[DoM4] A resubmission.

[Scorched Druid]

Said I'd post more on Friday. And so here we go. And I put it in a new thread as requested.

At first glance opening up the full matrix and introducing modifiers looks good and a simple fix. However I wouldn't call it DoM4. material. Maybe 3.5 because it's not a SUPER OMG change. Just another tweaking.

For the longest time, the reason to gain rank has been getting a new spell. That's been the meat and potatoes of it all. Now to suddenly give all ranks the full spell list just seems to really kill any incentive to gain rank. So we can compete to be AM? That's pretty much the only reason to gain rank this change would leave us with.

Duelists can challenge for any Keeper Tower at Enchanter Level, and enter the ART at any rank. Mods seem a poor substitution to spells. ART participation would go up for the riskless wins, then what? Dead shifts?

The more I've thought on this, the less comfortable introducing modifiers felt. We're all ready moving towards all 3 sports being identical with Squires, Mentees, Keeper Apprentices on the way(which I should get credit dangit!), RoK, PC, Talon. Where would this end? Neo has said keeping DoM unique is a top priority, but this idea detracts from that sentiment.

It means messing with value systems in the Chat Tool which means incorporating another set of code data surely. DoM loses the one thing that has really set it apart from the other sports. We'd have to reset requirements for Keeper-ship and other things just so they'd gain ranks above enchanter to go after them

All of that just to make duels faster? Come on, we can do better people! In light of that attempt, I want to resubmit my idea presented earlier in the year.

So far multiple changes to the sport have been voiced to help increase rank advancement among the lower level duelists. Rather than throw around ideas of giving everyone an advanced spell from the beginning to changing point values, I am going to recommend something a bit simpler.

When a duelist wins their 2 matches and can choose 1 of the advanced spells MS/AB/GF/RF, why don't we try making this choice non-permanent? Give the Enchanter a 1 after their WoL to denote they have access to 1 advanced spell. At the beginning of a match they just announce what spell they are going to use for the match. This trend can be continued up until Wizard when the duelist would all ready have all four. Sorceror a 2, Magician, a 3.

Now I know some will think "Is he mad?! That would completely change how strategy works in the duels! For us Mages and Wizard we won't know what the lower ranked duelists are going to throw at us in the match!"

Precisely.

This is a two-fold recommendation. First and foremost, spell choice effects dueling style, as I voiced in the other thread, a good number (I'm still going through room logs to get exact data) of duelists gain rank and then have to learn how to integrate the new spell into their style. This idea would cut down on that. Enchanter A has 4 duels, they break even 2-2. They go back through their matches and are "Okay, in each one MS only worked for me once. Why should I keep it?" Well now they can have those four, see the result and can now determine "I'll give Arctic Blast a shot in my next match."

The duelist can now experiment with all four as they advance and get a feel for how each one works.

Now I'll touch on the tactics. Wizard and Mage all ready have all of the spells barring their choice on Immolation or Nether Ray. However I noticed that say..a Sorceror is a Keeper and is challenged by a Mage. The Mage knows exactly what spells the Keeper has, while the Sorceror has to agonize over what two spells the Mage will decide on. Now that is a two way street. Neither one knows what the other will pick. It is completley even and the challenge comes down to skill on skill alone.

Sure the counter to this is, "That's the point! The Keeper gets the raw deal because it's to test their ability to defend." Well to that I say, "Why should the challenger get all the time leading up til then to work out strategy while the Keeper has to wait until that night to do so?"

This idea does't alter the matrix, it doesn't mess with point values. It allows lower ranks to experiment with all the spells as they climb and reduces the learning curve. Also for those who have been around a while it adds another factor to strategy as neither side knows what the other will pick before it is announced.

There it is in a nutshell. Feel free to comment, complain, or debate.

Along with Jake's variant

I think it's an interesting idea...but it doesn't seem to do anything for the apprentice (which was one of the discussion points in the other thread).

So, in the spirit of discussion, how about a variant?

Keep the basic structure as is. Remove one rank (as proposed in the other thread), and give all ranks the option to choose a spell at the start of the duel.

So, for example, an apprentice has access to the basic 8, plus one other spell to be chosen at the start of the duel.

The next rank up, the Enchanter, gets the basic 8, plus their selected spell, plus one to be chosen at the start of the duel.

In a hypothetical duel, Enchanter Bob has the Meteor Swarm spell, and at the beginning of the duel chooses Reflection to augment his spells for that duel. His opponent, Apprentice Jill, chooses Artic Blast as her augment spell.

