Okay, I'm seeing the point- but I think due to popular opinion- the lose a point and removal from the team is the common ground.

And regarding adding members to the duelling team- it only lasts 12 rounds- but I get why you're saying that.

I think they made it last only 10 rounds now. It used to be 12 rounds but they shortened it to only 10 now. But yeah long story short, if someone keeps getting a partner that goes inactive and misses 2 posts in a row in the match, I think someone from the waitlist should be able to step in and fill that missing person's spot for the remainder of the match so it's fair to both sides.

With 4 duels per year taking place, if you lose 1 match bc of inactive partner and then you lose the 2nd match bc of another inactive partner, if your 3rd match takes place and you get an inactive partner AGAIN, someone from the waitlist should step in and fill that missing person's role for the rest of the match to make things fair for that unfortunate duelist.

I got that weird error again, the white screen with the error...

@Kim Sato, I am sorry you had such a terrible experience in your first duel. Been there done that with a broom race, so I actually do know and have felt your pain. But as for being fair, fairness is not the same as "sameness". There is an operational difference, apparently, in how the broom sports vs the duels, an actual apples to oranges comparison, work in terms of player responsibilities. As such, there is probably the need to keep the current system in place in terms of consequences for those who miss posts in either type of sport, which is what I believe the original question was asking of us.

But what you seem to be addressing is different than the question originally put before us by Lear, though I do agree it is an issue worthy of consideration. There is a lot to consider with a stand in. For fairness sake, the stand in should come in with exactly the same stats, abilities, spells, and HP as the person they are replacing. Basically, the stand- in should simply be a straw man that can take on the exact conditions as they exist in the duel for the MIA duelist. Bringing in absolutely fresh blood at 100% health would also not be fair, which is part of why a second string of duelists ready to step in would be problematic in any duel, but this discussion seems separate and apart from, though admittedly tangential to, what was originally asked.

Yeah that's what I originally thought, the stand-in should come in with the same stats, abilities and current HP of the person they are replacing, that's what I originally said in my first post. But then someone (i forget who) said something about waitlist person coming in to fill that position and I was like oh that could work too. So then I changed it to that. But yeah, I totally agree with you on this. I don't care who it is, as long as both sides are given a fair chance of 2 vs 2 instead of 1 vs 2.

Also my first official duel was not a bad experience! It was an awesome one, I won my first official duel. I lost my second official duel because of a MIA partner who still hasn't been seen online since November 24th. So that was unfortunate. But anyway, yeah I had a really good first official duel experience! But yeah I do agree with you on the same current hp, stats and abilities. That's what I originally wrote in this thread. The person that wrote having someone on the waitlist come in made me think that might be easier though. But I do agree with what you stated, as it's what I originally stated.

I want to clarify that I did not mean to say that necessarily things should be kept as they are. I'd love to have equal standards across sports, if we can make it fair to everyone. It always bothered me that there are differences; also with things such as temp/perma bans from teams which duelling has rules for and the others (afaik) do not. So far every sport kinda did their own thing, from what I've seen there was little communication or coordination between them. Changing that is definitely not a bad thing. Bea's suggestion that every duelling cap be responsible for the actions of two duels (assuming they aren't teamed up it can just be their own + one other) could be an option, except when one duelling captain isn't available for a couple days, there would be no one free to do it. It's not optimal, I dunno. In any case, not submitting actions can't count as a missed post anymore. Everything beyond that is more difficult to even out, imo.


About the ongoing additional discussion about people going inactive during duels (which is a lil off topic here): Second strings in duelling aren't feasible for reasons that have been pointed out. You can't have someone come in full health when the person that went inactive was already half dead. There are more things that would go wrong along the same lines, it wouldn't be fair to the opponent team. I also don't really agree with giving someone up to be NPCed just for missing two rounds. We only ever let someone be NPCed when they get banned mid match, and even that is new-ish. Yes, it sucks when your partner goes inactive mid-match, and I am sorry to hear that it happened to you. But I've also seen people miss two rounds because life just kicked their butt really badly and then come back to finish the duel. I've been on the Ravenclaw duelling team for 2.5 years now, and in the ~45 matches we've had in that time, only twice did someone just disappear mid duel. It's not going to happen to you several times in a row.

I agree with this rule. I think, that, if you can't make a post for a sport, you should plan accordingly and let the moderator know. That way, you'll be prepared and the mod can plan ahead with everyone's next actions. If somebody on the team misses a post and they don't plan accordingly, since they have about several days to plan and/or get their post in, then its only fair that they don't get the reward.

Personally, I think the system we currently have in place is fair. If you're joining a sport, you know from the start that it requires constant activity. So it is your job to be a responsible team member and set alarms/calendar reminders for checking the thread every now and then and for posting on time at the very least. Life happens and I've been kicked from a team before but as long as you are allowed to join the waitlist again after you're kicked I think it's fine. Because if you don't post, it can often cost your team the win. If people feel like the current rule is too harsh, maybe it should be no points for one missed post and kicked out after three and not two missed posts, but in general, I like the system we currently have. People get busy all the time and actually thanks to this rule the waitlist wait doesn't take forever so even if you got removed from the team you can usually count on being back in a couple of months anyway so it's not a big deal. Sometimes life can be harsh but one stat point isn't worth stressing yourself about so as long as you get your problems sorted and your team supports you, who cares if you get it or not.
Another thought - the fifty words minimum is actually pretty easy to reach and when I have zero ideas or inspiration I just repeat the same thing all over again in different words, it takes literally ten minutes on the subway. It doesn't have to be something pretty, just gotta meet the word count requirements lol. Sports are meant for fun, not writing a masterpiece every time so it's okay if the fifty words are trash as long as there are fifty of them

I find that the current system is fair- but one thing I think would be nice (that I've seen a few other people mention) to consider is maybe making a way for students that know they'll be unable to post when the sport goes up could write up and provide their posts to a moderator/captain ahead of time? Or willingly bench their character and write up a few posts about that. I know that I am unable to go online or access a phone to even talk to my family sometimes for a week or more (military and back country trail rides), so an option to get to organize ahead of time an alternative would be really helpful.

I'm only thinking in terms of quidditch since that's what I'm waitlisted for, and from what I can tell 9/10 times the post is just describing them doing what the captain says anyways. This can easily be written up for a single round pre-emptively, but shouldn't excuse missing an entire match or more than a few rounds.

Let each team's captain decide what to do with players who miss posts.

That way, there is room for innovation. For example, maybe the captain decides their player has only half the time to post, and then, the captain finds an alternate.

Because of the wait list, it would be good for teams to find ways to use players waiting to play, for example, as alternates who "switch-in" like other team sports.

But if they do decide to 'switch-in' some waitlisted players waiting to play, they should come in with the same current health, stats and abilities or else it won't be fair to the other team. For quidditch and broom racing missed posts/actions isn't as bad because it's more individual (yes it's team oriented but it's also individual) versus dueling. For dueling it's 2 vs 2 and if your partner goes missing 2 times in a row, it affects you REALLY hard. For quidditch and broom racing if 1 person goes missing 2 times in a row, it's not that bad because it's not as if you depend upon EVERYONE to be there in order to have a fair chance at winning. But for dueling it's completely different for them.

For broom racing and quidditch if 1 person misses 2 posts/actions it doesn't guarantee your loss. For dueling if 1 person misses 2 posts/actions in a row, that pretty much guarantees that you're going to lose. Yes, it's not a 100% guarantee but it's pretty likely to happen.