Re: ARENA: randomness

From: srt@aero.org (Scott 'Dr. Pain' Turner)

Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1993 23:53:47 +0000

I appreciate everyone's comments on the randomness in Arena.  In the
fabled Next Big Release of Arena, some of these things will be fixed.
In particular, I'll try to make the commentary more reliable.

>Do both combatants get the same Vance text? It sure
>doesn't seem like it since (I extimate) 90% of the time I get my own
>gear mentioned, but only maybe 50% of the time do I get to find out
>what my opponent will be using.

Yes, both combatants get exactly the same fight text.

>In some bouts I see messages about half a dozen things happening,
>mostly grmacing and rude gestures, and my gladiator is then exhasuted
>at the end of the round but then in the next bout there are 30+
>messages about things going on - all kinds of attacks, parries, and
>dodges in addition to the usual spinning the weapon over the head,
>making faces, and gesturing any yet the galdiator is not noticably
>tired after all that.

I'd guess that your fighter has low stamina.  (Yep, this is the case.)
A fighter with low stamina relies on his initial burst of energy.
This may be high, or it may be low.  Fighters with higher stamina are
more consistent.  Fighters with high stamina also regain more breath
between rounds.

But the bottom line is that, yes, there is a fair amount of randomness
in Arena, and if all the breaks go against you, you can lose a fight
you "should have" won.  And if all the breaks go for you, you can win
a fight that you "should have" lost.  But there are plenty of fighters
with 80%+ win rates over 40+ fights, so they at least demonstrate that
Arena isn't unplayably random.

-- Scott T.

References

ARENA: randomness
carl@gergo.tamu.edu (Carl D. Perkins)
Sat, 16 Oct 1993 05:30:00 +0000