Catacombs dueling tournament

[Larch]

So I attended the duels in the catacombs tonight. Good fun and interesting for someone who's never gotten into dueling at all to see how it all works and how classes work against each other. Also, Roblar is tough, to say the least. One spark to the event for me was the couple of rat hunters that stumbled onto it and seeing their reaction. I chatted with one of them a bit, tried to give them an inkling of the strange events happening in their hunting ground, and then went hunting with them after the championship. So far, so fun.

Unfortunately, after we got the rat hunter fried and started heading back to town we ran into another duel of sorts. Only this time, instead of damaging AOE spells being prohibited, they weren't. So rat hunter got toasted. He was naturally shocked and thought maybe it was an intentional act. Eventually, he came to see it was an accident and forgave and forgot. I had the opposite chain of reaction. I knew immediately that it was unintentional and a stroke of bad luck/timing and wasn't bothered by it. What I came to be bothered by was the almost total lack of concern or contrition by the person who dealt the death. At first, they passed off blame with, "Well, I told you to join me." Of course, we weren't there for that and got immediately waxed upon entering the room. Then they made a half-hearted offer to provide a chrism, which they didn't follow up on, and then ignored us until finally a cleric showed up and we made it back to TSC.

Turns out the rat hunter is brand new to Gemstone and it's greatly disappointing to me that one of their first memories will be of that little fiasco. Of course, that's just me because he said, and I quote, "Tell them that there's no hard feelings." Well, there's a little hard feelings on my end. I should follow his example and forgive and move on, but I feel compelled to rant a bit and express two wishes:

1. That some people would show more courtesy and concern to people outside their immediate group than was shown tonight and,
2. That all of us remember that not everybody is an alt, or mule, or old soul dipping their toes back in the Gemstone waters, but some are genuinely new and confused by all the goings on and even small events can color their impressions of the game we all enjoy.

tl;dr Old splatted new, new forgave, I got triggered.

[Tgo01]

Shut up, snowflake!!!1111

[drauz]

Shut up, snowflake!!!1111

Hillary won, get over it!

[Khariz]

Hillary won, get over it!

o rly?

[Fromer]

Seems that having PvP in a level 1 hunting area may not have been the best choice?

[Khariz]

Seems that having PvP in a level 1 hunting area may not have been the best choice?

It was fine during the actual event. The rules prevented things like that from happening. It was after the event was over and people were essentially just screwing around that the safety rules went out the door and people just started getting a little nuts.

[hello]

Why would you have capped dueling in the lowliest hunting ground??? Potentially chased off a brand new player for your dumbshit lol's. Would've given him a mil note and apologized profusely.

[Ososis]

Why would you have capped dueling in the lowliest hunting ground??? Potentially chased off a brand new player for your dumbshit lol's. Would've given him a mil note and apologized profusely.

yawn

[hello]

yawn

Whatever Ososis I know you don't give a shit about newbies to the game, have fun dicking around in the dollhouse.

[drauz]

http://i.imgur.com/rORmmPI.gif

[Orthin]

I thought the boulder was the go to spot or did that die away years ago?

[Khariz]

Guys, this was a planned, scheduled MHO event, with approval, in-game messaging and everything. This was not "duels".

[Gelston]

Guys, this was a planned, scheduled MHO event, with approval, in-game messaging and everything. This was not "duels".

Eh, mark it as lessons learned. You should do it at the boulder next time.

[Khariz]

Eh, mark it as lessons learned. You should do it at the boulder next time.

A. This wasn't my event, and I'm not a member of the MHO, so the "you" part doesn't really apply to me.

B. There are no lessons to be learned, at least not by the people who planned and implemented the event, because this "incident" occurred after the event was over, by people continuing to fuck around with each other (so I guess in that sense, I was technically wrong above, as the incident was not technically part of the event). But the incident was...incident to the event. I guess it is the proximate cause of why people were continuing to attack each other in the catacombs I suppose.

C. Personally, I thought it was silly to have the event in the Catacombs Nexus and said so immediately upon my arrival. When the ground rules were being laid, they were explaining to everyone that nobody was allowed to be healed or resurrected because of possible game mechanics abuse issues. Right before the event began, I even offered to let them move the entire party over to the Helden Hall arena so that people didn't have to *actually* die when they lost, to avoid the mechanical consequences of death, healing, and resurrection, all without mechanics abuse issues. Hell, we even had Roblar there, so he could have just opened our back gate and left everyone in without the need for escorts. But, between the in-game announcements directing people to the Nexus, the fact that this was being run as an official, independent, documented MHO event, etc, they weren't about to move the event at the spur of the moment.

