The Magus Cup Rules and Regulations

[Tainted Bushido]

The Magus Cup was the first Althanas tournament held exclusively for newer players. Named after Althanas legend Dark Magus, the tournament places level 2 and below players against each other in traditional one on one combat. This year we expand on that concept by introducing the new players to the veteran ones to truly find out which generation has the best writers.

Number of Players Allowed: 30 (15 each bracket)

Registration begins: NOW!

Basic Rules:

There will be two brackets, one for new players and one for the veterans. Whether one is "new" or a "veteran" will be determined primarily by his join date and secondarily by his level. The join date cut off is January 1st, 2008, but if that person's character is over level 3, the tournament staff reserves the right to "bump" him to the "veteran" bracket or vice versa (for older players with low leveled characters)
To register, please post the word "Registered" as a response to the Registration Thread, found here (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=19502). Please include your join date and level as a reference. You can find your registration date by viewing your profile and clicking the "statistics" tab.
Registration will last one week or until all 30 spots are filled. Please note that new secondary characters are allowed to participate, but the staff reserves the right to "bump" characters of veteran players to the "veteran" bracket.
Standard Althanas battle rules apply, including the 10 post requirement. Battles under 10 posts will not be judged and awards will not be given (though a winning player will be selected). Extended absences will also result in the loss of points.
The player with the highest score advances to the next round.
Match-ups will be determined randomly at the beginning of the tournament.
The first player to post will determine the setting for the battle.
Each battle will last two weeks.
There will also be special battles held throughout the tournament, evidenced by the lack of a perfect square for participation.
In the final round, the winner of each bracket will duel for the championship. The losing semi-finalists will battle for third place.

Rewards: The winner receives 5000 EXP, the second place finisher will earn 2500 EXP and third place finisher will receive 1250 EXP.

Please ask any relevant questions within this thread. We will answer them as we can get to them.

[Requiem of Insanity]

So this is in fact not a round robin, but a first in first out style, where the loser is dropped from the tournament? In other more blunt words:

Two players post a kick ass titanic battle, and a loser is declared.

Two players don't post, but one posted more. One advanced, the other never showed up.

The person who participated is SOL and knocked out of the tournament, and the player who didn't even break a sweat advanced.

Am I correct on this?

[Tainted Bushido]

Yes. I understand the frustration, we're hoping that won't occur again this tournament. There was a rather large drop out rate after the first round of the last tournament, I believe due to the players not understanding the judging system.

[Abomination]

What's all the IC reasoning behind this? First posts are gonna be pretty dull if I don't know why/how I'm here.

[Visla Eraclaire]

I'm kind of staggered that we're starting a new tournament right on the heels of the ToC...

One young wastrel says to another, "Bro, let's go get tanked!" while his friend is still wretching from the last evening's activities.

That being said, I did register and hopefully your optimism about participation is not ill-founded.

[Mikeavelli]

Near as I can tell, the previous tournament was an "invitational" designed specifically to attract people who aren't regulars at Althanas.

Most of the people who just stopped posting went on to never post at Althanas again.

Meanwhile, most of the people signing up for this one are regulars, and should be sticking around regardless. We'll get a few dropouts due to being to busy in the real world (which always trumps online) but the flat out disappearing from ToC shouldn't be a bit problem.

[Tainted Bushido]

What's all the IC reasoning behind this? First posts are gonna be pretty dull if I don't know why/how I'm here.

We're leaving this open to you ala the Althanaversary tournament. Have the fights take place in the Citadel, in Fallien, anywhere you need them to. I had Mage Hunter go on a hunting spree through Radasanth.

[Abomination]

Well, that's a cop-out, since 90% of the tournaments run on that rhetoric and they produce some pretty lame reasoning for how/why the people are even there. Some people like competition, not just deciding to murder a random person and then moving on to the next random person, why even bother calling it a tournament at that point?


flat out disappearing from ToC shouldn't be a bit problem.

If I know anything from history, roughly 50% of the people will drop out regardless of circumstances. All of the 2v2 tournaments were very haphazard in attendance.

[Tainted Bushido]

I assure you, this will be the last tournament that uses this "cop out" for awhile. The other tournaments will have the stories you were looking for.

[Petoux]

When does the tourny start?

[Tainted Bushido]

Tournament Registration closes next Tuesday on the 28th.

First Round Begins on July 31st.

[Kially Gaith]

Once again, another tournament my character would have no feasibility to be in. X_x

Come on guys! Enough with the fighting! Can't we for once have something like an Althanian 'sports day' or somethin'? Gettin' tired of all this e-penis comparing in fights.

