View Full Version : The Arena Of Arda Thread
This is the official thread for the weekly sparing contests at the Greyflood Inn's secret arena!
This special social event will be held once a week at the Greyflood Tavern In Tharbad. Here characters may spectate and/or participate in the many duels that take place, with the prize being gold - amount dependant on the number and level of competitors.
How the event is organised:
- Entry fee: 1,000 gold x Character level. If you cannot afford your fee, item/s may be traded in - but ONLY if the gold fee cannot be paid. Fees to be paid to the NPC leading the event at the start.
All gold will be used for the prizes. DM's may throw in some extra gold to boost the prize winnings at their discretion.
- Competitors will be divided into an ability group, dependant on their character level. The ability groups are:
1. (Levels 1-10) Novice Division
2. (Levels 11-20) Amateurs Division
3. (Levels 21-30) Warriors Division
4. (Levels 31-40) Champions Division
Obviously, if you fall into the lower end of a set, things might be harder, but theres no other way we can arrange this - if theres too many ability groups, there wont be enough contenders to fill them all. However, players can be full of surprises, and the underdog can often win!
- Each ability group is a seperate competition. So there will be a prize for the winner and runners up of each group.
- Once all players are entered, the DM will match up the characters for the duels in each ability group. Players will be matched based on their level comparison to one another - The closer in character level you are to another player, the more chance you have of facing them first.
The two players will then duel in the arena one on one. The duel begins at the order of the NPC in charge and will end when:
a. One of the players kills the other
b. The NPC calls a cease (In the case of long/slow duels)
c. One of the players withdraws (thus forfieting the game)
Should the NPC call a cease, the spectators will be asked to vote for the player who they feel had the upper hand. If this is a tie, they will be asked to vote for who they felt was the most entertaining instead. Should the vote still be tied, the DM controled NPC will make the casting vote.
- The following rules apply to all duels that take place:
1. You may NOT use any buffing spells or potions, etc before the duel - you must be completely clean of any effects. You may only use these once the duel has begun.
2. You may use healing potions and kits in the duel - its your supplies you are consuming if you choose to do so! But bear in mind - potion guzzlers bore the spectators and could go against you should the duel go to a vote!
3. You may not halt time during the duel (No timestop spells allowed)
4. You must remain in the arena
Thats all for now. As some of you know, the current champion of the Arena is Doromain Rustiano - will he be able to defend his title later this week? We shall see :)
OneRedEye
15-06-2004, 18:18
Dom -> Defend it, this belt is mine for keeps.
Mighty Dargo, the insane dwarf barbarian fell before me, if he can't do it, who will?
Hahahhha.
Hah.
Felin will be back to defend the Warriors Division title too hopefully :)
Hopefully we will get some levels 1-10 in this time, correct me if I'm wrong but don't think we had any novice entries for the first one, would be good to get some of the newer characters in :)
Cheers
Wreck
Nope, no novice entries. All other divisions were represented though.
The next official Arena Of Arda contest will be this Sunday 20th June, anytime after 18:00 GMT.
Remember its open to all, with contenders placed into suitable categories. A fee is required for participating [See main post for all rules and details]
We hope to see lots of characters taking part/spectating in the updated arena!
NEW ARENA RULE
Due to a couple of very poor quality fights, *IGMS cough*, we are going to throw in a new rule that will hopefully discourage the idea that a fight less than a round long is good entertainment for the audience.
The Rule:
Should the audience strongly feel that a duel was of very poor entertainment value, they may all voice their anger at the culprit! If the Arena Master feels that there is a lot of unrest in the audience, he will call a rematch.
- Again, this is our way in MERP UK of working around problems without nerfing spells or fiddling with default scripts. In this situation, roleplay comes first and dicates the proceedings - the audience are unhappy at the poor show, therefore there is a rematch!
Hoohaa, setting a precedent. The Case of Avalyn vs. IGMS (2004)
It's been the case in a number of duels really, but yours was certainly a notable one.
At the end of the day, its supposed to be entertaining for the audience, so thats what this change is all about.
Sure, cast an IGM. But if its going to take your opponent out the second after the duel begins, expect to incur the wrath of the spectators who will demand a rematch.
Sorry Felin but there's a new Warrior Division champion in town :)
The second contest was good fun with a strong turnout.
Some very close fights, but Doromain successfully defended his title!
The contest will take place again next Sunday, but perhaps at a later time - if so, this will be announced, but Sunday will definately be the day.
Dalton Chase
21-06-2004, 06:41
Glad about the later start, 18:00 is right when we eat on a Sunday. Now I have charcters over level 5 I will be headed to Tharbad to check out the arena :)
Azarnimir
21-06-2004, 20:58
I should have won that against Karleta! *grumbles* Next time, if you turn into a Lich I will turn you away, heal you til your dead! I will have to stay at level 30 until next Sunday, when I will be back and will win!
Good fight really, went on a bit to long, and can we please try and keep the random chat to a minimum, because when the battle was called to a halt, I didn't realise because it moved off my screen!
I quite liked the cleric battle, even though it was over quickly. The magic flying about was good. I also have another point about magic. I think it is quite unfair in a way if you put say a fighter against a wizard, because the wizard cannot buff up to fight in the time, he will be dead or off his/her feet in an instant. So the battle starts, wizard tries to cast some spells, is knocked off his feet, on the ground and dead within seconds. So maybe for wizards and socerrors you could allow them say 20 seconds beforehand to cast some essential buffing spells so they can have a chance in the battle. I havn't actually seen a wizard fight a fighter, so I don't know how it would go, but do you think this is a problem?
There have been a number of fights of wizard vs fighter and they were fine. Wizards can cast invisibility immediately (and they do).
Clerics, druids etc can cast true seeing, but then they themselves like to buff up too.
The higher level wizards will often have dragon slippers on.
A good sparing wizard can, and most probably would;
Cast invis/gs immediately, move from their starting point. Then cast a few spells and cast invis again and change position. This process will be repeated a few times.
No pure fighter should be able to use any form of true seeing.
So the rules are fine as they stand - no pre match buffing.
imo wizards/sorcerers worst enemy is good archer not fihgter. esp arcane archer who has damn nice AB and can cast few spells and read scrolls.
if pre match buffing would be allowed then every fight would start in very similar way. which would be boring. i rather see tactical fights where everyone has to figure out best way to beat the enemy. then the winner might not be strongest character but perhaps good player with ok character.
in any case when fighters and archers fight is limited to seek& destroy wizard players have to be creative and intelligent as the characters which they play. there are so many skills and spells for you to use - with good combination those you can kill everything.
Yeah your right there.
If we allowed a spell caster to pile on every buff he had, it would be almost a no-brainer battle for him/her - just firing the biggest and best offensive spells he/she can from the word go.
Better we encourage some tactics and quick thinking. There probably isnt even enough time to cast all your buffs - so which shall you use?
Todays event, the Third Arena Of Arda contest will be starting shortly.
Characters should start to gather at the Tharbad Greyflood Inn from 18:00 GMT. If the arena is open, those wishing to enter should register with the Inn Keeper immediately.
Hopefully we will get another good turnout and lots of characters taking part; in the contest, or just spectating and adding to the atmosphere.
See you all there.
We have a new Warlords Division Champion: Havoc Bullseye.
Also a champion of the Warriors Division: Nania Hyuuga (I hope thats correct spelling)
The Novice division and Amateurs division was not represented this time, so we will have to wait for next time to get the winners for these divisions.
The special event at the end was good fun - the huge free for all fist fight. Could become more common for the end of the contests in future.
Sunday evening does seem to be a tricky time for many of you though, so we are now moving the event to tuesday nights, starting proper at 19:00 GMT.
You can pre-enter the contest from the start of each week by simply sending a dm tell. The dm will then take your fee and pre-enter you onto the fixtures list. All you need do then is turn up on the day.
There will be no contest tomorrow, but the following Tuesday there will be.
Galdor_Niphredil
28-06-2004, 17:58
A big thankyou to all who organised the event on Sunday 27/6 which was bloody good fun all round - maybe next time I might compete (though all the prospective competition looked abit daunting this time round!)
Your welcome.
Im not surprised it looked daunting, . I believe your character would have cone under the Amateurs division, which was not represented this week. (levels 11-20) - correct me if i'm wrong.
This is the first time there was a no show for this division - hopefully with the change to a better date/time we will have more characters showing up for all divisions.
Even better - the more who enter, the more prize money there is.
