“The world ended a while ago, but that's really not where the story begins. We survived, we rebuilt, but that's not the story either. The story lies in those enormous monsters that roam the world we call home - the ones that threatened us with destruction.
“But we fought back. We mastered them. We advanced. This city of Bastion has grown and thrived - standing proud against the beating sun of the rust deserts, and now thanks to us it boasts the greatest achievement for unity and entertainment: the ULTIMATE MONSTER BATTLE ARENA!!”
- Announcer Vox
Ultimate Monster Battle Arena is a game set in a post-post-apocalyptic society that centres around the unique and varied giant Monsters that walk the world. The game focuses on the phenomenon of the Arena - in which these Monsters are pitted against each other for profit, entertainment, and fame - and the Network that commands it.
On the surface, the game is flashy and loud, but much like real-world organised sport, there's a lot more to it than that: as well as competition, this is a game about friendships and rivalry, corruption and integrity, exploration and discovery.
Though there is a wider city, there are two main areas of UMBA in which action is likely to take place: within the Arena, where giant Monster battles are likely to be more Player versus Player focused, and outside the Arena, where action is more likely to be Player versus Environment - though the two styles are certainly not exclusive to these locations. Have a read of our PvP policy for more information on that.
Since the game revolves around the Arena and Monsters, there are a few expectations for player characters. Firstly, characters should be involved mostly in the Arena and its workings in some fashion - whether as Monster Trainers, Monster Fighters, Network executives, Monster Hunters, Bookies, Merchandise Salespeople, Hardcore Fans: it doesn't matter how, but they must be involved in the Arena. Though the Arena is in a wider city, Bastion, and there is wider depth to the setting than the Monsters in the universe, the story of UMBA and the characters in the game is focused on these areas.
Secondly, since the Arena is a central focus for both the game world and the lives of the characters involved, we expect characters to broadly support the concept of the Arena and Monster Battles (at least at game start). While having questions about the morality of the Arena is fine, loudly expressing these in a meeting in which you are a guest is at best ill-advised - as one might expect, the Network has little tolerance for such troublemakers. This is not to say that the Arena (and the Network) can't be questioned, but such things are better explored as the game progresses.
Ultimate Monster Battle Arena is set in a world that at one point saw a near total extinction event. This is evident across the world, but society has recovered - technology has advanced to around pre-War levels of its own accord: mechanical devices are prevalent; combustion power and electrical engineering is known but its applications are haphazard ownership of such is a rare luxury. Technology is enhanced in some places thanks to the discovery of Archaeotechnology - relics from the world that came before with specific purposes and indecipherable mechanics. These, much like Monsters, are the subject of much interest academically, but researching this is outside the scope of the game; their applications have greater value than their workings.
Monsters can come in all forms and sizes (though usually they start at “Big” and work their way up). If you can describe it, it's probably a valid monster! Giant lizards, giant birds, giant cats, giant robots, giant green balls of goo, giant electrical storms, giant lava creatures, giant plants (you may be seeing a theme with the word “giant” here) - all are good. There are only a few style notes we wish to make. First, however clever they may seem, Monsters are not sapient. Second, no two Monsters are the same species - they may be similar, but never the same. Finally, because of this, the scientific method does not work on Monsters - research is conducted, but study is done in the wild, not in laboratories. Players attempting to replicate their studies of one Monster with others will likely be disappointed, and attempting large-scale research on Monsters is also outside the scope of the game.
The game has been inspired by a number of sources. These include but are certainly not limited to:
While we expect this game to have many light-hearted and comedic elements, please note that the game is not purely comedic in nature. In particular, we are concerned that introducing OC jokes to the game may alienate players who are new to the Society, as well as running counter to the overall tone of Ultimate Monster Battle Arena. We ask players to keep this in mind over the course of the game.