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M y s t i c A R E N A
Frequently Asked Questions
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This FAQ was put together to answer a few questions that are not so much
about the game itself as more about the league(s) I am running at my side.
Contents:
0. Important Notes from the Commissioner on how to write your mails.
1. Mails, Divisions, Challenges
1.1 How can I challenge other Gladiators?
1.2 More about challenges by Aragorn
1.3 What about "special rules" if the challenged doesn't agree?
1.4 Which Titles can be won?
1.5 Are there other Leagues or Divisions?
1.6 Limits to roleplays
2. Gladiators, Attributes, Equipment
2.1 How do I get to know my Gladiator's current status?
2.2 Can I sell used equipment?
2.3 My armour got destroyed in the last fight. I don't have the money
to buy a new one, so what now?
2.4 An article on Gladiator design by Elric
2.5 What if my Gladiator sucks?
2.6 The Road to Success
3. Good and Bad Guys, RolePlays and Illegal Moves
3.1 What do the fans expect a Good/Bad Guy to do?
3.2 How do my RolePlays affect the game?
3.3 What can I do in a RolePlay?
3.4 What are Illegal Moves and how do I make them?
3.5 Are there limits to Illegal Moves?
3.6 Who are these people?
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0. Important Notes from the Commissioner on how to write your mails.
I want this said first, because I don't want to repeat it for everyone who
joins the league.
You will be receiving mails, sometimes a lot of them, via a cc-list. DON'T
reply to that list, please. Never! Everything should instead be sent to the following
address:
The Medieval League commissioner can be found at,
daethe@televar.com
In these mails ALWAYS include your Gladiator's name. There have been more
than 20 active Gladiators in the league for some months now and I simply
can't remember everyone, especially not all Newcomers. So including your
Gladiator's name saves me the time to look it up. When I'm in a bad mood,
I might simply delete mails without Gladiator names on them, ok?
That said, let's get on with the FAQ:
1. Mails, RolePlays, Challenges
1.1 How can I challenge other Gladiators?
*A*: You can always challenge anyone. When you issue a challenge, you have to
make clear two things:
1.) *Who* you want to challenge
("open" challenges to anyone or several people are ok, but
will not be included in the official schedule until someone
accepted it.)
2.) *What* kind of fight you want
i.e. Normal, FirstBlood, NoSurrender, Timed
you are responsible yourself to make sure that you don't fight too
often. Once a Challenge is accepted you can NOT withdraw it!
To make my life easier, write "Challenge" in the subject line if you
want to make sure I recognize it for what it is.
1.2 More on challenges by Aragorn
Welcome Newcommers! This section of the FAQ/Instruction Manual is
designed to help newcomers who have already designed their characters to
start fighting. The first step is to decide who you are going to fight.
You can challenge anyone in the league, but don't expect to come in
winning against experienced players (although you may be lucky, it's just
not likely). You can either begin by fighting other inexperienced fighters
to go up in rank, or you can challenge an experienced fighter, in the hopes
of gaining some experience, though you will probably loose. The next step is
to decide when the fight will take place. For normal scheduling, arena runs
fights four times a week. You could probably run an illegal event on any
other day, with the commissioner's approval, but for the majority of fights,
you have four available fighting days.
Monday Mania (or Manic Monday? Nobody knows for sure)
Newest and most colorful event of the week. It is trying to get its start
with good and somewhat unusual fights. More or less it's the circus of
arena. Manic Moday tries to capitolize on "the other side" of arena,
featuring backstage interviews and flashy shows.
Tuesday Trash
This is where the newcomer fights will probably start. It's where
inexperienced fighters usually get their first chance. It's just what is
claims to be, trash. Absolutely no title fights are fought on Tuesday
Trash, and hardly anything fancy takes place. You can expect a run-down
atmosphere, and poor ratings, and possibly a rowdy crowd.
Thursday's "Gods of War"
This is the violent side of Arena. The crowd expects blood, and that's
what they will probably get. "Gods of War" is designed for No Surrender,
Xtreme, and overal grudge matches. It is also a good time to plan any
illegal moves you might make, as the crowd almost expects them.
Saturday Night Slam
At the heart of Arena is the Saturday Night Slam. This is where most of
the major and all of the title fights occur. Not only does it feature the
best fighting in the league, but it also gets the highest ratings, so it
is a good place to gain support from the fans. Since this features the
best fighters in the league, it is sometimes considered as an initiation
into "the big time" for newcomers.
