Passive observation of Arena Games this weekend

[Nyr]

Thanks to Morgenes, we have now set things up so that the Arena Games can be observed by those that are unable to ICly attend.  Last night, we accommodated a very small handful of people that had no ability to attend, mostly as an experiment to see if we could even do it.  We have implemented code ideas to improve on last night's experiment.

The reasoning on this is as follows:

• Gladiator roles are only possible in Allanak, and the roles interact in no way with the rest of the Known World.  When there aren't games, these roles don't exist.
• The people playing gladiator roles are (more often than not) people playing from other areas of the Known World.
• It is a large enough game event that people are drawn to it from other locales, if able to attend.  This reduces the player population in those locales, sometimes to an extent such that anyone remaining that is unable to attend (or did not put in an app for a gladiator) also has nothing else to do except solo RP or try to find some RP with the few remaining people not at the games.  And--hey--they can do that, too; there is nothing requiring that you watch the games.  Again, this is different from an RPT in Tuluk (no offense to Tulukis); there are no gladiator roles to be filled on a temporary basis in that city-state.  There are several competing factors here:  people come to see it ICly for IC reasons and this draws down the playerbase in other areas.  (If this were the only factor involved, I would definitely be on the side of "tough titty, you don't play there so screw you.")  The playerbase IN those other areas is drawn down further by virtue of the games being filled by gladiator roles--each one from some of those other areas.  Finally, since they can't interact with what is going on (or even with other people in the same room watching/listening), at best, they are being entertained simultaneously, getting some of the same story that those attending are getting, a story that cannot really be used in much of an IC way by the people in those other areas.
• We've already been posting some scattered amusing/interesting/awesome logs from the Arena games, partly due to the above factors.
• If we find that people abuse it or find some way to abuse it, we'll come down like 99 feet of rock on them.

And of course, I think that we would personally rather people log onto Arm to watch a game they can't ICly attend than not log into Arm because they feel there's nothing to do in their respective play area.

So how do you watch?

In a quit-safe room, type "change arena."  Your character will be transferred to an OOC room in which you can watch and listen to the goings-on on the Arena floor itself.  This means that you will not hear any announcing, shouts from the stands, or see/hear who is actually on the stands.  You will not be able to interact with (or see) anyone else in the room, either.  You will not be able to "change arena" unless we have unlocked the command for use.

See the helpfile for details.

Attempts to use this system for abuse in any fashion will be met with a stern British clearing of the throat (possibly followed by disciplinary action as determined by staff).

[Nyr]

Games aren't started yet, but the Arena watch room is open as of now.

[Nyr]

Bumping this thread, please read over all of it if you wish to watch the Arena Games and are not otherwise prohibited.  It is now available for viewing.

Edit to add:  It is now over, of course.

[Nyr]

This is back open.  Please read the original post above!

[Nyr]

This is closed!

A reminder:  in the future, should you want to watch these games AND you also could reasonably be there (i.e., you logged in from Allanak), please go to the actual game itself.

We also fixed a couple of bugs, thanks to those of you that reported them.