Opponents and leagues

[dire]

Hi Derek,

While looking for information about Dominions 2 I noticed your new Coliseum game. I played some of your demos a while back and quite enjoyed Overlord. This new game sounds interesting and I'm tempted to pre-order (even though shipping to Australia costs almost as much as the game itself ). I have a few questions:

Could you describe in more detail what happens in a season? Specifically:

- How many different "teams" (AI opponents) are there in the league, and do they control three gladiators like you? Are there any team bonuses you can choose?

- Is there a leadership table made up of teams and you play a round robin series followed by finals, or do you "sign up" your gladiators into a competition comprised of a tree structure (like tennis)?

Also, I'm wondering about how long gladiators live. For the potential rating to be worthwhile and for players to connect with their gladiators' persona, I would guess that not all battles end with the loser being killed. If this is the case, how does the game decide whether a gladiator is killed off in a battle?

Thanks!

David