The basic idea would present a "Try before you Buy" sort of approach. Try out the various spells, gain rank, choose one for keeps. Try out another spell, gain rank, choose another one for keeps.

Plus, it would give the Apprentices something to play with.

To nutshell it into this:

Apprentice has access to 1 Advanced spell per cycle. It goes beside their name permanantly, if they zero out they get to choose again. From there we step up to Enchanter who get access to the full Matrix with the +1 by their name to denote that they can use any 1 of the four per duel. +2 at Sorceror, +3 At Magician. Wizard gets all four spells and has to work towards that 20 WoL to get one of the last two spells.

Less hassle with the Chat Tool, Apprentice get to play with the advanced tier and continue the trend all the way up the line. No fuss no muss.

It's one thing to want to improve our sport, but we shouldn't be willing to bastardize it in the process.

[Neo Eternity]

Mkay. Let me first remind you that I requested for everyone to have an open mind here. Referring to my idea as a "bastardization" of DoM is not open-minded. Granted, I didn't say "don't insult other ideas", but that should be common sense. However, I do thank you for following the thread guidelines.

Regardless, I'm still giving this idea its due consideration the way I asked everyone involved in next-gen DoM to. I still wish to reply to your other comments in the Super thread, but I'll start with this.

At first glance opening up the full matrix and introducing modifiers looks good and a simple fix. However I wouldn't call it DoM4. material. Maybe 3.5 because it's not a SUPER OMG change. Just another tweaking.

I see where you're going with this, but it doesn't really matter. Once whatever changes we decide upon are incorporated for good, it'll just be DoM. I've been using the term "next-gen DoM" more and more lately. Maybe we can just call it that. Regardless, it's of no importance in the context of this thread.

Duelists can challenge for any Keeper Tower at Enchanter Level, and enter the ART at any rank. Mods seem a poor substitution to spells. ART participation would go up for the riskless wins, then what? Dead shifts?

And here's where my problems start. Why do modifiers seem like a poor substitution to spells? How could these changes lead to dead shifts? Are you trying to imply that gaining rank and learning spells is the only incentive for anyone to play? This is where things cross into opinion; we don't have any surveys to prove either way, but I disagree that people play solely to gain rank. What's the point of leveling up if the grind isn't any fun? It's obviously fun for us, but it's not for others, and we could make it more fun for us.

The more I've thought on this, the less comfortable introducing modifiers felt. We're all ready moving towards all 3 sports being identical with Squires, Mentees, Keeper Apprentices on the way(which I should get credit dangit!), RoK, PC, Talon. Where would this end? Neo has said keeping DoM unique is a top priority, but this idea detracts from that sentiment.

It means messing with value systems in the Chat Tool which means incorporating another set of code data surely. DoM loses the one thing that has really set it apart from the other sports. We'd have to reset requirements for Keeper-ship and other things just so they'd gain ranks above enchanter to go after them

Firstly, I disagree with the idea of Keeper mentorships as opposed to mage mentorships, but that's a debate for another thread. Secondly... the three sports will never be identical. It's just as I said in RFx2. We have unique settings, unique titles, unique tournaments, and most importantly, a unique moveset. Every sport has all of those. My idea does detract from the uniqueness sentiment in that gameplay would slightly resemble DoS and DoF a little more... but those are tried-and-true models of gameplay whereas we're still stumbling over ours. And for what? Just to be different? We don't need to keep what isn't working just because it is one of the many things that makes us different.

We should be willing to make changes to the tool and to the various rules. The burden of tedium should be on the ones who run the sport. I wouldn't have taken the job if I weren't willing.

All of that just to make duels faster? Come on, we can do better people!

No, not just to make duels faster. That's only one effect of the change, and it's not even the most important. The most important effect and intention of the change is to kill rank disparity caused by apprentices' inability to combat advanced spells: not because the basic eight isn't capable, but because they have no idea how the advanced spells work, which is by far the most important stumbling point. That's something you and I don't have to worry about when we bring a new character in, as proven by our relative successes with Drake and Kersh in my case, and Druid in yours. But real new players do have to worry about it. The modifier is to create incentive to gain rank, and it in the process rebalances imbalanced parts of the matrix.


Now with that part of the rebuttal done... which unfortunately I think is going to dwarf the rest of this post... On to the meat of your idea.

