[quote=@Vordak]
[@Willy Vereb]

[url=http://www.roleplaygateway.com/type-turn-based-combat-eden-era-t4212.html]T1 Rules.[/url] This should explain a lot, but if you'll still have questions left, feel free to ask.

[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/79678-rpguild-ranking-headquarters/ic]And these are our ranking headquarters.[/url] Free for anyone to join, this is the place where most challenges are issued and battles are agreed upon. You just need to post the characters you want to roleplay in the arena with in the respective tab and announce that you're open for fight in the OOC.
[/quote]Thank you very much!
So basically T1 is nothing but what you actually do during fights in forum RPs.
At least I hope nobody use this literally because the point would be have a fun and sensible battle than follow arbitrary rules.
Prepping is done in a way it actually does make sense. Not creating it for a skewed sense of balance.
To comment on the guns vs magic example, guns may need to be set-up because their recoil needs support. Doesn't mean you have to "prep" it every time when you fire.
Albeit you should if you are changing positions.
Similarly, defining the battle in "turns" is a nice way to simplify things but it doesn't always work.
Some actions take more time while others require less. You have to judge the "time window" your opponent gave you with that.
Or when somebody performs a "combo". It consists of multiple attacks but if you deal with the initial threat you don't need to deal with the rest.
On the other hand you can't just assume that then the player would continue doing the combo like a dumbass. So you usually only have the same time frame as usual.
That's my RP battle experience from other sites.

I also wonder how people in the Arena judge the description of collateral effects from more powerful attacks. No hits, enemy completely avoided the attack but then the player describes it as the explosion destroying half the ring, limiting the space they can fight in.
Alternatively the same thing happens but the player describes the effects of the enemy's attacks along with the way he dodged.
Either way it's an abuse.
Indestructible arenas can avoid such issues but they also make things look more artificial.
Some battles I participated in also involved an impartial GM who described the general effects and such instead of leaving it to the players.
But that's often too much of a hassle.
So I wonder what Arena-goers did in order to solve these.

Anyways, I'll check out that thread and perhaps create a profile there.