Galdor_Niphredil
28-06-2004, 19:44
...If only I was.. I'm a mere Level 8 lol
Just watching the contest was fun anyway :)
Azarnimir
28-06-2004, 20:05
I may not come back for a long time, I am level 31, possibly the worst possible... and it doesn't look like i'll be anywhere near level 40for months since xp is really hard to get at my level! I may come to watch, that may be it..
san~raal
28-06-2004, 23:04
the "free-for-all" at the end of the competitions was great.....being lower level than some of the other contestants, Kaz Wyrmblade was pleased with his 2nd place finish
:duel:
Certainly shows how that final event isn't necessarily a case of the highest levels left standing. With the higher levels more keen to take each other out of the running, the lower levels can often pick away at the higher levels and sneak into the final three who will get the small prizes.
A pity you are chosing the spectate Azarnimir. The underdogs in some divisions can often win or get runner up spot. I'd see what your up against in future and you may change your mind. Besides, its not all about winning anyway. We all just want to have a good laugh above all else.
OneRedEye
29-06-2004, 20:11
Yeah, Dungrim managed to fell the evil Blaede character.
Level differences dont meen so much past level 30 - bar a couple of feats and extra hit points.
To not take part is to wither and die, to fight and die is to die saying I have lived.
Indeed. The highest item level requirement possible in the world is level 28, so the only thing making those higher levels tougher is their hp, skills, feats and a little ab.
I may start to join in once I have gained level 22, and thus the ability to wield Commodo Knives and my new plate ;). Only problem that I have is on a Sunday at 18:00GMT, I have to leave and go to my mums.
Who doesn't have NwN.
Sunday evening does seem to be a tricky time for many of you though, so we are now moving the event to tuesday nights, starting proper at 19:00 GMT.
:)
Great!
I´ve been having troubles to get on in time for the fights, but now even I can be there to dish out (or rather get) some serious hurtin´...
Tuesday 6th July from 19:00 GMT
The Fourth Arena Of Arda Contest!
Can Havoc Bullseye defend his Warlords division crown?
Will Nania Hyuuga keep her Warriors division title?
And will we finally have title holders for the Novice and Amateur divisions?
Lots to get involved in - Enter the contest or spectate, its up to you!
Pre-Entering will be available from Monday 5th July. Dm's will be sending tells out where possible to get as many in attendance as possible. Feel free to use DM tells to request pre entry.
Your entry fee will be collected and you will be pre-placed into your ability division. Once your pre-entered, all you have to do is turn up on the night! A quick reminder of the divisions by level:
Novice: 1-10
Amateur: 11-20
Warriors: 21-30
Warlords: 31-40
Hoping for the best turnout yet! See you all there.
We are experiencing a small amount of downtime with the server at the moment. This may well run into some of Monday.
If you planned on pre-entering a character, please e-mail me with the characters name and his/her level.
I will enter this character for Tuesdays contest and collect the fee from you at the first opportunity when the server is back online.
Update:
Server is up and running again, so disregard my previous post.
Thanks to Wireplay for the prompt response in getting us up and running again :)
We could have a record turnout tonight!
And there are still many people yet to pre-enter if they want to of course.
Please e-mail me or let me know on IRC or the DM channel if you wish to enter the contest. Please give character name and level so you can be entered into the appropriate ability group.
The event has now ended and it was indeed a record turnout - for both the event and the server!
We had 30 players online between 7pm and 9.30 pm tonight!
19 of these players attended the Arena Of Arda contest!
And here are the results:
Novice Division Champion: No Contestants
Amateurs Division Champion: Lolinus Balix
Warriors Division Champion: Felin Mordigan
Warlord Division Champion: Havoc Bullseye
As for the free-for-all punch up at the end; some interesting tactics by all the dwarven contestants, who seemed to move in a mob, ganging up on all the other contestants! Nasty tactics, but as the arena master said "anything goes!".
This was the best arena event we have ever run and was definately enjoyed by all. As you know, I wont be here next week, but the arena event shall continue at the same time.
The DM's shall be organising the event next Tuesday - pre-enter as normal from next Monday.
Tuesday 13th July from 19:00 GMT
The Fifth Arena Of Arda Contest!
Can we beat the turnout of previous events?
Will the Champions be there to defend their titles?
Amateurs Division Champion: Lolinus Balix
Warriors Division Champion: Felin Mordigan
Warlord Division Champion: Havoc Bullseye
Will there be a Novice Division Champion?
Division classifications:
Novice: 1-10
Amateur: 11-20
Warriors: 21-30
Warlords: 31-40
Expect the usual After Event 'Free for all Punch Up', always a great laugh.
Look out for DM's running Pre-registration.
See you all there hopefully
Wreck
OneRedEye
15-07-2004, 19:47
Who were the winners?
I know Darkskin was one of them, caused quite a trauma there too :)
Ragebow won the top division and me and Felin agreed a draw for the warriors division. Not sure about the other 2
Kail Cadarn
16-07-2004, 10:25
darkskin won the amateur, i think calia hendal won the novice
Kail are you Drunk???
I won the contest and you were there hehehe..... still mad at me cause I know you are scared of the moria??? :E just kidding :E
//By the way i loved it!! Im eager to enter the next one!!! :)
Kail Cadarn
16-07-2004, 13:12
if we're talking about Kail, he probably is drunk, and its soo much fun RPing him like that. if you mean me personally then, no, i'm not drunk, i just don't have any clear memories of that duel except for that fact that RORRY should have won amateur :P
OneRedEye
16-07-2004, 20:44
Rofl, Darkskin took it easily. :)
Kail Cadarn
17-07-2004, 20:33
she was losing until she used a spell with a ridiculously long effect (bigby spell) and basically immobilised her opponent for the entire fight, i thikn the two were fairly equal in terms of actual combat, and i my memory serves me, rorry was winning until that point.
The Fifth Arena of Arda Contest Results
Yet again during the Arena event there was a record turnout, such a record in fact that the server was actually full!
In the Novice Division, with four participants, Dru, the dwarven new entry, was the winner, with Calia the runner up.
In the Amateur Division, there was quite a stir when the one calling herself Darkskin claimed victory over Rorry Yeager.
The Warriors Division had a seemingly endless battle, with Felin and Karleta so evenly matched that a draw was decided upon.
The Warlords division was quite eventful, 8 contestants, of which only 6 showed up. Ragebow Elvenwyn peppered Kaz Wyrmblade in the final.
The free for all was packed, many seeking revenge, others just seeking some fun. The last two combatants in this epic battle were mercilessly beating each other until it was deemed that the fight should end and Dove was proclaimed the winner, as she had done the most damage. Gradush was clearly unhappy aobut this and stalked off after claiming his runner up award.
The 6th Arena Of Arda contest takes place tomorrow (Tuesday) at the usual time of 19:00 gmt.
Pre-entries are now being taken on the server - please use the DM channel. DM's will make occasional announcements too.
Can the current champions defend their titles? Will a wildcard entry come in and upset eveyone? Find out in this, The sixth Arena of Arda contest!
I've been thinking a bit about things and even though i haven't been to one of the contests yet i think that some changes should be made.
Basicly, if you have a character who is level 8 he needs to pay 8000 to enter, 8000 is quite a bit of money for a level 8.
A level 35 character needs to pay 35000 to enter, anyone who is level 35 will not even noticed that he lost those coins... When i began my main reason for not joining the fight was that i would rather use the coins on getting better equipment. That character is now level 15 i think, and i make lots of money even though the arrows i normally use (he's an archer) costs 30000 barr for 99. Paying 15k to enter would be something i knew was gone, but i wouldn't worry about it at all. Basicly, i think the entry-fee needs to change.
What should it be then? well, i dislike the entire idea of making the entryfee level based, i rather want it based on which of the sub-contests you join.
Here's what i think.
novice: 5000 to enter.
Amateur: 50000 to enter.
Warrior: 250000 to enter.
Warlord: 1000000 to enter.
High price to enter for the highest levels, i know that, but the reward for winning should be equally high. (maybe in a non-cash way so this might server as a money-sink)
Dont know if i should place this here or in the suggestions thread, but thought this would be the best place.
We have actually updated the entry system lately, i'll have to update it.
Novices are charged 100 gold x level
The rest are currently the same, though im considering changes to them.
Amateurs 500 x level
Warrior 750 x level
Warlord 1000x level
We like the idea of the prize money being directly related to the number and power of the contestants in each division. The more who take part, the bigger the prize, seeing as you have to have more duels.
1,000,000 is far too big a fee. If we set those fees you posted, nobody will bother takng part.
Luinil. Novice is actually 100Gp per level not 1000gp per level unlike the other catagories which are 1000 a level.
wrecksc, as i wrote then i only know the system from reading here, and it said (says if Kev haven't changed it yet) that it is 1000 per level of the character.
Ok, 1000000 is too much, but 40000 is of no consequence to a character that buys 99 arrows for 150000!