The "You punch me, I punch you" thing feels so outdated, especially given the whole emphasis on it. Am I the only one who believes this?

[Visla Eraclaire]

Once again, another tournament my character would have no feasibility to be in. X_x

Come on guys! Enough with the fighting! Can't we for once have something like an Althanian 'sports day' or somethin'? Gettin' tired of all this e-penis comparing in fights.

The "You punch me, I punch you" thing feels so outdated, especially given the whole emphasis on it. Am I the only one who believes this?

I do have to concur in this. Every single tournament is based around battling. Given the fact that you repeatedly had to point out in the ToC that the competition was in writing and not the RPed fighting, wouldn't it make sense to do something where the characters aren't beating the tar out of eachother.

Capture the McGuffin? It doesn't matter what. I signed up and am almost destined to score poorly in numerous areas because Visla isn't a fighter. This is something I've commented on since the beginning of Althanas. The more self-absorbedly melodramatic and fighting oriented your character is, the more Althanas caters to you.

That being said, this tournament is too soon to do anything about. I just wish you guys would quit having the Nth Annual Same Shit We Did Before Tournament

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

So then you signed up why?

Onto more productive matters... Would it be alright if, say, both participants in a match decide on other conditions to compete in outside of battling each other (hell, I used a best-of-three carnival games competition in one of my Pagoda battles on one occasion), and if they get moderator approval, could they do that instead of a duel to the finish?

Y'know, just as an alternate option for a select few of us.

[Inkfinger]

Would it be alright if, say, both participants in a match decide on other conditions to compete in outside of battling each other (hell, I used a best-of-three carnival games competition in one of my Pagoda battles on one occasion), and if they get moderator approval, could they do that instead of a duel to the finish?

Y'know, just as an alternate option for a select few of us.

This! I like this idea!

[Visla Eraclaire]

So then you signed up why?

How snide. Then you go on to discuss exactly the same thing I did... Some people...


That being said, this tournament is too soon to do anything about.

That is why.

[Taskmienster]

Just a heads up. There are other features coming in the future, one of which is not a fighting tournament. (OH MY! not sure if I'm supposed to tell anyone. :p)

However, I'm sure that if anyone is interested in suggesting tournaments to the staff... there is a forum that's completely created in the OOC area just for that. Your Word (http://althanas.com/world/forumdisplay.php?f=14) is for suggestions and questions.

Thanks Visla for explaining what I was going to tell him, it's already made and posted, no changing it right now.

[The International]

To Visla and Kially: I can understand your frustration with the persisting conditions of Althanas tournaments, but it really isn't a matter of Althanas. Fantasy and action/violence have gone hand in hand for quite some time now. All the best known works of fantasy (Tolkien, Lovecraft, D&D, even Alice In Wonderland if you consider it fantasy) have a large element of life or death action and violence. It's only natural for the people to continue doing what works. Now I'm not saying that your desire for something other than action is not valid. I for one would love to have a thread where my characters are just having a good time and some drama just creeps up on its own. And if the most recent incarnation of Battlestar Galactica has taught us anything it's that Sci Fi and Fantasy can be amazing drama. I do have to disagree with this statement...

The more self-absorbedly melodramatic and fighting oriented your character is, the more Althanas caters to you.Have you read the quest Scaling Heaven? It's not an action oriented thread but it was absolutely amazing. From what I've read these battles aren't a competition of characters. They're a competition of their writers, but it wouldn't hurt to use a little teamwork as if you were collaborating for a quest. I plan on PMing whoever I'm pitted against so we can at least work on a good intro. This in character premise (or complete lack there of) is a condition that us writers should have the creativity and imagination to build from. Your character may never be randomly hunting someone through Concordia, but my character would never ever enter a highly publicized tournament. With that being said if the two of us were to be pitted against each other, I'm sure we can create a circumstance in which our characters would cross paths and perhaps swords. What makes it a battle is who does the better job as a writer.

[Max Dirks]

Who said you have to "fight" in tournaments?

See here (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=12689) for an example of a non-combat tournament battle.

[Bear Man]

Wait, I've been reading this...does this mean that for a Citadel battle or a Magus battle we could have, say, a riddling contest? Or a game of capture the flag? Or a fishing contest? Or whatever?

Sweet.

[Visla Eraclaire]

Who said you have to "fight" in tournaments?

See here (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=12689) for an example of a non-combat tournament battle.

The existence of situations where two like-minded individuals obviated the general trend by agreement does not change the simple fact that fighting is the default, the most common, and essentially the centerpiece of Althanas competition.

That point aside, Task mentioned a while ago that further discussions of fighting/non-fighting were best addressed elsewhere. I guess I was the only one that read that.

