What is IGN Arena?

IGN Arena is a text-based online battle game available exclusively to IGNinsider members. The basic idea is that Arena players can challenge each other to duels and rise up in the ranks as they win battles. Even though the battle mechanics are very simple, RPG elements come into play because you can choose your class, rise in rank, distribute attack points, and find items to use in your battles scattered around the various IGN sites.

How do you get started?

Character Set-up
Your first step in becoming an IGN Arena player is to create your player. To do this, simply go to http://arena.ign.com and you will be prompted to create a new player. You have to fill in the following information:

• Name: Your IGNinsider login name will automatically be used as your IGN Arena player name.
• Class: Choose one of the available classes. Think of them as "careers." As you go up in level, your rank name will change depending on which class you have chosen. You will obtain a new rank title every five levels, and this rank will be displayed in your character profile as well as on the IGN Message Boards.
• Motto: Enter your battle cry here. The motto will be displayed after you win a battle, so choose wisely and make sure your motto is typo-free. Also don't make your motto offensive. If you do, your character will be deleted.
• Strength Points: Your character will begin with a "1" strength in each of your attacks. You can distribute two additional strength points among your attacks when you begin your career. When you first create your character, you can choose to power up one of your attacks with both of your extra strength points, or distribute them to two separate attacks.

Hit Create Player to finalize your Arena character.

How do you play IGN Arena?

Most of the game is played in conjunction with the IGN Message Boards, where you can instantly find many Arena players.

Making a Challenge
Find a player you would like to challenge on the message boards, then hit the "Challenge" link. You will now be brought to the Battle page. Before making your challenge, you are advised to check out your opponent's stats via the Scouting Report at the top of the page. You can see a player's level, win/loss record, overall health, and most importantly, equipped weapons. If you would like to continue and make a challenge, scroll down to enter your moves.

You are now prompted to enter five attacks and five blocks, one for each round of the battle. You can select from three different attacks and three blocks (high, med, low) for each round. The rules are simple: a high block blocks a high attack (head attack), a med block blocks a medium attack (hand attack), and a low block blocks a low attack (foot attack).

When you have made your choices, hit "Make Challenge" to throw down the gauntlet. You will have to wait until the other player accepts the challenge to find out whether you've won or lost.

You can check up on the challenges you have made by clicking on the My Challenges link.

Accepting a Challenge
If you have received a challenge from another player, it's time to do battle. To find open challenges, click on the Challengers link on the IGN Arena navigation. Accept a challenge by clicking on the [accept] link. You can also choose to decline the challenge if you feel your opponent is too strong for you (*cough* wuss *cough*).

When you accept the challenge, you can see your opponent's basic stats, including weapons and you're ready to enter your attacks and blocks, just as if you were making a challenge. Have you fought this opponent before? Has this particular player attacked you with the same attack over and over again? Take these things into consideration as you select your attacks and blocks for all five rounds. Once you have made your selections, hit Accept Challenge to see the outcome of the battle.

Arena Battle
After both the challenger and the challenged player entered their attacks and blocks, IGN Arena calculates the battle results based on all the parameters and outputs a battle summary page. Each attack and block is described for each round, so you can see exactly what attacks and blocks your opponent used. An attack automatically hits when the defending player didn't block for that particular slot (ie: if the attack was high but the block was low). The amount of damage caused depends on the default strength of the attack plus any weapon bonus, if a weapon is equipped.

The battle ends after the fifth round is played out -- or if one of the players' health hits 0.

• Win: Your opponent's health reached 0 in or before the fifth round. Your health level was higher than your opponent's health after round 5.
• Loss: Your health reached 0 before your opponent in or before the fifth round or your health level was lower than your opponent's health after round 5.
• Draw: Both players' health reached 0 in the same round or both players have the same amount of health left after five rounds.