First, I'll acknowledge the pros. The primary pro of this idea that I can see is that it acknowledges half of the "knowing is half the battle" point, at least in the case of Jake's extension. Apprentices get to experiment with one advanced spell per duel, which is better than nothing. The second pro is the relative painlessness of implementation... but it strikes me as a very weak pro. If we, as in admins like myself, Mur, and the RoH techs, are not willing to take trouble in implementation (as long as the trouble is something actually doable), then what are we doing in our positions?

Now on to the cons. The first here is a flipside of the first and strongest pro. The initial proposal doesn't really fix anything at all because advanced spells can still be used against the apprentices and they'll have no idea what to do. It doesn't fix the fact that in order to learn how to play 33% of the main game, you have to gain rank. Jake's extension takes a step in fixing this. The second con is that it introduces a great deal of tedium for the players and the callers. The callers have to remember to ask spell choices for each magic duel and the players have to remember to give them. The callers have to track both the spells selected in play and the ones on the standings to make sure no one renegs. It's enough with the Ring of Klytus holder... but for ALL DoM players to be subject to this? I think this is too much tedium.

Those are my two cents concerning the idea at hand here. I await and welcome your rebuttal.

[Scorched Druid]

At first glance opening up the full matrix and introducing modifiers looks good and a simple fix. However I wouldn't call it DoM4. material. Maybe 3.5 because it's not a SUPER OMG change. Just another tweaking.

I see where you're going with this, but it doesn't really matter. Once whatever changes we decide upon are incorporated for good, it'll just be DoM. I've been using the term "next-gen DoM" more and more lately. Maybe we can just call it that. Regardless, it's of no importance in the context of this thread.

Agreed, irrelevant over all.

Duelists can challenge for any Keeper Tower at Enchanter Level, and enter the ART at any rank. Mods seem a poor substitution to spells. ART participation would go up for the riskless wins, then what? Dead shifts?

And here's where my problems start. Why do modifiers seem like a poor substitution to spells? How could these changes lead to dead shifts? Are you trying to imply that gaining rank and learning spells is the only incentive for anyone to play? This is where things cross into opinion; we don't have any surveys to prove either way, but I disagree that people play solely to gain rank. What's the point of leveling up if the grind isn't any fun? It's obviously fun for us, but it's not for others, and we could make it more fun for us.

Gamers and Roleplayers, Neo. Gamers and Roleplayers. DoM has never been Gamer friendly. It's not the pick up and play the others are. This is where the other two have us beat. You don't seem to acknowledge that fact. With DoS players can duel and duel and duel without actually roleplaying in the rooms, just to make WL. They don't come to DoM because they can't power duel as prominently.

It is all part and parcel to it. You gain rank and unlock new spells like in a Roleplaying game. If you want to continue the fighting game comparison, in Soul Calibur IV, the more you win, the more gear you unlock to put on your character. We had this discussion last night. There aren't any computer-players here. They're all human and so are capable of adaptation. You find someone you absolutely can't beat no matter how many times you try, there are others to work against.

I'm uncomfortable with the idea of mods as weak substitutions because to me, they really don't add anything and really don't help the perceived disparity. There are individuals who duel simply to duel. Even with the full Matrix available they probably won't come to DoM because mods don't guarantee faster duels. 9-12 rounds is about the average for duel length across the board.

It's obviously fun for us, but it's not for others, and we could make it more fun for us.

So what you're saying is that you're bored with the way of it as stands? I, myself, don't actually find anything wrong with DoM. Not being narrow, just saying. The length of duels don't bother me, I've never had an issue with App vs Mage duels from day one. Just like the other sports, how fast a match is, and how you perform comes down to Who You're Dueling, How Well You Know Them, and Luck. In DoS, truly new players have an edge over WL/B/OL's because of the randomness of their move choices. DoM isn't as lenient.

Secondly... the three sports will never be identical.

But they are all ready getting there. It's an unavoidable aspect of passing time. DoS introduced the Talon as something for lower ranks to duel over and get a feel for how tournaments worked. Then DoF brought in the Panther's Claw a few years later. DoM debuted the All Ranks Tournament, then later the Ring of Klytus.

DoS introduced Squires as a means to generate more duels and more challenges. DoF brought in the Mentor program for all their Emeralds to make it different than the Squire system which is Baron only.

Same brick house, different coats of paint. This is what I meant by identical. It's not about proven methods. It's uniform structure where the only differences is the Matrix. Everything else is logistics.

The modifier is to create incentive to gain rank, and it in the process rebalances imbalanced parts of the matrix.

