Well i have been watching Spartacus [Blood and Sand/Gods of the Arena] lately and am amazed..baffled by how great that series is.
For those of you who dont know Spartacus it is a show about roman gladiators and in particular the arena life.

It made me think about how bethesda is often inspired by many forms of entertainment. And if they were to take inspiration from the Spartacus series we could have a major re-imagining of what the arena could be [assuming they are bringing it back]. we may see multiple arenas and factions based on bloodsport and possibly implications of slavery,classism,politics tied DIRECTLY TO THE ARENA.

let me give you an example of things that we could see:

Arena Factions)
allying yourself with a house of gladiatorial combat, training and fighting for your honor and the honor of your leader/Dominus/master.
This would have benefits for you as you will gain access to more exclusive arenas depending on the success or failure of your house.
this could also allow for you to create a name for yourself and a reputation large enough to be recognized by even the most elite.
Morality would be a major issue if you align yourself to a house with little respect for law or life.

Slavery)
This is something we have seen before but it hardly effected us as players. we were not slaves.
but in arena life it was mostly slaves who fought, fought for their freedom. Only the most promising of slaves would be chosen to fight for a house.
[you would need to be of sufficient skill]
could be interesting..

Execution)
Death by arena.
Should you be found guilty of a despicable crime you may be sentenced to death in the arena, you may or may not be given the means to defend yourself.
something to think about CRIMINAL SCUM!

Mercy & surrender)
not all fights end in death, you show mercy and you will either receive praise or punishment in the form or cheers or jeers of the crowd.
Surrender and receive the crowds scorn.

Arena freaks!)
no..not the adoring fan....

im talking about people who show genuine love for bloodsport and may reward you just by knowing them, people of influence may watch the games and seek a private audience with the champion. you may receive quests or access to the most elite of Tamriels nobility. introductions are always nice. good way to recieve quests!


____________
all of this is just my take on the potential of the arena.
in no way am i saying that this could be done in the short amount of time we have left, its just my hope that the devs have seen this series and done SOMETHING to flesh out the experience of being a GLADIATOR!
thank you all for reading and i would love to read your comments.

Sounds interesting. I really do hope they expand on the Arena.

yeah, it could be. assuming that they are willing to bring it back at all. morrowind didn't have it. ..well it had one but you only got to use it one time..

AWW! what, nobody likes the arena? :flame:

They seem to love it, I don't know what you're on about:

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1173667-more-arenas/

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1174768-to-fight-in-the-arena/

Or maybe they're just suffering from a mild case of "arena thread overload?"

I LOVE all of these ideas, the arena needs a proper overhaul and this sounds perfect

i had a similar idea. heres my thread http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1171286-should-the-arena-make-a-come-back/


i personally would love to see the arena make a comeback.
i like your ideas as well

Please keep in mind that this game will be set in an area dominated by Norse/Viking culture and design. The Arena, something that was most notable with the Romans, would not fit in this game in any capicity. Downstairs Fights that inclict purely Fatigue Damage (K.O.!!!!) or bar fights would be more the Nord forte.

blah blah blah blah

Though, it is quite reasonable to expect that the imperials would have brought part of this culture to Skyrim. I don't see why an arena couldn't be built. The Nords might even be quite happy with the idea of having somewhere to beat the snot out of somebody and earn money doing it

oh really? you know this how? or are you just showing how superior your intellect is by predicting the future? OOOOH this was just opinion. :foodndrink:

The norse had bloodsport as well, but not in this capacity. but seeing as this is elder-scrolls, [a game you seem to know so much about] it would not be so out of place, considering that the EMPIRE was inspired by ancient rome.
there were arenas in past games, no reason why they should be left out of this one. and if they are in they should not just be a tacked on feature of the same design as before. make them more interesting.
its bethesda. they do big things. why not an arena worthy of being a standalone game!!

I like what I'm reading here on the OP.
The Arena was something really exciting for me on Oblivion. Unfortunetly it was too short and the rewards from low ranks to highest rank weren't much of a difference, along with how the crowd reacted to you.

I hope The Arena is expanded in many ways such as ones listed in the OP and also a much longer and unique questline.

you can expect that if they go with a multifaction arena.

I really like these details. I hope Bethesda does make an Arena in Skyrim and implements a deeper sense of story into it.

I honestly just want to kill stuff in the arena... that would be awesome... Never ending killing... I wouldn't mind a story, but I just want to go in there and have new challengers instead of like in Oblivion (don't get me wrong I loved Oblivion) where all you did was go in once a week and fight creatures. I want to be able to go back and have actual challengers after you beat the main quest in the arena. maybe at least a couple of times a DAY? That would be my ideal arena

i feel you my man, nothing says a hard days work like some good old fashioned skull crushin.

But what about an underground Arena? No honor like in the official. Lot of money at stake.

Well they definitely need to make the Arena faction much better, thats for sure. I want more than one arena with different tiers according to which city they are in.

good idea. like underground arena pits for those rebelious and who dont want to pay the imperial taxes on gambling in the public [legal] arenas!.

arena no.

underground fight clubs yes.