Member
Fight Analysis Between Important Nobody and Drifting Pollen for the Pre-Christmas Knockout Tournament: January 19th, 2018
Link: https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4549087
Well folks it looks like the first match I chose just happens to be quite an explosive one. Now there are only a few posts in the fight but it lends itself to a lot of information to pick apart and examine. First things first though is a bit of an announcement on what I will be focusing on for the next few weeks.
Since there are quite a few tournaments going on in the guild I will be trying to have special focus on those matches going on so people can see what combatants are bringing to the table. The reason why I am taking special focus is because tournaments are where people go to fight it out one hundred percent. This is where all the big tricks come out and fighters do their absolute best to come out on top. For this reason I am going to be looking at fight threads attached to the Pre-Christmas Knockout, the Way of the Warrior and for the TRZP. Hopefully this will come away with a lot of useful information for everyone to benefit from so lets get started with this fight.
_______________________________________
Creativity
I would say both Important Nobody and Drifting Pollen are exhibiting a lot of creative elements throughout this round. Each writer is bringing in their own flair to the setting and adding some interesting dimensions towards the arena that compliments each other in a satisfying way. You can really feel there's a story here somewhere if you look hard enough.
Drifting Pollen has made a bold move by including various NPCs into the mix and establishing their character into this story as a woman named Tekla. She has decided to spend her day in the park, beating challengers senseless in a way that more than suggests she isn't just a normal fighter. Clearly she has an impressive amount of skill for taking on six other fighters without having taken much damage or appearing winded from the encounter. This is what I would call actively hyping up your character, and it plays into the larger themes of this match I will be discussing near the end of the analysis.
Important Nobody on the other hand introduces their character in a more subtle way. Their character is up in a tree, watching Tekla as she fights these men one after the other. Already it raises questions on why he is up there, since he clearly isn't just looking for a fight like the thugs getting the snot pounded out of them. Then the plot thickens when Nobody mentions that his character, Alexander, has been ordered to go out and fight the strongest person he can find. Now a whole new line of questions come up after reading this one sentence.
Who are these people that sent Alexander?
Are they some kind of fight club looking to prove themselves?
Is Alexander an established member or is this is rite of passage?
Has Tekla been chosen by accident or has she been a target all along?
Its this kind of story crafting that gets a reader engaged into a fight and keeps them interested in order to see the conclusion of the battle. This is the kind of stuff that helps bring the whole thing alive, and its why I'm glad I chose this fight because already it has me wanting to see more of what happens. Of course not all fights need to have a story attached to it in order to be a good read, but it always helps to have something to pull in your interest whenever you start to read a thread.
_______________________________________
Clarity
Its difficult with a match at this low of a post count to get a detailed sense of its clarity. However the material we do have seems to show that there are a few issues going on, a lot of which are common mistakes that are easily made at times. Hopefully looking at these mistakes and analyzing how they were made will be a great help to those looking to not repeat the same kind of mistakes in the future. Plus I believe it should give the average fighter some relief because even in a tournament, where everyone is bringing their absolute best to the table, mistakes can happen.
Little details that go missing can make the picture you are trying to paint with your words come out distorted and unclear. We find the beginning of this picture distortion in this passage here:
He strolled passed the ring of men into the middle of the circle where his target was waiting. With the two of them standing so close the size difference was all the more relevant. Alexander was just a runt.
This gives you the impression that Important Nobody has positioned himself VERY close to Drifting Pollen, almost right next to each other. We know this because in media we've seen this in multiple instances throughout different movies, books and TV shows. Even Nobody references a similar tale of a major height difference in battle by mentioning the story of David and Goliath. Use of this reference also gives a nice atmosphere enhancement to the overall story of the thread, which people will appreciate as it gives them context for the seriousness of the situation.
Now here is where the picture starts to get a bit murky.
He widened his stance and hunched slightly over slightly on the balls of his feet, turning his right shoulder towards her and gripping onto the handle with his right hand.
So now Alexander has gone into his stance without moving a single inch, and that seems a bit strange, doesn't it? Why would he go into a stance so close to Tekla? The better question that should be asked however, is where exactly is everybody? This seemingly insignificant detail now has the entire thread in disarray and can risk the reader disengaging from trying to follow along.