Duel of Swords is what I call the Gateway sport. Most of us started there and then gravitated to the other two. It's easy to learn, the strategy is quick to pick up, advanced structure clearly defined. DoF has the largest matrix and actually has more strategy than even our own. More move choices may mean more ways to win, however people still play it safe. Moves like Hook, SpinKick, and Uppercut are very niche. Just like our 6 advanced spells (including NR/IMMO). DoM isn't actually a beginner sport. Mods won't change that. The other two prepare players for DoM imho. Look at who actually duels in all 3. Did any of us start here? I didn't. I made Emerald before I made Mage and Warlord.

[MurOllavan]

Agreed, irrelevant over all.

Irrevelant and I dislike the versioning as well, but I would say I consider the idea in the other thread a very big change. Probably biggest in DoM's history.

Gamers and Roleplayers, Neo. Gamers and Roleplayers. DoM has never been Gamer friendly. It's not the pick up and play the others are. This is where the other two have us beat.

First, DoM on AOL was very gamer friendly. Lots of duels, plenty of each rank around too. To be honest I enjoy the richer RP of RoH, but I wish there were a tad more participation obviously. I find the last sentence interesting as it echoes my own sentiment. Though obviously I think DoM should change so that the other game systems do not have it 'beat'.

So what you're saying is that you're bored with the way of it as stands? I, myself, don't actually find anything wrong with DoM. Not being narrow, just saying. The length of duels don't bother me, I've never had an issue with App vs Mage duels from day one. Just like the other sports, how fast a match is, and how you perform comes down to Who You're Dueling, How Well You Know Them, and Luck. In DoS, truly new players have an edge over WL/B/OL's because of the randomness of their move choices. DoM isn't as lenient.

I'm not bored. Though sometimes I tire of Mur dueling at rank, it almost reduces the complex and intricate matrix into the smallest (in case of Mur vs apprentice) matrix in RoH. I really liked the only ART I entered Mur in, it had been a looong time since I had so many new players truly challenging me to think hard about what I was doing. The issue with me is I feel like that each duel in DoF for example irregardless of opponent's rank.

This doesn't mean the above is the only correct view, its just that I find dueling a primarily OOC pleasure meaning IC stuff shouldn't have bearing on game mechanics. Many in DoM have voiced the opinion that very low ranks should not have much of a chance against higher ranks and that the game mechanics should embody this notion. I find the matrix games fun for the opposite (the notion that any character can win) and hopefully take a title and have the chance to play that.

Lastly, although the majority of this thread has apparently been about the other thread I would like to comment on the quote box you proposed as a rule change----

You can learn the matrix without using the spells by switching them around? I don't see much help from someone having MS on their record being able to switch spells between duels.

I mean if they knowledgably chose MS the only possible reason to switch would be to choose AB against a NR-equipped character. Choosing G and R wouldn't help much, and most of their interactions in the matrix are not hard to remember.

In other words I disagree with the whole premise that a newer player's issue is knowing how to use/what effects come from advanced spells. It's their inability to use them at all.

The ART showed me this; sure I saw some R's after my MB's, but I came very close to being knocked out. Vinny didn't have the easy time I see him have in regular dueling. Sure we both came in 1st and 2nd but we had a much harder time than we normally do. Also, I dislike the ART causing players to only bring their characters for tourney time with the full matrix and (it pains me to state these words) the free wins.

New players in DoF often know less than 50% of the matrix or less but a new Jade/Glass can win at a rate that far surpasses DoM new players. I doubt the problem is knowledge of spells, it's access.

[Harris]

Honestly, I'm torn. There are excellent points on both sides for both ideas. But I think the most pertinent problem that needs to be solved is the rank parity issue that plagues DoM.

So what you're saying is that you're bored with the way of it as stands? I, myself, don't actually find anything wrong with DoM. Not being narrow, just saying. The length of duels don't bother me, I've never had an issue with App vs Mage duels from day one. Just like the other sports, how fast a match is, and how you perform comes down to Who You're Dueling, How Well You Know Them, and Luck. In DoS, truly new players have an edge over WL/B/OL's because of the randomness of their move choices. DoM isn't as lenient.

The bolded is mine. That is unfortunately a narrow view. Just because you personally have never had an issue with the parity does not, by any stretch of the imagination mean that it isn't an issue that needs to be addressed. DoM's lack of parity impacts both the upper and lower ranks, as echoed by Mur's sentiment.

I'm not bored. Though sometimes I tire of Mur dueling at rank, it almost reduces the complex and intricate matrix into the smallest (in case of Mur vs apprentice) matrix in RoH.

