You may have been in a situation where your opponent has a tendency to make several actions in one preparation or prep. It is common for a character to dodge, charge energy, and then attack in a single prep, and that is acceptable, and usually the bare minimum. Sometimes, however, a character may do a little more than just those above three actions.

Let us use Barney the Ninja and Kenneth the Knight as an example. Both are about the same power level with minimal attribute boosting items. Since Barney is not wearing armor, his agility is approximately six times as much as Kenneth’s agility. As stated in the Character Stat Rules, the agility attribute is credited to a character’s basic speed. Take this prep for example:

EXAMPLE:
Kenneth: *Kenneth initiates the battle by drawing his enormous broad sword and begins to charge his enemy. During his journey, he raises his weapon with a war cry and charges his maximum amount (10,000 clicks). Simultaneously, he scoops up a handful of dirt and answers a call on his cell phone. Once he reaches Barney, he quickly launches the sediment toward the ninja’s face to blind him and at the same time comes down toward him with a powerful overhead swing.*

Three things can be pointed out in this prep. Number one is that this long of a post might just overload the server with its utter verbosity. Number two is that Kenneth’s opponent sextuples his agility. It might be acceptable for Barney to use this prep against Kenneth, but it is just absurd the other way around. I will be brutally honest with you here; lastly, this prep will just get you laughed at. Elyndrel is a fantasy game, but even fantasy has its limits. If Kenneth wanted to do this (well, minus the phone call), he may want to draw his weapon and pick up the dirt as his first prep, then attacking with both dirt and sword after his charge on the second prep. It is not uncommon to stick two attacks in the same prep, especially for those with multiple weapons or with conjunction with Speed Burst, but remember that there is another person on the other side of the battle trying to type his actions too.

If you find yourself in a role play battle where this happens, there are three easy solutions. The first, easiest, and most liked by the Combat Reviewers, would be to just play along with it, especially if it is just a spar. If your opponent loads every one of his preps like this, just play responsibly yourself, and when the battle is posted, finish it with (if you are the poster) a disclaimer stating that the preps were loaded and you want something done about it, or reply with the said disclaimer (if you are not the poster). The Combat Reviewers will then deal with the problem appropriately. If in an actual fight situation, it may be better to just run. Use a lame run if you have to assuming every prep includes blocking your attempt to run, charging plasma, reciting a poem, eating a piece of cake, and attacking in a way to block all exits perfectly. If your opponent replies to the battle’s post with complaints that your character ran in an unsatisfactory manner, the Combat Reviewers will laugh at him and then deal with the problem appropriately. Lastly, if one of the Combat Reviewers is currently online (most likely seen on an instant messenger, if any appear on your list), then you may try convincing him to enter the chat room at that time to fix the problem. This will not work, of course, if the Combat Reviewer is currently too busy to help, though it may be worth a shot.

As with all problems, especially with fights and spars, please do not attempt to fix the problem yourself in all cases, because some players may become defensive or even angered. Sometimes, it is just best to ‘smile and nod’ and let an appropriate member of the staff fix the problem post occurring. Please play responsibly.