1. Telling you that you're a POS was probably over the line. I don't apologize but I also won't do it again

No offense taken. I like to yell and cuss too. I'd be a perfect fit for arena. But our other thread got locked after people got rowdy, and we're actually getting somewhere this time.

4. On a serious note; I'm against the merging. I like that the Arena is dead because you know your interest check is going to get seen by everyone. And for the record it isn't dead in my opinion. Slow moving sure but not dead.

I... guess that's one way to turn your weakness into a strength. 'I like that the arena is dead because you know your interest check is gonna get seen!' And you know what. You're not even wrong. You'll agree that there's definitely an increase of activity needed in arena RP though, right?

But anyway; sorry for being an ass but that's just who I am!

You and me both, buddy. Normally I'd have yelled back, as my friends can attest, but in the light of not wanting this thread locked, I decided not to. I'm glad, because you seem like a decent person.

Arena isn't technically declining, it's just mainly stagnating. I have tried some unusual battles in the past such as a team of tanks against each other, but it didn't work out. We definitely need to do something if we are to stop stagnating unless we're fine with that.

Giving physical rewards would likely breed a bunch of salty behavior and metagaming in order to win the prize, so I'd be against that. We did include win/loss stuff on profiles, which in theory should bring more motivation for people to try to rise in the ranks if people cared about that more.

An unpopular opinion: Reduce the number of sections to the old Free, Casual, Advanced.

I play almost exclusively in NRP, but I feel like niche sections create niche communities. This makes natural introduction to that community hard and as a result creates an ever diminishing pool of players.

@Buddha Hrm. I don't see anything there that would change my view, clearly I am not changing your view and I think we are just going around in circles at this point. I'll let you have the last word :-)

@ImportantNobody You know the contests that are hosted here that are writing contests? They give away a title for under your avatar (kinda like moderator, except not with the powers, and obviously named something else.)

I was thinking something like that. It's just for aesthetics, but it gives you a reason to compete because it looks badass.

@Buddha Hrm. I don't see anything there that would change my view, clearly I am not changing your view and I think we are just going around in circles at this point. I'll let you have the last word :-)

We are arguing in circles. I just don't see any ideas from your side, which is what I was going for ;) What would you do?

An unpopular opinion: Reduce the number of sections to the old Free, Casual, Advanced.

I play almost exclusively in NRP, but I feel like niche sections create niche communities. This makes natural introduction to that community hard and as a result creates an ever diminishing pool of players.

Adding to this that all the respective forums bar maybe tabletop have an existing reputation for being noticeably toxic or unreliable. Even more so than 1x1? Yes even more so than 1x1, that's possible apparently. Which is an issue on it's own we need to address at some point... New blood in arena, tabletop and NRP seems hard to come by.

@ImportantNobody You know the contests that are hosted here that are writing contests? They give away a title for under your avatar (kinda like moderator, except not with the powers, and obviously named something else.)

I was thinking something like that. It's just for aesthetics, but it gives you a reason to compete because it looks badass.

I saw the contests but honestly just ignored them. XD

We could do that and have it for the top 3 ranking people in the arena or something. New people coming it have a chance if the ranks reset every so often.

@Sylph will you allow me to use your post as a quoting point in case I compile a list or something out of this thread? Need more people saying the same thing as me and the others in this thread in order to at least prove that there's not just 1 small group of dissenters here but rather that a lot of people from different clique's feel the same way.

<Snipped quote by Isotope>

Adding to this that all the respective forums bar maybe tabletop have an existing reputation for being noticeably toxic or unreliable. Even more so than 1x1? Yes even more so than 1x1, that's possible apparently. Which is an issue on it's own we need to address at some point... New blood in arena, tabletop and NRP seems hard to come by.

Yeah, NRP is doing a bit better but after three years it's very rare to see a new face in the section.

@Isotope Any ideas specifically on what causes that, how we can fix it, if there is even a clear problem or if people are just not interested in NRP? I've tried a few times, and never got lucky with good GM's it seems.

@Inkarnate

Well with the greatest respect, I dont think anecdotal evidence is a fair way of judging the dozen or so active members in the Arena. People like Rilla, Melonhead and Doc Doctor are all perfectly capable of having rational discourse, and I've almost never seen a shitstorm comparable to what I've seen here in Off-topic or even occasionally in Casual in the Arena, we keep a lid on things.