DoM *does* have the smallest matrix when two Apprentices duel, or a Mage duels an Apprentice at rank. The DoS matrix is 10 moves strong, while the basic DoM matrix is only 8. It's tiresome for Mages that duel at rank to duel Apprentices with the basic eight. It's very, very limiting in comparison to the other sports. Opening up the entire matrix isn't just a boon to the lower ranks, it's a boon to the upper ranks as well. I think we need to find a decent middleground that involves opening up the entire matrix, but outside of the modifier suggestion Neo has, I can't think of anything else to give people incentive/reward for gaining rank. And there needs to be something.

I'm shaky on the modifier system primarily because the other two sports already use a modifier system and I agree with Druid's sentiment.

Same brick house, different coats of paint. This is what I meant by identical. It's not about proven methods. It's uniform structure where the only differences is the Matrix. Everything else is logistics.

What makes it difficult is that I also agree with Neo.

My idea does detract from the uniqueness sentiment in that gameplay would slightly resemble DoS and DoF a little more... but those are tried-and-true models of gameplay whereas we're still stumbling over ours. And for what? Just to be different? We don't need to keep what isn't working just because it is one of the many things that makes us different.

But with playtesting on the horizon I think we should see how it pans out and try to work from there, with actual data as opposed to what we have now, which is just conjecture.

[Xavior Mues]

I'm no expert on DoM gaming, but to me........the little things that make the DoM different are the things that make it special.


When RP is more important that game play I believe it is important for each matrix to retain it's own uniqueness.


Magic IS the most important. It's the farthest from reality. DoS and DoF are very near sports in the really real world.



There are mages now and there have been mages in the past. The matrix is fine the way it is. It's unique. Unique is very important. I enjoy it.

[Jake]

The last major change to DoF was with the Feints. For that, as I recall, we had 2 or 3 different ideas that got play-tested. The idea that won out was Deluthan's suggestion (as I recall). And we finally had a Feint system that felt like it made sense, and didn't overpower the junior ranks.

Between the ideas proposed so far...open the matrix to everyone, and adding in DoS/DoF style modifiers...I would suggest it might also be worthwhile to consider streamlining the matrix. Does it really need so many moves...and do the moves make any sort of logical sense in their interactions?

Way back when the new spells were added Daegarth made an argument about how there was an order of precedence in DoS, DoF, and in the original DoM matrix (e.g., Thrust at top, Slash at bottom; Jab at top, Hook/SpinKick at bottom). When Fear Touch and Foul Fog were added, that sense of precedence kind of vanished. It didn't really feel like there was any rhyme or reason why any given spell beat another.

Initially...MageBolt was faster than MindWhip. MindWhip was faster than WizBlades. (Much like Thrust -> Cut -> Slash works.)

There doesn't seem to be any logic to the initial 8 of DoM anymore. Direct vs. Area of Effect? Faster cast vs. slower cast? It just feels kinda random. I suspect that's been one of the reasons I sort of lost interest in DoM over time and stopped playing Mojo (except as foil for Jake in stories).

I expect that someone will make the argument "it's magic, it doesn't have to make sense" but I'd like to counter-offer that not making sense could very well be a detractor keeping some people away. The matrices work best when it feels like there is a logic to them, or such is my opinion. When newcomers can enter and guess what should beat what, then it's good. When the interactions don't seem logical, and just have to be memorised, I think it works less well.

So...if we're talking about possibly major changes to the DoM matrix/game, and possibly multiple play-testing scenarios, I'd like to suggest a revamp of the matrix might be worth looking at.

[Harris]

Between the ideas proposed so far...open the matrix to everyone, and adding in DoS/DoF style modifiers...I would suggest it might also be worthwhile to consider streamlining the matrix. Does it really need so many moves...and do the moves make any sort of logical sense in their interactions?

Way back when the new spells were added Daegarth made an argument about how there was an order of precedence in DoS, DoF, and in the original DoM matrix (e.g., Thrust at top, Slash at bottom; Jab at top, Hook/SpinKick at bottom). When Fear Touch and Foul Fog were added, that sense of precedence kind of vanished. It didn't really feel like there was any rhyme or reason why any given spell beat another.

There doesn't seem to be any logic to the initial 8 of DoM anymore. Direct vs. Area of Effect? Faster cast vs. slower cast? It just feels kinda random. I suspect that's been one of the reasons I sort of lost interest in DoM over time and stopped playing Mojo (except as foil for Jake in stories).

