User:Curry9186/sandbox

Dueling Network is a free browser based program that facilitates online play of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game. It was designed by Ray Dumont and launched May 10th 2011. The site has since become a popular nexus for players to play, test strategies and compete online.

About
Created using Adobe Flash technology, Dueling Network is a browser based program that lets users play the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game online with other users from around the world. Dueling Network is non-profit and in no way affiliated with Konami, the creators of the card game. Aside from the home page site where the games themselves are hosted, Dueling Network also hosts a forum site and has an official Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a Youtube channel where administrators of the site release videos showcasing their duels or announcements for the community.

Website
Navigation of Dueling Network starts from the main menu. From the main menu players can access the Duel Room, construct their own decks of cards, check their, or other players', rankings, view player profiles, edit their own profiles, or change their account password. Available at all times, there is a button to display the current online users and buttons for private and public chats. Using the list of online users, it is possible to contact any administrators, whose usernames are green, silver, or gold, and ask for help or assistance with most problems encountered on the site.

Duel Room
The Duel Room is the hub for the players, where one would go to join a game. Games are divided into Advanced (rated), Advanced (unrated), and Traditional (unrated) and players can choose to join a duel that another player is hosting, host their own duel, or watch a duel already in progress. In rated games, players are allotted points based on whether they win or lose, which are used to evaluate the players' ranks. All the necessary actions in the duel, such as playing cards and tracking Life Points, must be performed manually. The interface itself doesn't provide any prompting for player moves so each action must be confirmed and understood between each player, facilitated using the in-game chat box.

Deck Construction
Users can construct any deck they wish using the catalog of cards provided. The available cards are kept up to date and encompass every card that has been officially released in any region that plays the game. Decks must follow the construction guidelines laid down in the Yu-Gi-Oh! rulebook, and they must follow the current restriction list, both of which are enforced by the site before starting a game, but players have the freedom to build using anything on the site. This gives many players early access to trends and strategies that may not exist for their region in the actual card game at that time.

Reception
The general reception for Dueling Network has been increasingly positive. The site has succeeded in drawing new and veteran players alike due to its ease of use and accessibility, which has also resulted in many users transferring from other online dueling sites. Many prefer it to other sites such as KCVDS and Yu-Gi-Oh! Online, but it isn't without faults. Since the games are conducted between the players, unsporting conduct, such as cheating and player disputes, lead to a lot of unresolved problems, often resulting in administrators having to be contacted to settle the issue.

Due to the association the website has with the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, there was much speculation that the site would receive a cease and desist order from Konami for copyright infringement. Though the possibility still stands, the only action that has occurred came in June 2011 from Dueling Network's server providers. The card back design that was originally being used mirrored that shown on actual Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, and fearing legal action, the server provider temporarily shut down the site until the design was changed. Since then, design contests have been held on the forums to come up with various card backs for the users.