Put it to say 100.000 then for the top division, 50000 for the warrior and 25000 for the amateurs. That is something everyone can spare (unless they really are unlucky with their drops or die incrediably much)
Kail Cadarn
21-07-2004, 00:49
the server was down for this contest, when will it be reconvened?
tomorrow? same time? if so, i need to know, so i can call in sick at work!!!!
if your postponing it for the week i want my money back, as i won't be here
Hopefully today (wednesday) from 19:00 GMT
Results for the Sixth Arena Of Arda Contest
A great turnout at the event, and another night with the maximum 32 players logged in. I think the CPU just about survived :P
Novice Division Champion: Rhae Watercat
Amateurs Division Champion: Caldor Dreiden
Warriors Division Champion: Raukoran
Warlords Division Champion: Ragebow
Some very entertaining duels taking place, which is what its all about. The power of the audience showed its worth, with one fight having to be redone due to their anger at the poor entertainment they were getting.
A note about forefeiting duels - if you forefeit, you stop fighting! You do not turn around and kill the person you forefeit to. If such an incident occurs again, it will be more then your body dropping!
Back to normal time next Tuesday, see you all there. Pre-enter as normal from next Monday
Kail Cadarn
21-07-2004, 22:10
yes, i had no idea what was going on, my connection was lagging, though i don't in any way blame that, it just made it a hell of a lot harder... added to which, i never knew an arcane caster could make himself immune to a longsword thats effectivly +10 enhanced, with +5 physical damage and fire damage, and an attack bonus of 50+... i've never seen it like that... i also completely forgot how to get rid of spell mantle. its my fault i lost that duel... but then, when he was winning, he said he forfeited, wehich was confusing, next minute i'm dead, and i didn't even see how i died. then i'm proclaimed victor...
as for cubs... hands down, i didn't see him coming.. my spot and true seeing just weren't up to it. especially spot.
Yes it was very strange behaviour from your opponent. I agree he was winning. But for some reason he decided to forefeit. So therefore you won.
After it looked like the duel was over from his forefeiting, he casted IGM at you and killed you - very unsporting behaviour it has to be said.
Well here's your evil backstabbin, igms misusing sorcerer......
Anyway i just wanna clear some things up. First battle, i agree it wasn't nice to just use igms sorry about that, rematch was imo valid as it prolly wasn't very fun to watch, about the second one..... yeah that's different.... I was getting a lot of lag and was trying to please the addience , using some spells that dont really work and trying to finish it off quite fancy while the grasping hand keeps him at bay, so i try to do it, and try to play the audience a bit and all of a sudden i see that my grasping hand has stopped workin, duration shold've been 19 rounds, wasn't even 3 , somewhere i thought and i might be wrong about this, that a dm removed it, dm kev wasn't all to nice to me, in a rpg kind of way off course, so i was wondering what could please the audience, i kinda figured everone wasn't enjoying it, me included, so i just finished it off with a igms and i said i forfeited, the idea being that would happen around the same time, i agree that what happened wasn't very well thought through, but at the time i did not care too much, anyway, you have my apologies Kail, i hope i didn't anger you too much with it all.
After the contest however i got killed a second time, i'm not sure why that was though, luckily some nice clerics rezzed me so all is well i guess...
See you next time in the arena when you'll see how a sorcerer fights...without spells!! you guys have GOT to love that :P
Kail Cadarn
22-07-2004, 09:51
aye the lag really killed that fight, neither of us could work out was going on.... i certainly didn't end that bigby spell!
like to talk to you in game, and fuind out how you blocked my sword, i've never seen a sourcerer invulnerable to melee and magic... though it could just have been the lag, and you died after forfeiting when all my blows caught up with you!!!! hehehe
Sorry I couldn't be there last night, I enjoy the weekly tournament. Ah well next week I will be back to give Av his usual beating ;)
Lag can be a problem in these events. Last week while My char Felin and Karleta were duking it out I was watching the timing. An interesting thing about the lag is the server timer still seems to run at full speed. So for instance if cast a spell like Divine Power which had a duration of 12 rounds or whatever I was lucky if I 3 attacks in with it in that entire time it was running (which would explain the bigbys thing from this week). Just something you need to plan for in your strategy I think. Hopefully the new hardware will improve things.
Who one the weekly after tournament rumble btw (the high point of the evening :) )?
Cheers
Wreck
Unfortunately I had to leave as arena master near the end of the Amateurs division to attend a Wireplay Staff meeting, so im not entirely sure of the results of the free-for-all.
Anybody know the results?
Monks will always rule at the boxing free for all. No way to compete with them in their own ground. Cannot even damage them as they seem to have some natural resistance. Wished Dove was there to defend her title for the free peoples. :)
The winner this time was one of the Hyunna clan. The monk one.
Yes monks do get 20/+1 damage resistance at lvl 20 so they are pretty unbeatable even with the whole mob against one monk.
It's Hyuuga, anyway =) Elith is wanderer who doesn't want to get involved with the war, though he's still one of the Free People. So Sauron's trash didn't get that title this time either. ;)
Lag will alvays happen when 20+ charachters are in same map, it is nwn feature, problem will not be fixed by new computer hardware. It can be fixed if some charachters move to upstairs.. but then they don't see who is winning ;(
Kail Cadarn
22-07-2004, 16:39
oh i don't know, i quit after my fight, and logged onto the IRC channel, but also teamspeak...
i heard it all live, like it was radio! great stuff... and some interesting accents from some members online last night. heheheh
Barking_Mad
22-07-2004, 18:54
Any sheep jokes will get you instant penguin form........ muhahah :mad:
Kail Cadarn
22-07-2004, 21:36
i didn't mean you actually
i was thiking lojik his name springs right to mind, and there was one other, i don't think it was oneredeye, and it wasn't dreadnaught or kev...
can't remember who else was on...
Are we going to have the event tonight?
I think we could all do with a bit of light entertainment of beating seven shades of hell out of each other, its always good fun :) :)
I haven't seen any posts about the Areana for this week.
Sorry, been very busy getting the rules and community support updated and refreshed to resolve some of the bad blood bubbling.
I've not had time to collect pre-entries, but the event will still go on!
19:00 GMT at the Tharbad Greyflood Inn!
See you all there.
And the results for the latest arena of Arda contest:
Novice Champion: Moignar the Stunted Pirate. The bumbling, barely understandable, retired dwarven sailor. A fair win for him.
Amateurs Champion: Caldor (im sorry, i lost the full name), after two convincing victories. Well done.
Warriors Champion: Avalyn deafeated the insidious stealth artist, Cubs to win the title. The wicked hobbit Cubs incured a deduction in his runner up winnings to pay for the extra arena cleaning required from his blood thirsty attitude :O
Warlords Champion: Dargo Trollfallen. After so many failed past attempts at the ultimate accolade, Dargo, a dwarf, has finally won his first title! Defeating Jade Mordigan and Ragebow respectively in entertaining duels. Dargo and his dwarven brothers then proceeded to the Cracked Anvil in Esgaroth for a night of ales.
A really fun evening guys, throughly enjoyable :)
*continues his post about mage duals*
yeah i can see its smart to put it in as a contest that comes up on the fly as you never know who will come to the contest and thus dont know if there will be mages at all.
Maybe instead of calling it a mage duel just call it a magic dual and all classes able to wield magic can join in but only magic can be used (no point for paladins/rangers but bards/druids/clerics/pale masters/arcane archers/ect. might have a chance)
another thing i think you should do is post the winner/winners of the free for all in here.
All this we can definately do. We will give it a trial run next time round as an event before the free-for-all.
Last winners of the free for all were (cease called with 3 contestants left as things were dragging on)
Elith (badly wounded)
Jade (near death)
Dargo (badly wounded)
This last arena event was really great fun and entertaining.
One of the best dualing events I have ever seen and that goes for most of the duels. It is really nice to see players are getting in the spirit of the thing and not just trying to kill the opponent quickly.
And the Free for All was Fantastic; what a fight; Too darn bad I and lolinus could not hit Jade.
In support of Luinil I would enjoy seeing a Spell Casters free for all. Maybe just before the general one; however those spell graphics take up a lot of CPU power and everyone casting all at once might bring the server to it's knees.
Thanks to everyone for the fun---especially to Kev for running it soo smoothly.
Heh, didn't mention a free for all spell-contest but that could be fun too :D
I fear a free for all spell contest could set off a large explosion somewhere in London :o
Honestly though; it would depend on the amount of players present who would be eligible to join and the total number in the area - game engine has its own limitations by area, with 20 players being a realistic limit.
Galdor_Niphredil
29-07-2004, 17:51
Oh no!
Not a free for all spell casting tournament. The last time i attended the arena(as a spectator) i was slain by one of the contestants spells(no wonder you don't have to pay any gold to spectate! jk)
Thanks to the landlord for use of his ressurect/raise dead spell.
