The Arrakis Ninja Arts Tournament

[Rhap Sodos]

An Unexpected Announcement:.
In what many are causing a 'surprise' move by the current government of the Country of Wind, Daimyo Takashuri Keito recently announced plans for what officials are calling the "Arrakis Ninja Arts Tournament", a competition he claims will be open to anyone who wishes to partake. While some critics are calling this a publicity stunt based on recent rumors and allegations surrounding the attacks in Metropolis and Kusagakure no Sato, the Daimyo and the Kazekage have issued a joint statement expressing their "sincere interest" in holding an event where "shinobi of all skills and nationality can demonstrate their skills on an international stage".This is considered by most to be a rather drastic change from many of Kaze no Kuni's post-war policies, which until now were designed to decrease any reliance or commitments to the other Great Shinobi Nations. 
 
Located along Kaze no Kuni's south-east coast, Arrakis has seen exponential growth in the years following the downfall of the Kumogakure Empire and is now considered one of the largest trading ports along the Amber Coast. This, combined with the stability of the of the government in the post-war years has made Arrakis a safe and beautiful haven, complete with warm sandy beaches and crystal clear water. Participants and tourists are recommended to make travel preparations in advance of the event, as transportation to this distant oasis may be limited. 
 
Whether or not the Daimyo and the Kazekage plan to use this event to address any other international issues remains to be seen.  

- Sato Sagiso, Kaze no Kuni Journalist

 
ooc: This event is scheduled to being March 2014, and is open to any character that wishes to participate, regardless of level or Village. Brackets/pairings will be based on character levels and the amount of people interested in competing. We wanted to give you a few months notice so that you could plan accordingly [technique/skill creation, character leveling, wrapping up any current GM arcs, etc.]. Formal sign-ups will be available in February 2014. Battle Types will include 1v1, Team Battles, FFA, etc. if people are interested.

[Rhap Sodos]

Arrakis Tournament
Who is Eligible to Compete: Everyone
Start Date: May 1st. Players may start arriving as of today. 
 
Type of Events

• Individual Challenges (1 vs. 1)
• Team Battles
• Free-for-All
• Brackets

Brackets: Brackets will be based on the amount of characters who wish to participate over a ten-level spread. For example, if we have 8 people between the levels of 43-53 who wish to compete, they will become a bracket. If we have 10 People between the levels of 40-55, they may be divided into two separate brackets depending on the level distribution.

• 1-5 Participants: Round Robin
• 6+ Participants: Swiss

The bracket portion will being on August 5th, pending player interest. If you are interested in competing in a bracket, you may sign-up, here. 
 
Location
The Arrakis Tournament classifies as a "Side Location". All approved characters are eligible to compete as long as it doesn't disrupt your characters' timeline. Your GM has final say on whether or not your character is allowed to participate. 

Battles
Players may be in in one (1) bracketed match and one (1) side match at a time. 
 
Timeline
Winter 2115
 
Each match your character participates in will be considered to have taken place on a different "day". This is to allow for:

• Plausible time to pass between learning techniques or skills. 
• To allow for players who are finishing up threads that interfere with their ability to participate to show up "late". 

The tournament will last for approximately one-week in character. 
 
Technique and Skill Approvals 
Characters may learn skills and techniques between matches. They may not level their character. 
 
Prizing
EXP will be rewarded following the "Life or Death" Battle EXP. Monetary rewards will be based on the average level of the players participating in the match: 
0-30: $200 to the Winner, $50 to the Loser/s
31-60: $400 to the Winner, $100 to the Loser/s
61-90: $600 to the Winner, $200 to the Loser/s
91+: $1200 to the Winner, $300 to the Loser/s
 
Players may wager their own money or items on top of the established prizing for their matches (i.e. you can "bet" your opponents). 
 
Additional prizes will be award to the overall winner/s of any bracket. 

In order to receive full rewards, the battle must progress to a point where a discernible winner could be determined. Players who win due to their opponents dropping receive 75% of the reward EXP they would have received otherwise; the monetary value does not change. This was done with the consideration that while the “winner” did not put as much time and effort into their fight due to their opponent dropping, since it was beyond their control they should not be penalized too heavily for it. A “drop” was classified as either a “no show”, or someone who dropped/was disqualified early enough into the match that a clear winner could not be determined. This is different then if an opponent conceded after several turns because they knew they were over-matched and a true outcome could be determined. A player who “dropped” [and therefor, lost] receives no reward [money OR exp].
 
Prizing will be awarded at the end of the event. 
 
