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Spockie-Tech
Site Admin
Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 3160
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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As I've said before "Banning X-Type Bots" is going against the robotic evolution paradigm of this sport. If you want to the beasts to change, alter the environment, and they will change to suit.
Put some bumps in the floor. leave gaps at the edge of the arena and dont allow unsticks, dont consider a "wedging" to be a damaging attack if it doesnt actually do damage.
None of these "ban" anything, you'r still perfectly entiteled to build a wedge, just dont expect to win with it. everyone wants to win of course, so wedges dissapear.
Keep the floor flat and unstick-friendly, and consider a "wedgie" to be an offensive move, and wedgies will abound.
I think altering the environment is the best way to encourage people to change their tactics without having to flat come out and say "X is banned" _________________ Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people
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Fri Jun 03, 2005 2:11 am |
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Spockie-Tech
Site Admin
Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 3160
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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quote:
Originally posted by Big AL:
where are my posts are starting to disappere to .
Hey Al, are your posts appearing as posted properly, *then* vanishing ? or are they not posting properly after you have written then ? Soem more information would be good there. Is anyone else havign dissapearing post problems ? (I'm not and havent heard of any others yet)
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The "should <insert boring robot here> be banned ?" question has been discussed quite a bit before on various forums and the best answer I have seen is that its badly-executed examples of *any* bot type that is boring, not the type itself.
Maximus/Blue Max is a "boring 4WD Wedge", yet anyone who has seen any of its matches will agree that its anything but boring.. As jake put it, if it can make the other bot get significant air-time by bouncing it off the wall and into the air at 30mph, then it is deserving of the name "rammer"
A poorly made "Yet-Another-Bar-Spinner" that slowly limps around the arena, deals out a big hit or two, then falls apart from its own energy kickback does not make for an exciting competition either, despite it not being a "boring" wedge - it just spoils the game for those unlucky enough to have to face it in its first fight or two while its still fresh..
A dedicated builder who puts thought and effort into making their bot interesting, creative and reliable is what makes the difference between a square box with a spike attached to it, and something like ArachnoPhobia, which is exactly the same "type" of bot, yet is visually interesting and exciting to watch fight.
I dont think that banning any particular type is the answer to making to more exciting matches, instead, keeping the ratio of skilled builders vs new builders (who are still figuring out how to keep it all together) relatively low - (ie, not having too many newbies starting off at the same event) is probably a better solution.
Having a "beginners" class *might* be a solution, although as we've seen so far, nobody seems to *want* to play in the beginners class so far, they all want to jump straight into the ring with the experienced builders & drivers (probably not realising what they're in for).
Perhaps we should do what they used to do in the Go-Kart racing game - When there were too many newbie's at one event, they would put them all into a seperate heat together, and only the best of the "L" plater winners would get a spot (at the back of the starting grid) in the main heat. At the end of each heat, you had to get your "Learners" Go-Kart licence signed by 2 of the marshalls saying you didnt do anything stupid, and after 3 heats with no black marks against you, *then* you "graduated" into a full licenced driver and could compete without handicap in the full-races.
BattleBots and Robot Wars did something similair with their "qualifying" rounds that you had to pass prior to getting into the TV rounds where the fighting got serious..
Or to turn a phrase I saw as a bumper-sticker on a V8 Muscle-car once.. "Ban Low-performance drivers, not high-performance Cars !"
Lots of work to administer though, and probably not necessary at this stage of the game, unless we get a sudden influx of newbies that all want spots at a public event, which lowers the overall quality of the "show" significantly as they have to sort out their teething troubles in front of the audience..
Worth keeping in mind as the sport grows though.. _________________ Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people
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Fri Jun 03, 2005 9:16 pm |
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dyrodium
Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 6476
Location: Sydney
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LOL, problem solved!
We're starting a small lightweight comp down here, no spinners allowed (for now anyway). This means i can build a bot without needing all the $$$ mechinery that you need to cut and weld ali, steel and Ti accuratly. Also, today at marayong i witnessed a very important key factor in the intrest people have with matches. UNIQUNESS
It was the axecutioner... An 300w axe bot, and speed-bump, half a thick conduit plastic tube that was about 1.5m long and 15cm wide with 4 drill motors for POWER. These was by far my favourite robots of the day, and the reason wasn't for death-factor (however speed-bump did come 2nd!), or for $$$ factor (with both costing less than any of the other bots). They was just DIFFERENT. They're innovation and experimenting that makes matches exciting. The americans went wild over "that darn dustpan" due to its uniqueness. Sure, it wasnt too effective, but it had that "cool" factor that makes some robots stand out from the rest. I dont see why we should ban wedges even more than thinking we should ban saw-bots, i just think matches are more interesting when people probe into the unknown
Hence why i'm making a lightweight robot, it gives me that freedom to experiment without being slaughtered by jolt orbit and plan b .
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Sat Jun 04, 2005 7:42 pm |
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