As someone with 300 days played and a dozen 4* champs and no 5* leveled, this hurts me too. I play in a competitive alliance and now I am hurting their chances at t100placement, especially during new release events.
No one complains about lower clearances needing 4* heroes even though it’s very unlikely a new player would have any, because no one drops down to rob noobs. Solve the issue by making SC8 and 9more lucrative, not by making SC 7 worse.
I feel the need to clarify a little. First, I don’t care that people “slum” for less rewards and less time. If there is a reward in game for having a massive roster, it is mostly the flexibility to use that roster in the way that you find most fun.
I do understand, however, that people become accustomed to playing a certain way under the established rules, and changes to those rules can upset that plan and cause frustration.
So, if you have a 5* player as part of a top alliance, obviously this change makes it more appealing to play up if you want the overall alliance score to be higher. This can help SCL7ers if you move some of the most competitive folks to higher SCL’s.
If the 5* node is worth less points, it makes a more even playing field between SCL7 folks who have the 5* and those who don’t. (The change probably won’t make it possible to be a top 10 finisher without the 5, but that partly depends on what others do. It does make hitting t100 for a new release easier.)
Making the node easier also levels the playing field in SCL7, so if you have a low covered 5, you can hang in there better. It also makes buying a cover from HfH more appealing since you may be able to finish well with just a 1 cover character.
If you are upset as a high level player enjoying fast clear times, then you perhaps need to evaluate the balance of time spent in game for rewards (whether as a top alliance member or not).
I am doubtful that this change will make hitting progression in SCL7 - assuming you are hitting the 5 node - take significantly longer. Maybe you do a few more clears on one of the hard nodes?
Obviously, making rewards better at higher SCLs would have a stronger effect, but that probably isn’t currently in the cards from the developer’s point of view.