I like this thread, it's a refreshing change from the usual nonsense. However

I think it's too difficult to accurately describe any kind of meaningful benchmark

that applies to 'fighting excellence'. The dynamics of the individual and how

they use fighting as part of their success are complex and vary from individual

to individual.

An example of this in modern history is if I could get you to cast your minds back

about 2 years when it was mostly Threap v Orinoko. Orinoko actually won the

majority of the fights and was consistently better over an extended period of

time, however whenever the stakes were high and both parties totally focused

Threap would usually come through when it really mattered to do so. That tells me

that Threap is someone that can give 110% when required and Orinoko is still stuck

at 100%... does that make Threap a better fighter?

That is just -one- example of why its impossible to simply fire off a list of

names and what makes this land as interesting and intriguing as it is rather than

something that resembles a counterstrike ladder.

Legendary players (names including my own that have been brought up a couple of

times) is another example. The world was different then, the bar was at a different

level people fought differently (some would argue more creatively). Are you

measuring people in terms of how 'legendary' they are or really how good they

were at fighting because I really doubt any of you were there to judge.

What makes a legend is someone that can take it to the next level. Can do what has

not been done before. You can be the top fighter in this era and no doubt if you

had a time capsule and went back in time you could probably kick the ass of the

'legends' until they had time to adapt to the evolution of tactics, but the point

is you are not doing anything special in this era, more so than the next 10 top

league fighters, these legends from history did something in their time that was

unique and never done before. I've heard references to Ender doing this for rangers

and Babidi doing this... food for thought.

Nostradamus.

Written by my hand on the 19th of Cloudburst, in the year 1144.