So there seem to be a lot of, "it's a challenge and I don't like everyone getting someone because it's less special" and also a lot of "it should be easy for everyone to get", and I don't really agree with either side.

I'm generally in this, "there's no obligation to give things away, so don't bitch it should be easier" camp (also, the people who think that more people being rewarded a digital tchotchke makes your digital tchotchke less valuable are retarded). That said, I think Hi-Rez missed a few major potholes with regards to this quest.

First, any event (gem weekends, double-whatever, etc.) bring out the most competitive in people. Which is understandable, but for many is also frustrating. Suddenly your "hop in and play" is swamped with assholes freaking out or F6ing immediately, feeding, whatever.

And given the nature of the bonus round (massive edge to burly characters and almost unfairly so with those who can throw people), coupled with it being held in Arena (which is, typically, a more casual game mode and more of a testing ground for gods and builds) make it a clash that can leave a lot of people, understandably, frustrated.

I typically play mages (something like 55% of my matches all-time are mages). Squishies are virtually useless in completing the arena quest. Doubly so a day in, now that teams routinely jump in with three or four tanks.

And I get it. It's a week-long event, and it's created this unique, weird meta in Arena of team comps and builds that work. And honestly, I think that's kinda cool. It'll be over soon, and in the meantime, it's been a great excuse to level-up some gods I don't normally play.

For me, the issue comes with the additional toxicity events like this (and especially with the kinda trolly nature of the bonus round) brings to Smite, and to an otherwise slightly more laid-back game mode.

In two days (and ~20 rounds), I finished the quest. But in that time, I think two or three rounds were semi-competitive in the Arena portion. The wacky comps means most teams are unbalanced. And this naturally leads to way more arguing, way more bitching in chat and a massive amount of quitting.

I've seen so many people rage-quit and sit in base this week. Or say "fuck it" and just wait it out until the bonus round. Or just feed, going 0/12 as a Rank X god (seriously), because who cares until the bonus round.

And none of that touches on the frustrating design of the bonus round. It requires such a small set of gods and actives to survive more than a few seconds... it's not fun.

And to those who say, "it's a quest, it's meant to be hard and challenging and robble robble robble," okay... sure. But it should also be fun. Getting ten Arena wins (something I chose to do) wasn't fun. And I'm glad it's done, and won't play Arena again until the event is over.

At the end, it's only around a week. It's not the end of the world, and the quest is optional. But I do, personally, think the bonus round and balance of it was pretty poorly-designed and has sucked a lot of fun out of a portion of the game for a little while.