PlaneShift

setting new as it is a feature request

I like this idea, I think it's even discussed on the forums that it would get rid of the 'jump when you're ready' thing.

This is not necessary because players can do their own countdown. This is usually done by tournament judges (and in RL it would be done by a third person, too).

I think it is actually detrimental. The requirement to have a judge causes player interaction, which I think is desirable (this is a small point).

I also have a feeling it is an OOC device. A game-induced countdown does not err, it does not call unruly players to order, does not make jokes or anything - it's mechanical, in a world of living characters and magic. (It would be appropriate in a technical setting and could be associated with an in-game "unlock the weapons" device, for example.)

Just my 2 cents, and thanks for listening. (Sorry for not commenting on the forum, but the URL seems to have changed.)

Both bugtracker and forum URLs have changed. So the correct URL for the corresponding post now is http://hydlaaplaza.com/smf/index.php?topic=32392.msg372850#msg372850 (add 'plaza' after 'hydlaa' for all links that do not work for bugtracker or forum links).
As described there, this is not a feature request to account for realism, but for smoother game experience. Since PS is a roleplay game you have to type OR fight at the moment (in PvP areas or when auto-accept is on). This is a feature request who should give you enough time to finish your line when you are challenged. See further deails in the corresponding post.
And I do not understand that paragraph about the device. What device do you mean?

"device" = "mechanism" in the context I was using the word.
And I agree that a few seconds to type an answer to the challenge would be nice, but I think nothing prevents the challenger from waiting for a witty response. So in my eyes, it would be more useful to allow the challengee to see that he's not going to be attacked immediately. (Say, make changing stance take a second, so the challengee can abort typing when he sees the challenger change stance and still be prepared in time.)
Also, introducing a mandatory 10-second delay into each and every fight would be annoying for many.

So I think the countdown is causing (slight) problems and not solving the problem it's intended to solve.

Sorry for shooting down the idea ;)

Not everyone plays fair. Asking all players to play fair has been proven not to work at all. I have seen this myself many times. I think game mechanics need to support both roleplay AND (not OR) combat.

Elvors, I now understand your councerns about being forced to wait for the countdown. Therefore I propose to make the countdown optional. In the PvP/confirmation options, there should be an additional option 'Enforce Duel Countdown'. The countdown should only be used if one of the two duellists has this option enabled. So those who do not need this can continue to duel like it is at the moment.

And no worries, this idea is not dead yet, otherwise it would have been removed already ;)

I'm probably too dense to understand, but I don't quite see how a countdown would make people play "more fair".

And I still think that such a countdown is an unnatural device. You don't have this kind of countdown in real life or in fantasy stories, so it detracts from the immersion (in my humble opinion).
In RL and in stories, the effect of a countdown is achieved by a judge who orders people to "fight!" (or similar). It works well in RL. It even works well in game - I have yet to see a tournament participant "play unfair" by attacking before the judges allowed it, even for those participants who are known to have an, er… loose relationship to concepts like "fairness".
So I still fail to understand the issue you're trying to address. (UPDATE: I have read up in the forum and found it meander from the original topic anyway, so I'll stay here. Tell me if we should take this elsewhere, though I suggest editing down our respective posts as soon as we have reached some consensus.)

This feature does not account for realism. Elvors, as you wrote yourself, typing should not be restricted by game mechanics, this is the reason for this feature proposal.

I still don't understand.

I don't see any advantage in game mechanics - people can countdown just fine on their own, and if they can't, they should find an arbiter - creates some player interaction as a nice by-product (and if you don't want interaction, you're just in the same dilemma as any RL duelist was, and they found ways to deal with that).

I don't see any advantage for duel fairness.
What kind of cheating is prevented by that?
Is it really necessary to have a game mechanism that prevents this form of cheating, or is it enough to pass word that Badass Evildoer is an unfair duelist, so nobody will want to fight him anymore? (Remember that people could kill in duels, but almost never do, for exactly the same reason: they'd get banned from the running and most future tournaments, and nobody would want to duel them outside tournaments.)

I don't really see a good reason this would be needed, either.
If you accept a challenge, you're ready to fight, aren't you? and for friendly duels, e.g. for training or during tournaments, this has always been handled pretty well so far.
I'd also think such a countdown is rather annoying if you're fighting for an RP reason (e.g. stupid guy annoyed you all the time and now you wan't to show him who's the boss - you're totally in rage and still patiently wait 10s till you attack him?)