With RPing though, of course there are several ways to encounter a battle with another member. Perhaps one of the more difficult but no less fun way, is that of action reaction posting in a realistic manner. In this case, both RPers have to be skilled, and know not to god-mod. I haven't had the chance to do this here at PC though.
One thing to note, though, is that ASBing is only RPing up to the extent of "lulz I submit my orders." The players don't actually have characters who interact with one another beyond "my Pokémon does something to yours" unless you really want to get cracked out. Generally, this is taboo because in ASBing, you're encouraged to pull off moves that are physically possible for the Pokémon (like have them stand on their head and whistle "Dixie"... which I've actually done in a battle before, just because the ref said in an earlier explanation that I could
theoretically do it), meaning you could possibly involve the other trainer if you're seriously an ass.
In other words, it's only really optional to react in character as a trainer in one of these battles, and you certainly don't have to lead up to it. Simply put, you're you (unless you actually create a character if you really feel like it), so you'd just react the way you would. Hands remain on yourself and your Pokémon because it's the ref who decides what actions happen to the other party.
Or in even simpler terms, the only roleplaying that really goes on is between yourself (literally) and your Pokémon. Whatever happens after that is the ref's decision, which really prevents any possible godmodding whatsoever.
Or in even
simpler terms, the ref is not optional, and that party is trained to be objective. There have been problems with objectivity in the past, but generally, that's
also very taboo.
As for unfamiliarity, yeah, but mostly, the dear boy just didn't know how to explain it. It's possible to propose the league and get it set up (because that's how it's pretty much been done wherever it's transplanted itself), but you really have to know how to present it to the public and make it sound simple, fun, and not like what we already do in the RPG forums. He was so focused on presenting possible changes to the root (i.e., new things he'd bring into an ASB league) that he neglected to fully explain what the system
was (perhaps with examples), so it just got written off as just another RPG. *shrug*
But I do have to say the league was great practice for writing battles. All of mine ended up being pages long because every little detail ended up coming into play somehow. I'd have things like broken bones or large gashes, attacks being deflected, parts of the arena being used as shields or weapons, all kinds of things to make things exciting. Now, I've taken that lesson outside of the ASB scene. As in, basically, the first rule is that a battle isn't meant to just be about Pokémon A using Move A on Pokémon B. It stretched my imagination and challenged me to think of how a battle might be affected by the battlers themselves and where they are.
....
And now I almost want to pick up where Macabre left off. And I would, except it's a headache and a half to actually organize something like that.
