(10-09-2013, 09:17 PM)Theodric Ironheart Wrote: It's a shame that magic is forbidden, since it eliminates a large pool of potential combatants right off the bat. I've seen a fair few tournaments hosted in numerous MMO's and they all seem to share that rule to some extent. Is it a rule put in place for the sake of 'realism' or 'fairness'? I'm curious as to the reasoning behind it.
Perhaps a seperate category for magic wielding combatants could be created? It's something that has always rubbed me the wrong way, admittedly - it's a fantasy game and I'm fairly certain a magic user is capable of holding back and avoiding causing serious injury in a training match.
First off-- The Grindstone is an FC that caters specifically to the physical arts. Strength of arms, speed, reflex, mastery of weapons, etc. I, personally, have played magic wielding characters in combat RP in previous games where the magic was far more forthright and the matches were not friendly whatsoever. I know it can be done. But usually there is an air of superiority that goes with magic, higher levels of skill and the knowledge that you should only use it when you must go on the offensive rather than whenever you feel like it. I believe that there are plenty of groups that do cater to magic users, even if it isn't for the purpose of combat, which leads me to my next point.
Yes, 'a magic user' may be 'capable of holding back and avoiding causing serious injury in a training match'. Many of the entrants to the tournament and to the shell itself are young individuals and you cannot put an age restriction on how quickly someone becomes proficient with magic. One wrong move and you might light someone up. The competitors aren't allowed edged weapons, they have to fight with peace binding, padding, wood, or blunted weapons. There isn't really a legitimate explanation for a magic user on what you expect them to do about blunting a spell that wracks your body with pain or freezes you in place. Siobhain, the leader of the Grindstone, is not a magic user. Like some, she even distrusts certain types of magic users. She cannot really judge nor would she really be fair in judging how a magic user's potential will operate. For some, like white mages and conjurer's, -not- allowing healing, as is a requirement in the fight, would work to their heavy disadvantage. (Not to mention the lore reasons why their participating even in friendly tournaments may not look so good considering they're supposed to be -very- elite, -very- rare, and -very- serious.) Similarly, there would have to be extensive rules about familiars and the use of mediums such as staves, rods, and the like. Siobhain would have to say they're not allowed to physically strike with those tools (I suppose blocking and such would be acceptable) otherwise she would be forced to allow the physical combatants to use as many extraneous and environmental weapons as possible which is currently prohibited.
So. While a magic user is welcome to train with the Grindstone, there is absolutely no cause or reason to open the existing tournament up for them and risk putting anyone at more or less of a disadvantage by having to proceed with the rules.
Thus far? One person has shown any kind of interest in using magic for the fights and he was more than happy to go in with his bo staff and not employ any magic use. I haven't had any complaints about that rule. In fact, I do not recall ever having seen you at one of our matches so perhaps you haven't seen how complicated it can be already despite all my efforts to smooth things down.
If more interest is generated for these magic users, I am perfectly fine with seeing about starting a separate tournament. But you have to understand we have over 80 members and our tournaments are usually well populated (30 something people are online and a good portion of them are at the tournament now), which is great, but any more matches than we have now and everything is going to be -very- difficult. We run a max of four at a time and when eight people enter (nine including the champion) even when we use the /roll system (which not everyone wants to do) we're talking three to five hours of roleplay.
I would require many more volunteers than I already have.
And to reiterate-- this LS caters to physical fighters. I've written it -everywhere-. -That- is the niche I elected to fill. If there is someone out there who would like to start a magic-oriented Grindstone, I cannot say no but I will ask you to please coordinate with me for tournaments in the event that we overlap for some reason.
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