As we all noticed in the load out menus in Oblivion, the little captions say that Cyrodil has the biggest gladiator arena in Tamriel. This means there should be no Arena.

The alternative?????

I think they should put in something special and unique to Skyrim. Something that relates and matches the harsh climate, people and creatures.
So, what would a "barbaric" nation of people do to entertain themselves. i think they should have mock battles, or a kind of races, or even a kind of 1300s Fair or festival. in these they could have Boxing, Sword fighting, Jousting depending on how much they add to the horse abilities, Magic competitions, Hunting competitions, and other activities of the likes.

so? good or bad? Yay or Nay?

I'm not trying to be rude but I got fed up of death matches and arenas before Oblivion...
Then came FO:3 the pit.. DA: O, then FO: NV.. all boring, all the same, all tedious and unoriginal.

However your tourney idea at least puts fresh ideas of festivals and other things than a TV version of gladiator.
Which is very nice.

Also add in singing, dancing, speech, crafting, sports, endurence and acrobatics.

How does biggest mean only? And you want them to have a renaissance fair? I am so confused, so I'm gonna go nay. I would rather have an arena, but more unofficial. Like a boxing ring, or street brawls or some kind of underground fighting ring.

There are a lot of different types of "arenas" (read: outlets for fights to the death) than just gladiatorial.

Also, just because Cyrodiil has the biggest does not mean it has the only one. Hell, Cyrodiil had two. One in the Imperial City and one in Kvatch.


The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club.
The second rule of Fight Club is you do not. talk. about Fight Club.

Some people really enjoy arenas.

In fact, most people do, there is a reason they are featured in so many games, it's because people love them.

Lol that was my inspiration. Of course it wouldn't be run by a split personality who is half weak social troglodyte and half anarchistic maniac. Or would it...?

I want to fight people and "monsters" that I won't fight anywhere else. Badas* "champions" fighting for glory and caste.

Not some guy telling me: "fight this generic person with a knife", "now fight this generic person with a sister and magic..."

Who said that? Owyn's dialogue was far more colorful than that.

Backrooms in taverns where low class wager fights (or NPCs settling grudges) take place.

A seedier, more underground version where the only rule is only one survives (like The Pit in the Spartacus tv show ).

An outdoor location with more movement room making more weapon friendly fights (bows, large two handers, etc), with larger crowds a more official thing.

Finally a small arena, no training rooms or anything, just a patch of dirt surrounded by walls and seats for the spectators/gamblers.


I'd like if you started off small and as you went up in rank/renown, you'd gain access to the next location until finally being able to enter the arena as a gladiator yourself.

Cyrodil may have the biggest, but Skyrim has hundreds of them, they are called bars

I liked the size of the arena in Assassin's Creed II during the carnival in Venice.

There can be events that would happen regularly in each village and town that one could join.

In those events some people would try to show their power and manliness to others, and so we can join to prove them wrong.

In villages, this event might happen in the central square or a specific place somewhere near the village, and in the towns, this event can have a place of its own, like a small arena, or a place like the ones in the Conan movies.

In some places this event would be more challenging than others, depending on the population and the residence of previous champions.

"I heard a rumor that you're an idiot. Any truth to that?"

I loved Owyn. One of the best NPCs in the game. I can only hope if Skyrim has an Arena-esque faction, the main person in charge of that will be half as badass as Owyn was.

I would imagine that we'd have duels over honor, two men enter on man leaves. There could even be non-lethal duels that use dulled weapons. But I think it would be awesome if you could fight people unarmed and just knock them out, if that were the case we could have hand to hand tournaments and bar room brawls. I could also imagine one of the Nordic clans having a tournament to decide who gets a higher rank, the tournament could be dynamic too so you could watch the fight and the outcome could be determined by roll of the dice caunculations.

The local tavern.

Duh.

Me: "Battle Matron"

Owyn: "That's Ysabel Andronicus, crabby old woman who sits over there. She's dear to me, so if you wrong her in any way, I'll rip your damn liver out."

Drunken fist fights!

I think fist fight in bars should be completely legal in skyrim. And if you keep beating people up in bars like a [censored] people come looking for you to test their worth. And you can travel to town to fight their town badA.

I think there should be a PvP arena. Would be a fun way to put in multiplayer.

I'd like to see an arena like in Mount & Blade.

Real tournaments (not some unrealistic ladder system) where the champion gets lots of money.

Nobility competing in the games (that means they don't fight to the death).

Various events, rather than just 1 on 1 matches. Archery contests (this would only work if archery isn't perfectly accurate and accuracy is determined by skill), jousting (if mounted combat is in) and the melee where its just like a 20 person free for all where people just fight until one man is left standing and everyone else is unconscious on the ground.


Now there COULD be some sort of underground pit fighting matches to the death, but it wouldn't have the same idiotic ladder system, and you would gain infamy for fighting in it instead of fame.

Also, ideally there would be a no magic (and no potions) rule, and mages could compete in their own arenas. If you remove the "to the death" part then there's no big deal in not letting you use potions, since you can lose without serious consequences. This will make the arena more challenging.

If you're out exploring the most dangerous places of the world, you'd expect some of the creatures you find to be captured and sent to the arena. The arena has creatures that the world's bravest adventurer haven't seen? I doubt it.

A gauntlet, wherein you must narfle the Garthok!

this sounds familiar to me...

what is it from?

Coneheads

Knew it.

I'd like to see that 'pit' style of fighting that the arena provides, but in Skyrim they should make it less grand. Don't make it a place where you become the 'grand champion' seeking fame and fortune and all that nonsense, but instead they should give it a tough, gritty, tribal, rugged, unrefined feel. No stadium style seating, no stone walls or steel bars. Make it a small ring of churned mud and slushy, bloodstained snow, enclosed by a short, circular, shoddy wall, erected of thick logs of knotted wood. The tree trunks all lined up in disarray and interlocking at awkward angles, could be draqed and decorated in a variety of furs, bones and the occasional bowels of some unfortunate soul who lost his life in the ring.

The inside of the ring should be outfitted with a circle of sharpened wood sticking in from all sides; posing a constant threat to any combatant who gets too close. Outside the ring, raging bonfires; snapping and popping with the sound of splintering wood, would cast the surroundings in an eerie orange glow. Amorphous clouds of grey and black smoke, would spew forth from the blazing flames as they burn away, drifting up in thick streamers towards the sky while leaving a choking haze to hang heavy along the earth below. The foggy smoke would be suffused with the surreal glow of the fires that had coughed up the dreary vapor in the first place and the overall atmosphere would be one of forlorn sobriety. Meager groups of grisly looking NPCs would walk about; a handful glancing in through the cracks and gaps in the poorly designed enclosure to watch the gruesome fight taking place within.

This would be a fitting place for warriors to go and prove their might and their skills against other great warriors in battle. Not a place to find wealth or to acquire a meaningless title or even to hear the cheering roar of fickle fans. It would be a grim place where men fight and struggle for their lives--a place ripe with the overwhelming stench of death, and occasionally scented with the sweet smell of those few who manage to conquer it.