At least in my area, hunger games style matches usually take place rather than straight furballs

what is this?

I would imagine that, in his area, everyone's learned how to avoid the problem of being in the center, so they tend to square off into duels in tiny corners in the world that are invaded by other players occasionally, where they're just trying to eke out a system of not-dying rather than all out aggression.

His group also might be playing with more obstacles than most, possibly modifying the obstacle density rules.

To avoid this, make the map size claustrophobic. Can't hide in a corner when the corners don't exist... but that comes with lots of trade-offs as well.

THE GOAL is to be the last man standing. There are no points for 2nd place.

• YOUR OPPONENTS will be everyone else on the table.

• OBSTACLES will be put forth by the game maker during the battle.

• REWARDS can help you offensively or defensively.

• ALLIANCES are encouraged. Talk to your friends before the game starts and work together to defeat your enemies. Just remember that at some point, your ally WILL turn on you. How well do you really trust him/her?

• FRIENDLY SHIPS - Since you can create alliances, you can also choose who is a friendly ship. This means you can use abilities that will help other players if you so choose.

In the cornucopia (the center of the map), you will have a chance to gain some really great upgrades to help you defeat your opponents. However, entering the cornucopia may mean placing yourself in a bad position.

Any upgrade fits on any ship regardless of the slot. Randomly selected by the game maker

Each ship type has a predetermind ps. Everything generic.

One of my LGS runs Hunger Games for new and casual players and has had great response so far.

They place upgrade chits in a ring near the centre of the map to encourage fighting early.

When you kill a ship, you take what upgrades it had - also encourages fighting.