I can almost guarantee that there will be an arena of any types, Nords can be very barbaric^^

Yes, in a setting like Skyrim the arena seems very appropriate doesn't it? Well longer story to it, and I think some team battles would be cool, allow you to become emotionally attached to your team, instead of having blue team gladiator A fighting with you have your dunmer archer friend who is a seasoned grizzled old gladiator who plans on getting out of the game soon, he just made enough money to retire. When he dies fighting alongside you it will mean something.

Ah so you can only bet on yourself then? I see now.... Well there really is no point to that because you're going to be winning gold anyways but I suppose it makes sense :shrug:

But thats a packaged deal with stardom! Anyway, don't you just love the little guy?

One of the biggest problems i have with all the questlines, is that after you got to the top, there was nothing to do

would be good you can rig matches at the risk of getting banned from fighing (e.g: taking skooma beforehand, putting negative effect alchemy ingredients in their water etc)

Exactly. It would just be another way to make money. In Oblivion you can bet on fights you're not in, so this would just be betting on a fight you're in. Obviously you can't bet against yourself as that would be a problem. Not saying it's a great idea, just an idea =)

I like the idea of having an underground fight club sorta thing, then trying to not get caught using it. But your idea of having a survival contest reminds me of the the book "The Hunger Games" where teenagers are picked to go into an arena and have a fight to the death in a certain type of terrain. That sorta thing would be awesome in an Elder Scrolls game.

I definitely want an arena, and I agree with those that said the stands could have more than three or four people. I'd also like more varied fights, like in Mount & Blade for instance, if anyone here has played that. If not, I can tell you that they have team fights, fights with close-range weapons, fights with long range weapons, horseback fights, and other variations like that. And yeah, more fights against people couldn't hurt, always fighting three minotaurs got boring.

Only if the fighters' levels aren't scaled. That Ruined it for me. Grand Champion of the Arena at level 2? give me a break.

Yes, would like if it actually had a storyline, instead of "Hey, this next guy is big - KILL HIM (2 minutes later) Great ! The next guy is fat - KILL HIM !" kind of thing.

lol i would do that

That does sound cool, but by survival I specifically meant wilderness survival, as in the competition would take place out in some secluded, dangerous part of Skyrim with wild monsters and not enough food and the last man standing wins.

it like if there were more battle options and bigger fights. It'd be cool if instead of just a blue and yellow team, there'd be a red, blue, green, and yellow team, and you could choose which one to fight for, and have some epic 3v3v3v3 fights and stuff like that sometimes.

If it's like Shadow of Rome then yes. :hubbahubba:

I think the Arena would be fitting in Skyrim -- although perhaps a more nordic version, or influence. It would also be neat if there was an arena district in each major city, and that you could do arena battles in each city (obviously advancing in arena rank) and each arena had a different theme / style, or combatants, based on the city's location, etc.

No. It felt really cheesy, and it doesn't even make sense in the cultural setting. I've played Colosseum: Road to Freedom, they got arena fighting right. TESIV's crude attempt was pathetic.

You can't bring in something like a Colosseum without the weight of history. Combatants were slaves - non-citizens - and slaughtered regularly. While gladiators were the equivalent to rock stars in terms of popularity, they were on the bottom rungs of society. An expendable population for entertainment purposes. A government wouldn't want its own citizens participating in such a dead-end career. Since the Cyrodiil empire doesn't allow slavery, there's no need to find uses for unwanted populations.

No, the arena was cheap entertainment. Boring and repetitive, I'd rather have the few extra side quests.

I think the Arena would be better combined with the idea of non-lethal combat suggested in another thread.

I'd love to see some 'engineering disputes' like in 13th Warrior. 2 guys bashing away at eachother with 3 shields each. Last one to have a shield wins (and can decide the fate of his/her opponent)

At any rate, it would be great to have some nice (Nord style) entertainment. After all, all these guys do is drink, sing, tell tall tales and fight; the perfect setting to have an arena

If they were to have such a system, it would need to be appropriate for Skyrim. I wouldn't want a complete duplicate from Oblivion. Also it really depends on how much the combat system changes from Oblivion. While there was a lot of potential for greatness, the arena felt generic and lacking emotion. In Skyrim, I think the combat needs to be more fast paced, smoother, and interactive. I think NPCs need to have more emotion when they are fighting to really give that sense of an intense and brutal battle. That's what the Arena should be. Watch Spartacus: Blood and Sand to really get a sense of what potential there is for the arena.

I think an Arena would be a great idea, if combat is vastly improved that is. But bloodshed seems alot like a Nord pass-time, so of-course it is needed. Also as mentioned earlier Slaves were mainly used I think it would be awesome as a opening to the game, much like the prisoner quest but this time you have to kill to be free... But that is for another thread... Just need to find it.haha

Nonlethal combat with intricate (maybe even ritualistic) rules is something I could get behind. Maybe not for the purpose of money and mindless entertainment, but as some parts of quests, perhaps? Or, there could be a recurrent "all the clans get together in the spring and their best warriors participate in sport events"

Yes! The Arena could be one of the coolest parts in Tes V if they manage to pull it off.

First of all it needs to have a longer and more in-depth storyline. More quests, more ranks, more rewards, more everything! And more Gladiators with cool Arena inspired armor. I do not want to face a Dark Elf with a 2h mace in elven armor when I could face a Red Guard with an Imperial City Guard helmet, armor plate legs and a spear and shield and no chest armor and such. (I want to face a "real" Gladiator, or at least something smiliar to that).

More, of, everything, is key.

Oh yes yes yes. Or something similar at any rate. Crowds yelling and cheering while I hack at my opponent, bloody underworks, and gruff people telling me "go disembowel someone before I get teary", which is totally my idea of a pep talk. :wub:

More fights, though, and more complex - a few that you shouldn't be able to pull off by using mere brute force. Some strategy, teamwork - either you and your NPC-teammate go out alive, or none, stuff like that.