The arena in oblivion was good but i hope the arena in this is even better, They should make the battles better with more interesting combatants and a epic grand champion to take on. And after we become grand champion, we should still be able to fight against champions that wants our title.

I'm hoping for a better game than Oblivion in all aspects, but hey it's not like that's the standard hope for people of the forum and thus is worth making threads about.

If Beth sticks to Lore, there is supposed to be "pits" across Skyrim were combatants fight, I hope that you fight in all these pits to gain renown and then earn the right to fight at Windhelm? (the largest city in Skyrim I forget its name) which would have the actual Arena.


who be kinda iffy since Skyrim is divided.

I liked the Arena, so I would love to see some version of it (even if it is just the pits).

Nicely said, I want a improved Arena. The ascension would better be longer and I hope it can't be done at any level. There should be a reason why it's you the champion and not a level 3 peasant. I also hope they throw a lot of challengers later, or we lose the title and have to regain it.

I'd like to see a little more depth to it all.

Killing someone in 30 seconds and then going back down, healing, then talking to the black dude and running back out there and killing someone else in all of 2 minutes was kind of rushed.

Didn't really get an immersive feeling out of the whole thing.

We should be able to keep what we kill in the Arena!

I want real time Arena please, with real spectators not just a few sprites on steroids that make noise like a full stadium.

Necromancy?

No... lol
In Oblivion, we couldn't get the items that the enemy combatants had. I saw this really cool shield once in the Arena and was so disappointed once I realized I wasn't allowed to have it.

Ya, it's kind of silly to have so few spectators, defeats the "epicness" of the moment. Real time spectators means a lot of hardware put to work unless it's just a dozen of them.

Ah well, just couldn't resist saying this to a Swede some day because of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMO69hy2e7U. xD

I know, Shimmerstrike was one of those nice things, if I remember correctly.

I want an arena like the one in fable 1 that was hard and epic

Hells yeah, I remember the Fable 1 Arena. It was really cool
A bit too much though... I mean, how the hell did they capture such big creatures?

@Krigaren eg ikkje kjende: lol

did not care much for OB arena. so if they could make it more dynamic rather than a wierd guild questline of pvnpc battles then cheers for that.

I like the idea, kinda like fighting in Regionals to go to a National level. That would be pretty nice.

Darn... I was going to make a thread on this.

I want Arenas to be a showcase for exactly how the AI and the environment can function. There should be ever changing match-ups in alternating locations, as well as differently ladders like team-ups and large free for alls. Using Radiant AI, you could always make Arena matches interesting as well as scale rewards based on the style of play you go as. Through this even, you could have specialty matches that require certain weapons only or maybe no armor or whatever! The arena, to me, is the only Elder Scrolls tradition and they really need to expand on it to make it feel like it is worth doing.

Did you know there was suppost to be an arena in every city of oblivion? because of time issues and limited compression tech they took out all but 1, todd seems really happy will the new tech the have, so im hoping all of skyrim will get a great face lift, and some major reconstruction for the good of TES. As for arena in general, it lacked in depth, and story (as much of oblivion did in my opinion), it didn't last long, and when it was over it left little substance, just nothing to do but fight creatures and collect money. The arena really does need some work done to it to make it fulfilling to play, beat and then continue to play.

I hope the really small league pits feel shabby and knocked together (like bare knuckle fighting tournaments). but as you move up and gain fame and enter the big leagues things get more professional with proper arenas

Something just dawned on me. Perhaps to get into the major arenas you would need a sponsor which you gained via general fame or fighting specifically in underground rings. Really, these sorts of things aren't hard to create from a design standpoint, but I suppose it's merely a matter of memory priorities. It'd be an easy way to extend the game length though.

Another idea dawned on me that better on arena fights could work like gambling at a casino. You put in a set amount which you will get back in doubles, unless you go for a more specific sort of fight. Say, I bet on a 4 person free-for-all whilst there are also five other people betting on it. I have a higher chance of failure and will have to share my winnings with anyone else who bet on that person, but you stand to gain a higher net profit. Perhaps gambling circles too? Rigging fights? The arena is a magnificent place to test the extent of combat and social designs.

I agree that'd be great.

Exactly! Especially the parts on different rules, varying numbers and the forced use of certain equipment. About team-ups: this makes me reminiscence the Carthaginian phalanx vs Roman chariots battle in Gladiator. xD Imagine that in a first person game.

Does anyone remember Gladius? I really liked the feel of that, but obviously the combat is totally different. I'd like more intrigue and substance in the main arena quest.

I want it to be like a proper guild quest line if they do make it. Much more dynamic.

Not everyone should be allowed to fight. Firstly you should be made to prove your worth, be given a task to do. After this you should join the pits, gritting it out against animals and wild beasts. After a few of these you're given your first few real fights against combatants. Once you have gained regional fame, you move up to the grand Arena, in which ever City it is located. From here you pick a team (similar to Blue and Yellow in OB - but better), and you increase in the ranks and fame.

After increasing your popularity your battles become more interesting. Multiple enemies, various handicaps (No armour, no spells etc.) until eventually you face the Grand Champion. The Grand Champion should be a fixed-level combatant, therefore you must make sure you're ready through vigorous training and preparation - random opponents will be generated until you challenge the Champion.

After becoming the new Grand Champion of the Arena you may accept challenges from randomly generated up and comers, run errands for the upkeep of the Arena (I'm sure Radiant Story could provide various fetch and bring quests) and even help train new talent.

@BigHead

Basically what I was saying before. Also, a grand idea would be to have the other matches in your ladder actually happen and have you available to bet on. Fights should go on at certain days and times of the day, relatively quick of course, and have no set winner.

i like this ^ i'd like to see all sorts of variation in the fights. it'd be cool if there were equipment rooms you could grab whatever junk was available before the fight