From my experience, fifteen feet away is an ideal distance to put yourself at with your opponent before you start your match. With that amount of time you can have the option of being aggressive or defensive with your opponent, preparing a spell or ability while still generally having enough distance to react to whatever your opponent may respond with. In regards to that there is probably an idea going on about what Drifting Pollen will do now in response.
Will they try to attack the opponent?
Will they try to move away from Important Nobody to get some distance from that possible attack or something else he may be hiding under his sleeve?
Well true to Pollen's character Tekla doesn't do either, instead she does this.
She started forwards. Long, confident strides, quickly closing the distance without committing to a charge. Her arms were up around chest level, hands loose and relaxed, her torso leaning just slightly forwards and her shadow stretching out before her. She advanced on him like a boulder rolling downhill, showing no signs of slowing down until she'd crushed him beneath her feet.
At no time throughout Pollen's post is there a mention of any kind of distance between Tekla and Alexander. This is when she first starts moving towards him, a very good move that I'll be covering in the Style section of my analysis, but nevertheless it still doesn't tell us where she is in regards to Alexander. Now we have to make the assumption that Tekla was not in fact close to Alexander at all, but some distance away. You can sort of imagine it in your head where they might be in regards to each other, but when you are in a setting such as a tournament or a ranked match, its important to be clear about these kinds of details.
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Compatibility
Sometimes two writers just have a hard time writing with each other. It can be difficult to write a cohesive story when you are dealing with someone that may have a completely different outlook or style of writing than you do. This can start to get extra frustrating though for people writing in a fight thread, as a difference in writing practices can mean the difference between winning and losing, which is what causes a good amount of arguments and bad feelings.
From what I see, both Drifting Pollen and Important Nobody seem to work well with each other when it comes to this particular match. Even when it came to the hiccup in discernible distances they have taken it in stride and kept going with the match. Its good to have someone willing to roll with things in case you make a mistake, but always remember the importance of identifying those mistakes and resolving to learn from them.
What you also notice from these two writers is the sparse communication between them. In some scenarios this can be a bad thing, but they are letting each other know why they haven't posted yet and expected time tables on when they will post. Communication is a cornerstone of text based fighting because its so easy to forget we're all here to have fun that we let our anger get the better of us and we start lashing out against our opponent for that. Personally I suffered for years being terrible at communicating with my opponent and it always ended up with me getting pissed and doing something stupid. Don't let that happen to yourselves folks, learn to trust that the guy you're fighting isn't out to get you, because if they are, then its likely nothing good is going to come out of the fight no matter what you do. Just remember to keep an open line of communication and I can assure you you will have a much more fun time fight writing than if you hadn't.
As I write this I just want to make sure to remind whoever is reading this that I am coming into this as impartially as I can. In no way am I going to imply that someone is trying to screw over another person because that's just not what I am here to do. This is strictly me trying to disseminate this particular fight so people can try to understand how they may improve themselves in that regard. Strange to do this now, I know, but this analysis is becoming much larger than I anticipated and so I wanted to make sure no one has forgotten my little mission statement whilst reading this ridiculously massive in depth look into a fight thread.
When it comes to compatibility of the characters and their powers, they seem pretty even. Alexander is a fast and agile assassin and Tekla is a tough brawler who can manifest armor out of nowhere. Its the classic glass canon versus the slow moving tank that you have likely seen a few times before. This pairing of characters makes it possible for a thrilling match with decisive plays that could likely end everything early. Based on what we see in this thread in fact, that just might be the case.
We'll start to explore the differing ideas used for both Alexander and Tekla in the final segment of this analysis, Style.
_______________________________________
Style
Here we have two different styles clashing in a classic battle of wits. Today we have Drifting Pollen using an active style of fighting that's downright aggressive, versus Important Nobody and his more passive, tactical approach. Who wins between brain and brawn? I can't really say yet, as the thread hasn't been concluded as far as I am aware as of writing this. What I can say is that Drifting Pollen has made a very powerful play for the victory through his style of being active in their presentation of their character.
Throughout the thread you can just tell that Tekla is strong, confident in her ability and almost predatory in her search for a worthy opponent. On the opposite end you seem to have a foil in Alexander, who is almost indifferent to Tekla and only seems interested in fighting her based on orders given to him by a shadowy organization he is part of. This philosophy is appearing to backfire on Alexander, as his attempts to trap Tekla into taking a hit passively has backfired severely.
