Vault Ball

This is an idea that Bagel proposed to me.


Vault Ball is a sport practiced in Negav by nekos. It is derived from a traditional training regiment for young nekos among jungle tribes. This training requires strength, agility, endurance, quick thinking and coordinated teamwork. These games would take place in a wide area full of trees. Two teams would compete to carry an item to a tall goal point located in the middle of the field, and the winning team was the one who brought it the most time to said goal. The one defining was that the nekos had to use the ground as little as possible. For the most part, they had to stick to the trees, which means they would often have to leap from branch to branch, or even trunk to trunk to move around.

It is a recent sport in Negav, the result of various protests among nekos claiming that they are still treated as second-class citizens, and are lacking a safe place to properly train. They eventually got their wish and Vault Ball was introduced in the Jaslow Arena's schedule, though not as commonly as the more popular duels. The announcement of first ever game of Vault Ball in Negav received mixed feelings. Some thought it would be interesting, while others claimed that it would simply be dull. However, some of that criticism faded away after the game. People were amazed by the incredible speed and agility of nekos, saying that "It's one thing to hear about it, but another thing to see it." The sport made decent revenue and was integrated in the Arena's schedule. It's still not quite as popular as most of the scheduled fight and isn't played as often, but it continues to provide a nice distraction and change of pace, and keeps both sport fresh in the mind of the crowd.

In the official Negav sport, only eight players per team could be on the field at a time, with the option to rotate players only after a team scored. Each player wears a basket on their back to hold the ball while climbing. The field, the Jaslow Arena, is roughly 60 meters long and 45 meters wide. Instead of using trees, an earth mage would rise stone pillars of, none as tall as another one, and an especially tall tower in the center of the field. The pillars would possess scalable surfaces, but to add to the challenge, these aren't present all over the column. In addition, a few of these columns would be linked by a rope. The ground would be covered in safety mats, especially around the middle tower. The object to be carried would be a ball covered in foam, so the nekos can catch it with their claws.

A game consists of two halves lasting around 45 minutes, with a half-time of 15 minutes. The layout of the field is also changed during the half-time to keep players on their toe. At the beginning of a game, a coin toss is made to decide which team starts with the ball. The players must then carry the ball to the central tower, while avoiding to have it stolen or intercepted by the opposing team. Whichever team successfully brings the ball to the top scores one point, and the ball starts in the opposing team's hand at the start of the next round. The winning team is the one who scores the most point at the end of the two periods. In case of a tie, the game will go in overtime, a 15 minutes, sudden death round.

Special rules include limited contact between players and strong penalties are sentenced if substantial contact between players occur, such as removing a player from play. When a player with the ball is on the ground, he or she is prohibited from moving. It can still pivot in place, but otherwise, he or she must pass the ball to another player, or leap to the nearest pillar if possible. About only three players per team are allowed to be on the ground at a time. If four or more are down there, the ball goes to the opposing team. An exception to this rule is if a player falls down from one of the pillars, unless another player caused it to fall, in which case, that player is removed from play.


Rather clumsy entry, I know. If someone can help me reword it, by all means, go ahead.

Hm. We didn't actually talk about player substitution much. I remember we had a problem discussing field size too.

I'm just gonna go and comment here because the forum is going silent again XD

I think the nekos shouldn't need baskets to carry the ball, they have their tails! Plus climbing with one hand is more challenging/athletic.

Baskets could be used by humans wishing to play, if that is allowed.

I don't remember cat tails being prehensile, or physics allowing you to climb one-handed.

There are humans who can hold things with their feet, I dont think a neko learning something similar to hold a small ball with their tail is out of the question.

And you can certainly climb with two feet and an arm. Add neko agility and flexibility to that and I imagine they can do it rather easily.

Feet have the advantage of toes so you can get somewhat of a grip. A cat tail is a lot, lot less flexible than one imagine. It cannot wrap around and grasp something. It may be "possible" to climb with one hand, but "possible" means neither "practical" nor "safe". I'd like to see you climb a cliff with just your feet and one hand.

actually...

Three things:

1 - just because a few rare humans can do it doesn't mean that every single nekos are able to do the same.

2 - did you even see the guy struggle and stop to keep his balance? There is a reason why climbing with two hands is much more recommended.

