This is a problem I have seen myself. On Dwilight, even though it is SMA, people are not treating duels with the seriousness as they should do. Especially legitimate duels (ie, ones with valid reasons/RP)
Im sure that back in the middle ages, someone who was called a Coward, was looked down upon by his fellows and was not trusted by his men. Especially as we are playing a game called "battle"master, we need to encourage people to play like nobles in the middle ages.
The way I see it is that people are afraid of losing their positions/chars/titles especially with a duel to the death. Im not sure how common death happens, but the last two duels my char has been in have resulted in tow serious wounds for the other guys.
I think that it is a bit gamey by those who refuse duels due to that reason. Sometimes, it is the only way to get that entrenched Duke out of his city. Yet, if he keeps refusing to duel (again their has to be good reasons/RP) then he is gaming the system, as he will not affect him in respect to the game. Players have short/selective memories sometimes, and will not remember every duel that he refused.
I know people have mentioned and will mention about the balance between someone abusing it by challenging and those who abuse it by refusing, and that is a problem.
How about having a referral option? A bit like the vulgarity option.
I shall explain. Noble A has just lost his throne because Duke B has organised the rebellion. Noble A wants revenge, so challenges Duke B to a duel to the Death. Throw in a lot of heated discussion that every realm has when these things happen. Lets say Noble A has a legitimate reason for duelling. He writes out the reasons in the box provided as normal. The offer is sent.
If Duke B accepts: then there is a duel, and an outcome.
If Duke B refuses: then Noble A can refer it to his peers to be judged. They will be randomly selected by the game, and asked to decide whether the challenge is valid or not. If they say yes it is a valid challenge, the Duke B loses honour/prestige. If they say no, it was not valid (spam etc) then Noble A will lose honour/prestige.
This will hopefully stop spamming (and losing stats due to refusing) but it would also stop the defender from gaming the system, by not having any penalty for refusing a valid challenge.
