[OOC] Arena Chat Thread

[mickilennial]

Now Xaiver Bloodbayne is one person, and lets remember that later on in that thread he aplogised for his words, you were present for that too correct?

@Dynamo Frokane

It felt like a contrived apology to me at the time and reading back upon it, but yes. I am also aware he is one person. Obviously. But it speaks volumes for the perception Arena has, why it has the reputation it does (this was a popular thread Odin devised at the time and I still stand by it), and a glimpse into the "culture" of the section at that point in time.

That shouldn't be confused with thinking that everyone in the Arena acts like that outside of IC, you don't actually think that do you?

@Dynamo Frokane

I do not. At the most it was a vocal minority. I cannot attest to how relevant the critique is now in the present.

Well thanks for being honest, but people having one or two bad experiences in this forum and then using that as a way to call this entire sub-forum toxic is pretty prejudiced and short sighted.

@Dynamo Frokane

You should also take into account that I did not decry Arena in the thread you are criticizing. The two threads I participated in (IC-ly) died by my own faults. I was too slow to keep two key partners engaged and they died as a result of my lack of agency and posting speed. However, I have also participated in this thread on multiple occasions, discussed things with Mobius and others on Discord, and ultimately tried to be constructive in my engagement with the subforum and the community that has been built from it.

I have no more issues with Arena than I do with any other section.

[Dolerman]

@Dynamo Frokane

You ever saw the discord arena? You had a group of people who didn't participate in anything here shitting up the joint over stuff they personally didn't like. The arena is caked with some bullshittery off the jump and I experienced that just hosting a tournament on it. Inkarnate is trying to reason with you on the basis that the critiques of the arena shouldn't be taken any further than just that, but you cannot have both where you want insight but then snub commentary from others even if it's outside. You want to improve the arena?

Kick out Rilla. That's straight facts.

Your arena doesn't have an updated stats and no real uniformity. People can get away with stuff all the time at least up until a specific point. There's no incentive to play unless there was a tournament and 2 tournaments out of 3 failed miserably from 2017 to this year. There's no organization. Players don't want to compete and try-hard because it "isn't fun" but then likewise want to be in the arena -- a whole section dedicated to try-hards and winning. Arena regulars and its critics have the same issue and that's snobbery and elitism. There's an outreach missing because neither group gives it each other a chance. I had good interactions with Inkarnate and a few non-arena regulars as well as made new contacts with some of the arena players, but all of whom were nice, reserved, and easy going. Toxicity in "arena" play exist for a select group of people, but generally the rest of us can coexhist with one another even if we don't agree with each other. There's toxicity in the other sections (I got some info on that Expanding Horizons and nonsense pooling from other sections) so really it isn't a natively arena thing.

Start with redoing the entire stat section
Make Rilla step up or step out. Arena needs a moderator who wants to push things forward
Arena roleplay should be encouraged (story incentive for those who don't understand how free-form works)
Organization (get players to book matches, establish default rules if any, profile sheets)
Do something about players who aren't about that arena but contribute to its drama (one of those people were dealt with thanks guild)

@Mobius

Alright aside from that nasty comment about kicking out Rilla, its time to sit down and discuss this with @Rilla

[Mobius]

<Snipped quote by Mobius>

Alright aside from that nasty comment about kicking out Rilla, its time to sit down and discuss this with @Rilla

@Dynamo Frokane

It isn't anything more than a fact. Rilla does nothing with this section and he's barely around. Get someone who is and has ideas or listens to ideas about moving shit forward. I don't care about old guards, circle jerks, and status quo. I can leave Guild tomorrow and it'd effect me none, but take this as a person who ran a finished event here. I know exactly what I see.

[mickilennial]

At the end of the day if you want Arena to be better you better start working with outsiders, noted regulars, and Rilla to make it inviting, enticing, and have options for more than one type of arena-type roleplayer. In short, you want it to be better? Make it better.

[Mobius]

At the end of the day if you want Arena to be better you better start working with outsiders, noted regulars, and Rilla to make it inviting, enticing, and have options for more than one type of arena-type roleplayer. In short, you want it to be better? Make it better.

@Inkarnate

Change starts with you!

[Dolerman]

@Inkarnate Maybe this is where you make you power play to become a mod?

[mickilennial]

Also, I'm going to start putting money where my mouth is and see if I can start actually RP-ing in the section on a more consistent basis. I've already got a pretty busy schedule, but I'm going to talk with some of these horrible outsiders and see what I can do. I grew up on action-oriented combat roleplays and moderated an Arena subforum on a popular message board. Maybe I should go back to my roots a little.

[Dolerman]

<Snipped quote by Dynamo Frokane>

It isn't anything more than a fact. Rilla does nothing with this section and he's barely around. Get someone who is and has ideas or listens to ideas about moving shit forward. I don't care about old guards, circle jerks, and status quo. I can leave Guild tomorrow and it'd effect me none, but take this as a person who ran a finished event here. I know exactly what I see.

@Mobius

Alright Mobius, nothing you suggested about the Arena sounds like a bad idea, but are you telling the rest of the sub-forum how to imporve from the outside or are you willing to put this work in from the inside as an Arena RPer?

It's a lot easier to bark orders than it is to lift crates. I've been here long enough to know that.