Now that you know who you are fighting and when, you must write a
roleplay. Although you can simply tell the commishioner that you want to
make a challenge, it is very strongly recomended that you write a
roleplay. Roleplays are what makes Arena what it is. Without them, it's
just like rolling a bunch of dice, and seeing what happens. Roleplays
should be long and written like a speech or announcement, and should be
written at least once a week. You should announce who you are
challenging, when the fight is to take place, and what the conditions are
(Normal, No Surrender, or any "special" conditions, such as no armour).
Roleplays should always reflect the image that you want your character to
have.
Good Luck
Aragorn
1.3 What about "special rules" if the challenged doesn't agree?
*A*: There's a default for fights that is just a normal fight as called in
the rules. Anything else must be agreed upon by BOTH opponents, or the
default will be used.
This means, that if you challenge someone to a FirstBlood fight and he
doesn't agree on FirstBlood, than it's a normal fight, NOT no fight!
Your only chance to make sure that it'll be your conditions or nothing
at all is making things clear in RolePlays before uttering a formal
challenge.
This also extends to any "special rules" you might come up with, like
a fight without weapons or whatever. If your enemy doesn't agree to your
special, it'll be a normal fight. (You, off course, will have your
weapon with you, too.)
1.4 Which Titles can be won?
*A*: There are a couple of those in the Original League, plus more in
the other leagues (look at the following chapter).
In the Original League, the International Champion is the primary
title. Only top-Gladiators can challenge the current Champion for
it. One of them is named #1 Contender, which is nearly a Title in
itself, and has the special priviledge that if he challenges the
Champion, the Champion cannot decline the fight and it will always
be for the Title.
In addition, there is a Tag-Team-Title. Rules for this one are far
less strict and basically anyone can challenge the current title
holders.
Then, there is The Madman. This is a special Title. It has to be
defended every monday at Monday Mania. One cannot hold it (or
fight for it) if one has any other Title. It is worth 10 Gold for
winning or defending. There are no challenges to this title in the
usual kind, instead whoever wants to fight for it signs up with
the Commissioner, who chooses among those who did one to fight the
current Champion.
Finally, the BeastSlayer is the latest addition. This is different
in so far as you don't fight other Gladiators, but Beasts. And
because you will most probably win, the BeastSlayer is the one
who wins FASTEST. There will be three contestants for this Title
every Monday Mania. One is the current BeastSlayer, for the other
two spots you can sign up. When signing up, you have to name one
of the fighting Beasts. All three Gladiators will fight the two
Beasts named by the two Gladiators who signed up. So you yourself
set the challenge for yourself and the others
Independent from Leagues, there is the World Champion Title. This
one is only fought over four times a year, at the equinoxs. It will
be in a special tournament where the champs of every league plus
the one with the highest ratio in every league plus (if that is
necessary to fill the number of contestants up to eight) specially
elected (by the Commissioner) fighters will participate.
1.5 Are there other Leagues or Divisions?
*A*: First of all, there are quite a number of different gladiator-style
games available on the net. Some free, some commercial. There's even
a second game called ARENA - a commercial one.
Now, special Mystic ARENA Divisions also exist. With the huge amount
of players, the League had to split one day in August 1997, about four
months after the first fights and soon after, in the last September
weeks, a third league opened.
There is, however, a central point to everything and that is, still,
commissioner@mystery.antar.com.
When you sign up, you sign up your Gladiator, you do NOT sign up to a
special league. As soon as you have signed up, the Commissioner will
tell you which leagues/division are open and looking for players and
what their status is. He will also take care that your league doesn't
go down because the GameMaster gets married or moves or hasn't as much
time to spend as before for any other reason.
You CAN switch leagues later on, as a second choice. However, this
does cost some reputation (a lot of new fans who don't know you) and
it may also cost you between 10 and 50 Gold.
Switching the league/division will erase your record of wins/losses,
so it's a good way to clean up if you really think you were just
unlucky.
1.6 Limits to roleplays
*A*: Yes, there are a few. One is that you cannot abuse other Gladiators in
your roleplays. You cannot make them do things they most likely would
not, like stand around while you attack their friends or being shoved
into the nearest wall without resistance.
Anything that involves other Gladiators to this degree is not a roleplay,
but an illegal attack and subject to Commissioner's review.