I can sense more singed elven locks on the horizon hehe :D
A Slightly quieter event tonight, as it took place less than 2 hours after the downtime.
Only two divisions represented: Warriors and Warlords.
Warriors Champion: Cubs
Warlords Champion: Dungrim Ironfist
Trial Magic duel winner: Nania Hyuuga
Free For All Final Three: Dove, Dungrim and Kal
The magic duel seems to be quite a fun event to watch, so we will run it each week after the main event, dependant on the number of spell casters available.
san~raal
05-08-2004, 13:21
hey, arena master......me name be Kaz, not Kal!!
*the dwarf walks mumbling a few choice words*
*resigns*
:P
Sorry about that :)
san~raal
05-08-2004, 21:57
np, just gave a dwarf a reason to yell....like they need one :E
Azarnimir
08-08-2004, 22:41
Looking back through the thread the Champion of the top division has changed, has RageBow been letting his standards drop? :) I go away for two weeks and everything seems to have changed... I will go on Tuesday and see how things are doing (I won't compete, I never win) :)
Ragebow didn't attend the most recent event, which had a very low turnout due to downtime before the event. The next event should have a much greater turnout at all categories.
Well we were right, the turnout was back to normal, well into the twenties!
On an evening of great events and some of the best activity in the community to date, we also had one of the most exciting Arena contests to date:
Novice Division: No contestants
Amateur Division: Gaethir and Calia
An exciting and somewhat comical contest for the amateurs tonight. Gaethir and Calia met in the final. It was a very close match indeed. But it all ended unexpectedly when Calia casted a death spell, which should have instantly killed Gaethir and won her the title. However, she casted too close to Gaethir and killed them both! With roars of laughter from the audience, the division title was drawn!
Warriors Division: Ahriman
With Demon Hark failing to attend his duel, the final proceeded immediately with Ahriman and Veld. They were forced to rematch after the audiences displeasure at Ahriman's duleing techniques. Ahriman won a second time and won the Warriors division title.
Warlords Division: Raukoran
A busy contest for the warlords tonight, ending in the first arcane spell caster ever to win the Warlords title. Raukoran and Ragebow met in the final. However, faced with a Palemaster with no vital organs to target with his pin point accuracy, Ragebow was defeated by Raukoran.
The free for all was, as usual, utter chaos - just how we like it! The honourable Cleric Calia had to be disqualified for equipping a damage resisting belt during the fight! The final three were; Dargo, Dungrim and Jade.
Great fun everyone, thanks for talking part. Same time next week!
I think Raukoran possibly wins the award for most spectators killed during a bout as well.
Had me laughing watching it from a player point of view.
Avalyn the Shifter was robbed, damned clerics, I shall feast upon your flesh soon fools, and you shall fear the name Seregrauko!
Galdor_Niphredil
11-08-2004, 21:55
Matthas should be paying the spectators to attend not the other way around ;)
- Galdor (still trying to grow back blond elven locks after being singed by contestants fire at last weeks event)
;) ;) ;)
Raurokan was not very polite in the end.
He gave me the Finger, Maverick!! You know, The Finger!
Yes, the Finger, Goose!!
Need a Top Gun to stop that Mage!
Does anyone know when was the sub-machine gun invented in Middle Earth? :)
Ooh, Calia be bad that day. Very competitive, indeed.
And Avalyn...*hee hee* My flesh ain't never gonna be on your menu! And also, what were those damned pothole thingies that Raukoran cast?
The next Arena Of Arda contest takes place tomorrow at the usual time of 19:00 UK time.
A few changes to the contest entry fees which we have been fiddling with for some weeks now. These are the final decided charges:
- Novices (levels 1-10) 100gp per level
- Amateurs (11-20) 300gp per level
- Warriors (21-30) 500gp per level
- Warlords (31-40) 750 gp per level
This is designed to make this social event more accessible to all, rather than a select one which scares off those with no gold.
All monies from each division is restricted to that division alone as prize money. Overall prize money has been lower of late and will likely remain at that level. Its all about fun for everyone, not just profit :)
Good luck, hopefully we will see some newcomers to the arena :)
*Sniff* Going to miss the event tonight I am afraid, so good luck to all involved and have fun. Will be back next week as per usual for the tournament :)
Besides, Dargo will get upset if I punch his lights out two weeks running in the free for all. *Ducks incoming dwarf assault* :P
Cheers
Wreck
Heheh Jade last week I came second to ye first.
I'm not here this week either.
*bows* Dargo the floor is yours
Same time/place tonight everyone. Hope to see lots of you there.
Hopefully we can have more people participating aswell as spectating this time :)
The turnout this time was outstanding.
Here are the results:
Novice Champion: Inviel
Amateurs Champion: Tinarade
Warriors Champion: Tomoe Hyuuga
Warlords Champion: Kaz Wyrmblade
Very enjoyable event as usual. Thanks to all those who attended and took part.
Strangelander
01-09-2004, 04:04
*remembers the blood-soaked arena floor... smiles*
That was well worth the entry fee: thanks to all there - you made my sparring debut memorable. I shall never never never ever forget my spell-resistant rings in the future.
Ever.
Anyhoo - highlights: Tomoe's artful casting, a certain ill-sported halfling's exit, and the hamfist-fight to end all hamfist-fights that came down to two hamfist-halforcs.
Cheers.
OneRedEye
01-09-2004, 12:32
Morg belches and shakes a fist at you....
'Dat wuz da gud arenz, eva ifz da wizud woomaz wuz nut gud to da Morg an Varga. Morg iz hapy, too weks runin the brawl mazta. Rooaaarghhh aaahaaahaaha.'
Very good turnout, suprisingly the warlords was one of the weaker represented leagues for a change. Some very good fights.
I would also ask a new rule for the arena contests, partly due to the events occuring last night. As many people may know already there is a bug with the darkness spell that makes EVERYTHING invisible unless you have true sight. A simple rule to disallow the use of that spell, the spell doesn't give much advantage unless your enemy gets bugged, then you have an easy ticket.
Im not saying this is used intentionally, just that it can happen and cause the bug, i think better to be safe than sorry, maybe the new patch will sort it out. The amount of things they need to get sorted in this patch though.....
Darkness (2) spell gives almost same advantage than Improved Invisibility (4), 50% consealment and it breaks line of sight if enemy don't have true seeing or ultravision, but advantages last even when caster attacks. It is great spell, and it's low level, but it can cause uv-bug to both sides.
OneRedEye
02-09-2004, 12:49
So, in essense you have a spell two levels below impoved invis that gives the same benefits and more at two levels below.....
Logically thinking... does that sound right? I would say no.
However, I bet an advanced mage could real off a number of spells of lower levels that can embarrass the higher level spells.
Anyone know if thats getting fixed in this patch?
Hoping for another strong showing tonight.
Darkness Spell is banned from arena use till further notice.
7pm UK time, same place. Enter on entrance.
Top turnout again on a full server. There were so many in the same area that we had to have some wait in the main Inn area!
Hopefully the new hardware will allow the server to tolerate more players.
The results:
Novice Champion: Dzirt
Amateurs Champion: Khadir
Warriors Champion: Felin
Warlord Champion: Ragebow
Good show. Same time next week!
parknutz
07-09-2004, 22:35
We'll see if Felin can actually kill Gund next time....I will be back for my revenge....:furious:
Heh almost had you, I must have been pretty close. Next time I'll finish the job properly I promise :) To be honest, even though I can use a few offensive spells I don't like to, I try and get the job done the old fashioned way with the sword. Was a good fight!
I did aprove of that second 'show' fight that Gund had with the mage, (Refol?!) Very smart tactics.
I had no idea until afterwards I had so many people betting on Felin when she got promoted to the Warlords afterwards. There were quite a few happy characters after having bet on her to beat some sense into that Big dumb orc. Did make me smile, but before the fight I wouldn't have bet on myself, I thought I was about to get pasted. First Warriors Division character in a Warlords final yay! Ragebow was a little to much for Felin to say the least, didn't even get a hit in before I was turned into a pin cushion heh
Kev: One result you missed btw talking of the Big old Orc
Morg won the Free for all!
Cheers
Wreck
Indeed he did!
The betting in the audience does sound good. Saves me having to run it, which can be quite tedious to do, since i've got to run all the duels at the same time.
Aden Valliano
08-09-2004, 14:10
and the best thnig is, all the evil chars bet on evil chars winning.. i made a fair bit just betting on felin! cheers milady!
lord_bishop
08-09-2004, 18:37
Regarding Darkness spell, those who claims all these things about darkness are not quite right... Yes within darkness you can't see a thing (even the caster can't see)... but that's the whole point of the spell, it is a Darkness spell... You have to move around the darkness and you will see your adversary only if you are next to him, then you can target and attack (or point and cast). This is no bug, this is by design. Same effect as invisible, you only "see" an invisible char when next to him (or use a true seeing spell) -> it's like pretending that you "hear" him.