First we see the difference of styles in regards to how each character commits to their actions. Pollen does a smart move by refusing to commit to a charge against Nobody in order to keep their options open for a counter attack. If they had charged, it would have given the lunge a better chance of doing some harm, which Alexander had refused to commit to in the first place. Only until Drifting Pollen is able to enact their own trap do they commit to a charge, and it works out beautifully.
By understanding your character and what their preferred style of play is, you can have a unique advantage against your opponent because you already know how they'll try to counter you. Because of this knowledge Tekla can be much more active in trying to take down Alexander because she knows he has a sword and she knows he is going to use it to defend himself with it. Meanwhile Alexander has no idea Tekla can just poof in armor when she needs it, completely disarming his trap and leaving him vulnerable to a deadly finishing move.
Whether or not that ends in defeat for Nobody is up to how well he can explain a defense for the move, but I will say that is a very entertaining thread and I want to thank both writers for all their work into it. You two have done well to make an engaging story that had me very interested to see who would come out on top. Just remember to bring your rulers next time so you can write out some clear distances for next time.
_______________________________________
Conclusion
What we see in this fight thread is a combination of many different elements meshing together to form an entertaining read. Between Important Nobody and Drifting Pollen we have a tense match with an exciting turn of events playing out that could conclude the match very quickly. This is certainly a thread I am interested in seeing the conclusion of.
One of its stronger elements is the dynamic between both players and how they write their characters. The differences between both how each character is built plus the way that they are presented by the writers gives you an instant feeling of gratifying action and role playing. You can feel the mystery behind Alexander as he works to complete the mission given to him, even at the risk of his own life. On the other side is the pure confidence and raw power of Tekla, a brutish fighter looking for a satisfying challenge. Who will come out on top? Its uncertain, but we do know that these two are able to make the ride worth it.
Unfortunately this thread had its share of flaws to it, the worst of which being a dizzying lack of clarification towards character positioning and distance between each other. While its a difficult thing to get past, once you do the remainder of the thread still leaves you satisfied with the time spent reading.
Well that's it, my very first analysis report for the GCA. If you found this enlightening and informative then I have done my job. For those that haven't well I'll try next week to do a better job of it. Until then keep writing, and never lose that drive to making stories with others on the internet.
Link: https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4549087
Well folks it looks like the first match I chose just happens to be quite an explosive one. Now there are only a few posts in the fight but it lends itself to a lot of information to pick apart and examine. First things first though is a bit of an announcement on what I will be focusing on for the next few weeks.
Since there are quite a few tournaments going on in the guild I will be trying to have special focus on those matches going on so people can see what combatants are bringing to the table. The reason why I am taking special focus is because tournaments are where people go to fight it out one hundred percent. This is where all the big tricks come out and fighters do their absolute best to come out on top. For this reason I am going to be looking at fight threads attached to the Pre-Christmas Knockout, the Way of the Warrior and for the TRZP. Hopefully this will come away with a lot of useful information for everyone to benefit from so lets get started with this fight.
_______________________________________
Creativity
I would say both Important Nobody and Drifting Pollen are exhibiting a lot of creative elements throughout this round. Each writer is bringing in their own flair to the setting and adding some interesting dimensions towards the arena that compliments each other in a satisfying way. You can really feel there's a story here somewhere if you look hard enough.
Drifting Pollen has made a bold move by including various NPCs into the mix and establishing their character into this story as a woman named Tekla. She has decided to spend her day in the park, beating challengers senseless in a way that more than suggests she isn't just a normal fighter. Clearly she has an impressive amount of skill for taking on six other fighters without having taken much damage or appearing winded from the encounter. This is what I would call actively hyping up your character, and it plays into the larger themes of this match I will be discussing near the end of the analysis.
Important Nobody on the other hand introduces their character in a more subtle way. Their character is up in a tree, watching Tekla as she fights these men one after the other. Already it raises questions on why he is up there, since he clearly isn't just looking for a fight like the thugs getting the snot pounded out of them. Then the plot thickens when Nobody mentions that his character, Alexander, has been ordered to go out and fight the strongest person he can find. Now a whole new line of questions come up after reading this one sentence.
Who are these people that sent Alexander?
Are they some kind of fight club looking to prove themselves?
Is Alexander an established member or is this is rite of passage?
Has Tekla been chosen by accident or has she been a target all along?
