General Scheme of Things

[admin]

The Flipping Arena ladder system is based on a mod for phpBB ('rivals') - this mod was originally intended for use by video gamers. The downside of this is that it's clan-based, which we can work around by creating a clan for each individual participant. The upside of this is... that it's clan-based, which means we can have team battles.

One of my favorite aspects of this mod is that the ladder sytem is points based. The person with the most points is highest on the ladder. You get more points if you challenge someone higher above you on the ladder and you win. You lose more points if you challenge someone further below you on the ladder and lose. If you challenge someone further below you on the and you win, you're not going to get a lot of points, and he's not going to lose many. It all operates on a sliding scale, which encourages competitiveness and discourages bullying.


A quick rundown of how it's supposed to work:

1: Someone issues a challenge.
2: Someone accepts a challenge.
3: They each post a video response to the challenge.
4: A poll goes up, and everyone looks at the videos and votes on who is to win.
5: The winner and loser are declared. Points are awarded.
6: The winner goes up the ladder, the loser goes down the ladder.


A more extensive rundown on how it's supposed to work:

1: Someone (in this example, YOU) issues a challenge. It can be a challenge over which person can perform a certain trick the best, or who can create the best trick in a certain category, or whatever. It can be a challenge to a specific person or to the first person to take you up on it. A challenge can be started anywhere at any time, but you will eventually need to start a thread in the Challenges forum for you challenge.

In your challenge thread, you post the details of your challenge. Details like the type of trick, and how long the challenged person has to post a video after accepting the challenge, etc.

2: Someone accepts the challenge by posting in the challenge thread.

3: Then you each have to post links in your challenge thread to your videos of the challenge. The videos need to be hosted at youtube or similar.


For more details and rules on how challenges are supposed to be run, see the Standards and Protocols sticky in the Challenges forum.

4: To determine the winner... You (or you opponent) creates a thread in the Polls forum. In that thread (in the first post) you embed the videos, and create a poll to choose between you or your opponent.

People come along, watch the videos, and vote on who they think did best.

5: The person with the most votes wins. The winner moves up the ladder, the loser moves down.

For more information on how the polls are supposed to work, see the Standards and Protocols sticky

[admin]

Regarding "Me vs. Any Takers" challenges:

The "Me vs. Any Takers" are challenges issued without any specific person in mind. They are generally supposed to be one on one challenges. It works on a first come, first served basis. Once someone takes up the challenge, and the details are agreed upon by both the challenger and the taker, the challenge is closed to any further takers.

If you would like to take up the challenge, but someone has already responded to it, you should probably start your own challenge thread. You may even want to directly challenge the person who started the "Me vs. Any Takers" challenge thread in question, but be sure to give him time, as he will already be involved in another challenge.

[Jason]

This is from the 'Getting Started' thread. I'm going to merge all this crap together at some point.


Remember, this is all in fun. If you win, don't gloat. Instead, thank your opponent for offering you a challenge. If you lose, you had better keep your chin up, because we will expect you to come back and do better the next time.

The easiest way to participate is to vote. Look for open threads in the 'Polls' forum. Click on one, watch the videos in it, and vote for the one you think did best.

To participate in the challenges themselves, you will need the following:
A balisong (or butterfly knife like object, depending on the challenge).
A video camera.
A little free time. You'll need it to practice your moves and get the video posted and whatnot.
A registered account for here, the Flipping Arena (it's free!)

You'll also need to start a 'clan' for yourself if you want to be in the ladders. To do that, click that 'Create a Clan' link above and to the left (between 'Ladders' and 'Tournaments'). If it's just you in the clan, name it after your screen name so people know it's you. If it's a team clan... Name it whatever you want.

To manage your 'clan,' go to your User Control Panel (it's just above that 'Create a Clan' link). On that page, there is a row of tabes - click the tab on the far right that says 'Clan Control Panel.' That's where you log into your clan. Have look around.

When you've got it all together, check out the 'General Scheme of Things' sticky thread just below this one. That will give you an idea of how a challenge plays out and what you need to do in one.

Then go to the 'Challenges' forum and find a challenge, or start your own.