Anyhow, the "effects" you mention are for both parties, so what's the big deal ... They both have the effect on them!
OneRedEye and sShadow, the "effect" of darkness gives 50% concealment to all within the darkness, not only to the caster... Which is a totally diffrent thing than Improved invisio which gives 50% concealment only to the caster... A little detail, a huge diffrence.
This is the upmost effective defense for a character who uses darkness combined with blind fight such as an assassin... So if the assassin who combines darkness and blindfight can't use this technique in the arena while say a fighter may use all his 25 feats such as knockdown and so on and so forth then this is not balanced AT ALL..
Tell me then, without his darkness ability, how can an assassin with lower armor, less and lower attack bonus, lot lower Hit Points, without any element of surprise (which is the strenght of an assassin), without his darkness/blind fight ability, no or very low discipline skill and so many less fighting feats can even hope of winning an arena fight against a fighter type class ?
Or even against a Mage with a so low Will save...
My point here is not to complain because I play an assassin, but it's to put things into perspective and correct those who claim the darkness spell is nerfed (under not so true statements) so that it cannot be used in an arena fight.
Under an arena style of fight, removing this ability to an assassin is like removing a mage his ability to cast, removing a fighter his ability to use his fighting skills, removing sneaks for a rogue, or removing a monk his speed and stunning fists, etc.
I say if you play a class that uses special abilities (Darkness for assassin, spell casting for mages, fighting feats for fighters, sneaks for a rogue, etc) it's because they need them to maintain the balance within the classes. Don't nerf with it and leave the classes his/hers abilities.. It's that simple.
Do I make any sense here or do I just ramble.. (?)
I feel there is a twofold problem with the darkness spell.
Firstly is the fact that it is bugged. Sometimes after the darkness ends, you will still have the blind icon by your character, and although thye black area is gone you still can't see anyone, forcing you to log out and back in. This is what has been reffered to as the 'uv' bug in earlier posts.
Secondly is a problem that ojnly exists for the arena. The most important thing for any arena fight is for it to be INTERSTING! I have seen a number of fights being forced into a rematch because they weren't intersting enough. And it isn't interesting to watch a fight when you can't see anything, because of the darkness spell.
Remember, although we all like to win the arena this isn't the whole point, the most important part of the arena contest is the entertainment.
Aden Valliano
08-09-2004, 20:17
but in that case, there are spells that can be cast like trueseeing that allow us to see invisible chars.
malthas has on occasion cast true seeing on all spectators to allow them to observe the fight without removing a valuable spell like invisibility from a mage, who needs time to cast his defences.
bugs apart, if darkness is removed, so should invisbility spells be banned from the arena.
on the subject of bugs, maybe it will be fixed in the patch?
I believe it will be.
Invisibility isnt such a big deal because eventually the characters will commit hostile actions and it will disperse.
As ghost81 said, its all about entertainment, not winning. The large majority of us dont fancy staring at an ugly black mess all evening. Assassins suffer, but then a downside of the class I guess. People in arenas dont appreciate their tactics :O . But then assassin/stealthy types have done very well in the arena and won often. Cubs, for instance comes to mind.
OneRedEye
09-09-2004, 00:02
Bishop some of what you say is right, the assasin is rather dependant on that skill.
Put two assasins in together and its a fair fight, darkness or no.
A smart wizard can easily defeat much more powerful fighters, yet two fighters will have a real close matchup (more often than not), likewise two wizards.
Remember also, a nerf like this is due to a game bug, if it gets fixed in the patch, things may change. Still, the point about being able to see a fight is very valid, many players come purely to watch and dont take part in the fighting.
Arena should be fun, Felin gave Morg an embarrassment, but he managed one good hit first (so some satisfaction from that), many times he doesn't get that one good hit. Frustrating it can be, but he keeps turning up, waiting for his chance to fight someone just like him.
lord_bishop
09-09-2004, 05:51
having read my post afterwards, I do sound like I was a little on the edge, but I'm not :-)
It just happened that I've witnessed the arena matches yesterday and it was fun to watch, even though there was no darkness ;-)
I just wondered a moment how would my assassin fares in the pit, and started to plan some tactics until I read the post about the darkness denied.
Too many times I've been on servers where they've had too many regulations and changes made to the core rules. Guess it was some old frustration going out a little ;-)
Aside, this is a great server and I enjoy my time in it, espacially when I meet players.
I'll plan my own matches, with my own rules. Beware!
*wry grin*
Same time, same place tonight at 19:00 UK time.
Due to huge turnouts, im making this request of players so that the duels are as lag free as possible:
The game engine will struggle once lots of players are all crowded into one area. Hardware will alleviate this a little, but there is a limit to what the game engine can handle.
If it is still a fair amount of time till your division begins, consider moving to the main section of the Greyflood Inn and chatting to other characters, etc there. This will allow the duels to run more smoothly and give both contestants a fair chance. Don't worry about missing your duel - I have all fixtures on a list and as long as you are on the server, I can teleport you to the arena if your not about when your duel is called.
My other request is that spectators do not summon anything - you're only creating more work for the server to do. Also, do not cast any spells when spectating, other than true seeing.
A reminder of entry fee's:
Level 1-10 = 100gp x level
Level 11-20 = 250gp x level
Level 21-30 = 500gp x level
Level 31-40 = 750gp x level
Have fun! :)
Aden Valliano
14-09-2004, 19:56
asking clerics and paladins not to use heal is like asking a fighter not to use ki damage or called shot, or asking a mage not to use their defensive spells.
its an integral part of the class. clerics especially can't go toe to toe against a fighter and win, but we don;t have the defensive spells to stand back and shoot magic, if we try it, the fighter closes and cuts us down. its part of the class thing, thats why we can take healing as a domain
Owl-Free
14-09-2004, 20:05
Has the tournament finished? Is there any after-tournament event happening? The servers full!
I agree with Aden on this point... provided it isnt over used, discression must prevail. But when Jade was told not to heal i thought it somewhat harsh, she wasnt exactly bathing herself in blue pillars of light... After all her opponent (Hugh - sorry not Bereval - heh heh) wasnt told not to keep vanishing after each hit. That was his classes style.
Galdor_Niphredil
14-09-2004, 20:54
Anyone know what the heck happened in the main Greyflood bar?. my IRC isnt working at mo.
Aden Valliano
14-09-2004, 20:58
rorry cast confusion on ibun, he attacked the commoners, the commoners and dwarfs attacked him.
i cast dis spell, all is well...
then rorry casts confusion on a dwarf, who spots ibun, and fires sunbean at the whole group (i think thats hwat happened anyway) at this point the bug hits us
Aye Kev returned the good points I lost... I only hope my Paladin status is restored just by regaining good points...
Then I got up to walk across the bar and was attacked by 2 more locals (who were still hostile - 10 more evil points).
I think the Tharbad dwarf was casting the sunbeam at Ibun cos he was hostile.
The crash may have happened when Kev was trying to sort things out (restore my alignment, pacify the locals, etc.)
Aden, asking clerics not to heal....i agree with you, but you were not even casting, you were using scrolls, i mean, you were impossible to me and you didnt cast a single spell during the whole fight, you are meant to be a cleric, what the hell were you doing?
Aden Valliano
16-09-2004, 14:50
because you closed with me, my concentration isn't high enough to survivie that, if i'd cast at close range, i'd lose the spell and get whacked on the attack of opportunity
and i did cast.... the first spell i used was Harm... but then you healed up... my other harm wasn't prepared for some reason...
after some bad experiances i prefer to scribe heal and use it from scrolls because they can't be interupted... i've been in situations wherei get injured cast heal, and before the spell takes effect, i get killed by the opportunity attacks...
with you, i was kinda hoping that as you were effortless i could take you sword to sword, and that my weapon would do more damage (i thought you were evil where was my pos damage vs evil??!!!)
i also hoped my discipline and discipline bonus from my armour would have been slighty better against you than it was... but ahhh well...
the last heal i cast was going to give me time to cast greater sanc, get away from you, and cast death ward and then implosion... i was hoping it might have finished oyu off after giving the audiance their duel (my first fight ever in the arena i killed someone with implosion right off, then had to refight... bah)
strangely though, i died before getting to the greater sanc part of the plan, and i thought i had managed to heal myself to... not sure what happened, but maybe you got in first...
anyways, if i write the scrolls and use them, its not much different from me casting the spell IMO. i don't have the spell slots for loads of heal mass heal and res and raise, so its scribed... i also increased my offensive arsenal by scribing flame strike and memorising ice storm...
The Arena is pretty much like old "scissor, paper, rock" game and it's always fun. I just think perhaps some better matchmaking system could be introduced, like rolling dice to see who fights who.