Also, take care when using insults. They are a great way to get fights
started, but as this is an international game, you might cross cultural
borders into areas where what you consider a nice way to get a fight is
viewed much more seriously.
Take our yugoslavian friends as an example: Don't insult their mothers
or they will really be angry at you. Not as players, but as real persons.
On the other hand, myself and others couldn't care less what you say about
someone you don't even know, game or not.
It also works the other way 'round. What Joka thought was a funny insult
was taken to heart by a few players who didn't think it was funny at all.
So whenever you insult someone in a roleplay, try to make sure it's clear
you insult a gladiator, not a player. Also try to not overdo it and listen
for the reactions. Stop when you see the stop sign.
And on the receiving end, don't take things too seriously. Whenever someone
hurt you as a real person, consider first that most probably it wasn't
meant that way.
2. Gladiators, Attributes, Equipment
2.1 How do I get to know my Gladiator's current status?
*A*: In the Original League, a status report will be sent to you automatically
every sunday. You can also ask for them inbetween if you need one right
away.
In other leagues, you will most probably have to ask your commissioner
for reports.
2.2 Can I sell used equipment?
*A*: Yes, you can. I'll take it back for 75% of its worth, rounded down to
the next full 10. A Short Sword, worth 150, will therefore yield you
110 Gold.
Other leagues may have different pay-back values.
2.3 My armour got destroyed in the last fight. I don't have the money
to buy a new one, so what now?
*A*: Don't worry, all your equipment is covered by insurance and will be re-
placed after the fight. You also don't have to pay for hospital etc. as
I assume that this is the reason you don't earn any money for normal
fights - it is spent on various insurances, your manager and trainer and
other stuff.
This also can be different in your league.
2.4 An article on Gladiator design by Elric
hi everyone.
in this text, i'll be revealing some of the secrets of good gladiator design.
in the current league, i am elric, the current number one in the rankings, #1
contender and still undefeated. i have beaten most of the experienced fighters
in this league and the current world champion is - these are his own words! -
afraid of me.
so i guess i have some foundations to talk about how to create a successful
gladiator, while some others should rather give you hints about how *not* to do
it. :-)
first of all, do not give yourself a real weak spot. never, ever. 'weak spots'
can be anything. you can bet your grandma that anything you do not put any
points on during character creating will be a weak spot unless you cover it up
with another advantage.
elric has the default 15 wounds, which would qualify for a very weak spot if it
weren't for the fact that he currently has the best armour of all the fighters
around, a sturdy chain mail. the idea is that i won't take much wounds through
that kind of armour, so i don't need that many wounds. and wounds get very
expensive very fast. i have no idea where the guys with 18 wounds got the
points, however, some of them are doing quite well.
even more important than the 'no weak spots' rule is that you *do* need a strong
point. good all-around fighters are rare, but they are impressive. the shadow
and yim ving chun are of this kind, i guess from what i've seen. they are among
the best fighters around, but i don't think you should go for this kind of
gladiator. too many have tried and failed miserably.
there are two kinds of 'strong points'. one is of the kind another very good
fighter, brutus, features. he must be incredibly strong, i guess he started with
18 and must have 19 or 20 by now, because he nearly killed another fighter
*unarmed*! he also is armed with a spear, which i believe is probably the best
choice he could make. the spear is not as dangerous as a two-handed sword or the
might battle axe, but it is easier to handle, cheaper and brings less weight.
don't underestimate the importance of weight! bonecrusher, another fighter, went
from losing to winning after he dropped the battle axe and got himself a long
sword. his problem seemed to be fast exhaustion (due to the heavy axe) and that
if he hit the fight was almost over, but he didn't get that chance that often
(due to the bad parry with the axe). both problems were solved with a switch in
equipment.
elrics 'strong point' is of another kind. everything, and i do mean *everything*
in this fighter is geared towards one goal. that is maximum defense. i have the
toughest armour in all the league, i have defensive fighting style and a weapon
that one can parry with. if it weren't two-handed, i would even have a shield.
my fatigue is among the higher values and that does it. how do you defeat me? i
just hide behind my defense and wait till you are exhausted or make a mistake,
then i attack. you would have to score a number of good, wounding hits to bring
me down. now try that against someone geared for defense and with this good an
armour.
this is not the only way to do it. brutus is about the opposite, he has this
really dangerous weapon together with his impressive strength and his aggressive
fighting style. he's very dangerous, and has been at the top of this league long
before i entered.