I guess my point is that I don't see why an organization holding an event would be required to have to hold it at a certain spot. This is how the event was billed: "The Black Hand Trading Company is hosting an underground (literally) pit fight, with live betting! Food and drink will be available for your indulgence, and prizes will be awarded to the winners. Come join in the fun and mischief!" They had in-game messaging about the event spamming out before the event and all throughout the event. Everyone in the game knew where they were doing it and what was going on. I hate it that AFTER the event, some noob got waylayed, but shit happens.

[Gelston]

A. This wasn't my event, and I'm not a member of the MHO, so the "you" part doesn't really apply to me.

B. There are no lessons to be learned, at least not by the people who planned and implemented the event, because this "incident" occurred after the event was over, by people continuing to fuck around with each other (so I guess in that sense, I was technically wrong above, as the incident was not technically part of the event). But the incident was...incident to the event. I guess it is the proximate cause of why people were continuing to attack each other in the catacombs I suppose.

C. Personally, I thought it was silly to have the event in the Catacombs Nexus and said so immediately upon my arrival. When the ground rules were being laid, they were explaining to everyone that nobody was allowed to be healed or resurrected because of possible game mechanics abuse issues. Right before the event began, I even offered to let them move the entire party over to the Helden Hall arena so that people didn't have to *actually* die when they lost, to avoid the mechanical consequences of death, healing, and resurrection, all without mechanics abuse issues. Hell, we even had Roblar there, so he could have just opened our back gate and left everyone in without the need for escorts. But, between the in-game announcements directing people to the Nexus, etc, they weren't about to move the event at the spur of the moment.

D. But I guess the point is, I don't see why an organization holding an event would be required to have to hold it at a certain spot. This is how the event was billed: "The Black Hand Trading Company is hosting an underground (literally) pit fight, with live betting! Food and drink will be available for your indulgence, and prizes will be awarded to the winners. Come join in the fun and mischief!" They had in-game messaging about the event spamming out before the event and all throughout the event. Everyone in the game knew where they were doing it and what was going on. I hate it that AFTER the event, some noob got waylayed, but shit happens.

A. Then that isn't directed to you, rather the MHO then.

B. There are lessons learned. There are ALWAYS lessons learned, even in the best run event, there are things to pick up on. People will stick around after and do what people do. It puts a bad name for the MHO and threads like this happen. It might also drive away players when it is on the center of a level 1 hunting ground.

C. That would have been great.

D. I didn't say they were required to, and obviously they aren't. It is my opinion that I am putting out there. They'll hold shit wherever they want. The original idea was fine, but now they know that people might stick around and continue, with no rules. The place for that is the boulder. That has been the fight club since the Dinghy got shut down. No need to reinvent the wheel. We need to be good to the new people, not kill them in the catacombs.

[Khariz]

I'm good with that!

[cwolff]

They've done it before in the catacombs and its a great event. Kudos to them for thinking outside the box and the good rp.

If the catacombs are a problem, there are fighting "pits" in Solhaven under the Krawling Kraken.

[hello]

...I hate it that AFTER the event, some noob got waylayed, but shit happens.

It's shit to players like you and me but to a complete noob that's probably the first time he died; to another player no less. If it's even possible to dredge up memories from decades back, dying was a disorienting experience and getting killed by someone (for the very first time) felt pretty bad.

This was extremely bad planning by the MHO, next time use the arenas.

[bunnymustdie]

Would've given him a mil note and apologized profusely.

Even 30k would be a lot for a brand new player. I know I was happy as hell when I found an armor in a chest that I sold for 30k to the pawnshop when I was like, level 5.

[Erous]

Curious to know which MHO sponsored the event, as I have my own presumptions on who it could've been.

[Gelston]

Curious to know which MHO sponsored the event, as I have my own presumptions on who it could've been.

Black Hand.

I think the event is cool and all, just the location isn't great. Actually, I remember way back when I was in ATK in the early 2000s, we had a war with them in the AI basement. We all had invis amulets and implosion wands. It was fun. That location wasn't great either, we killed a lot of poor hunters. We were such dicks.

[Khariz]

The Black Hand Trading Company is hosting an underground (literally) pit fight, with live betting! Food and drink will be available for your indulgence, and prizes will be awarded to the winners. Come join in the fun and mischief!

There's the event description.

Here's the in-game messaging:


Beneath you the faint sound of cheering can be heard and the clanging of metal against metal. A loud booming voice suddenly proclaims, "Looking to test your skills? Perhaps make a little bit of money? The Black Hand Trading Company is holding a pit fighting tournament in the nexus of the catacombs. Come see if you have what it takes!" A sudden roar of the crowd drowns out the voice as they eventually come to a lull.

[Erous]

Damn, my presumption was wrong. I expected a newer MHO rather than something long-standing.