I expect that someone will make the argument "it's magic, it doesn't have to make sense" but I'd like to counter-offer that not making sense could very well be a detractor keeping some people away. The matrices work best when it feels like there is a logic to them, or such is my opinion. When newcomers can enter and guess what should beat what, then it's good. When the interactions don't seem logical, and just have to be memorised, I think it works less well.

The difference between DoM and DoS/DoF is that the latter two are real life, historical combat sports, so it's not terribly difficult to work logic into the interactions. DoM is entirely conjecture. It has no basis or root in real life and therefore there's no inherent way to simply look at the moves, no matter how they interact, and gauge how they would interact right off the bat. I'm not saying it's magic and it doesn't have to make sense, I'm saying there's no real life magical spellset to draw logical conclusions from in the first place. You can watch a sabre fencing match or an MMA bout, for example, but culling logic from magic depends entirely upon how each person views it.

I honestly think these ideas are being presented to avoid a total matrix overhaul or "streamlining" things to the point where it becomes completely unfamiliar.

[MurOllavan]

Will had brought that up once, basically mentioning that perhaps FF and FT had not panned out. Neo also tried to rewrite the move lists to reflect how they are used and hint at interactions. It is true that the basic 6 mirror DoS essentially in how they are used.

I think the reason it didn't seem like a good idea was the very reason they were added - that the basic 6 would be at a huge disadvantage versus the full ten or eleven.

I don't see much of a connection to the other matrixes past those six, the advanced spells are somewhat different than say the lesser used moves in fists. Though it may be a good idea to try this, but I'm not sure how it would help unless it was complemented by opening up what would be in this scenario the basic ten.

It almost makes some sort of sense when I think about it, if FF and FT were added for parity reasons the opening up of all moves almost warrants a further look at them.

[Scorched Druid]

Time to reign things back a little bit.

It is very clear we're all in agreement that something needs to change, but the divergence is on method. Like Harris, I'm not in favor of a Modifier system, but I feel we can do something better still.

The amalgamation of my idea and Jake's addition can be altered again to this. Alterations from the original are bolded.

Apprentice has temporary access to one advanced spell. It goes beside their name in brackets at the update of the new standings. From there we step up to Enchanter who get access to the full Matrix with the +1 by their name to denote that they can use any 1 of the four per duel and a 2nd temporary spell in brackets. +2 at Sorceror, +3 At Magician. Wizard gets all four spells and has to work towards that 20 WoL to get one of the last two spells.

So the structure would be this App 1-0-1 (R), Enchanter 3-1-0 +1(MS), Sorceror 5-0-0 +2(GF), Magician 15-5-2 +3(AB), Wizard 20-4-0 +4

The full matrix is accessible but at a more "Go at your own pace" structure. There are copies of the full matrix for players to access and see how it all works. Visually see what beats what. There are more ways to learn the matrix than by just using it, though that metod is the easiest.

Another thing it opens up is the idea of cutting a rank. at Magician you have +3 and then your temporary. That's all 4 spells available. But I do believe nixing a rank was voted out because Mage should be be harder to obtain than 15WoL.

It also addresses some of which Neo brought up.

The second pro is the relative painlessness of implementation... but it strikes me as a very weak pro. If we, as in admins like myself, Mur, and the RoH techs, are not willing to take trouble in implementation (as long as the trouble is something actually doable), then what are we doing in our positions?

The callers have to remember to ask spell choices for each magic duel and the players have to remember to give them. The callers have to track both the spells selected in play and the ones on the standings to make sure no one renegs. It's enough with the Ring of Klytus holder... but for ALL DoM players to be subject to this? I think this is too much tedium.

Like you also said about the coordinators and the RoH techs, if we the Callers are not willing to take trouble, what are we doing in our positions? Just like the Coordinators and Asst. Coordinators, the Callers have to be versed on all the rules, often in more than one sport. We are the front-line staff. The Floor Clerks. We answer questions on dueling, what moves are which, where can somsone get a copy of the matrix, etc, etc, etc.

When calling my DoM shift, I have 3 tabs and a 2nd window open. Tab 1: The Chat, Tab 2: My Shift Report Post, Tab 3: The Standings so I can see who's using what and what rank they are. 2nd Window: My Jpeg of the matrix in case I have a brain fart on what beats what.

Should I have an Enchanter+1(MS) vs a Magician +3(R) and the Enc uses GF in round 2. Then Round four they lob out an AB, I can go..hey, you all ready used your 1 advanced. Please make another selection. Same if the Magician does it. The duelists and callers don't have to remember to say what they're using. The extra effort on part of the Caller to PAY ATTENTION TO THE DUEL, covers the ground.