With battles typically only lasting a round or two, the arena really deemphasizes an interesting part of the game - high power and fury attacks.
It would be an interesting twist to have the arena double every character's HP at the start of the battle. That would alleviate some of the coin flip concerns and bring in a broader set of strategies. Of course, it wouldn't help with the time suck issue. Just a random thought . . .
Update: I'm sure this would cause all kinds of undesirable collateral damage. I just seem to get the most fun out of the occasional battle that goes many rounds.
druid138-6195