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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Berandor" data-source="post: 7487" data-attributes="member: 225">FAQ IIFighters (Belts and Advancement)Q: You were talking about  my fighter being a "White Belt". Does that mean there are ranks in this game?A: Yes. As the game evolved, we were starting to feel that fighting other imaginary fighters was all well and nice, but it would be much more fun if someone who won a lot of fights could undermine her bragging with something, be it status or power.    So, we thought of a way to rank each fighter corresponding to what she achieved. As the game was about random Kung-Fu moves, we used different belt colors to symbolize experience and power.    The White Belt, as it is, stands for the inexperienced fighter. Every fighter starts out as a white, and has to move upwards from there.Q: What other belt colors are there, and how do I achieve them?A: You get to a new Belt by winning. At the moment, you need one win for the first rank, two for the next, two for the third, too, and four for the last rank.    Hmmm. That sounds complicated. Strangely enough, it isn't.The first belt after the white, for example, is the yellow belt. In order to get this, you must win once. That's right, just one simple win between you and the next belt.    The belt after that, is the green belt. As the yellow belt needed one win, the green belt needs two wins to get.   Next, it's the brown belt, and you need two wins after achieving green belt to get it.The belt above the brown belt is no belt at all, but is a rank that is called "Great Master". In order to become Great Master, you need four wins after achieving the brown belt. The Great Master is the last possible rank so far; however, plans are to include yet a higher, and more sought after, level of excellence.Q: So I just need to win a certain number of times and I'll be Great Master? Isn't that too easy?A: Yes, it would be too easy indeed. However, it is not as easy as it sounds.   Remember how flags were scored during a fight? That is exactly what happens when you win or lose, too.To be precise, each win brings you one step closer to the next rank, but each loss takes you a little farther away. Given enough losses, you might just fall down a rank.In order to record how far away you are from the next rank, each fighter displays not only the color of his belt, but also a number behind it that expresses how many steps he has progressed in this rank so far.Imagine you have just won your first fight, and got promoted to yellow belt. As you haven't really taken a step towards the next rank yet, you are a Yellow Belt 0.If you won the next fight, you would become a yellow belt 1. As there are only two steps between yellow belt and green belt, your next win would make you a green belt 0.If you lost, however, you would once again be a yellow belt 0, and you would need two wins again for achieving the green belt.Q: All right, I got that. But how do I lose a rank?A: As mentioned above, when you lose a fight, you drop one step on your way to the next rank. But if you reach the base of the rank (meaning you have the number 0 behind the color), things get a little different.When that happens, your fighter has lost respect and status with his peers, and folks begin to suspect he "lost it". Your fighter becomes "disgraced". Instead of being a yellow belt 0, for example, you would be a yellow belt disgraced 1 (you have taken one step on the way back to the last rank). How many steps backwards you are able to make before you lose the rank, depends on your current rank, or belt.The higher you get, the more prestige you gathered, and you can live longer from your fame before having to lose your belt.The yellow belt has one disgraced tag. That means if you are a yellow belt disgraced 1, and lose again, you are back to being a white belt.The green belt has two disgraced tags, and the ranks above each have four tags.If you win while being disgraced, you take one step forward to the normal path again. Disgraced 2 becomes disgraced 1, disgraced 1 becomes a neutral 0.Q: So what if I lose my first fights. Can I lose my white belt?A: Actually, no. A white belt is the most basic fighter, and if you lose as a white belt, people will not hold that against you. You can lose how many times you like, a white belt doesn't become disgraced, and just one win will take you up to yellow belt 0.Q: So what are the powers of the different ranks?A: Each belt brings new power with it. A yellow belt gains what is called a signature style. A signature style corresponds with an actual fighting style in the generator, for example "Dragon". Whenever the fighter generates a move that uses his signature style, he gains two flags for winning that round. However, a signature style doesn't make winning the round more probable.The exact signature style is determined by the judges.The other powers are there for you to find out. For the beginning, it is enough that you know your own powers (white belt: none) and the powers of your opponent - you can ask him to explain his powers, should they be unknown to you.Q: Is there only the one path of advancement? Don't the fighters become too similar?A: Although this is not very likely, we have taken steps to insure some measure of adaptability. There are five basic paths. Each path is seperated into four ranks, listed hereafter. You need a number of wins to gain the next rank that corresponds with the base path. The actual number is reposted in brackets behind each rank. Other differences and a short summary of each path follow:The Path of Honor: This is the basic path. It seperates into yellow belt (1), green belt (2), brown belt (2) and Great Master (4). This path leads to the fighter opening a dojo and gaining students.The Path of Light: This is the other "good" path. Note that this path doesn't feature disgraced tags, so you immediately drop a rank when losing at 0. It's ranks are blue belt (1), orange belt (2), red belt (2) and Enlightened Master (4). The Path Warrior has sworn to fight evil, and fights on his own until at the highest rank.The Path of Evil: This is the first "evil" path. Note that this path doesn't feature disgraced tags, so you immediately drop a rank when losing at 0. Additionally, you don't drop back to being a white belt, but you are killed instead.It's ranks are Dirty Bastard (1), Gang Boss (2), Warlord (2), Overlord (4). The powers of this path correspond with cheating and forming a gang of other evil fighters.The Path of Darkness: This is the other "evil" path. Note that this path doesn't feature disgraced tags, so you immediately drop a rank when losing a fight at 0. Additionally, when you lose while being a Dirty Bastard 0, you don't drop back to white belt, but are killed instead.The first two ranks of this path are the same as with the Path of Evil. They are: Dirty Bastard (1), Gang Boss (2), Dark Warrior (2), and Dark Master (4). This path is similar to the Path of Light, in that its powers are befitting a sole fighter.The Path of Sash: This "neutral" path is totally different from the rest. It's fighters are concerned only with yen - that means money - and their ranks are not determined by winning or losing, but by gaing money. The more money you have, the higher ranked you are. Sash fighters are mercenaries and can sell their help to others who are in a fight.The ranks are: ?????Q: So how do I choose a Path?A: When you gain a rank from white belt, you can choose the path you want to take. If you drop back to White Belt, you can choose a different path next time.The other possibility to switch ranks is when you are drawn over by a powerful fighter of that path. The Red belt can redeem you to the side of Light, and the Dark Warrior can influence you to join the side of Evil. The Sash Warrior can bribe you.Q: I just read that a Dirty Bastard cannot become a white belt, but is killed instead. Is there any other possibility to die?A: Yes. When you lose a Death match, you are killed. Also, as you have absolute control over your fighter, you can have him commit seppuku (ritual suicide), if you want to escape being converted to a path you don't like, for example.Q: What happens when my fighter is dead?A: The fighter in question is not allowed to be played any more. You must invent a new persona. As of now, there is no plan to include an undeath path. (However, you could easily make your new fighter an undead fighter, and have him follow one of the other paths... even an undead version of your killed character, if you'd like; but you'd start over as a white belt).Still some questions unanswered? Head over to the next section. It deals with judging.</blockquote>

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