On public sparring arenas.

[Nyr]

I don't know if this is a staff perspective thing or not but the system as it stands at this moment is still imminently abusable. Do you honestly think the twinks aren't just going to go back to the dwarf-warrior-hunter route? Raptors at day 2 and dujat at day 5? It's so fucking easy to do, it is hardly even cheating. It just takes some ooc knowledge of the game world.

It is definitely a staff perspective thing.  Absolutely.  Any players intending to focus on skills instead of roleplay will continue to find ways to focus on skills instead of roleplay.  We simply feel that if a system was implemented for one purpose and it went sour, it should be pulled and then reconsidered.

This post by Riev was important:

Can we -not- have the discussion devolve into "Well codedly speaking, it would be a benefit because..." and talk more about how the  idea could help foster and improve the roleplay and feel of the cities?

It is important because the discussion didn't really devolve to that, it started there.  The first post in this thread makes it seem like the "skill" side of things was the big kicker here. Skill opportunities lost are mentioned more prominently, sooner, and in more of a verbose manner than RP opportunities lost:

So when are we getting the Tuluki arena back?

Seriously. It was a godsend for anyone who wanted to train without having to leave the walls and skill up on gortok. It allowed independents to work on skills and it allowed players in dead clans to work on them also. Not to mention it was great atmosphere for the city itself. Now characters that can't get out and poke mobs are left at a huge disadvantage.

Because honestly, most players already know that the difference in power curve for characters that just spar and characters that hunt is already fuckhuege.

Not to mention the loss of RP opportunities. Characters who wouldn't have anything to do with each other could spar in the arena and interact that way instead of with the samey tavern butt scratch emotes.

So really? What's up. It honestly baffles me that it was removed when it added so much to the game.

Yes, it was a godsend for people that wanted a safe way to work on their skills, but RP is not mentioned there.  Yes, it allowed independents to work on their skills and those in less-active clans to work on their skills, but RP is not mentioned there.  Atmosphere is finally mentioned (but fleetingly), and then we are back to the disadvantage faced by people that have to do work with their skills, followed by a mention of skill power curves.  Next we have another mention of RP opportunities lost by people being able to skill up with each other (but they can RP while they do so, so there's that).

I'm not saying you personally are focused on that part.  That's just how it was laid out, perhaps incorrectly or unintentionally.

We've given feedback on it.  You'll see changes eventually:

I understand that people believe the interaction was good and that is being taken into account for future opportunities

Until then, yes, I imagine that the players that really want to work on those skills and want to go to those ends...they will have to take their warriors out to go fight dujat, because it's very important to get those skills.  Alternatively, they can review this and try to be a better Armageddon roleplayer:

Skills vs. Roleplay

BAD:
A few scenarios below.
1.  Amos and Talia spar for hours on end.
2.  Any opportunity to increase skill is sought by Amos.  No matter how harebrained, no matter how unrealistic, no matter how silly it seems, this is what Amos pursues.  Heck, he sneaks out of the city sometimes just to go kill stuff, or sneaks into the 'rinth because he is bored and wants to kill stuff.
3.  Skilling up is sought after more than actual roleplay towards any end that might require those skills to be used.

WHY THIS IS BAD:
This is a roleplay-enforced game.  All of these are not cool.

Where is this in the documentation?
http://www.armageddon.org/help/view/Roleplaying
http://www.armageddon.org/help/view/FAQ_9
http://www.armageddon.org/help/view/Rules

PROPER RESPONSE TO BAD BEHAVIOR:
Report this to staff if it is seen.  Staff will handle it.  This should not be occurring.

HOW TO IMPROVE:
Scenario 1:  Take breaks.  Do some roleplay besides constantly worrying about your skill levels.  Even if you aren't, you look like you are.
Scenario 2:  Stop worrying so much about your skills.  Period.  This is a roleplaying game.  "I'm bored" is an OOC player feeling, "I want to go kill some people" is the IC result, and staff label that as poor roleplay and bad player judgment.  Stop playing the character as though it is a bunch of skills as a means to an end, and start playing the character as a person.  It is possible to take the IC pursuit of skills too far, to the point where your actions (even if you have some kind of RP justification) look entirely motivated by OOC reasons ("I need more skill").
Scenario 3:  This is a roleplay-enforced game.  If you wish to spend your time skilling up your character in private (or unrealistically in any number of ways) with only scant opportunities to actually apply those skills appropriately...your time may be better served elsewhere.

It'll be up to them to make that choice.