Okay, here we go.
First, I'm not yet convinced that there has been too many challenges overall. Also, taking a look at the histories, there hasn't been much turnover in Baronies yet, either. So, thus far I'm don't believe that too many challenges is a problem.
Second, I think where the problem lies is that it is Too easy to challenge and re-challenge. There's no real risk -vs- reward in the case of a challenge for a Barony. If someone loses, it can be all "Oh well, soon as the standings are out I'm challenging for X barony."
Third, It has seemed a little unfair, almost, to not have Warlords able to challenge the Overlord with exception to the WLT winner. So maybe something should be worked on there.
That all said, I made the elimination of peer wins on a trial basis to test these sorts of things. Unfortunately, this was at a time when we still had very low levels of activity. Since at that time, we were getting a relatively adequate amount of challenges, there were no problems to be seen. That has, apparently, changed with the amount of activity we've seen increase here, activity in which I am very grateful to have.
I think a Barony that is defended several times, despite the amount of challengers is something to be applauded. So I don't want to take away the ease in which challenges are made.
I think a Warlord can challenge and re-challenge for a Barony too easy, thus devaluing the Barony title because there's absolutely no risk to the Warlord. So something should be done to make it slightly more enticing.
I think that an Overlord who only has to worry about a Baron or WLT winner challenging them would have a relatively easy reign, so something must be done to give the OL title more risk.
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Now, onto the initial proposals Guill made...
1. Should a Warlord fail in a challenge for a Barony or Overlordship, he will be unable to challenge for another Barony for a period of 30 days.
I understand the need for this one. I'll get to that more later in what some of my ideas are. That said, I am beginning to imagine that a re-challenge may have some merit in building some rivalries. So I don't think I'd limit the amount of time one can issue another challenge. But I do understand the thought behind this.
2. Should a Baron or Overlord be dethroned by a Warlord, he will be unable to challenge for another Barony for a period of 30 days.
This falls along the first proposal, and can be addressed with my idea as well.
(A) Should the Overlord be dethroned by a Renegade Baron, he will be unable to challenge for the Overlordship for a period of 30 days.
(B) Should the Overlord be dethroned by a Renegade Baron, he will be unable to challenge for the Overlordship for the remainder of the cycle.
I'm taking this one as a suggestion to choose either A or B, rather than going for both. Either way, there's no real reason to make a change to how things are done in regards to an Overlord losing their position. So, I'm not really inclined to do something different there.
With these first 3 rules, it appears that the desire boils down to "The loser of a challenge match is unable to issue challenge again for 30 days." Which I do understand where that comes from.
4. Loyal Barons would need only to defend their title once per 30 days.
I think we addressed this already. That rule is already in the UToC under the Loyal Baron section. The only change to this rule is where I added the waiver rights to those loyal barons. So in this case, there's no need for change.
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Now, on to my thoughts.
Warlords can make challenges with little to no effort. If they lose, they can just go on to the next one, as we've seen a lot recently. Now, this could have been done simply because of the holidays recently has left people with a lot of spare time, or maybe it's cause of the ease in which things are able to be done.
That said, I don't think I'll make any rules changes until after this cycle ends. But here are some thoughts.
Warlords:
As it is now; Warlords can challenge at will, except for a Barony they've already challenged for, and cannot issue a re-challenge if they've just lost a Barony, for that Barony, but can challenge the remaining 6.
Proposed change; Warlords are limited to 2(or 3) challenge rights per cycle to issue challenge to a Baron. They can challenge for any individual Barony up to twice a cycle. (this depends on how many rights they care given)
Barons:
As it is now; Renegade Barons can challenge the Overlord once per cycle.
Proposed change; None.
Overlord:
As it is now; Can only be challenged by Renegade Barons, Special Circumstances by Loyal Barons, and the prize winner of the Warlord Tournament.(WLT)
Proposed change; Re-institution of a Peer Win system for Warlords to issue challenge to Overlord. Barons and WLT prize winner challenge to OL remains the same. But a Warlord wanting to challenge for Overlord should be something they can earn. Judging by the amount of active Peer Duels available, the amount of Peer Wins should be in the range of 8-10. Peer Wins are zeroed out after a challenge is issued for any title.
Problem with the Peer Win system: Some duelists may consider it easier to just up and challenge a Baron and try to gain Overlord that way.
Possible solution: Include all challenges under the limited challenge rights previously described to Warlords. I.E. Any duelist able to challenge is limited to 2(3) challenge rights per cycle, not restricted to title. This means that G has 2 challenge rights. He issues Challenge to Battlefield and wins, using 1 challenge right, then challenges for Overlord, using his 2nd challenge right. Should he lose the Overlord challenge, and then lose the Barony, he would be unable to issue challenge for the remained of the cycle. Warlord Peer Wins to challenge the Overlord would not be included in the Challenge Rights. So, a Warlord could challenge an Overlord at will as long as they get 8-10 peer wins.
Peer Wins are defined as wins against Warlords, Barons, Overlord, and Grand Master Squires. You cannot have duplicate Peer Wins.(I.E. G could not appear on a Peer Win list twice.)
Exception: Warlord Tournament wins are considered Blind Peer Wins, and are usable even if a name appears on the PW list in regular dueling.
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I apologize if this looks really cluttered. But I am attempting to close as many loopholes as possible in these situations while still making things interesting and challenging.
Read at will!