Flags are fine to me, they give you something to strive for, mini-goals that can be accomplished by people who don't like just march up, get gold and exp slowly and then destroy towers. A kind of build up to the citadel if your on Conquest Mode. The new mode would be useful, as sometiems you just want blood and none of the hopping about on flags. In anycase, you have a rather valid point that they do cause a distraction from killing other DGs.

Flags and the bonuses they provide are the incentive to control territory. It creates goals to strive for, it forces teamwork and creates hotspot territory wars.

Play a few games of Fortress: Notice how the dearth of flags tends to center action in one spot for the most part... the main creep lanes. In every other mode, the large variety of flags give you a reason to walk around and do stuff, and a bigger incentive to stay in your lane... or at least invest in a flag lock if you intend to leave it.

Crucible is, yet again, odd man out. All its flags are off by themselves, and especially the lower two flags are a death sentence to send demigods to, sometimes.

Crucible needs to be taken out behind the shed and put out of its misery.