Its this kind of story crafting that gets a reader engaged into a fight and keeps them interested in order to see the conclusion of the battle. This is the kind of stuff that helps bring the whole thing alive, and its why I'm glad I chose this fight because already it has me wanting to see more of what happens. Of course not all fights need to have a story attached to it in order to be a good read, but it always helps to have something to pull in your interest whenever you start to read a thread.
_______________________________________
Clarity
Its difficult with a match at this low of a post count to get a detailed sense of its clarity. However the material we do have seems to show that there are a few issues going on, a lot of which are common mistakes that are easily made at times. Hopefully looking at these mistakes and analyzing how they were made will be a great help to those looking to not repeat the same kind of mistakes in the future. Plus I believe it should give the average fighter some relief because even in a tournament, where everyone is bringing their absolute best to the table, mistakes can happen.
Little details that go missing can make the picture you are trying to paint with your words come out distorted and unclear. We find the beginning of this picture distortion in this passage here:
He strolled passed the ring of men into the middle of the circle where his target was waiting. With the two of them standing so close the size difference was all the more relevant. Alexander was just a runt.
This gives you the impression that Important Nobody has positioned himself VERY close to Drifting Pollen, almost right next to each other. We know this because in media we've seen this in multiple instances throughout different movies, books and TV shows. Even Nobody references a similar tale of a major height difference in battle by mentioning the story of David and Goliath. Use of this reference also gives a nice atmosphere enhancement to the overall story of the thread, which people will appreciate as it gives them context for the seriousness of the situation.
Now here is where the picture starts to get a bit murky.
He widened his stance and hunched slightly over slightly on the balls of his feet, turning his right shoulder towards her and gripping onto the handle with his right hand.
So now Alexander has gone into his stance without moving a single inch, and that seems a bit strange, doesn't it? Why would he go into a stance so close to Tekla? The better question that should be asked however, is where exactly is everybody? This seemingly insignificant detail now has the entire thread in disarray and can risk the reader disengaging from trying to follow along.
From my experience, fifteen feet away is an ideal distance to put yourself at with your opponent before you start your match. With that amount of time you can have the option of being aggressive or defensive with your opponent, preparing a spell or ability while still generally having enough distance to react to whatever your opponent may respond with. In regards to that there is probably an idea going on about what Drifting Pollen will do now in response.
Will they try to attack the opponent?
Will they try to move away from Important Nobody to get some distance from that possible attack or something else he may be hiding under his sleeve?
Well true to Pollen's character Tekla doesn't do either, instead she does this.
She started forwards. Long, confident strides, quickly closing the distance without committing to a charge. Her arms were up around chest level, hands loose and relaxed, her torso leaning just slightly forwards and her shadow stretching out before her. She advanced on him like a boulder rolling downhill, showing no signs of slowing down until she'd crushed him beneath her feet.
At no time throughout Pollen's post is there a mention of any kind of distance between Tekla and Alexander. This is when she first starts moving towards him, a very good move that I'll be covering in the Style section of my analysis, but nevertheless it still doesn't tell us where she is in regards to Alexander. Now we have to make the assumption that Tekla was not in fact close to Alexander at all, but some distance away. You can sort of imagine it in your head where they might be in regards to each other, but when you are in a setting such as a tournament or a ranked match, its important to be clear about these kinds of details.
_______________________________________
Compatibility
Sometimes two writers just have a hard time writing with each other. It can be difficult to write a cohesive story when you are dealing with someone that may have a completely different outlook or style of writing than you do. This can start to get extra frustrating though for people writing in a fight thread, as a difference in writing practices can mean the difference between winning and losing, which is what causes a good amount of arguments and bad feelings.
From what I see, both Drifting Pollen and Important Nobody seem to work well with each other when it comes to this particular match. Even when it came to the hiccup in discernible distances they have taken it in stride and kept going with the match. Its good to have someone willing to roll with things in case you make a mistake, but always remember the importance of identifying those mistakes and resolving to learn from them.
What you also notice from these two writers is the sparse communication between them. In some scenarios this can be a bad thing, but they are letting each other know why they haven't posted yet and expected time tables on when they will post. Communication is a cornerstone of text based fighting because its so easy to forget we're all here to have fun that we let our anger get the better of us and we start lashing out against our opponent for that. Personally I suffered for years being terrible at communicating with my opponent and it always ended up with me getting pissed and doing something stupid. Don't let that happen to yourselves folks, learn to trust that the guy you're fighting isn't out to get you, because if they are, then its likely nothing good is going to come out of the fight no matter what you do. Just remember to keep an open line of communication and I can assure you you will have a much more fun time fight writing than if you hadn't.
