This is a copy of a post I made to the Elders board in light of the recent 'Duellist Protest' nonsense.

I must say, I am surprised at the list of people who decided to go duellist in the face of pressure. Lukien, who so recently told so many of his ambition to be Ordained? Sajora, whose mission has always been violence and the attainment of paradigm status? Fenris, who ran rabid through the streets of Thakria before burlesque was fixed to work as intended but apparently crumbles in the face of adversity from the people he so recently tormented? Quinn, who had such a good run hiding in the winds to sphere mortality people and curse from the safety of his stone? Moradin, who so rarely comes out of stockrooms anyway? What game are they playing?

Since Sajora was the only one to spell out her reasons, let me address some of them:

- Balance changes are tiring. I would argue quite the opposite! In one two hour session yesterday I was able to get most all of the Mage bugs sorted (both in my favour and not), and the remaining few will be shortly taken care of. I found Genesis and Elmaethor to both be incredibly responsive and helpful. I know for a fact some outstanding Ranger bugs were dealt with upon Sajora's return, that Loremasters have been given massive updates to their skills, that Bards have been given new abilities to improve their effectiveness... this is stuff I could only dream of when I first started playing Avalon. I honestly can't remember a time when there was more opportunity for player input and feedback to make the game more balanced, fun and exciting. Why would you -not- want to be part of that process? Furthermore, claiming that balance isn't being carefully considered is pretty insulting to the team that is working harder than ever to insure fairness.

You didn't hear the Thakrians complaining when it was Silverfallians winning the little skermishes. They didn't take ddw - they took their lumps, got better, got organised.

- There is no \"meta game\" after badges. Bolx. This is merely the thinking of people who are bad at teaching, or see their citizens as cogs in a machine. There are plenty of mw players to fight now, there is the military which is not restricted by age, there is questing and enlisting and the arena to name just a few. Not to mention the rivalries for stone soi, forest affinity, pioneering rank, sphere of influence, village commodities ... I would argue people with nothing to do lack imagination (or direction from senior players who should know better).

- Seconds \"abuse\". Presumably the point of this rush to ddw status was to register some kind of protest against perceived imbalances. Using seconds to bolster this cause is so transparent it hardly deserves comment. But although it is a different \"character\", you are still the same player with the same agenda.

I have tried to avoid ad hominem attacks here. I think the brief commentary on personality traits above is relevant because of the kind of characters these people claim to represent. The Moradins of the world I understand, but for any Truefighter to choose ddw was for so long stigmatised that to see so many taking on the mantle is truly perplexing to me. Then again, if Lukien jeers at me for not sitting in stockrooms, if Fenris uses his skills with no regard to balance or restraint, if Sajora is willing to put her ambitions of bloodthirst and violence on the hold to better \"enjoy the game\"... maybe there are no standards left. Maybe the purpose of the game isn't to play with others, but to set up the system in such a way that you can feel all the ecstasy of victory without any agony of defeat. But that is no Avalon I want to play. For me, eleven years in and with more to come I am sure, the challenge is its own reward.

I'm not doing so great against the Sorcerers right now. Threap and I went toe to toe yesterday and there is still a lot I need to work on. But I will never hide from a fight, never run from a challenge, never put my ambitions second to expedience or comfort or the palid pleasure of fighting only on my own terms. What fun would that be?

Agarwain, the Firebrand

PS: There are five defences to dazzle, one of them is ignorance which is more and more amusing every time I think about it.

Written and shown unedited exactly as rendered by text based game bulletin board on Avalon Online RPG and by my hand on the 29th of Paglost, in the year 1390.