3 - look at how short a distance he had to climb. The sport we designed together, Bael, has much, much taller pillars. It would be extremely dangerous to put so much strain, especially climbing the middle tower, on one hand. Now I know what you're thinking, "they can just pass the ball." But see, the thing is, you won't always be in a position where you can pass, and if your arm is overstrained, all you will succeed is getting a cramp at best or rip your muscle at worst.

Nekos are more athletically inclined than humans, by a long shot. It comes with being a cat. Ever see a cat walk on a centimeter-wide walkway with ease? humans cant do that, that easily. I think Grave has a point about the baskets actually.

Ha ha ha, no. As I said, it may be possible, but not practical. Yes, nekos are athletics, but they're not super humans. As a whole, they may have greater agility, but there are still feats they can't accomplish. They won't be able to climb that large a distance up or sideways using only one hand without killing their arm. As a whole, it is FAR safer to use both hands, as it reduce the chances of screwing up. Just because they're cats doesn't mean they can't make a mistake.

Sean Okotami wrote:

Ha ha ha, no. As I said, it may be possible, but not practical. Yes, nekos are athletics, but they're not super humans.

Well, it may be something to say that they're not even human, and as such aren't defined to our limitations.

You'd be surprised. Even with human strength and endurance, people can climb cliffs that are freakishly straight and high. Rock climbing makes you fit FAST and not to mention endurance for that too. Trust me, they'd be fit enough. If a human can do it, a neko can do it. I think the basket should be more of an option than a necessity.

You know what, this is your stupid idea, you do whatever you want with it.

Hey now, it was just a suggestion. You've helped with it to, its also partly your idea.

No, you can't see that nekos climbing tall, vertical structures with small notches using only one hand and two feet, when they'll have to climb sideways even on some parts, and not overstrain their arm or fall due to basic gravity, then I am not going to bother. You are on your own.

Even so, I think having a basket on their back would be counter productive. you know how hard it is to wash your own back? try reaching around into a basket. I think it'd be better as some kind of gripping device on a belt loop. Most rock climbers have a bag around their hips with a white powder (I think they call it chalk) and dig their hands into it when they need more traction or grip on their fingers. The "basket" could be in a similar location. It'd make it far easier to reach in and out of.

If you want it around the belt, then do it. Personally, doing an entire sport where you climb a tall, especially the middle tower, vertical structure using only one hand, and not expect to pull, or even rip the arm muscle is just ridiculous. You want it to be one-handed? Have show-offs do it just for bragging rights.

I'm afraid I have to agree with Sean To climb with only one arm is exceedingly dangerous, and you have a high chance of injury, especially should you decide to jump from pillar to pillar. I also have a suggestion, about the method of point scoring. To have only one tower would be rather problematic as the ball would stay only in the small area around that pillar. I think there should be more than one, at least one per team. Also this one hand climbing situation, and basket placement argument can be eliminated by changing the the ball to a different item, perhaps a rope with magnets weaved into it, so it may be formed into a loop and slipped over the wrist, or around the waist. Should you decide to accept my idea of using a rope containing magnets, you could further extend it by having the players wear small plates of metal to aid in catching, and holding the rope while climbing. One would merely have to be sure that the magnets could be easily disconnected in a steal. In absence of magnets, Velcro or a different material could be used.

Really, this whole idea is more like a rough draft than anything, if that makes sense, and could use polishing. So... if you have any idea, say it.

All I know is there are nekos who can climb a tree in the blink of an eye according to the wiki.

If they are that agile then they should be fine with a ball tucked under their arm. It's not like your arm is completely unusable when you have something tucked under it.

I mean hell this is still a WIP, you could make the ball special so it's slightly sticky to the pillars and can be USED as a climbing tool. I mean magic was used to raise the pillars, why not use it to alter the ball.

All right then, Should you decide to keep the idea of only having a single goal post in the middle, then the game could be made more interesting, by only allowing one team to score at a time, for example, a blue team member has the ball and has to keep it as far away from the goal post as possible to prevent the red team from gaining a point. If the red team does manage to score, then the blue team gets the chance to attempt to score while the red team tries to keep them from the goal post.

I don't think I get you. Are you saying that the team on the defensive has to try to keep the ball out of the goal until a period ends?

Yes, and the period end would be signified, by the team on the offensive scoring a point.

I guess. My original idea for this was basically a form of Capture the Flag with a lot of platforming.

And you wish to stick closely to these blueprints?

Well, I since I calmed down now, I'd rather that Bagel be there to see what kind of suggestions could work, since I now regret losing my temper.