Else it is the same as FIFA putting England in the same group with Brazil and Argentina at the first phase of a World Cup. Poor Brits would never qualify to the next round!
Ok, hope i'm putting this in the right place. =) There have been a few issues with fights lasting way to long in the arena. Perhaps a new rule should be put in where there is no use of healing (unless it's your characters own spell or ability... so Pally's and Clerics dont get shafted)? Basically just getting rid of healing packs and potions during an arena match?
WalterEgo
25-09-2004, 12:31
yep i agree with you SPM, no healing unless its a char ability.
to heal should equal disqualification/loss.
You could argue that resorting to healing is tantamount to throwing in the towel and if its a character trait, it should be a spell not a scroll and only once... perhaps
Argon Balros
25-09-2004, 18:27
lets introduce boxing matches no healing and absolutly no equpment just plain and simple skill
Owl-Free
25-09-2004, 18:48
My view on the healing matter is that characters that can cast healing spells should be able to use them all they want, and others characters can only restore their health back to Injured, maybe Barely, if they absolutely need to. As others have said before me, telling a Cleric not to heal is like telling a Wizard not to use their defensive spells, or a Barbarian not to rage.
Owl-Free
25-09-2004, 18:51
My view on the healing matter is that characters that can cast healing spells should be able to use them all they want, and others characters can only restore their health back to Injured, maybe Barely, if they absolutely need to. As others have said before me, telling a Cleric not to heal is like telling a Wizard not to use their defensive spells, or a Barbarian not to rage.
Argon Balros: What a good idea. Lets have it so every week the Barbarians, Fighters and Monks win.
EDIT: Woopsie, double clicked. Sorry.
On the subject of healing, on another server I was one of the few clerics (and I had chosen heal domain) and in dueling tournements, I'd usually come first then the DMs forbade me from healing myself so I lost...
And if you allow the healing spell, what about items? In the last contest I was in, I had a ring of regeneration that healed 4hp each round. Very usefull and certainly stopped me from being slaughtered. Would that be allowed?
Also, Aden, I only cast confusion once. Just to see if it would work, I didn't expect it to so sorry about that.
Anyhow, I won't be around for the next contest as I'm going to Greece but I may be around for the one after that, depending on whether I can get home on time. We arrive at Heathrow at around 5pm, so I might be able to come, or might be a tad late...
Argon Balros
27-09-2004, 00:38
i think the best way is ban gulping potions and alow using items to there full potential
Argon Balros
29-09-2004, 05:42
the free for all at the end of last contest was cool.
Dagnabit, I missed the Arena this work (shift work I hate it) But I heard a rumour that the free-for-all was won by a lvl20 character - nice one! (Was a monk mind you).
And the warriors division was won by a penguin.
Bit of a strange one this week ;)
Originally posted by Owl-Free
My view on the healing matter is that characters that can cast healing spells should be able to use them all they want, and others characters can only restore their health back to Injured, maybe Barely, if they absolutely need to. As others have said before me, telling a Cleric not to heal is like telling a Wizard not to use their defensive spells, or a Barbarian not to rage.
Argon Balros: What a good idea. Lets have it so every week the Barbarians, Fighters and Monks win.
EDIT: Woopsie, double clicked. Sorry.
Owl mate - in the free for all that is exactly what DOES happen, as you and I both know. And that is to be expected, and as it should be from the perspective of game mechanics and 'realism'. Unless the fighters, barbarians and monks involved are of significantly lower level than others in the free for all, they are bound to win, its what they are there for. :naughty:
I reckon Argon was unaware at the time that the free for all was just that, unarmed, un-buffed combat with no special gear or healing (except for that notable occasion when Calia 'forgot' to take that BRAWLER'S belt off :rolleyes: ).
Besides, Clerics get the next highest HP after fighters dont they? :P
Argon Balros
29-09-2004, 14:16
i was aware that it was un buffed and unequiped. what made you think i did'nt
Originally posted by Argon Balros
lets introduce boxing matches no healing and absolutly no equpment just plain and simple skill
Just this mate... :)
Thats yer free for all. I assumed at the time of posting this item, you were unaware of it.
I always thought that the above quoted comment from Argon was sarcasm at its best - but I could be wrong. ;)
My post was meant to be in response to Owl's not Argon's really... It matters not. :)
Owl-Free
29-09-2004, 16:51
Besides, Clerics get the next highest HP after fighters dont they?
Hmm...Barbs get d12, Fighters, Paladins, Rangers d10, Cleric and Druid d8...yeh, about right. However, as you saw/didn't see in the fight, that didn't help me much against Khadir. While I may have quite high HP for my level (430 tops...), people still hit hard against me, and I haven't got that much ability to actually hit things. The heal is the Cleric's strength, and such it should stay that way.
Sorry about that reply to you Argon, it was rather nasty sounding.
Couple of suggestions to arena rules.
1. No use of any kind of healing except if you can cast it and even then only 1 healing spell per fight.
2. There should be some limit to regeneration because that only makes even fights to last much longer. I think 1 item with regeneration should be allowed because regeneration might come from very important source that would hinder the players abilities in other ways.
3. Damage reduction. This is touchy spot to many but it does make the fights last very long in some cases (especially when combined with regeneration) and makes certain classes/builds to have severe disadvantage.
So, im suggesting that until the DR´s are reduced to 15 in the module (see poll) there should no items used in arena fights that have more than 15 DR.
And one more thing about the numerous weapon masters around, if WM´s were denied the use of fighters weapon specialization and epic weapon specialization feats, it would make the class much more balanced compared to other warior classes.
I have weaponmaster myself (Khadir) and i do have those both feats but i would gladly get rid of them if so decided.
Just ideas here so stay in your pants and take it cool :naughty:
Argon Balros
29-09-2004, 18:15
when i posted about the boxing idea i had never seen a free for all.
but my post after that was made having just competed in one.
The only problem I can see with weapon masters is that perhaps there are too many of them. The two feats you mention do give them a bonus to damage, but only of 6 with both (and thats if they stack, can't remeber if they do or not). Admittedly when they crit it can make a bigger difference, but then the whole point of a weapon master is the ability to deliver a lot of damage to one spot. Other than devestating crit (which is a far too poweful feat) the others actually work to keep some balance between classes at epic levels. When you start removing those that allow extra damage, then you have to start looking at those that allow extra dr, and so on. One of the most damaging attacks is in fact the rogues Sneak Attack - a level 33 rogue will do +27d6 on a sneak attack. If they have shadow dancer levels with Hide in Plain Sight they can garuantee sneak attacks on most characters. Compared to this the use of Weapon Spec and Epic Weapon Spec don't do much at all.
Rules for the arena are tricky, outside the arena those feats don't make too much difference, but we'll see.
the more we try to impose restrictions on some while not on others, the harder it will be to acgieve an outcome that is amenable to all parties...
Interesting factoid about rogues, ghost, whont feel so guilty if i hit one for pickin me pocket now.
I personally have never healed (at all) in a arena match (even if the other person does) nor will i ever (unless playing a cleric). I figure it's a basic competition of your gear and abilities. Not how many potions and healing packs you can quaff down :) hehe
On the one occasion that Veld was doing well in the arena it was against a cleric. It was a struggle at first until the opponents magic wore off, but then the Dwarf started (i feel) to get the upper hand (wey hey). Level wise they were fairly even i think between25 and 30, really cant remember. Long time ago now.
Then the fella he was fighting used darkness, healed himself, and that rather tipped things. The cleric effectively had almost double his given HP that Veld had to hack through as well as all that defensive magic. He was probably as well armoured as Veld, though not as physically strong or with such a damaging melee weapon. Plus his offensive magic was a big problem to a fighter with little defense against it. Veld was worn down by the time the guy healed - it was more or less over by then.
If he hadn't healed, I think Veld would have won his one and only victory. *sobs*
This aint an argument for or against anyone or anything. In fact it aint even an argument. Its a badly composed anecdote.
Bloody spell chuckers --- Veld stumps off, grumbling into his beard: "Stuff this, Im off to kill something massive and scaly with bad breath and big teeth -- howay Lolinus"
OneRedEye
30-09-2004, 09:55
It is the weak who heal to win their fight :)
Dungrims been to the arena many a time, and being a cleric has had many opportunities to use heals in his fights. As far as i can remember i have not used heal with this char in the arena.
Nor am i saying nobody else should or shouldn't, Dungrim just believes if he doesn't beat someone without that help from Aule then he was never meant to win. He knows he could have pouned many of his oppenents if he had used his healing powers.
bloody hell..
well there does the argument that clerics cant fight... Dungrim Ironfist - one of the toughest buggers around - is a cleric... well i didnt realise that.
