OH Arena is part of the Multiverse. Okay. Thanks!

RazeExANGEL wrote:So how do these duels usually go down? Like, how are they initiated?

There are several ways to start a fight in the Arena board:

1) Ask someone via forum PM or the Multiverse Chat to fight you.
2) Alternatively, make a thread in the Battle Arena board, stating an open challenge to anybody that is interested.
3) Or, you can join a tournament that is taking place, provided they are still accepting applicants.

In the case of #1 and #2, rules and specifics of the fight can be decided between both fighters before the fight begins. Tournaments will usually have a set of rules and regulations that you must abide to in order to participate, but some may still allow for some wiggle room in individual fights between contestants.

Hm, reading through some of the older fights in this sub-forum is a bit depressing. I see a lot of abandoned fights, that start strong but suddenly die for no apparent reason, and also quite a bit of impossible last-second blocks or evasions and such, which are perpetuated by attacks that follow the general pattern of "I attack you in this manner but it's actually a feint and I'm attacking you in another way but if you don't acknowledge it as a feint then I somehow follow through with the fake attack and hit you anyway" or "My opponent genuinely surprised me but I'm going to say my character saw it coming a mile away and had already anticipated it before he even twitched a muscle" etc etc.

I understand that 1) Most people don't like to see their characters lose and 2) In some cases the character may be indeed powerful; But if your dueling partner/opponent genuinely does something you didn't expect he or she should be rewarded for his insight, and you should take the hit, instead of coming up with ridiculous last-second evasions that bend the laws of physics beyond the breaking point and force an escalation of the nonsense.

It might make fights more enjoyable and cause fewer arguments. Just my 2 cents as a newcomer.

Duels stop for a variety of reasons, some just grow weary of their opponent for precisely the reasons you listed. Others simply cannot continue due to rel life commitments that take them away from the computer and many of those are worked out between the participants behind the scenes.

When dealing with abilities it does come down to relative levels of the combatants. High tier magical powers open a fight much more than a low tier realistic melee fight. While many people like to think they are competent enough to fight at powered duel, most sadly don't have the experience nor the vocabulary to pull it off, which can explain some duels fading. An expert duelist facing off against a lesser skilled writer, after a few posts the fight dwindles because the lesser skilled person doesn't want to face a loss.

Gotcha. Well, I'll do my personal best not to disappoint. I see the annual tourney is going on? How is that coming along? The fights tagged with the Grassroots header I particularly enjoyed reading.

Been doing minor role playing on my hardcore minecraft server and it made me miss this place so much. Me and Torm are due for our duel soon so expect something different from us both; we have both been practicing!

With that being said, how has it been while I was inactive? And how have you been Skall?

The GR is a great tourney and the way it has been set up is good. Most of the engagements are equally skilled fighters/writers who have shown acumen when dealing with unusual situations. The restrictions that the organizer laid out has kept the fights on such equal footing it comes down to the ability to visualize a fight as it unfolds. That allows the writers the ability to craft scenes that draw the reader in.

Victim, good to see you again, I hope to see both of you again and if you have been practicing I look forward to seeing your engagements.

Skall

The GR was quite fun while I was in it, and should be getting better as the last round approaches. One of the best tournaments I'd been in that I wasn't hosting myself, or didn't die before the first/second rounds completed. TS did a really good job fixing her up good, and I can't wait for next years.

So rusty. So very rusty. Anybody up for a plain, realistic (or as realistic as they get) spar?

lol I feel your pain. I would spar with you, but I just ought Starcraft 2 and I doubt I will be super active.

Y'know, Phoenix, I used to think -just- like you. I'd avoid realistic melee, or with weapons as if it were the plague. Thing is, it's a great place to start when you're rusty or new to the scene because you don't have as many factors to consider. Sure, when both persons are on the same level of writing, and they're relatively new, it's unlikely they'll question how the other person is shooting fireballs in the rain, or how on earth an electric attack penetrated a wooden shield.

However in my experience, when fighting with someone on a different level, whether worse or better than yourself, you're likely to ask or be asked several questions regarding the logic of the posts being made.

The fighting community here sure is dead, isn't it? Where the heck did everybody go? If anybody's itching to fight, PM me and I'll get back to you when I check the site next (once a week or so from this point forward). I fight Powered or Mild Powers T1.

Is it bad that I find organizing/running tournaments more fun than participating in them?

I'm still around, just more focused on published shit and work for an online game that I volunteer to write for. I'd love to fight someone soon after fixing Brendan to his final state (Book is finally being wrote!) and adding my new character: Victor.

I've mentioned this in chat numerous times, but now I'm making it official: I'm retiring from sport fighting.

I simply have no stomach for the politics and OOC jockeying that accompanies the community and each individual battle, respectively. I could have been a contender. I might even have been a contender at one point. But when being an internet tough guy requires you to not have fun doing it, that's something I won't stand for.

I'll still give advice if asked, and I'll still get into random scraps over the course of a story, but consider this my official resignation from the sport.

Grassroots 2012 is starting in the upcoming weeks, so tell all your e-friends from all the sites you frequent to check it out. =)

This year's subtitle is "Crucible", and much of the tournament will hover around that as a theme. Lots of little tweaks, new planet, and new staff member, among other changes. Expect me to be more involved with the IC this time, too.