Time Restrictions
Brackets will follow a 3-Day posting time limit unless otherwise decided by all participants. For individual challlenges, participants may decide on their own timeline prior to the battle start and state it in the first post. In the event that a timeline is not set and one of the participants does not post within one (1) week without the consent of their opponent, they forfeit their match.

RP and Side Events
Players are encouraged to RP within the city of Arrakis or with other characters. Additional events and games will be added in the days to come.

Additional Questions
You may ask any additional question, here.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Rhap Sodos

[Rhap Sodos]

Update:.
 
ooc: Now that activity has picked up again, we will officially be starting the bracketed portion of the event on: August 5th, 2014. You have until this Sunday, August 3rd 2014 to sign up. We strongly suggest you get any creations you would like approved for the this event no later than this weekend to ensure that they'll be approved in time for the tournament.

 

Please Note: You do not have to wait for the brackets to be posted to challenge individuals to 1v1 battles, however please restrict yourself to one battle thread at a time. 

[cntrstrk14]

Update:.
 
As of this post, no new skills or techniques are allowed to be added to characters in the Arrakis Tournament. Due to a MASSIVE influx of people who couldn't get their stuff posted in the last 3 months for approval, the staff has made a series of bad approvals and we just cannot handle this with our normal fair and balanced approval process.

 

You are still able to buy items.

 

Thanks,

NA Staff

[Rhap Sodos]

Update: Prizing

We've updated the "Prizing" rules to better clarify what is required to receive full rewards. We've also included what would classify as a "drop" and the impact this has on rewards.

[Rhap Sodos]

Update: Battles

We've updated the rules on "Number of Battles" to allow people to be in more than one battle at a time. The new rule is: Players may be in in one (1) bracketed match and one (1) side match at a time. As a reminder about individual challenges:

For individual challenges, participants may decide on their own timeline prior to the battle start and state it in the first post. In the event that a timeline is not set and one of the participants does not post within one (1) week without the consent of their opponent, they forfeit their match.

 

 Bracket battles will always follow the 72-Hour time limit.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Rhap Sodos

[Rhap Sodos]

Update: Status Effects

 

Status Effects that modify a players stats (+/-) are based on the total, not base number. Total includes the amount of bonus stats generated from skills or equipment.

 

We will be doing an overhaul of Status Effects to clarify this on a case by case basis post-tournament, however for the sake of consistency you should do your calculations based on the above ruling.  

[Rhap Sodos]

Update: EXP
For the purpose of calculating the EXP for losing a match, your opponent will be considered at max 20 Levels above your own:

 

Loser: EXP = [Enemy Level, but no greater that 20 Levels above your own] * 10 (minimum 50)

As an example, if you are Level 50 and lost to someone who is Level 75, your opponent's level would be considered 70 for the purpose of EXP calculation. This is to prevent players from challenging opponents far above their current level in order to easily gain large amounts of EXP for losing. While we encourage you to participate in side matches, the original reward system was based on the idea that there wouldn't be a large discrepancy between the average level of players in a battle. The monetary rewards will not change, however as a reminder they are based on the average level of all participants. This ruling will be applied to all matches, including those that have already finished. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me directly.

This will have no impact on bracketed matches, as all the participants in a group are within a ten level spread.

[Rhap Sodos]

Update: Tiebreakers

Two-Person Ties
In the event that two participants end up with the same record, the player who won in their match-up is given the higher placement in the final rankings. For example, if Ninja A and Ninja B both end up 2-0-1 (two wins, zero draws, one loss), but Ninja B beat Ninja A when they fought, Ninja B will be ranked higher than Ninja A in the final placings.

Three-Person Ties
In the event that three participants end up with the same record, we will hold a Free-for-All 'run-off' match to determine final placings in the bracket. The three participants will receive EXP/money rewards per the Free-for-All/Tournament rules, however this EXP/money will not be eligible for the rank modifier bonus (all players will be receiving a percentage bonus to their total EXP/money based on their results in their group).

[Rhap Sodos]

Final Call: Individual Challenges

The deadline for beginning an individual challenge is Monday, October 20th 2014 at 11:59PM ET. While players will still be able to spar or consent to Life and Death battles, any thread posted after the deadline will revert to the main site reward system. This is to allow us to wrap up the tournament, and issue the EXP and monetary rewards. 

Edited October 19, 2014 by Rhap Sodos

[Rhap Sodos]

Rewards

Awards have been posted for the Group portion of the event. You can find them, here. We're still waiting on some of the side battles and judging to finish, so those of you who participated in extra battles will be receiving those rewards shortly.

If you have finished all of your battles you are free to edit your character sheet.

[Rhap Sodos]

Rewards

Awards have been posted for the Group portion of the event. You can find them, here.

All players are now freely able to edit their character sheets.