@Buddha The Arena 'style' thing was a joke, we all communicate just fine, I think we need to get past this pseudo-xenophobic behavior of feeling like: Nation Rpers are like this I heard Tabletop RPers act like that orI read somewhere that Arena RPers eat their kittens!!!. We are just people on the internet who enjoy writing to escape for bit. This thread isn't the U.N. and I'm certainly not an ambassador or representative of the Arena. As you saw that fucking traitor other arena person @ImportantNobody has a different view than me. I think if we want to discuss things concerning RPers outside this thread we need to just reach out and ask questions, there is no harm in it.

@Dynamo Frokane The catch is I don't know anyone in the arena scene and I definitely don't know who is still active and who is not active. I could go through the arena leaderboard but I fear that I'll get no response from those super active roleplayers...

I'd ask you to reconsider your position then, or at least to use your voice within the arena sphere to bring this thread and/or the idea about talking about what can fix arena RP to light, because like you said, we need to have their input.

Doc Doctor are all perfectly capable of having rational discourse

See, you were going so well until you dropped this ditty. I do not consider an individual who has gone from his section of choice to another, successfully trolled and made a mockery of a RP [with attempts on others] as a good measure of a rational or respectful individual. Doc Doctor is one of the reasons I largely don’t want to give the Arena section a chance despite having done arena RPs in one form or the other for sixteen-to-seventeen years. Pretending to have decorum and having it are two different things.

@BuddhaI honestly couldn't say how to fix it, but the problem is pretty clear.

NRP's are infamous for false starts. They take more planning and collaboration by their very nature, and as a result when one player fails it can drag down an entire RP as suddenly there is a void in the plot, the setting, and EVERYONE's histories. I am a bit of an elitist NRPer in that I only play character interaction based NRP's that function for the sake of the plot, but in those at the least this is something I've noticed.

It's a problem endemic, to some extent, to the RP type. Honestly, NRP has never been the most popular section and it never will be. This is a part of that.

New blood is hard to get because having new inexperienced players often worsens that issue before it starts to freshen up the section.

This is all personal opinion, I have NOT been elected by NRP to represent them

@Sylph

While I am not a mod myself, I have spoken to a few of them on occasion, and while I cannot speak for every situation you have reported someone on for, I can probably tell you why mods seem sort of helpless themselves.

Mahz doesn't like banning. It will happen from time to time, but it's rare enough IMO. I've heard from former mods it was always a fight to keep someone banned (people who have asked mahz if they could be unbanned have sometimes been granted this request) Because they said they were very sorry or something. Mahz wants to warn rather than outright ban, which becomes a problem when nothing seemingly happens to the user you've reported.

Their hands may be tied more than you'd think. At least that was my impression when I spoke to them about these kinds of things.

I'm sure the mods warn, probably in PMs- I know they have done things before because I've reported others in the past who have been banned.

As for the rules thing I get that each situation is different and it's not completely necessary to have a ruleset, but I think for the sake of the community it would be nice to get clear rules on behavior etc.

Not sure if that explains everything and I'm not quite sure it is still the same situation with rule enforcement.

@BuddhaI think you should talk to @Rilla or @Melonhead they would be open for a chat.

@Inkarnate Okay, damn I was just picking names at random, I didn't know you and the Doctor had history, regardless the others I mentioned plus at least 4 more i could name are all chill people. I'm sure you dont think all Trump supporters are racist, so lets not assume that all Arena RPers are trolls.

As you saw that fucking traitor other arena person @ImportantNobody has a different view than me. I think if we want to discuss things concerning RPers outside this thread we need to just reach out and ask questions, there is no harm in it.

I'm fine with the arguments on both sides. Just putting it into a sub-forum doesn't harm it much at all and neither does leaving it as is. It's definitely unique enough to leave as is but it would be very nice to increase activity for it.

I think the weirder type of arena battles and tournaments could also be more like in casual where it could get more interest for people who might not want to join in the arena, but see an epic combat focused roleplay and join in, realizing they like such battles.

I'm sure you dont think all Trump supporters are racist, so lets not assume that all Arena RPers are trolls.

I do not. I was just stating that there is some credence to the illicit reputation your section has gotten in the last three-to-four years, even if some of it can seem like generalizing based on two or three marque users. I guess it is in the same way that the Advanced section still gets the presumptions of faux elitism and snobbery.