Posted by Nat on August 22, 2008, 11:11 am
Message modified by board administrator November 4, 2008, 4:53 pm

If you are thinking of challenging a judgment, please give this message a quick look over. There are very specific reasons why the judgments are final. First of all, please realize that losing a battle does not mean you are a poor writer or ruin your character's reputation. Even Golds lose battles! It just means that for that single fight, your opponent performed better. Remember that this is not about bending the judgment to what *you* think the results should be, or how *you* would have awarded or removed points. The judge has taken what you wrote and perceived it how it was written. If you were not clear, it is not fair that you can make yourself clearer AFTER the fact. Take the comments and use them to improve. The ONLY time a re-eval of points will be done is if the judge misread your attack or defense, and you have proof, IN THE WORDS OF YOUR BATTLE POST, that things happened differently. The only time you can ask for more DETAIL will be if points were taken off without reason, or the reason was too generic (i.e. "just didn't like this attack"). Otherwise, no one should be challenging judgments or asking for more explanation when the judge has already fully explained themselves. You can no longer challenge points if: 'A horse CAN do that, here's a link to prove it!!' -- There will be SOME exceptions here, but just because a horse CAN physically do it does not mean it is a wise choice in a roleplaying battle. However, our judges will also consider that our horses are human, in a sense, and will do things that no wild horse would ever think of. This does not necessarily make all creative moves smarter though, so be careful here. If a judge says it's just not physically possible, and you can link out to prove it, points can be awarded back. BUT - if a judge says it is just not a wise choice in battle, then the points are final. 'But what I MEANT was...' or 'I don't think you understood what I was trying to do when' -- You didn't say it in your post. If it's not there, it's not there. Make sure it's there in your next battle. 'My opponent didn't get docked as many points, but did the same thing!' -- Unless you and your opponent had the same injuries, and did the exact same move, in the same circumstances, this is not possible. There is a reason the judge removed points from you when they didn't from your opponent. 'In the last battle so-and-so did this move, and got 5/5!' -- All judges are different, and there will be discrepancies. This is not so big a deal that I'm going to require all judges to consider every battle ever written and mark off accordingly. 'My opponent took less damage, but still won!' or 'I had a more powerful attack than my opponent, but they were awarded more points!' -- You aren't reading all the comments if you are making claims like this. Again, we are not judging just to fit the perception of how you think the outcome should fall. READ the comments. Even if you've won 1000 battles in the past, there are still things you need to learn. No warrior is past training. 'I spend too much time on my battle posts to not have them carefully and properly judged' -- Guess what - we all spend time on it. The judges take time to judge them, when they don't even need to, only to be greeted with your complaints. Your opponent spends time writing too, only to have you tell them indirectly that you don't think their time is as important as yours, because there's no use in you writing if you don't win. If it's such a waste of your time, then DON'T BATTLE. I want good sports in our warrior ranks, not elitists. I apologize for the frustration that leaks from this post, but I'm done with this: No, there is no battle so serious that you need to contact Holly or I for a 'special case'. Judgments are all a matter of opinion: the judge's against yours. You will get great judgments, you will get judgments you don't agree with. That's just the way it is. Learn, swallow your pride, and remember that this is JUST A GAME. If you can't take the criticism as constructive, choose another class.