Greybeard it sounds like you have connect issues.
When you are getting pings after you are dead like that, it just means that the damage packets are taking longer to get to you than the host expects. Although they are "out of synch", you didn't really die from "one ping", you died from all the pings you heard... even if you didn't hear them until you were in the tower.
Have you tried the alternate route? I have much better luck with it. To use the alt route instead of choosing the main arena, choose the "Alt Route Verio" arena. It says it is closed, but it is not, it is actually the alternate route to the main arena.
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Lephturn - Chief Trainer
A member of The Flying Pigs
http://www.flyingpigs.com "A pig is a jolly companion, Boar, sow, barrow, or gilt --
A pig is a pal, who'll boost your morale, Though mountains may topple and tilt.
When they've blackballed, bamboozled, and burned you, When they've turned on you, Tory and Whig,
Though you may be thrown over by Tabby and Rover, You'll never go wrong with a pig, a pig,
You'll never go wrong with a pig!" -- Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow"
