[Kargath]

Layers upon layers, Kargath.

It's a portrait of Selene.

And I’m the bastard love-child of the tooth fairy and the alligator responsible for elephants having long noses.

The problem with fights here boils down to one thing - the win condition.

WARNING: AI AND DECISION THEORY TERMINOLOGY AHEAD

Under the current rules, the win (infinite/extreme utility) condition goes something like "award the match to the author whose character inflicted the most damage and sustained the least damage throughout the course of all posts".
An agent only has control over the portions of story it writes. So any rational agent would try to minimise damage inflicted to its character in the agent's story sections, and maximise the amount of damage the character does in the agent's story sections.
The problem here is that the minimum damage the opponent can do in an agent's own sections is nothing, and the upper limit is theoretically infinite (only limited by time and word count).

In addition, due to the win criteria being based solely on damage, there is no incentive to write well. As a simple example:
"The prnce jumped and slashed up and cut the elbow ,off and ta ere was lots of blood"
"The half-blood prince beat his wings as he leapt into the air. His katana sliced up through the air, and there was no longer a joint at his opponent's elbow, but a crimson font..."
The second quote is obviously better written, but the damage done to the opponent is the same. Under the current system, there simply is no incentive to put effort into your posts. (An exception is if "writer cred" is considered - this could be added to the utility function and would produce a shift towards quality, depending on the aims of the agent.)

As for the "equality" rule - an agent gains nothing by following it, but an incredible amount from breaking it (even if you include negative utility from bad reputation). So a purely rational agent discards that rule.

"Respect the other writers" follows the same path as the equality rule - no real gain for following it, but large gains from breaking it.

On this goes for many of the rules - no real benefit for following it, significant benefit from breaking it.

The biggest one is of course "Only you can say when you lose" - a rational agent would NEVER declare itself to lose.

So it is clear what we must do - change the win condition to something that makes all the crappy behaviour turn into irrational choices.
IE: The win condition should be based on "who, over the course of their posts, wrote the best both technically and storyline-wise?"


As for your assertion, Selene, that battles that are not competitive must be choreographed:
We assume battles must be choreographed, if they are not competitive.
Two posters agree to have a topic in the Gunjin.
They agree that they will be taking turns writing a story.
They agree that this story will be centred around a battle.
They agree that they will not be competing to make 'their' character win the in-story fight.
So we have a non-choreographed battle, but it is not competitive. Contradiction found, thus disproving the original assertion.

And gorram is a stupid subsitute of a word.

Erdawn's right in this case. If you're going to swear, swear.


And now, for some possible new rules/talking-points:

-When writing a topic, post what you wish to achieve from the topic. This will help guide the right sort of partner and opponent to your topic, and help them know how to approach writing with you.
-If the topic that you are writing relies on other information to make sense or guide the story, make sure your opponent has ready access to it. If it does not fit well into the actual prose, include it in an OOC section. If it is contained within another battle, post the link to let your opponent read that battle. If it is information that would spoil the story for an interested third-party - PM it to your opponent instead. That being said, don't rely on out-of-topic info to take the place of description of your character in a story.
-Put effort into your writing. ("Script format" is a no-no.) Learn how to put a sentence together. Learn what punctuation goes where (and WHY it's there). Learn what words are capitalised, and learn the spellings of the words you use. On a slightly higher level, learn how sentences flow most effectively to provide a reading rhythm. We accept people of a wide range of skill levels here, but you must always be willing to improve, and always be willing to try with each post. Always provide enough description so others can understand the events of your contribution, and the location of those events (be it the location of a hit on a body, or a fighter in a newsagency).
-If you're going to criticise, be prepared to back yourself up with suggestions for improvement. If you're a writer, don't flip out on learning everyone's not your rabid fan(boy/girl) like they were at your last fanfiction forum.
-Be as original as possible (whilst still keeping sensible writing). Avoid fancharacters like live wires. This is a sub-forum of a video gaming forum, of course, but the more you show you think on your own, the more you will be respected.
-KEEP CONTINUITY. DO NOT JUST IGNORE WHAT THE OTHER PERSON PUTS FORWARD IN THEIR STORIES.
(I know you're saying "but didn't he make a walking retcon machine with breasts attached?" - but I'm talking about Erdawn-style just ignoring your opponent's powers, or Inferno in an earlier tourney ignoring the massive gaping hole in his abdomen)