and even that is not all there is. as i said, there are good all-around
fighters. actually, some of the best are of this kind. so what i am giving you
is not an exact recipe, and i don't think that trying to copy me will do you any
good, but rather an *attitude*. the secret to a good gladiator is that you
*think* before you put in your stuff. don't try to get everything, because you
won't. instead, think what you will really need. and think of the side-effects.
an example of this is that i went for the chain mail instead of the scale mail
because of its weight. i couldn't afford too much strength, so i put out a few
extra points on gold and bought the lighter chain mail. on the other hand, my
tactics really sucks, but hey, what do i need it for? i hide behind my parries
and wait for my chance, you don't need much tactics for this i thought, and
looks like i was right.
for everyone who is still with me i have another secret, probably the one to
elrics outstanding success: choose your enemies very, very carefully and prepare
for them like a real gladiator would if he went on a fight that may well cost
his life.
elric attacked yim ving chun first, then fought brutus and bonecrusher. all
these fighters are among the most experienced in the league, and that gave me an
incredible boost in experience. thus i was prepared for more fights. i knew i
could win these fights because nobody was prepared for me and my fighting style.
i watched them to make sure. the only unsure factor in this was if brutus would
be able to pierce my chain mail with his spear. it turned out he couldn't (at
least not enough to wound me seriously) and thus i won. this whole thing was a
risky gamble, but it turned out to be a breakthrough.
i have heard, the shadow had a similiar tactic in the beginnings of this league.
by fighting every newcomer as soon as possible - and defeating him - he earned
himself more respect than his true abilities might justify, plus he got a lot of
easy victories. still he was good enough a fighter to ward of the occasional
attacks on his title, but it speaks for itself that as long as i have been in
the league, only one challenge to his title has been issued.
what do both of us have in common? we have a *reputation*. people fear to fight
us, because of what we have done in the past and this enables us to pick our
fights. if someone challenges one of us, we can refuse his challenge with
something like "i don't fight natural born losers".
and even if that's not possible, there's a way out. the shadow refused to fight
me - he said he were afraid of me. now the trick is that he can do so without
losing face. from his mouth, this is a compliment to me, not a statement of
submission.
and i guess if my words above are your way to the creation of a good fighter,
then this is your way to going to and staying at the top. put yourself in a
position where you can choose your opponents, and then use that to your
advantage.
[ note from Commissioner: Elric is the only Gladiator ever to retire undefeated
after a straight 15-wins streak, some of the most experienced Gladiators among
those. His second Gladiator is currently exceptionally successful, too. ]
2.5 What if my Gladiator sucks?
*A*: Nobody expects that with no experience in the game and all you manage to
create the greatest Gladiator of all times in your first try. So if your
Gladiator keeps losing, there are a number of things you can do.
If you think it's just tough luck and want to keep the guy, but clear
his record, you can either simply fight on and wait - your current per-
formance always counts more than your past - or you can switch leagues.
Switching leagues will set your Ratio to 0 immediatly, although your
Victories and Losses stay on the board.
If you think he's badly designed and believe you could do better the
second time around, scrap him and start again with a new Gladiator. That
is not a problem, as long as you don't overdo it. A second or third try
is pretty much ok.
2.6 The Road to Success
*A*: Actually, this is just a collection of a few hints to avoid the above
paragraph, if possible.
First off all, what is considered "success" in ARENA? That very much
depends on you and the goals you set yourself. The spirit of the game
says, there are two things that make a Gladiator a success.
The first one is a good spot in the Rankings. That doesn't necessarily
mean first place, some Gladiator's are just styled for a good rank,
but not the top. Look at your favorite wrestling league and you will
immediatly see a few wrestlers that simply wouldn't fit as the Champ,
but that are among the very best.
The second thing is Fan-Factor. In the end, this is all a show and it's
all about the fans. And in the history of ARENA, there have been a
couple of Fighters who weren't top ranked, but the fans just loved
them. This IS a success and it might be even more difficult to achive
it than the first one.
Now how do you go about it? For the fighting and rankings part, there
is not much I can add to Elric's words above. Choose your opponents
with care. While writing this FAQ, Kylax was a top ranked Gladiator in
the Original League with an impressive 12:2 record. And personally, I
believe this is mainly because he was so careful in choosing his
opponents. Most of them were easy wins, and some very experienced enemies
gave him the necessary experience to rise to the top.
