A Proposed Event--Any interest?

Funeral-Pyre · February 05, 2007, 11:23:51 AM

I had some time to kill during lunch today, and as my mind sometimes does, it drifted to CoH/V. I know, big surprise! I started thinking about a new FR event, one that we haven't really done before.

What does everyone think about an arena tourney? I'm conceptionalizing single battle eliminations. Eventually, there would be a final match between the two toons who had defeated everyone else and the winner of that final match would be the FR Arena Tourney Champ of the year, or something less dorky sounding.

I haven't had much arena experience, so I won't pretend to possess any specific knowledge on how it would be done, but I imagine the idea is somewhat feasible.

I think it would be relatively easy for the event to be open to both heroes and villains of any level range as I believe there is a way to equate the playing field if a lvl 50 happens to battle a lvl 4. As I said, I'm not very experienced in arena battles, so maybe there is someone who has more knowledge than me on it.

So, what do you all think about having an event like this? I figure we would just start a thread and see if there's any interest. If not, then it will just die a quick death. If there is interest, we could certainly work on nailing down days/times and some rules as well as a sign up thread.

What does everyone think?

Alaric · February 05, 2007, 11:31:14 AM

It's funny- I've been thinking about something very similar to this, though also pretty different... I think I want to work out some of the details a little more before posting it, though. There's one aspect of my idea that may make it unworkable as-is.

Tortuga · February 05, 2007, 01:09:15 PM

I've been itching for an AFBL overhaul, so arena battles would be a fun alternative -- and require less organizing :)

Not sure about 1 on 1s though -- as far as I remember the arena has never been balanced for 1 on 1 battles.

B A D · February 05, 2007, 01:11:57 PM

Pyre, I posted in General about a possible weekly PVP/Arena thing just a bit earlier. Maybe we can mesh the two ideas together.

captainspud · February 05, 2007, 01:31:46 PM

Would we be imposing any special restrictions on the fights?

IE, is this a fun tourney or a cutthroat one? Can I bring Spud, with his 30+ Hami-Os? Can I bring Threadlord, who reaps the souls of unprepared villains in Sirens? Can Ephy bring his Ice Tank O' Death? Etcetera, etcetera.

One thing that might work best is to hold the tourney in Warburg-- avoids the glitchy Arena, gives a reasonable level cap, and lets us set up matches much faster. Disadvantages are of course PvE and PvP opponents interfering, so we might not want that.

I'd be up for this regardless of the format we choose.

Verfall · February 05, 2007, 01:49:15 PM

If you do run it, the minimum cap should be 22. With the 25% accuracy decrease in pvp, nothing without SO's an really do well. That was one of the contributing factors to the last AFBL dying off.

Funeral-Pyre · February 05, 2007, 02:45:34 PM

Quote from: captainspud on February 05, 2007, 01:31:46 PM
Would we be imposing any special restrictions on the fights?

IE, is this a fun tourney or a cutthroat one? Can I bring Spud, with his 30+ Hami-Os? Can I bring Threadlord, who reaps the souls of unprepared villains in Sirens? Can Ephy bring his Ice Tank O' Death? Etcetera, etcetera.

One thing that might work best is to hold the tourney in Warburg-- avoids the glitchy Arena, gives a reasonable level cap, and lets us set up matches much faster. Disadvantages are of course PvE and PvP opponents interfering, so we might not want that.

I'd be up for this regardless of the format we choose.

That's a good question. I don't see why it can't be fun and cutthroat, without being unsportsmanlike. I would say anyone is welcome, but others may have more valid arguments against that than I can put together at the moment.

Funeral-Pyre · February 05, 2007, 02:46:21 PM

Quote from: Tortuga on February 05, 2007, 01:09:15 PM
I've been itching for an AFBL overhaul, so arena battles would be a fun alternative -- and require less organizing :)

Not sure about 1 on 1s though -- as far as I remember the arena has never been balanced for 1 on 1 battles.

What is the imbalance? Just wondering, cuz I have no clue.

Ephemeris · February 05, 2007, 04:14:07 PM

Quote from: Funeral-Pyre on February 05, 2007, 02:46:21 PM
Quote from: Tortuga on February 05, 2007, 01:09:15 PM
I've been itching for an AFBL overhaul, so arena battles would be a fun alternative -- and require less organizing :)

Not sure about 1 on 1s though -- as far as I remember the arena has never been balanced for 1 on 1 battles.

What is the imbalance? Just wondering, cuz I have no clue.

Some sets just annihilate other sets. Like an ice/cold corruptor would destroy a /regen scrapper.

Quote from: captainspud on February 05, 2007, 02:46:21 PM
Can Ephy bring his Ice Tank O' Death?

LOL!!! I'm mace....The only thing I'd be killing was time.

Midnight · February 05, 2007, 04:29:48 PM

Quote from: Funeral-Pyre on February 05, 2007, 02:46:21 PM
Quote from: Tortuga on February 05, 2007, 01:09:15 PM
I've been itching for an AFBL overhaul, so arena battles would be a fun alternative -- and require less organizing :)

Not sure about 1 on 1s though -- as far as I remember the arena has never been balanced for 1 on 1 battles.

What is the imbalance? Just wondering, cuz I have no clue.

Well, some builds fare better against others. Say, an emp/energy defender would get smeared on the ground because it's buffs based. Etc.

