Hello! So I've indulged in the arena quite often and, unfortunately, found it to be rather buggysome at times. Whether it's npcs who -should- be hearing your yield actually yielding, or an npc faction bug in which the Ward decides to give you a beatdown after their favorite contestant loses! (Talk about sore losers, amirite?)
Anywho, to help reduce DM interventions in those scenarios and maybe encourage pcs to be a bit more active against some of the stronger contestants without the fear of dying, I have a very simple proposal.
Step 1: Set all npcs to sparring mode (if this is possible), and have them win via subduing rather than murdering or hearing a yield.
Step 2: Drastically increase the exp penalty loss, depending on the contestant, without necessarily making the player wish they were never born. Here's just a small rough draft:
Lvl 6 Combatant (Like Gespin): 300 exp if you lose (lvl6x50)
Lvl 8 Combatant (Like Jelka the Waif): 400 exp (8x50)
Lvl 11 Combatant (Like the Black Knight): 550 exp (11x50)
Or even something slightly harsher like lvlx75
Just thought It'd throw this out here.
Some gladiators won't let you yield by design. The black knight for instance will just kill you if you can't win.
That's all part of the challenge.