However we aren't talking about you, we are talking about people with little/no arena experience coming here and
a) being overwhelemed by the characters,
b) put off by the banter which can approach hostile,
c) realize that the arena fighters expect more in a fight than a few lines or a paragraph.
I have done simple instructional fights where I show people how to attack and defend. I have used weapons or hand to hand. Each person is different but many realize that to fight a T1 fight is much harder than a casual fight where you can simply say "Biff shoots Rilla with his .50 DE and then cuts off his head with his vorpal blade *snicker snack* and off with his head"
The issue is not the quality of instructors, rather the student's desire to learn to fight T1. I think it is great you had your learning expereince, however it is unique to you. How to translate that to others if they do not stick around?
The problem with people, everyone's different. To be honest, you could create a vast variety for every taste, style and desire, and do everything you can to carter to them but they might not stick around even then. It's a fact of rp and not just in the arena. I only managed to keep Blood Players because we communicate in the chatroom and discuss stuff, including what they could add or do with the rp, and even then I don't think that's why they stick around. I've had just as many people come and go as well despite how much I tried to be what I considered to be a good GM.
T1 in the arena, much like the other levels of rp, has its own flavor. First off, as you just stated it's not simply a statement and you're done with the action. While it has elements we use in normal rp, I recall a memorable one I did with Sundered Echo in Aftermath, many of these scenes are more chess mentality than story. Which I think turn off players a lot because they might figure here in the arena you have to be good at winning or you can't have fun. The only real way to know is figure out how to take a survey and actually get other people's thoughts on the arena and why it's intimidating for them or don't want to stick around. It's the only way I can think of that would even be close to getting the answers you're looking for.
As I said, I got lucky. Even mimicking how I was learning might not even work mainly by the sounds of it you're fighting against assumptions which every rp has. Adv. according to some common beliefs, is suppose to be paragraphs on paragraphs when a well written paragraph that 1. reacts to the scene, 2. adds something for others to build on besides monologue, and 3. has decent grammar can do just as much as a page of fluff. On the other side, Free is assumed to be lazy, illiterate, and other negative thoughts. Which isn't true for either one and I've actually played across the board to know this, though I prefer Adv and Casual. How to eliminate those, I can't say to be honest.
As unhelpful as that is, it's my thoughts on the matter.
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