Alaric · February 05, 2007, 07:33:01 PM

Okay, what I've been thinking about is this- a 1 on 1 championship melee-only arena event, open to Scrappers, Tankers, Stalkers, and Brutes only. The players would assemble, each playing only a single character for the duration of the match, and the characters would be pitted against each other at random in 1 on 1 matches, at the level of the lower of the two combatants. All regular powers- primary, secondary, pool, epic, patron, and AT-specific abilities- would be allowed, but probably not temp powers or vet reward powers. The loser in each match would be eliminated- in the unlikely event of a tie (both individuals knock each other out), there would be an immediate rematch. The second round would match the winners from the first round against each other- same rules- and so on, until only one is left (the winner, obviously).

The two main problems I can see with this are:

1) Melee only- What if a player with no melee characters on Freedom wants to participate?

Possible solution: Come up with a similar, non-melee event to run in the near future.

2) Balance- I suspect that certain ATs would have a huge advantage against certain other ATs, one on one.

Possible solutions: a) It's possible that these advantages will vary somewhat by level. Since the levels of the matches will vary, that could help even things out a bit. b) The main point is to have fun- personally, if I were participating in something like this, it wouldn't bother me to find myself in a disadvatageous position. I'd just play my best, and have fun. c) Who cares? Verfall's probably going to win, anyway- unless he doesn't take part :)

Midnight · February 05, 2007, 07:56:18 PM

Well, there are also the sets that have ranged attacks *cough*spines*cough* but I don't know how that would work out. Why don't we just have an evening (or two) for this; single elimination tournament style. :D If it works out, maybe try and expand it.

captainspud · February 05, 2007, 09:40:39 PM

Here would be my proposed rule set. A lot of it is "honor system"-- we're not awarding prizes here, it's all for fun, so I trust nobody would take advantage of the system.

-Open to any character. If you want to bring a fresh level 1 to fight 50s, that's your call. :)
-Double Elimination format-- you lose twice and you're out.
-Initial brackets determined alphabetically. When the event starts, everybody lines up alphabetically, and toons from opposite ends of the line are pulled off and paired up. So for example, Atomic Saint fights Zelda Storm, and MikeB7 fights New Jack (since Middy's cheating and playing both accounts ;)).
-Mercy Rule: If you kill someone five times with no response, toggle down and let them get one before resuming the reaming.
-If a match ends in a draw, a tie-breaker round ensues-- the two players race to kill an arbitrary third party chosen at random. Whoever records the kill is the winner. It's fair, because it's not about power, it's all timing. A troller can ninja a kill out from under a blaster. Multiple tie-breakers can be run in the same match for expediency's sake. You're assigned a target before you start-- that person must stand still and not fire any powers. Kill anyone but your target and you lose.

-Optional: Talk to your opponent beforehand to discuss whether you want to allow "warm-up time" before each life. I'm speaking mostly of MMs here-- without setup time, MMs just get destroyed in the Arena. If you want to bring an MM or another toon with a lot of setup time, keep in mind that opponents aren't required to let you set up.

Ephemeris · February 05, 2007, 09:56:53 PM

I don't like the idea of a melee only tournement. It'd be one stalemate after another. What can take out a granite tank/brute? or a /regen? The powers/sets designed to beat those powers/sets can only be found in defenders, controllers, masterminds or corruptors.

I'd prefer a tourney closer to what Spud is proposing, although the tie breaking system may need work.

Funeral-Pyre · February 06, 2007, 06:33:52 AM

I like Spud's take as well. It's less limiting than melee only. Besides, most of us have many toons to choose from, so it would be my guess that someone would not choose an arena gimped toon like an empathy/energy defender. Of course, if someone wanted to, that would certainly be his/her choice.

The whole point is just to get together and have some fun beating on each other. This will be a nice Danger Room exercise.

Is it possible to watch a match if you are not fighting in it?

Alaric · February 06, 2007, 06:52:27 AM

Quote from: Funeral-Pyre on February 06, 2007, 06:33:52 AM
Is it possible to watch a match if you are not fighting in it?

Yes.

Midnight · February 06, 2007, 07:20:11 AM

Quote from: captainspud on February 05, 2007, 09:40:39 PM-Initial brackets determined alphabetically. When the event starts, everybody lines up alphabetically, and toons from opposite ends of the line are pulled off and paired up. So for example, Atomic Saint fights Zelda Storm, and MikeB7 fights New Jack (since Middy's cheating and playing both accounts ;)).

Nyaaah! :p

I'd totally be up for this. Maybe we could cap the levels at... 22 or 27? That's a fairly reasonable goal for new players (I'm looking at Meej) to reach beforehand.

Camma · February 06, 2007, 08:04:40 AM

I would be up for almost any form of a arena tourney. I like the basic structure spud put forward as well. I think using a zone like warburg should be a worst case backup plan if the arena is not working for some reason.

Ephemeris · February 06, 2007, 08:24:16 AM

Quote from: Alaric on February 06, 2007, 06:52:27 AM
Quote from: Funeral-Pyre on February 06, 2007, 06:33:52 AM
Is it possible to watch a match if you are not fighting in it?

Yes.

But it is a major cause of arena matches crashing.

El Condor · February 06, 2007, 08:31:30 AM

Amigos,

I would gladly submit any of my characters for whatever spanking awaits them at the hands of veteran players! :thumbup:
Middy, despite my top scrapper's powerset, I wouldn't lay any wagers on him against you. ;)

It's been mentioned that this would be for fun, and I agree that should be the focus! I think there should be an honest, sporting attempt at creating balance, then let's go for it! Any gaps in the system would be discovered, people would still have a great time, and the next tourney would be tighter for the experience.

EC