I quit playing the ladder because there's just no competition in my range, which makes it no fun anymore. I agree this needs a fix, but I'm uncertain what might work.
Deflect on the board makes no sense whatsoever, folks keep crying about how the board is a mechanism for punishment, so then why is deflect an option there? You are on the board for a reason, defend as hard as you want, don't deflect.
Nor does it make sense on the ladder, if you opt-in, be prepared to take hits.
GVG and normal play are the only places for deflect. This is a good suggestion that doesn't ask for any change to deflect, just reasonable limitations on where it can be used.
In fact, even in normal off-ladder PVP, if an attack is deflected, it should not be bountyable, to me that's equivalent to double dipping. The attack was deflected, what is there to bounty for? To teach a lesson and prevent future attack I'll hear some say, really? Does it work? All it is to any PVP player or gold thief is an invitation for more hits for being overly punitive in what is after all a PVP game! Protect your gold better and you likely will rarely ever be a target for out for the blue hits.
I couldn't agree more. Deflect is annoying as it is, and it would be nice if it were removed from bounty and ladder hits. And being bountied for a deflected attack is just lame. My 2 cents.