Who has an advantage in sparring bouts?

[James_Sinclair]

I’ve heard anecdotal evidence from other players that the challenged party in a sparring bout is significantly more likely to win the overall bout (i.e., to win two out of the the best-out-of-three contest). Does anyone know if this is actually the case, mechanics-wise? The challenged party does get to launch the first attack, but there doesn’t appear to be any inherent advantage to this.

Also, is there any gameplay difference between Lethal and non-lethal bouts? As far as I can tell, they’re conducted in exactly the same fashion, except that the loser meets an untimely (albeit temporary) demise.

[exceptionallydelicio]

I’m not sure if there’s any quantifiable advantage, as far as the numbers are calculated, but it’s very easy for a challenged player to look up his opponent’s profile and check whether they’re wearing shadowy or dangerous gear, and attack whichever they are less prepared for.

There is no difference between lethal and non-lethal sparring bouts, save for whether or not the final blow is a fatal one.

[James_Sinclair]

@ExceptionallyDelicious

I’m not sure if there’s any quantifiable advantage, as far as the numbers are calculated, but it’s very easy for a challenged player to look up his opponent’s profile and check whether they’re wearing shadowy or dangerous gear, and attack whichever they are less prepared for.

True. To minimize the impact of that sort of cheating, both parties engaged in a sparring bout could mark their profiles as Private for the duration. Attackers could still change equipment to maximize their Dangerous or Shadowy, but without knowing which stat is their opponent’s weak point, it would be less of an advantage and more of a gamble.

[sarahysaro]

I don’t think marking your profile as private hides your mantelpiece - it just stops you from showing up on the “Who else is here?” sidebar if you echo something.

[dov]

@James Sinclair

To minimize the impact of that sort of cheating, both parties engaged in a sparring bout could mark their profiles as Private for the duration. Attackers could still change equipment to maximize their Dangerous or Shadowy, but without knowing which stat is their opponent’s weak point, it would be less of an advantage and more of a gamble.

Marking an account as Private only stops your posts from appearing in other players’ &quotWho else is there?&quot area. Nothing more.

The stats themselves are always hidden, and by going to any character’s profile page you can always see the equipped items (whether the profile was marked as Private or not).

[James_Sinclair]

@dov

[quote=James Sinclair]To minimize the impact of that sort of cheating, both parties engaged in a sparring bout could mark their profiles as Private for the duration. Attackers could still change equipment to maximize their Dangerous or Shadowy, but without knowing which stat is their opponent’s weak point, it would be less of an advantage and more of a gamble.

Marking an account as Private only stops your posts from appearing in other players’ &quotWho else is there?&quot area. Nothing more.

The stats themselves are always hidden, and by going to any character’s profile page you can always see the equipped items (whether the profile was marked as Private or not).[/quote]
Ah, you are right, of course. Although you can roughly work out a player’s stats within a certain range by the stat descriptions on their profile, which are affected by any equipped items.

[karsus]

If you are looking for a &quotfairer&quot dueling experience, you could join in with Mike Hawk’s, Sanguine Ribbon Society.

What we did last tournament was for each participant choose an &quotdueling outfit&quot that remained static. You should still choose to attack with Dangerous or Shadowy but there wasn’t the ability to game the system by equipping yourself with max stat gear where your opponent is weak.

It worked out really well and was a lot of fun.