Hi, guys. Got something I'm thinking about doing.

[Andu Kirost]

Greetings, Programs.

Reading through this thread, 3 topics struck my interest....

1. Caller Shifts and Time Zones. Yes, the "offical" language of the site needs to remain English for OOC admin and coherncy reasons, but what about Austrialians and Brits and American Service men (and civilians) overseas in other time zones? Are they potentially an "untapped market"?

The next two are actually also the 2nd and 3rd reasons I don't duel more than I do.

2. Duel length... I have (and always have had) a severe problem with how long the duels take for the same reason many an authority figure got real annoyed with me when I was a child. "Time outs" didn't work with me because if my mind isn't actively engaged in something for an extended period, it automatically tries to go into sleep mode. Waiting 15, 20 minutes (or even longer) to get the results of a round has often pushed the line with me.

3. RP.... Seperating the Caller's RP from the reporting of round results sounds like a good thing to me. At this time, the Callers are sending RP reactions BEFORE the duelists have RPed their actions. Yes, the "moves" are known, but (as the "Game Guides" say) those are classes of actions, not the specific actions used by the Duelist. While this can be most glaringly obvious in DoM with the wild wide range of spells and spell effects possible, throwing faints and fancies into DoF and DoS can radically change how (RPwise) a round plays out.

Anyone who has ever watched an actual, "They really mean business!!" fight taking place, it is not uncommon for an announcer to be still commenting on one round while the fighters are already engaging for the next one.

With an automated "Results Poster", I see the.... "rythyn" of a duel able to shift to what strikes me as a more "real feeling" beat.
0..Duelists decide and send in moves.
1..Bot determines results, posts same to room.
2..Duelists RP their moves.
2A..Possibly Duelists RP response to getting hit, whiffing the round, etc.
3..Caller and audience RP reactions to round.
Repeat.
((I used 0 as the start point because that act can't be "seen" by anyone but the bot)).

And to me, this could REALLY open up the RP options with in the ring. Knowing the caller isn't going to say you did "A1" when your charcter would really do "A23" can be freeing in that respect.

Just my own couple of wooden nickles. Your mileage may vary.
Andu Kirost

[Claire Gallows]

Greetings, Programs.

Reading through this thread, 3 topics struck my interest....

1. Caller Shifts and Time Zones. Yes, the "offical" language of the site needs to remain English for OOC admin and coherncy reasons, but what about Austrialians and Brits and American Service men (and civilians) overseas in other time zones? Are they potentially an "untapped market"?

Just to touch on this, we previously had a Saturday afternoon (afternoon ET, evening GMT) shift to help accommodate our across the pond players. It worked for a few weeks while it was shiny and new and then it became a veritable ghost town. It was offered and unfortunately not utilized so then it became difficult to get and keep and a caller on that shift since nobody showed up to it. And that was well before our current drought of duels, just for some perspective.

[Eden Parker]

3. RP.... Seperating the Caller's RP from the reporting of round results sounds like a good thing to me. At this time, the Callers are sending RP reactions BEFORE the duelists have RPed their actions. Yes, the "moves" are known, but (as the "Game Guides" say) those are classes of actions, not the specific actions used by the Duelist. While this can be most glaringly obvious in DoM with the wild wide range of spells and spell effects possible, throwing faints and fancies into DoF and DoS can radically change how (RPwise) a round plays out.
Andu Kirost

This is a really interesting point and one I grappled with when I first started dueling and calling. A bot caller would definitely solve this problem in allowing its human-caller-counterpart to act more like an actual play-by-play announcer, reacting to the roleplay instead of calling the round in anticipation of the roleplay. Could be really fun!

As a caller, I try to loosely describe the actions---goes high, goes low---taking cues from the selected moves, even though we know that these matrix-moves are not meant to lock the characters into actual roleplayed actions. As you pointed out, it's harder to describe loosely in DoM. Until we have something like a bot caller, I can only suggest that you, or any duelers, not worry so much about how the caller describes the action in the ring. Anyone dueling while I call---and I assume this is true for most of the remaining callers---are welcome to just adjust and correct whatever was said by me, the caller, to better match what your character is actually doing.

To that end too, it's nice to remember that a roleplayed duel is a give and take, and that each dueler should be reading and responding to their opponent's duel descriptions. That doesn't mean you're obligated to accept the move/damage exactly as your opponent wrote it just because they won the round, but it does mean that you pay attention to each other. This is slightly off your point, but I think it's relevant to the idea of feeling empowered to write your character with some level of autonomy in a duel such that neither the caller nor your opponent is roleplaying moves without your consent. It's good and important to be willing to have your character take damage, even serious damage at times. But even in a duel setting, I don't think anyone should be fully calling shots on any one else.

[Goldglo]

But even in a duel setting, I don't think anyone should be fully calling shots on any one else.

This is a good point but ultimately it comes down to trust between players.

For instance, if I'm dueling someone familiar (I'll use Koy for this example), and she wants to RP something like this, I wouldn't have a problem with it because I have an established trust with her player:

::upset with Matt for turning his nose up at the meal she'd worked so hard to prepare last night, she grabbed his head and smashed that nose against her kneecap. She felt immense satisfaction at the sound of crunching cartilage and smirked when he stepped away with blood dripping down his chin::

I also trust she's not going to RP a Jab/SnapK round which wins a duel with something like: ::breaks Matt's nose and watches him bleed all over the floor and pass out from the loss of blood and tosses him in The Pit because it serves him right:: (and honestly, even if she did do that, I'd probably go along with it because again, I have that trust-factor in our relationship).

Now, if I'm dueling somebody I'm not familiar with or who's brand new, and they do something like: ::kicks Matt in the ribs, breaking at least two::, I may not be so inclined to just roll with that, especially if there's been no OOC discussion prior.

Long story short, the trust between two players does have an affect on comfort levels with 'calling shots' on another character, mid-duel.

--Matt

[Eden Parker]

I agree, of course, Matt. I've actually had people IM me during a duel to ask for leeway to run with something, and that's greatly appreciated and resulted in a lot of fun. A lot more fun than if they hadn't checked with me first. Trust and communication are exceptionally useful tools in making the most of a role-played duel. All the usual rules of normal roleplaying apply.

[Andu Kirost]

Greetings again.

Hrrmm. That tickles memory I had forgotten, Claire. Guess it might not be as relevant as I my loose thoughts had thought.

::points to Eden and Matt.:: Good points. The line between "puppetiering" your opponent and describing a successful move can be awfully thin. Maybe a seperate thread to discuss how to walk such a delicate line would be in order?

Andu.