Anyway, on topic:

Tell me more about these "special battles"? Done just to resolve the issue of a non-square bracket, or more interesting than that?

[The International]

I guess I was the only one that read that.I read it too, but I just thought I'd try to help.

Anyways, it's been my understanding that a battle or quest is defined by the judgment regardless of the storyline. If the judge scores everyone as a team then it's a quest. If the judge compares one player's writing to another then it's a battle. I could be wrong about that.

[Zantetsuken]

Honestly some of the issues you'll run into with these things Is the same frustrating thing I ran into with Kupo! in tournaments. You have Slayer of the Rot Versus Duke the moogle...

Ya know fucking way in hell can Dan be in character NOT ripping the head off the frugal moogle.

Also it's not within Duke's character to fight a person. Sometimes, as it is often with these types of tournies, is that you just get locked in with somebody who's all about the stabbity stab stab shit.

While this is in all honesty only effecting those insane combat oriented characters, it DOES happen. Saxon, if i may be bold enough to use as a example, and duke in the TOC is a prime example of "This shit just can't happen correctly."

It wasn't in Saxon's character's intrest or build to do anything but fight, which made for a very hard pressed battle that ultimately was futile to fight. While in no way is this a negative on Saxon's character, it does show that no matter what these tournaments are just going to end up with two blood thirsty fighters brawling for the title in mongo smash hugo contests.

My two cents...

[Kially Gaith]

Although I see your point, on the off chance I won a battle, I can honestly foresee that not every person I'm pitted against would want to have a none-combat situation.

[Visla Eraclaire]

There is a new thread (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=152248#post152248) to discuss combat-vs-noncombat in Your Word. I think the tournament organizers might appreciate it if we took our issues there. The Magus Cup isn't going to change, so we shouldn't clutter its rules thread with these comments.

[Wilhelm Bosche]

Pat, would you terribly mind placing this character in Visla's slot for the tournament. He's more suitable, and I can scarcely imagine anyone being displeased to face a lvl 0 character instead of a lvl 2 "black magic time bomb" as she was described elsewhere.

[Tainted Bushido]

In this case, I'll allow it.

[Bear Man]

Hmmm, sorry to ask a noobish question, but how do we decide who posts first? Is it the first name listed in the bracket, or do we decide together via PM, or is it just whoever gets to it first?

Also: Good luck to everyone who entered! :D

[Elijah_Morendale]

I find it prudent to ask my opponent if they'd like to post first. If they reply with a "I don't know", then I think it's fair game for either person.

[Bear Man]

Okay, good to know. I don't really care who posts first but I was worried about ending up having it be my responsibility and not knowing...

[Petoux]

Rewards: The winner receives 5000 EXP, the second place finisher will earn 2500 EXP and third place finisher will receive 1250 EXP.



Is that for each bracket? (Veteran And New Blood). Or as in a whole?

In other words, do each bracket/skill level get that reward, or does only one person?

[Amaril Torrun]

The rewards will be distributed as a whole, I'm sure.

[Bear Man]

I'm pretty sure that only one person gets the reward, Petoux.


In the final round, the winner of each bracket will duel for the championship. The losing semi-finalists will battle for third place.

In other words, the winner of the New Blood fights the winner of the Veterans, and the winner gets first place and 5000 exp. The loser gets second place and 2500 exp. Then the semi-finalists battle for third place and the winner gets 1250 exp.

I think, anyway. That seems to be the only way that makes sense.

[Petoux]

I think that does make sense now, yes.

Next question:

Assuming my opponent won't post. May I use the same arena I used in round 1, since I would never get a chance to implement the idea? Or am I f*cked over, and have to make another?

[Taskmienster]

Eh, it's up to you. I tend to just reuse the arena if my opponent never posts... It's the easiest thing to do, and it's not like you explored it any in the thread that wasn't responded to.

[Petoux]

Oh cool...

Could I copy EVERYTHING, or just the arena assuming they don't post?

[Visla Eraclaire]

As long as nothing about the post was intended for your opponent, you're welcome to reuse it. Of course, if your openings are that generic, you might want to reconsider the amount of coordination you have between you and your opponents.

[Nevermore]

If my character is accepted after I post him/her, will I be eligible to participate in the Magus Cup, or will I have to wait?

[Tainted Bushido]

If my character is accepted after I post him/her, will I be eligible to participate in the Magus Cup, or will I have to wait?

Unfortunately the Registration for the Magus cup has already come and gone. Don't fret as there are other tournaments in the near future for you to sink your teeth into.

[Nevermore]

Ah, I see. I must've overlooked it. Apologies. :P