Revision as of 23:35, 15 June 2014

Introduction

What is the WMAT?

The World Martial Arts Tournament is a fighting tournament introduced in 2012 by Serori's player. Based on the Dragon Ball Z event of the same name, the World Martial Arts Tournament has been expanded to accept any fighting style imaginable, from gunkata to giant robots. Multiversal competitors of all affiliations and interests compete to earn monetary prizes in a non-lethal setting on Earth-4555, the home Earth of the Dragonball Z-3 cast. Combat is decided by the combat system, with the tournament's competitor pool divided into three PL ranges. The tournament is presided over by TP character Mister Satan.

Key Personnel

The tournament was conceived by Serori, who plays Mister Satan and remains the key organizer of the event. Brackets are overseen by additional volunteers. In 2013, Beli Klum joined the team, and in 2014, Hrimfaxi will be contributing toward bracket management, too. Yuri Stinson's enthusiasm for commentary and showmanship has landed him the official Master of Ceremonies role. It is important to note that the entire event remains a player-run initiative and is neither controlled nor organized by staff (despite Serori currently serving on staff). Staff supports the WMAT, and appreciates your continuing efforts to minimize their impact on the event.

Special Thanks

To Homura Akemi, for contributing wiki expertise, and to Psyber, Tony Stark, and Beli Klum, who all work to keep Serori sane throughout the tournament's run. Thank you also to Dremarian and the rest of MCM's staff for their trust and support.

OOC Code of Conduct

Please keep the following rules and conditions in mind as you participate, and you'll help guarantee a fun experience for all competitors. (You'll also help me retain my sanity; always a plus.)

General Guidelines

• You DO NOT need to play a traditional 'martial artist' character in order to participate in this tournament. Anything and anyone from magical girl to giant robot is welcome as a contender.
  
  

• Please take all tourney-related chatter to the dedicated channels. It's okay to jump on +j and your faction channels from time to time, but you should not be drowning out other conversations. Please note that commentators may have special channels dedicated to their commentary broadcasts, either temp channels (such as 1x) or as custom radio frequencies.
  • @chan/on o-tp (OOC Chatter)
    
  • +radio/init WMAT=900.1 (IC Chatter)
    
    

• Abstractum users are encouraged to utilize the tournament as a way of developing your individual Abstractum. Please work with Abby when scheduling your matches to make sure he can support you. Abby's GMing work within nodes and other scenes will take precedence over WMAT matches, and round deadlines will not be stretched just to accommodate Abstractum activity. There will be no resonance funbux, unlike the 2013 WMAT.
  

Combatant Guidelines

The following rules apply to all tournament competitors. The spirit of the competition is expected to be upheld even when you are not in the midst of a tournament fight. Respect for your opponent is key to creating a successful and entertaining tournament for everyone involved.

• Please resolve your tournament fights through use of csys.
  • Please Note: If you and your competitor are capable of deciding a fight using other means, I won't stop you, but if the fight drags on with no winner in sight, you'll need to determine the victor by either switching to csys, or by using +flip (credit to Priscilla for that idea).
    
    

• THE BRACKETS - The tournament remains split into three separate PL brackets as a means of keeping the competition fair for all involved:
  • Bracket A - PLs 28-30
  • Bracket B - PLs 31-33
  • Bracket C - PLs 34-36
    
    

• SELECTING YOUR BRACKET - A few guidelines should be kept in mind when selecting your competitive bracket:
  • Select the bracket that matches your fighting PL. If your 'street clothes' PL is 28 but you regularly don armor to fight at PL 32, you should fight in Bracket B.
  • You may compete within a bracket if your PL is too low. For example, a PL 31 character is welcome to register into Bracket C. Registrations of this nature will be limited, and must have some justification beyond "because."
  • You may scale back your PL and compete in a lower-PL bracket. IC reasons for 'holding back' may include your desire to compete against someone specific, or the desire to be challenged under certain terms. Maybe you're just exercising restraint to suit the tournament's non-lethal setting. Maybe you're respecting your opponent's skill by providing a fair fight. Your equipment could be modified to non-lethal settings. Really, any excuse you can envision will probably work, even the old 'weighted clothing' trick!
    
    

• Opponents will face off at equal PLs. If you have a maximum available PL of 33 and face a PL 32 opponent, you will be required to scale down to PL 32. Exceptions exist only in the following circumstances:
  • Temporary PL flares lasting one or two rounds may be used, provided your opponent grants consent.
  • Participants registering into a higher bracket for deliberate and approved reasons will not affect the combat PLs of their opponents. For example, if Slime makes his heroic return, his opponent will not be required to fight him at PL 5. If a PL 31 character opts to fight in Bracket C, their PL 34 opponent will not have to scale back, either.
    