Heh, of course clerics can fight, they are generally better than fighters if the conditions are right (probably not weapon masters though). I know with my Cleric Felin (multiclassed with cot and pally) char I can get a better ab, better ac and more damage than Jade (and all this at about 9-10 character levels lower as well) for short-ish bursts assuming I get the time to buff.
As for healing, I don't think you need a rule. If you heal a lot it probably means you are getting the hell knocked out of you and when it comes to a vote you aren't going to have made a good impression with the crowd so are unlikely to win.
As for item healing as an example, well if I have a character who has spent 30+ ranks in healing as a skill and use heal kits, how is that different from using a characters abilities like a cleric who uses spells. If you have the abilities you can use them, just make sure not to do it often or you will incur the rath of the crowd.
Its like we have often seen, if say a mage comes in (before the changes were made) and goes *igms* *igms* igms* win. The crowd tends to demand a rematch as it wasn't really a good fight.
Who needs rules when you have such a demanding audience, we judge each fight on its merits :)
Cheers
Wreck
Argon Balros
30-09-2004, 14:49
i agree
Owl-Free
30-09-2004, 19:44
Well, I must have done something wrong on my character - Calia can hit, if she does even hit, a max of 35-40 (without crits). And that is the average on creatures that have little, or no damage resist or a very low AC.
Maybe things will pick up with levels. Anyway, look forward to the next Tournament.
*Calia sits down with a book, and starts to casually read the magical inscriptions*
This isn't an attack on anyone so please don't take it as such - but there seems to be quite a lot of concern about the 'right build' coming into the forums (this one and the DR one), although I have on occasion quoted who can do what this has been to make a point rather than to advocate a 'perfect build'. To my mind a character with a story, a heart if you will, one that is fun to play, beats a 'perfect build' any time.
When you look at your character and think - they can only do 'x 'amount of damage or have 'x' armour class, so and so's is better. Think about what your character is - a cleric should never do as much damage as a weapon master on a day to day basis. A monk can have a speed and ac that will be much better than anyone elses. Every character has its strengths and weaknesses, they're not designed to be balanced, and especially not in a multiplayer context.
My favourite two characters Lolinus and Rory are far from perfect. Lolinus has very high hp, damage and a reasonable AC, but he hasn't won an arena fight since he made epic.
Rory is new, only level 8, but he can't survive many places on his own. But I like the character of them both. Lolinus has always been a favourite of mine and is now well known in the world. Rory is just so much fun to play, with his ambition to be 'richer than Bilbo'.
I would say that a character that is fun to play, and that others enjoy meeting is a much better character than one who can beat anyone.
Argon Balros
30-09-2004, 22:24
i completlty agree but some character motivations are to be a mighty warrior.
Absolutely, and faor play to those characters, but there is a danger of getting lost in concentrating on the build.
Argon Balros
01-10-2004, 01:59
i think its best when a character develops depending on its experiances as apose to working to an exact build but at the same time when that character was growing up it most probobaly had a rolemodel it aspired to be like weather that be a great wizard or a noble knight.
i think it all comes down to a case of balance between these two points.
Argon: Woot, though this probably is off the topic titled in this thread, i couldn't agree more. =) I guess that's the difference between making and "action game" character and a "RP game" character. =)
Latest results:
Novice Champion: Gronk
Amateur Champion: Veremar
Warriors Champion: Argon
Warlords Champion: Kaz
Free For All Winner: Morg
Owl-Free
06-10-2004, 19:47
Moriaur returned to Harad, seething.
"The beastpack has failed this time, but whoever I failed against shall not be so lucky next time!" He threw down his scimitar in anger.
Argon Balros
08-10-2004, 10:42
Score one for the good guys WooHooo
Argon Balros
12-10-2004, 13:27
lets hope tonight will go as good as last week
Is there an Arena fight every Tuesday? And not that it matters... I upgraded my NWN and now I can't play! aaargh when is the server going to upgrade!
Galdor_Niphredil
12-10-2004, 19:26
You need to downgrade.
Apparently the new patch has overwritten some CEP content, so they aint upgrading until the CEP patch comes out.
I'm sure somebody here could send a link to the 1.62 version.
Okay for anyone else in the same situation who is interested I found this:
1.64 to 1.62 revert patch
http://nwn.bioware.com/support/patch_revert_hotu.html
Another arena event comes with us still on 1.62, so turnout will most likely be low again.
I will do what I did last week and decide what to do once the event begins based on how many characters show. Last week we were fortunate to have a reasonably similar set of character levels. If its the same this week, i'll put everyone into one division again.
If this isnt the case, i'll think up something else on the fly. My last arena event i'll be running for a while too, so im hoping to run something a little extra special anyway :)
Argon Balros
19-10-2004, 13:14
will the arean be run in your absence
I hope so. *Looks at Avalyn*
:)
Mathas will be making his return tonight :)
Hope to see many characters attending.
Lolinus should be there, although I'll be a little late due to work. Could you book him a place and I'll cough up the Gold when I arrive.
Unfortunatly I won't be there *sniff*
Got a friends birthday to go to, so I'll be having a nice Mexican meal - so not all bad ;)
Never fear, Jade will return to kick some arse next week :)
Cheers
Wreck
After mexican food, i would be extremely cautious of any arse related behaviour. :P
Welcome to the Tharbad Greyflood underground arena!
This place is a magically protected area for combat entertainment! Every week, travellers from far and wide will come here to take part in duelling contests against each other for a range of small cash prizes!
It is a mutually beneficial event; You win gold, you get to see a real spectacle and I rake in your hard earned gold.
Naturally, such large events require some guidelines...
1. All those taking part in the contest must pay a small fee of 100gp to enter. We get a great variety of people entering, so all contestants are divided into suitable groups.
2. Spectators enter for free.
3. You must be free of any magical enhancements before your duel.
4. Dueling contestants must remain in the arena.
5. Spectators may not interfere with duels taking place in a way which will affect the outcome.
6. This is a place of entertainment. If the audience feels a duel was of poor entertainment, a rematch will be called. (Potion guzzling and holding spells can irritate audiences)
Well, that's all you need to know. Enjoy your visit to the Greyflood Arena.
Mathas - Proprietor
I get a lot (far too many) questions about 'how to best win in the arena', or 'why not have seperate divisions for different classes'. So im creating this post to answer all this once and for all.
DISCLAIMER:
1. The arena is NOT a serious competition! It is merely some entertainment in which all the community can gather together and take part in or spectate in. Its main goal is to get characters to meet new faces and to make new friends/enemies, etc.
2. We will NOT balance the game system purely for the sake of PvP (players vs player). An important element of the game is the Player vs monster aspect, so UTT2's game system meets a compromise between these two gameplay extremes.
I still believe it would be great if you, when possible, made spell-duals. These "shows" are always entertaining imo and it makes people see that some spells which normally aint used can be very useful.
Also, you cant make a character that always win the arena (deffo not at low levels), a LOT of these duals are luck.
:( I work every tuesday now... Poo.
Starting early tonight, 18:00
im at work today, gonna miss the arena :(
Have fun without Pishnak.
underdarklord
28-12-2004, 18:43
I live in the states and want to participate in the arena tournament. Right now it is around 2 pm here and I was wondering what time it would be if you were in the states?
Is the arena going on at 18:00 hrs according to the forum time or what?
thanks
It 18:00 GMT, which is about an hour and a quater ago from when I post this, there is one a week so hopefully you'll catch the next one.
Prophet7
28-12-2004, 21:52
Yeah 2pm Eastern Standard Time
*gives a shout to the few Americans on MERP UK*
underdarklord
29-12-2004, 17:25
I know my location says under your bed...just wanted to scare a couple of people, but it prolly didn't work. :mad:
I live in Michigan and just wanted to say howdy to you!! see ya next time on MERP UK!!
p.s. sorry for getting off topic...
Jordan Winters (ic) so everyone knows!!!
In light of the new death system, a few additions to the arena guidelines.
1. Once someone is down (bleeding/unconcious, etc) they have lost, unless its party combat.
2. If you end up in the halls of mandos/melkor - do not pray. Your corpse in the arena will be raised.
Have fun and see you all later ;)
Argon Balros
26-01-2005, 11:29
the other day me and some other players fought of a horde of dragons no small task,
yet when we enter the arena were entered into the amature division i think the division names could do with changing
Argon Balros
27-01-2005, 17:10
*coughs*
I really don't think that's a major point, quite frankly. And what will you call the 30-40 lvl division if you change the names of the 1-10 and 11-20 bands?
Argon Balros
27-01-2005, 18:00
its a little touch that will add to the arena experiance
but if you want me to tell you some ideas for band names here goes
01-10 Warriors
11-20 Veterans
21-30 Elites
31-40 Champions
Argon Balros
28-01-2005, 13:07
another idea perhaps you have to win a band to move onto the next one instead of automaticaly being bumped up because of your lvl
I like the idea of having to win a band to get jumped up, I like it a lot...