As I write this I just want to make sure to remind whoever is reading this that I am coming into this as impartially as I can. In no way am I going to imply that someone is trying to screw over another person because that's just not what I am here to do. This is strictly me trying to disseminate this particular fight so people can try to understand how they may improve themselves in that regard. Strange to do this now, I know, but this analysis is becoming much larger than I anticipated and so I wanted to make sure no one has forgotten my little mission statement whilst reading this ridiculously massive in depth look into a fight thread.
When it comes to compatibility of the characters and their powers, they seem pretty even. Alexander is a fast and agile assassin and Tekla is a tough brawler who can manifest armor out of nowhere. Its the classic glass canon versus the slow moving tank that you have likely seen a few times before. This pairing of characters makes it possible for a thrilling match with decisive plays that could likely end everything early. Based on what we see in this thread in fact, that just might be the case.
We'll start to explore the differing ideas used for both Alexander and Tekla in the final segment of this analysis, Style.
_______________________________________
Style
Here we have two different styles clashing in a classic battle of wits. Today we have Drifting Pollen using an active style of fighting that's downright aggressive, versus Important Nobody and his more passive, tactical approach. Who wins between brain and brawn? I can't really say yet, as the thread hasn't been concluded as far as I am aware as of writing this. What I can say is that Drifting Pollen has made a very powerful play for the victory through his style of being active in their presentation of their character.
Throughout the thread you can just tell that Tekla is strong, confident in her ability and almost predatory in her search for a worthy opponent. On the opposite end you seem to have a foil in Alexander, who is almost indifferent to Tekla and only seems interested in fighting her based on orders given to him by a shadowy organization he is part of. This philosophy is appearing to backfire on Alexander, as his attempts to trap Tekla into taking a hit passively has backfired severely.
First we see the difference of styles in regards to how each character commits to their actions. Pollen does a smart move by refusing to commit to a charge against Nobody in order to keep their options open for a counter attack. If they had charged, it would have given the lunge a better chance of doing some harm, which Alexander had refused to commit to in the first place. Only until Drifting Pollen is able to enact their own trap do they commit to a charge, and it works out beautifully.
By understanding your character and what their preferred style of play is, you can have a unique advantage against your opponent because you already know how they'll try to counter you. Because of this knowledge Tekla can be much more active in trying to take down Alexander because she knows he has a sword and she knows he is going to use it to defend himself with it. Meanwhile Alexander has no idea Tekla can just poof in armor when she needs it, completely disarming his trap and leaving him vulnerable to a deadly finishing move.
Whether or not that ends in defeat for Nobody is up to how well he can explain a defense for the move, but I will say that is a very entertaining thread and I want to thank both writers for all their work into it. You two have done well to make an engaging story that had me very interested to see who would come out on top. Just remember to bring your rulers next time so you can write out some clear distances for next time.
_______________________________________
Conclusion
What we see in this fight thread is a combination of many different elements meshing together to form an entertaining read. Between Important Nobody and Drifting Pollen we have a tense match with an exciting turn of events playing out that could conclude the match very quickly. This is certainly a thread I am interested in seeing the conclusion of.
One of its stronger elements is the dynamic between both players and how they write their characters. The differences between both how each character is built plus the way that they are presented by the writers gives you an instant feeling of gratifying action and role playing. You can feel the mystery behind Alexander as he works to complete the mission given to him, even at the risk of his own life. On the other side is the pure confidence and raw power of Tekla, a brutish fighter looking for a satisfying challenge. Who will come out on top? Its uncertain, but we do know that these two are able to make the ride worth it.
Unfortunately this thread had its share of flaws to it, the worst of which being a dizzying lack of clarification towards character positioning and distance between each other. While its a difficult thing to get past, once you do the remainder of the thread still leaves you satisfied with the time spent reading.
Well that's it, my very first analysis report for the GCA. If you found this enlightening and informative then I have done my job. For those that haven't well I'll try next week to do a better job of it. Until then keep writing, and never lose that drive to making stories with others on the internet.