I only grab speed upgrades sometimes. Sometimes the extra HP, armor, mana, or special ability is far better. I tend to try to trap people and ambush more than run down. Just depends on the map, enemy demigods, and my mood.

However, it is pretty rediculus when you have an unclean beast with a run speed of like 10.2 or something.

It has always been a dumb mechanic.  +Speed is very, very powerful so boots of speed end up a mandatory item and swift anklet has always been one of the best favor items.

I think it should be changed so +speed items no longer stack and you only get the best +speed bonus.  This would allow them to rebalance the boots and put +speed on a few more of them, balancing them much better.  Right now most of the boots are total crap.

It would also make the swift anklet a more unique favor item, it would give you a slight speed edge on the enemy until artifacts start rolling out, at which point the enemy can match your speed for 12k.  Part of what makes the swift anklet so necessary is how it stacks with all the other speed items and if you don't take it you get further and further behind the enemy.  A few demigods (mainly rook) function in a way where they don't need the swift anklet, but many need the item to keep up in the speed race.

Why remove them? I asked if you like this game mechanic?

And having the same armor on two different demigods is different then having speed boots on both of them - what if one depends on skills damage and the other autoattack? Whereas speed boots have identical effects on both.

The actual problem is not necessarily the speed - it is the fact that you can attack WHILE MOVING.  This is fantastically broken.  They will be continuously wailing on you for as long as you can run and there is literally no escape.

They don't even need to be faster, they can chain attack you while moving at the SAME SPEED.

You should need to be stationary while attacking.  Now same speed heroes get one shot on a fleeing target.  Chasing someone results in far less casualties.

Its great I love it, a 7.5 Speed Rook is amazling fun

I actually think this is a bug.  He's the only one that can't.

Any *1v1* fight against someone that does not have slowing abilities, of which many people do.  I wouldn't have a problem with that.  And two heroes on you wouldn't change much.

And with that logic you should be stationary for a very small duration when you get hit. That would be a horrible idea to cause someone chasing a fleeing target to cause them to stop every time they want to hit.  Running away is already easy enough in this game, no need to make it any easier.  Also this would be more of a disadvantage to the melee classes that don't have long-range abilities/attacks because they would get less attacks in on a fleeing target, while still risking themselves in enemy territory.

this aint even worth my time

I can see I'll have to clean out my intro and just get to the point, because people are not catching what I'm actually asking here. I'm not looking for tips to get away or catch people, I'm not asking for a nerf or buff, I'm asking:

Do people like how it is right now?

Yes I do have my own (perhaps premature) suspicion regarding the importance of speed in this game - which you've caught on to. However, I don't want that to cloud what I'm really after here - what other people think about the whole +speed item game mechanic. And let's ignore Swift Anklet for a second here (I agree there are other fantastic items) - are Boots and Wand of Speed really that expensive in the grand scheme of an average game?

I'm not.

The so called " speed arms race" only exists because currently the game exists as nothing but a lot of assassins. Even the generals are, in large, played as assassins.  When the kinks are worked out and competitive play emerges then a more team focused strategy will take the lead.  Until teams quit competing for the right to claim most kills and simply focus on winning, IE: having heroes that push as well as complimentary assassins / protectors, then its going to be a race for speed because everyone is focused on the kills.

Example: I guarantee if you put me and two buddies in a match, two of us will play assassins as assassins, one of us will play someone with the sole purpose of pushing.  That pusher in no way needs boots.  Hes never going to need to run away because he's got teamates that cover him and take care of the assassinations.  The only movement he needs is a teleport to base and back for upping citadel and buying his start items + consumables.  Even my two assassins aren't going to try and whore out every +speed gear there is, because they play smart. Theyre going to let you come into our defenses far enough that a partner can port in behind or come in from a lane behind (such as the middle 2 horizontal lanes on levithian) and cut you off.  Or theyre going to make sure and whittle, whittle, burst; they wont give you the chance to try and escape, thus negating the boots.  And hey, even if you get away- OH WELL.  Theyve still accomplished a couple things: moved you from your lane so we can push it, cost you experience by removing you from your lane, and removing a potential threat from our pushing player.  In fact, some quick math shows that the kill is actually quicker for you to return to combat (in some maps):

Die: ~30 seconds of penalty

Escape: either time to walk or port to base. If you port to base you either walk back or wait 30 seconds for the port cooldown.

Bottom line: speed items or there functionality isnt an issue in my opinion, its easy enough to counter through survivability, more offense, or simple avoidance through playing more defensive.  It costs the player way too much, not in gold really, but in the opportunities missed by using those item slots for speed instead of something else.