Looking the other way (without mentioning names), it's clear that
dropping to the bottom is in most cases a matter of choosing too many
too strong opponents. It might be tempting to fight the elite, and it's
rewarded with a lot of experience, but as you will almost surely lose,
it brings you further and further down.
Now for the fans, there is just one word to say: Roleplays. Make some.
Make them good, and make them whenever something important happens to
your Gladiator.
As a sidenote: Fights, good fights, will also raise your Fan-Factor,
so in choosing your opponents (wrapping up the above paragraph), try
to select those that you believe you can defeat but that aren't much
below you in experience and/or rankings. The fans want good, balanced
fights. They like a slaughter here and then, but not often.
3. Good and Bad Guys, RolePlays and Illegal Moves
3.1 What do the fans expect me to do?
*A*: From the rules you can grasp that a Good Guy should be loved and a Bad
Guy hated by the fans. That's about it - as a Good Guy you should do
things the fans love and as a Bad... you got the idea.
Now, what do they love and what do the hate? Anything that's unfair is
part of the second category, while anything like "justice" is part of
the first. Also, good fights will make you more loved or more hated and
bad fights will bring you closer to disregard.
It's difficult to say what exactly something will do to your reputation
as there are simply too many variables to consider. If you have been the
target of some Illegal Moves by the same Bad Guy, surely the fans would
just love to see you pay it back - if it's done in style. Dropping to
his level is not what they want you to do.
In general, being a Good Guy is more difficult, because it is always
harder to be loved than hated. However, it can also be more rewarding,
as you might be able to get away with things a Bad Guy might not.
Remember that there are also two Factions - Loners and Neutrals - that
are neither good nor bad. Also remember that Good Inc. and True Evil
are much more extreme than the simple Good or Bad guys.
3.2 How do my RolePlays affect the game?
*A*: RolePlays don't affect the game, they _are_ the game.
Their effect on the Fights is very limited. Down in the arena, words
don't count, actions do.
However, Fights are not what this game is all about, 'cause if it were
I'd just throw you the program and let you run it a few times to see
who made the best Gladiator. The RolePlays are the place where you make
your Challenges, find friends and enemies and generally show off.
3.3 What can I do in a RolePlay?
*A*: Just about everything. Simply saying what you've got to say or doing it
in an "interview-style" is probably what will happen most of the times,
but you're actually only limited by the Commissioner.
That said, you may include other Gladiators in your RolePlays as long as
you let them behave as they probably would. One clear limit is that you
cannot do anything that would cause them injury or something like that.
3.4 What are Illegal Moves and how do I make them?
*A*: Illegal Moves are something like RolePlays with consequences. Such as
an attack on another Gladiator or poisoning him or anything you can
think of.
Also, anything you want to do without it bearing your name could be fit
into this category.
Stuff like that should be send to the Commissioner with a short comment
and he will take care of the rest. Illegal Moves do not always yield
what you hoped, the more you want to affect someone, the higher your
risk. It may also be that he was warned (maybe simply by the fact that
he is overly suspicious) and has taken countermeasures.
3.5 Are there limits to Illegal Moves?
*A*: Yes, there is a limit: Don't get bystanders involved. After a series of
attacks on Bob Bifford and even one Manager, the Commissioner put all
"civilians" under his protection. Attacking one of them just might get
you kicked out of the league.
3.6 Who are these people?
I've seen the names Bob Bifford and Jim Whatford, they're some
kind of reporters, right? I've also seen RolePlays from some
guys that are not in the rankings and what the hell are the
"Sword & Shield Tavern" and the "House of Pain" ?
*A*: Part one: Yes, Bob and Jim are ARENA's primary reporters. They are
the guys who comment the fights (two reporters instead of just one
seems to be an american tradition).
Other than that, Bob often does the Interviews while Jim is behind
most of the Specials and other reports.
Part two: Some of the Gladiators don't talk for themselves, but have
managers who do the public-relations stuff. The Shadow is one example,
actually he often doesn't say a single word for weeks. His managers
have been Death Angel (an Ex-Gladiator) and recently Shadow Warrior,
whose origins are unknown.
Also, sometimes a Team may write under its Team name instead of one
individual Gladiator's name.
Other managers or people-on-the-sideline may also appear from time to
time and probably be included here once they made themselves a name.