[Whirlin]

Could anyone share the name of the newbie that died in the process, so we can help him/her out in the future?

[Khariz]

I left after the event was over, so I didn't catch the name. Perhaps the OP of this thread (Larch) can supply the name.

[Androidpk]

Could anyone share the name of the newbie that died in the process, so we can help him/her out in the future?

It was Hoy.

[Ososis]

Whatever Ososis I know you don't give a shit about newbies to the game, have fun dicking around in the dollhouse.

I have spent more time helping new players than you have spent pretending to be one. Nice try though.

[Larch]

Could anyone share the name of the newbie that died in the process, so we can help him/her out in the future?

I don't feel real comfortable putting their name out there without their knowledge. I'll ask them if they mind next time I see them. Thanks for the offer, it's appreciated.

[FlayedAngel]

Could anyone share the name of the newbie that died in the process, so we can help him/her out in the future?
I'll second that! But I understand the desire for anonymity.

I get the 'flavor' of the event, personally, and I think it's a very neat idea... but I see the potential concern of holding it where newbies might be hunting. As a potential alternative for any such future events, might I recommend the newer Burrow Way (https://gswiki.play.net/Burrow_Way) tunnels? It's got all the dank flavor of the Catacombs (being underground and all), but with far less likelihood of collateral damage.

You could theoretically hold it in one of the out-of-the-way spots where people are less likely to "path" through, such as the triangle in the west section:


[Wehnimer's, Burrow Way]
A narrow path winds through darkened rocks, their edges jagged and jutting out dangerously. The walls of the burrow glisten slightly, their surface slick with moisture. Strange, glowing green lichen clings to the walls, creating an eerie viridian glow throughout the area.
Obvious exits: southeast, southwest

>JUSTICE STATUS
There is no justice other than your own out here.

[Fortybox]

So I attended the duels in the catacombs tonight. Good fun and interesting for someone who's never gotten into dueling at all to see how it all works and how classes work against each other. Also, Roblar is tough, to say the least. One spark to the event for me was the couple of rat hunters that stumbled onto it and seeing their reaction. I chatted with one of them a bit, tried to give them an inkling of the strange events happening in their hunting ground, and then went hunting with them after the championship. So far, so fun.

Unfortunately, after we got the rat hunter fried and started heading back to town we ran into another duel of sorts. Only this time, instead of damaging AOE spells being prohibited, they weren't. So rat hunter got toasted. He was naturally shocked and thought maybe it was an intentional act. Eventually, he came to see it was an accident and forgave and forgot. I had the opposite chain of reaction. I knew immediately that it was unintentional and a stroke of bad luck/timing and wasn't bothered by it. What I came to be bothered by was the almost total lack of concern or contrition by the person who dealt the death. At first, they passed off blame with, "Well, I told you to join me." Of course, we weren't there for that and got immediately waxed upon entering the room. Then they made a half-hearted offer to provide a chrism, which they didn't follow up on, and then ignored us until finally a cleric showed up and we made it back to TSC.

Turns out the rat hunter is brand new to Gemstone and it's greatly disappointing to me that one of their first memories will be of that little fiasco. Of course, that's just me because he said, and I quote, "Tell them that there's no hard feelings." Well, there's a little hard feelings on my end. I should follow his example and forgive and move on, but I feel compelled to rant a bit and express two wishes:

1. That some people would show more courtesy and concern to people outside their immediate group than was shown tonight and,
2. That all of us remember that not everybody is an alt, or mule, or old soul dipping their toes back in the Gemstone waters, but some are genuinely new and confused by all the goings on and even small events can color their impressions of the game we all enjoy.

tl;dr Old splatted new, new forgave, I got triggered.

https://media0.giphy.com/media/11ADmvDkfXGQOk/giphy.gif

[Astray]

Use the goddamn boulder, you r-tards.

[Draccor420]

-The Black Hand Trading Company
-Broker/Leader Draccor
We have been doing the Pit Fighting Tournament in the nexus since the beginning and do it every year. We were going with tradition, knowing there are other places we could easily have the event. It is a shame a newb got whacked after the event that they had fun watching to begin with. We will take all this into consideration next year for the event and Thank you all to everyone who fought in the tournament and all of you who came out to watch or bet on the fights.

[Luftstreitkräfte]

Take the noob to Silvergate for some opposite TLC

[subzero]

Why would you have capped dueling in the lowliest hunting ground??? Potentially chased off a brand new player for your dumbshit lol's. Would've given him a mil note and apologized profusely.

People are dumb. And lazy. Takes way too long to script out to the boulder.

[Khariz]

It actually takes a lot more effort to plan and host an annual event in the Nexus of the catacombs, but whatever. Opinions are like assholes.