Another thing that could be done was some sort of trophy for winning, that the winner keeps untill the next show, It could be a belt like it is in boxing, or it could be some item that has a special ability to be used ones per day. I think it could be fun to have something that marks you as the current champion :D
Argon Balros
29-01-2005, 18:14
perhaps like one of those quest tokens so the peopel of tharbad greet you as the champion
and perhap access to mathis speacal brews
Prophet7
09-02-2005, 04:32
I think a fun event would be a Gladiator sort of thing. A party of four is chosen from both good and evil, and they are pitted against a large monster in the Arena.
Argon Balros
10-02-2005, 11:18
i like the gladiater idea.
They should have a choice of basic weapons(no enhancements) , a helmet, gladiater outfit and sheild. that is all the equipment that should be equiped.
the gladiater should first prove himself against a range of animals before earning the right to fight another gladiater. i think this should happen on another day to the arena at a different location, i think the upper deserts of harrad so that both good an evil can go there but it still has an exotic atmoshpere.
I already have a better project...deeper underground. More to come soon :)
WANTED: Sorcerers!
After the main melee event, we do like to hold Sorcerer duels, as the melee competition is not particularly Sorcerer friendly due to the size of the arena.
I will now allow players who have Sorcerer characters to login with these characters after the main event to make up numbers. I would also like to encourage Sorcerers to attend and take part. Sorcerer duels can be very entertaining :)
We will not allow any other spell casting class. Sorcerers only please.
Luthianna
12-02-2005, 22:36
Boo... Vyl might have had a go! :)
Mathas is looking for an exciting new format for the arena event to freshen it up and provide something a little different to the week in week out one we use.
To include with ideas, im hoping to setup a records system, so characters can follow their bout history in the arena.
Ideas below please.
Argon Balros
14-03-2005, 15:51
weapon only match.
both competitors enter unarmored and with no items equiped they then are given a basic weapon of their choice and a basic tower sheilds if the weapon they chose is a one handed weapon they can aslo chose 2 weapons to duel weild if they wish.
a match such as this would be a pure test of cunning and skill and be very entertaining.
I think I have seen this suggested before, but a beast killing (or gettign killed by one.. hehe) event may be interesting.
Also at present it is very difficult for players to gamble as they know the contestents too well. Would it be possible for players to be magicked in to other bodies temporarily or have at leat one beast vs beast fight, thus adding a graeter element of randomness, for those characters with a gambling bent.
Finaly what about possesd familiars only fights!!!
just some ideas for the brainstorming pot:)
Argon Balros
14-03-2005, 16:24
well i think with my sugstion the out come of matches would be far more dificult to gauge
Aye... thats true Argon...
Argon Balros
15-03-2005, 03:14
*looks suprised at the lack of interest in this subject*
Silverleaf
15-03-2005, 07:11
Gladiator duels would be fun, but would be a little hard for spellcaster types... Would they be able to cast spells? If so, every spellcaster would win. Perhaps they are only limited to something like 2 spells per level of spell. Example, 2 magic missles, 2 melfs acid arrows, 2 flame arrows etc...
Lum Levits
15-03-2005, 08:25
This may sound a little crazy but I think it would be fairly simple to create.
Line the arena walls with spawning chests. The chests would spawn normal weapons, armors, shields randomly. Limited to one item in each chest. When a item is taken out another random item would not respawn for 4 hartbeats.
Object: either in 1v1 or team combat or even a FFA. The players would have to race around naked and find stuff to fight with, while considering wheather or not they should be spending time looking for stuff or fighting.
No spells or monks allowed. Unless you could balance this for them somehow.
But here some thoughts that come to my mind.
Fighters not finding a weapon of their choice.
One finding armor while the other found a weapon.
Using knock down to get yourself a extra round to search with.
ect ect ect.....Im sure more funny stuff would come up.
You may have to make all the weapons simple so clerics and thiefs would not be penalized for finding weapons that they cannot use. Or script the on-open to include their class type of weapon found.
Maybe this is too much to do or too silly sounding, but I thought of it just now and Im tired.
It could work to an extent but putting armours into the chest would be pointless as you can't change armour during combat. However I do like the sound of the rest of it.
Yep definetly something to build on there:)
Argon Balros
15-03-2005, 12:23
my idea is mainly for melee characters
i think sorcerers, clerics and druids(if anyone ever makes one) should all be in a magic free for all like we all ready have.
Luthianna
15-03-2005, 12:47
Hehe, if there were more druids wandering about, I'd suggest an animal-only free-for-all :) I had such fun the one time I got to enter that as a badger!
Perhaps something for chars that chan shapeshift/possessed familiars would be fun - it might even give rogue-types something to do if they can use a scroll :)
Argon Balros
15-03-2005, 13:53
ahh i forgot about vly
Lum Levits
15-03-2005, 14:44
(It could work to an extent but putting armours into the chest would be pointless as you can't change armour during combat. However I do like the sound of the rest of it.)
Yes, but until someone actually attacks it would still be possable to put some on. The point is not to spend alot of time looking for the perfect gear. Check 1-3 chests and start combat.
Maybe a better idea would be to give each particpent one of each chest and they would just have to deal with thier luck on what they recieved.
In any case I was looking for people using stuff that their characters dont normally use.
Silverleaf
15-03-2005, 19:11
Or perhaps everyone gets the same weapon that everyone can use, like slings and quarter staves.
DM_Olórin
16-03-2005, 03:46
and no armour... like in the good old days or yore :P
What if you have only one type of weapon or armour available (basic versions)
Players do a dice role, winner gets first choice.
Argon Balros
16-03-2005, 12:23
i think it would be fairer and more entertaining if the players are allowed basic weapons of their choice. this would make it a serious battle a true test of skill as oposed to a random scrap.
Silverleaf
16-03-2005, 15:42
But then what if you have a ranger fighting a fighter/weapon master? That wepmaster will not only have a serious critical, but will also be able to do max damage with ki damage. VERY unfair. And for armor, probably studded for everyone. That will disallow rogueish characters getting full dex bonus, and prevents heavy armor fighters wearing full plate for max ac.
[EDIT:] Just a quick idea on top of the weapons: Give them attack penalties, because even if you are wearing armor, at high levels that won't stop you from hitting everytime.
Argon Balros
16-03-2005, 17:46
if your not an adept fighter then perhaps you should not enter the contest.
also a ranger could dual weild and with the lack of armor and equipment the acs will be low also those who wear little armor will miss it less ie rangers.
so i think it would lead to some very interesting and fair matches.
Silverleaf
16-03-2005, 18:33
Hmm.. that's a good point. Then again a fighter could wield two weapons of his choice. ;) If the arena was limited to weapon masters though, it would be kind of lame. Perhaps something could be figured out like...
Mages (bards included) vs Mages (bards included)
Clerics vs Clerics
Mages (bards included) vs Clerics
Fighters (wepmasters) vs Fighters (wepmasters)
Rangers vs Rangers
Rangers vs Barbarians, paladins
Barbarians vs paladins
Rogues vs all
Monks vs monks
and so on... basically trying to keep class types together. Although you could argue it's not very RP-ish, it would make things more fair.
Argon Balros
16-03-2005, 19:30
all clases have their strengths and weaknesses and not having armour and rings and such does not favour any class if anything it makes it harder for weaponmasters. but anyway their would need to be a no magic rule or the spell casters who do not overly count upon their equipment would anialate all others.
DM_Olórin
16-03-2005, 20:18
simple fact is that the calsses are not intended to be balanced for one on one combat against each other. they are designed to work well as a team. there is NO WAY that the combats in the arena can be reliably balanced out on the day. It relies entirely on who shows up for the event and what level they are :)
Lum Levits
17-03-2005, 02:06
Yes, making their choice weapon and normal weapon isnt must different than fighting with what you have now.
But giving a fighter type a weapon he is not built for would give other classes more of a chance to defeat him/her.
Maybe fighters/barbs/weaponmaster/rangers/paladins should have to pick from a chest that respawns a normal non-magic weapon at random.
I think the best thing to do is experiment a little bit at first and see if its good or bad.
Argon Balros
17-03-2005, 03:08
lum it is different as their acs will be significantly lower,
in one sence it will be the same as normal only harder to predict who will win and more fun for all involved.
If characters were of that high enough a level, wearing just basic armour they'd be hitting almost every round unless they roll a 1. To me this would make outcomes all the moer predictable based on the str of the fighting characters and the damage their weapon dishes out.
Argon Balros
13-04-2005, 15:34
i must admit i had more fun last night than i did at most arenas
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