 20 hero with 50k gold saved up but nothing to buy except artifacts that the game has.
On many maps, a coordinated team could easily coordinate permanent control of flags through teleport scrolls/favor items. At that point, barring some massive upset, the match is already largely determined. I have personally used this strategy extremely effectively, and I have been completely striken by both its power and the complete lack of any counter for it. To be honest, it almost seems to be a borderline exploit, as permanently locking a flag does not appear to be the gameplay intent of flags; rather I view them as strategic points on a map where skirmishes between demigods should take place, and where the winner of said skirmish will get a *temporary* bonus.
I really like the flag mechanic however. Getting rid of flag locks is not really an option as they can be required to end a late game stalemete through portal captures. Maybe the flag bonuses are just too powerfull, or maybe flag locks should be more expensive , or maybe flag locks should only stack to 1 in your inventory, or maybe the duration is too long. Perhaps it shouldn't be a true "lock", but rather a shield that could be burned down to allow capture after it goes down, or perhaps it could just make the arrow move more slowly to still allow the flag to be captured, or perhaps one shouldn't be able to lock onto a flag to port there if it's in the fog of war, or perhaps warscore should be based on a different mechanic than number of flags held multiplied by time held. I just have a gut feeling that some sort of change needs to occur with the flag locks .
Am I the only one that sees this as a potential problem? Yes yes both teams can do this so it theoretically balances out, but in reality it doesn't. So, what are your opinions?
