V, glad to see you saw this thread. I can considerably simplify the equation for wait time, but I did not want to do so in the forum without first consulting with moderators.

i forgot to mention...there are actually three factors that determine the person who hits first...

quickness
luck
A random element (call it the hesitation factor!)

unlike the hungarian version it is NOT possible to stack attacks here. If you fail to attack during your allotted timeslot, then you forfeit that attack.

Unfortunatey though we do have the same problem as the hungarians at high level pvp. Putting it simply, whoever hits first always wins. 

Perhaps that will change....eventually

its magic 
:p

While on the topic of Pvp's and chatting, how come sometimes I can't type anything into the box, and other times I can? does anything, within my power to affect, control that?
thanks

...As today in a duel agains Trader. Even for the short time I was typing(before I even made my first hit), the countdown initiated. After I delivered my first shot, I had to wait for a mere 4 seconds before I could hit again. This wouldn't have been enough time for a reply, so I used a shield for the second turn. After the shield-hit, the counter went back to the proper 15 second delay.

Other way around:) If you're the one waiting for a bit, it's you who'll experience a shortened waiting time...:) Since your op started the duel, and his/her time is ticking off faster than your's.:) At least that's something similar to what I've experienced...:)

So in English... you might see a really low time because the other player takes a drink of beer between clicks?

The adjustment-to-first-attack system is a fact, the counter will start decreasing for both participants. However, there seems to be a slower deduction of time left for the player not attacking-this is to counter the trump card of the mages, the stack-attack of multiple shots in a fast sequence  to eliminate the vamping ability of opposing fighters. This balances out the duel system to some extent, unlike the hun version where a mage would just wait one minute and 30 seconds(the minimum waiting time is 30 seconds there) before  delivering 4 blows and finishing off the opponent for instance. 

As a conclusion, I am not saying this is an impossible phenomenon to see, it is actually quite likely. However, this isn't a bug or super-special ultra-secret formula or special feature, it is simply the side-effect of an accidentally or tactically delayed first shot of the second-to-attack player. 

in-game help > contents > fighting > Real time duel against other players:
Real time dueling also consists of rounds. The quicker player can hit every 15 seconds, while the slower player will have to wait more than 15 seconds between hits.

i've noticed occationally with a high-quick char, i sometimes appear to get wait times less than 15 seconds.  but after taking a closer look at it, it seems i didn't attack immediately when i could the previous 'round', so the amount of time waited was already deducted from the 15 seconds from the next round.

another possibility is that i heard a rumour (was a usually reliable source, at the time) that the initial times are calculated based on quick/luck of each char, but then after the first round, those times are adjusted, to account for the advantage of who got first attack.  now, while that seems possible, i don't believe it would be true because it's more complicated than most things are in this game, as far as i have noticed.  but that's not to say that isn't the case.  i don't really know.

--jason

66 quick and 1 luck... my wait time never goes above 15 seconds even with guys with higher quick, but it does drop to 10 seconds at times... donno if that helps at all :p