Weapons
In addition to upgrading your attacks with strength points you can also pick up weapons to make your attacks more powerful. You can hold up to 12 weapons in your cache, but only three of them can be equipped at the same time. To equip a weapon, access your player stats and use the "activate" links in the weapons cache section. There are three different types of weapons and each type corresponds to one of your attack slots. For example, a sword is a medium type weapon as it is held in your hands. A spiked helm, on the other hand, only works as a high attack. Also pay attention to each weapon's minimum level requirement. You cannot use the weapon at this time if its minimum level exceeds your character's current level.

If you have a weapon equipped, you automatically attack with it when you use the attack type in question. Be careful, though -- your weapons don't last forever and will break after a certain number of uses.

Classes
IGN Arena currently features around 20 different character classes. The classes, which are inspired by the universe of games and movies IGN covers, are mostly cosmetic at this point, but we may be doing something special with them down the road. So don't choose a career you will regret picking later on.

Ranks and Levels
Ranks are directly tied to your class, whereas levels are universal. Sorry to get all technical on you, but the formula for leveling is 5 (x squared + x) -10 where x = your current level + 2.

In simpler terms, you can refer to this handy chart:

...and so on.

Gaining a level is advantageous to you as an Arena combatant, as players earn one stats/strength point for each level, which they can distribute to their attacks. Every five levels, players will also acquire a new rank or title, depending on which "career/character class" they have chosen.

Strength Points
You are given two strength points to start your character with. Like many of the fighting games you're no doubt familiar with, IGN Arena uses three different attacks: low, med, and high, which in this game correspond to your feet, hands, and head. By adding a point to an attack, you can make your attack more powerful and you'll be able to cause more damage. Note that your opponents cannot see which one(s) of your attacks are more powerful, so keep quiet about your strength points. And remember that if you keep on attacking the same opponent exclusively with your most powerful attack, he/she is likely to block it more in the future.

You will be able to add more strength points to your attacks when you rise up in the ranks. You'll see a level up link appear on the My Character page once you have won enough battles to increase your level.

Scooties (money)
Even though money is merely used for bragging value at this point, it's a good idea to try and become the richest Arena player around. You never know what the future holds in store...

Winning scooties is easy -- just defeat an opponent and you get cash. You drop 30 scooties every time you lose, to a minimum of 0 scooties. There will be no scooties won or lost for either player in the case of a draw.

Arena follows the mantra of picking on someone your own size -- although it's even better if you pick on someone bigger than you. Beating a lower level opponent actually nets you far less money than beating someone of equal or higher level, while winning against someone who is a higher level than you will net you more scooties...so go for the big guys if you want to earn a lot of scooties.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I create a new character?
First-time Arena players will be prompted to create a character the first time they visit IGN Arena. If you already have an existing character, you cannot create a new one, but you can delete your current character and start over.

How do I edit my motto? Simply go to the My Character page and click Edit Character. You will be able to change your motto there.

Where do I find weapons?
Keep an eye out for special banners or hidden links when you're surfing the IGN sites. Weapons tend to pop up in the weirdest places...

Where do I find players to challenge?
Hit the message boards. In addition to the Arena boards, you can find players virtually on every IGN forum.

Where do I see the outcome of older battles?
Check the Battle History section.

How does my health increase?
You start with 8 health points and get 2 additional health points with each level increase.

Why can't I use a certain weapon?
Check the weapons level. If a weapon's minimum level exceeds your current level, then you cannot use it. However, you can keep it in your cache until you reach the necessary level.

Where did my weapon go?
It broke. Weapons can only be used for a finite number of attacks. Do you remember where you found that weapon? Maybe there's another one lying around.

How do I get rid of weapons?
Access the My Character page and scroll down to your weapons cache. Each weapon has an activate and a drop link next to it. To get rid of a weapon for good, simply click the drop link.

How do I unequip weapons?
Don't want to use a weapon for a particular battle, but don't want to trash it? Access the My Character page and look at your weapons cache. Each player has three standard attacks: head, hands, and feet. Simply activate one of the three (depending on which slot the weapon is in that you want to unequip) and you're done.

Why is the money called scooties?
We don't know. We just don't know. Mystics say the answer may be found in the tome known as IGN.com The Magazine.