[Dolerman]

Also, I'm going to start putting money where my mouth is and see if I can start actually RP-ing in the section on a more consistent basis. I've already got a pretty busy schedule, but I'm going to talk with some of these horrible outsiders and see what I can do. I grew up on action-oriented combat roleplays and moderated an Arena subforum on a popular message board. Maybe I should go back to my roots a little.

@Inkarnate

How about we go a round?

[mickilennial]

How about we go a round?

@Dynamo Frokane

[Dolerman]

<Snipped quote by Dynamo Frokane>

@Inkarnate

[mickilennial]

If you have a pitch, I'll hear it out. We'll have to see if we're compatible and go from there.

[Dolerman]

If you have a pitch, I'll hear it out. We'll have to see if we're compatible and go from there.

@Inkarnate

Simple ranked 1 v 1 for two mid tier characters. We can do fantasy, martial arts, modern or sci-fi genre. Win conditions are incapacitated, killed or quitting opponent.

I'll pick the stage, you can pick who goes first.

Sound good?

[mickilennial]

Simple ranked 1 v 1 for two mid tier characters. We can do fantasy, martial arts, modern or sci-fi genre. Win conditions are incapacitated, killed or quitting opponent.

I'll pick the stage, you can pick who goes first.

Sound good?

@Dynamo Frokane

I haven't used tiers in over a decade, so I will have some research to do. But sure. As long as you're cool with posting activity being inconsistent – I have over eight roleplays to reply to this morning alone so you can imagine the agency of an arena fight will not exactly be at the highest of priorities.

But sure, I'll give it a shot.

[Dolerman]

<Snipped quote by Dynamo Frokane>
I haven't used tiers in over a decade, so I will have some research to do. But sure. As long as you're cool with posting activity being inconsistent – I have over eight roleplays to reply to this morning alone so you can imagine the agency of an arena fight will not exactly be at the highest of priorities.

But sure, I'll give it a shot.

@Inkarnate

I have a fantasy knight character with some above average fire magic abilities.

I'm not fighting any lolis, do you have an appropriate opponent?

[mickilennial]

I have a fantasy knight character with some above average fire magic abilities.

I'm not fighting any lolis, do you have an appropriate opponent?

@Dynamo Frokane

Maybe.

[Mobius]

<Snipped quote by Mobius>

Alright Mobius, nothing you suggested about the Arena sounds like a bad idea, but are you telling the rest of the sub-forum how to imporve from the outside or are you willing to put this work in from the inside as an Arena RPer?

It's a lot easier to bark orders than it is to lift crates. I've been here long enough to know that.

@Dynamo Frokane

I wouldn't be challenging me to putting up or shutting up considering I can finish an event, bring activity here, and have a talent pool to match. You asked for advice on improvement from regulars so you're getting it.

[ImportantNobody]

<Snipped quote by Inkarnate>

I have a fantasy knight character with some above average fire magic abilities.

I'm not fighting any lolis, do you have an appropriate opponent?

@Dynamo Frokane

Maybe the people who hate the subforum are disgruntled lolis upset with that blatant discrimination? Guess I won't be able to use a character from my setting "super loli wars: revenge of the lolinator" any time in the near future..

On a serious note, my nephew is over and I'm more tired than expected later at night when I have free time to do stuff. He'll be gone in a couple more days but I haven't been able to make progress on my character sheet all this time. My apologies.

[mickilennial]

I wouldn't be challenging me to putting up or shutting up considering I can finish an event, bring activity here, and have a talent pool to match. You asked for advice on improvement from regulars so you're getting it.

@Mobius

Sassy.

[tex]

I dropped by because I was curious on the current state of Arena, and nostalgia has pushed me to go against my better judgement.

If there's to be a serious effort in reforming arena, I'm actually kind of interested in seeing this place return from the grave. But only if the aforementioned zombie exchanges its torn jean-jacket x tight leather pants combo for a new suit and tie. I'd pay to see business men fight over donuts tbh.

Honestly though, if you really want to bring life to Arena again, don't debate points made by outsiders as if they're some kind of attack on your community. Don't assume criticisms are directed as a personal attack on players. Assume that the overwhelming opinion might have some merit if everyone seems to agree that this community possesses some unattractive traits, otherwise you make it seem exclusive and, like a lot of people have mentioned elsewhere, elitist. You want outsiders to join in and retain interest, but it's very clear that this competitive way of doings things is a toxic practice. Toxic for the activity in arena, anyways. That's not to say that the behavior of players in Arena is 'toxic' in the sense that you're all assholes or something, but toxic in the sense that it drives away and kills new interest.

If there's to be any constructive dialogue, or cooperative effort to reform and rejuvenate Arena, I would advise people to make suggestions and efforts rather than complaining about everything wrong with the sub forum.

First of all, get rid of the god forsaken ranking system, it's stupid.

In regards to Rilla, I don't think there was ever any need for a sub-forum specific Moderator in the first place. The fact that the horrendous ranking system is actually something pertinent for example, is preposterous. If anything, competitive fighters should be a community within the community of arena. That way, players who play only to win don't define the sub forum. At any rate, I don't think Arena needs a new moderator. It just needs a fresh face.