    

• TOURNAMENT POWER RESTRICTIONS - All +powers are welcome to be utilized in the tournament, except for those which may result in extreme levels of destruction or otherwise endanger the host world and its people. If you're a weapons expert, use your weapons -- yes, even your guns! PLAY YOUR CHARACTER. Some additional rules apply:
  • Signature Moves may only be employed whenever OOC consent is granted by your opponent. The same goes for Dramatic Attacks.
  • TP powers are not permitted.
  • All terms outlined in the combat rules apply. Please see the wiki news file on combat for details. Taking any action in exception to these rules may only be done with logged consent from your opponent.
  • Lethal +powers or attacks are not permitted. Please respect that the tournament is not a killing ground. Killing moves or excessive destruction will result in disqualification. DO NOT turn your fight into an absolute bloodbath (unless desired by all involved) -- it's okay to get violent, but keep in mind that this event is supposed to be fun!
    
    

• When you sign up for this tournament, you agree to participate from start to finish. 'Finish' may be your defeat or your withdrawal. PLEASE stay communicative! Provide an IC reason for your character's withdrawal if you can no longer participate in the tournament -- it's very helpful to us as organizers.
  

Combatant Registration Rules and Limitations

New rules have been set in place as of the 2014 competition. We are now limiting the competitor pool in order to make the tournament more fair for everyone involved.

• You may now only register up to three characters, limiting one character per bracket. Yes, hidden alts count toward this, too -- please be honest.
  • Please Note: I may go soft on this if you provide exceptional justification for needing to further obscure your hidden alt's player identity. I understand how important it can be to protect yourself. Reach out to me directly if you think you have good reason for bypassing this restriction.
    
    

• NPCs may be registered into the tournament, but they count toward your limits. For example, a PL 34 character with a PL 34 NPC can't put both into Bracket C, but a PL 34 character with a PL 32 NPC could be entered into Bracket C, and his NPC into Bracket B.
  
  

• THE UNAFF EXCEPTION - Unaffiliated characters are partially exempt from the bracket restriction, as the tournament provides roleplay and exposure opportunities that may otherwise be difficult to come by. For example, if both your main character and unaffiliated alt are PL 32, you may register both characters into bracket B. Unaffiliated characters count toward your three character limit.
  
  

• ALT INTERACTION - In the rare event you end up placed against yourself, please resolve the fight using whatever means you decide are acceptable. You can flip a coin, write an IC cutscene, use undescribed +attacks to smack yourself around, or actually go through a fully-roleplayed battle. In the event that you decide the victor arbitrarily, please submit a brief summary of the fight to be included in the tournament records.
  
  

• Characters will not enter the tournament late who were not signed up from the beginning, unless as part of a specially-requested "exhibition match" which doesn't impact the tournament's overall results.
  

Combatant Code of Conduct

Again, respect is key! Please keep these guidelines in mind as you roleplay within the bounds of the tournament. What you do outside the tournament is your business, but as long as you're a guest at Earth-4555, please try to play nice with one another!

• DON'T BE A JERK - Remain considerate of your opponent and their enjoyment of the fight. Not everyone likes to have their bones broken or organs smushed. Creating a hostile atmosphere that goes beyond the competitive level may be difficult for your opponent to find pleasant. Please make sure your intentions are communicated, understood, and accepted. IC brashness is welcome -- not everyone plays a nice guy -- but please be gracious enough to dial it back if asked. Conversely, if you and your opponent are cool with hospitalizing one another, go to town.
  
  

• Don't take too long between poses. WMAT matches are supposed to be fast-paced. Please try to pose within 20 minutes of your opponent's attack roll. If you can't abide the time limit for whatever reason, please work with your opponent and commentator to make sure everyone understands what's happening and why. If you need extra time, it's okay -- just remain communicative, and everyone comes out happy.
  
  

• Factional disputes are also off the table for the tournament's duration, at least in the context of the tournament's location and events. The tournament occurs inside Union territory, but is treated as a neutral ground for the duration. Competitors and commentators who insist on making the tournament a factional dispute may find themselves barred from tournament participation. It's okay to acknowledge your ties, but do not make it your focus.
  
  

• Please Note: Participating "to learn about your enemy" is okay. Participating "to kick some Union/Confederate ass" may not be okay if poorly and obnoxiously portrayed. Bragging about one faction's tournament success is also not okay if taken outside faction channels, though it's an understandable byproduct of this kind of competition.
  
