As Torn continues to grow stat monsters and assists are more and more valuable during wars of all kinds to take people down.
I think the extra respect the assist gains in a fight should be split with the ones who are making the assist. Not the full respect just the small amount that the assist multiplier gives.
Essentially the person who makes the kill gets the majority of respect but the small bit added on from the assist gets split between those who assisted in the kill.
There are many lower level/stat people working hard in ranked wars gaining 0 respect and 40+ assists. I know its a small amount, but in a game with this kind of longevity, that adds up. Many fights cannot be won without 1 or more people joining in to help.
This also puts a lot of newer players behind in gaining respect towards merits. Where before Ranked wars a player would gain 500-1000 respect in chaining with the same energy being used in Ranked wars is no gaining 0 respect due to assists.