Huge Newbie to RoH

Scotty · Post by **Scotty** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:11 pm

All right, the Lobby-crowd on RDI suggested I go have a look around RoH here to see what sort of place it is. I'm genuinely an RPer and not really into duels, but on the other hand, I don't wonder if maybe that's just because the rules and that scare me because I don't understand them. I lurked in on the Archmage challenge last night and enjoyed watching it, so I guess a big part of it's more fear of not knowing how, than any worry that it wouldn't be fun play.

So, I guess my question is: Are there any practice matches? Sort of like... training sessions, I guess? Where people can test out whether they'd like to try it in the actual arena, kind of like a duelling kiddy-pool for potential newbs like me who are interested, but terrified of falling on our faces in the official rings? (I know, I shouldn't be scared, and I'm sure people are amazing, but I still have shaky knees at the idea of jumping into a match right from go and potentially looking beyond stupid.)

Samilee Burke · Post by **Samilee Burke** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 4:28 pm

Scotty, welcome to the dark side. We have cookies.

There are several resources available to help you get used to dueling. Your best bet is to follow this link. http://www.ringsofhonor.org/community/t ... nu=started

That will give you the moves and a link to the Dueling Zone site that has a practice-duel game.

This being said, your best bet for learning how to duel would be trying a practice duel in the RDI sometime. There are several of duelists and callers who hang out in the lobby in the morning. Most of us would be more than happy to help out. There's my 2 cents of assistance.

Jaycy Ashleana · Post by **Jaycy Ashleana** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 5:52 pm

What Sami said.

I'll be happy to call practice duels if I'm there and someone is willing to duel.

Scotty · Post by **Scotty** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 6:02 pm

Thanks for the advice! XD I'm all kinds of anxious, and a couple practices might help me get over that cold-feet feeling. Checking out the Dueling Zone now.

Michiko · Post by **Michiko** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 6:14 pm

I'm usually around as well on one alt or another.

Post by **Goldglo** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 8:40 pm

Echoing what the others said

If you ever want to hit me up for specific questions, etc., or just general help, feel free to ping me!

--Matt

Sinjin Fai · Post by **Sinjin Fai** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 4:05 am

This is ironic, because I basically went through this about a week or so ago and now I'm hooked on dueling, lol.

It looks really overwhelming at first, but the best thing to do is ask a lot of questions and jump into it. The dueling zone stuff is IMMENSELY HELPFUL, especially the dueling matrixes once you understand them. Goldglo and Delahada were incredibly helpful in helping me get a grip on the dueling system. It's pretty neat, really.

But yeah, uh. I'm a full-fledged convert. I'm having waaay too much fun, and I'd be happy to newb it up with you at the RDI or RoH chat sometime.

Scotty · Post by **Scotty** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 4:11 am

Thanks much, the lot. Sin: IIRC, it was you who pointed me over here. XD I would love to newb it up with you sometime, and if we're all in the lobby, maybe you can walk me through some practice rounds or someone can.

Thanks much for all the advice.

Post by **Kheldar** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 9:54 am

The other thing to remember is that all three sports clear out negative records every few months. So you could start 0-100 and eventually you get wiped clean at 0-0. So there's nothing wrong with practicing but at the end of the day jumping into dueling feet first isn't the end of the world either. Worst case scenario and you lose a bunch early eventually you'll get to start fresh with all the live experience you gained under your belt.

Sinjin Fai · Post by **Sinjin Fai** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:19 am

Ooh. I was wondering about that. I was looking at some of the standings and asking myself how the hell people got that far with no losses or ties.

Delahada · Post by **Delahada** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 12:33 pm

I jumped in feet first.

When I first heard about dueling, I admit it didn't sound at all interesting to me. But this was back when I didn't really play a character who was at all interested in fighting for sport, I think. Then came Sal. Then came more talking about the duels over on the RDI site. See: The duels..

I was lucky to have found an IC opportunity for my character to hear about the duels, otherwise I probably never would have got around to it. Sal talked to Tass and Kitty, who directed him to Tormay, who directed him to the days and times of dueling going on when and where. So I grabbed one of those days off my calendar, sat down with it, dove into the room while dueling was going on, and... Mostly I was sitting there like this for several minutes: o_o

As soon as I got in there, though, I asked the DUEL whoever that was on duty. I think it might've been Tormay. He directed me to the duelingzone stuff. Walked me through quickly how to call moves. And I was lucky to have a few unexpected helpful friends who provided me with further information and pointers.

Point is: don't be scared. These dueling people are really super helpful and willing to go that extra mile for you to teach you how to do it. I learned how in one night and went up two ranks in Swords in one night, the first night I ever dueled. That was my greatest accomplishment over here, until I won Jaycy's squire tournament.

And hey. If you need a practice match partner to square off against, hit me. I promise I'll be gentle.

Scotty · Post by **Scotty** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 2:12 pm

::laughs!:: This was after Sal was eyeing my character like a ham sandwich?

I might lead into it ICly with some practice sparring with mine's SO -- Harold needs to learn how to defend himself anyway. It could open up a lot of potential play (and potential play-friends!), and it'd give my character something to do with himself to burn off some of that high energy.

Thanks again for the suggestions and that, I'm getting braver. XD Going over the Dueling Zone stuff was helpful, too, in seeing how things are called and playing (and losing) some practice rounds in the DoS sim. I'll keep studying that and hopefully nerve up enough to jump in.

Post by **Jake** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 2:24 pm

Scotty wrote:::laughs!:: This was after Sal was eyeing my character like a ham sandwich?

I might lead into it ICly with some practice sparring with mine's SO -- Harold needs to learn how to defend himself anyway. It could open up a lot of potential play (and potential play-friends!), and it'd give my character something to do with himself to burn off some of that high energy.

Thanks again for the suggestions and that, I'm getting braver. XD Going over the Dueling Zone stuff was helpful, too, in seeing how things are called and playing (and losing) some practice rounds in the DoS sim. I'll keep studying that and hopefully nerve up enough to jump in.

I am glad to hear that the practice game on Dueling Zone is still proving useful to people.

If you have any questions about the content available on DZ, please let me know.

Re: the comment earlier. To my recollection, DoF and DoS both run on 3 month cycles. DoM is 2 months (I think). So, for example, if you were to accrue a record of 3-7-1 (3 wins, 7 losses, 1 tie), at the end of the cycle (end of Dec/start of Jan), your record would be zeroed out to 0-0-0. Ties are dropped. Losses are subtracted from Wins, and if the result is less than 0, you start over at 0.

So, the worst that can ever happen is that you go negative until the end of the cycle. There's no penalty for being negative.

Many people will duel you "off the record" to help teach you the ropes, but even if you duel in the regular duels there's no reason to fear that you'll get stuck in a hole you can't get out of.

Good luck! Hope you enjoy the duels!

Rena A Cronin · Post by **Rena A Cronin** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 3:47 pm

And I'm usually on around 9 or so...talk or grab me and we can practice also.

Michiko · Post by **Michiko** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 4:00 pm

It was actually Matt poking in from the Outback trying to get more people to visit, Sal.

You and me both.

I was dueling way back in but left for about 10 years. I came back in with Matt and Sal. Have been running with it since

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