  

• Planet Earth-4555 is home to a friendly populace who seldom shows hostility to anybody. Everyone is here to enjoy the tournament. Please consider your characters treated well throughout the tournament, no matter their factional ties.
  

How to Compete

The bulk of the competition falls on your shoulders to actually carry out. Although the bracket organizers will be sending out reminders and keeping your results logged and the brackets in order, scheduling and completing your fight falls to you and your opponent. Do not hesitate to reach out if you need help!

• SCHEDULING YOUR MATCH - It's critical to this tournament's success that you schedule a match with your opponent in as timely a manner as possible. Please complete your fight before the specific and repeatedly-announced round deadline. Failure to do so will result in disqualification. Extensions will only be granted when considered reasonable, and rarely at the eleventh hour. Remain communicative as to your needs.
  
  

• LOGGING YOUR MATCH - Please make certain that either you, your competitor, or your commentator is logging your fight. Submit a cleaned log to the tournament organizers following your fight's completion, within a day or two if possible. Make sure to log your commentary channel if you have a commentator. Logs can be submitted via pastebin links or directly e-mailed (+oocfinger champion).
  
  

• At the conclusion of your match, please @mail your bracket organizer to indicate who's won the match. Only one person needs to do this -- either one of the competitors, or the commentator, or a volunteer from the audience.
  
  

• Cleaned logs should be submitted within a day or two of your match's completion, if possible. If you are unable to provide a clean log, please provide the raw log. Anything private left inside your logs will be scrubbed, and the contents kept private.
  
  

• There will be up to three days off between rounds to allow for OOC tournament management and for character recovery.
  
  

• THE SLAP FIGHT - It's not the best solution; however, if you and your opponent absolutely run out of time and both sides agree, you're welcome to skip the roleplay aspect of combat and just throw coded +attacks at each other until somebody gets KO'd. Standard etiquette applies as far as attack power escalation is concerned, and you should still document consent for ubers and epics.
  

The 'Bye' and Odd Brackets

It's almost guaranteed that we'll end up with an odd number of participants at some point during the tournament (e.g. 17 competitors instead of a nice easy 16). We address this through a "Bye Lottery" system.

• All combatants of a particular round are entered into the Bye Lottery, unless they specify they do not want any "free passes."
• The Bye Lottery is awarded by random draw.
• If you win the Bye Lottery, you will advance to the next round uncontested.
• You (the player) may only win the Bye Lottery once per tournament. This applies to all alts and NPCs.
• Any voluntarily skipped Byes do not count toward this limit.
• Skipped Byes will be awarded to a different character by random draw.
• In the event that all characters in an uneven round are ineligible to win the Bye Lottery, the Bye limit of "one per player" will be lifted, and a second Bye awarded.
• Byes may not be "held" for a later uneven round.
  

Non-Combat Tournament Roles and Rules

Okay, so your character isn't a fighter. Don't worry about it -- there's plenty you can do!

• Commentate a match! Last year's bevy of volunteer commentators were incredible. It's a fun way to be involved in the tournament without having to actually fight. Simply open an rchannel, hook the match on +j, and highlight the action that ensues! Commentators also get to flip the coin to decide who goes first in a fight, if there's no OOC decision that makes it clear.
  • Please Note: If you volunteer to commentate a match, please remain through the entire fight. Also, while you're free to get colorful with your commentary, make sure any character bias isn't too played up, and that your "style" of commentary is approved of by your competitors (like if you're a "sarcastic jerk" kind of commentator). Your role as a commentator is to sell, sell, sell, so please take time to acknowledge the efforts of both competitors.
    
    

• Provide medical assistance! Healing roleplay helps get all fighters back on their feet. Although it's a role that's only given focus at the end of fights or between fights, your band-aids are needed! There's a room in the tourney grounds just for this kinda thing -- look for Papaya Hospital.
  
  

• Attend the fights and support your friends! Audience commentary is as welcome as official commentary. Having people present ICly really creates a great atmosphere (provided your poses are kept brief), and the OOC chatter is always welcome, too.
  • Please Note: Audience members should remain respectful of the ongoing match. If someone asks you to tone down your post volume, please cut back. Also, if you're there to cheer on someone specific, great -- just don't neglect the other guy's accomplishments! Please try to show some IC acknowledgment and praise for both competitors. It goes a long way toward selling the match, and rewards the efforts made by everyone involved!
    
    

• Interview combatants and write IC newsposts!
  

IC Code of Conduct

Brackets and Results

Prizes