BattleBots: 2015 Qualifiers Part 2
June 29, 2015 1:55 PM - Season 1, Episode 2 - Subscribe

A bot trying something unconventional brings things to a tight halt.
posted by drezdn (12 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Tombstone looks like it's going to be the toughest to beat.
posted by drezdn at 1:59 PM on June 29, 2015


If you're fast enough you can get behind the blade and basically do whatever you want. I think Icewave has a better chance, you can't avoid that one.
posted by Small Dollar at 2:31 PM on June 29, 2015 [1 favorite]


Rules lawyering is no way to win BattleBots.
posted by briank at 5:55 PM on June 29, 2015 [1 favorite]


Those spinner bots are going to go far once they get their thing up to speed. That Tombstone looked unstoppable.
posted by mathowie at 12:24 PM on June 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


Rules lawyering is no way to win BattleBots.

Are you referring to Complete Control actually reading the rules or Ghost Raptor complaining about the spirit of the rules?

The net totally should have been disallowed going on, but it was legal at the time (not to mention hilarious). And frankly, I think Complete Control got hosed in the rematch too. Ghost Raptor got in one good hit, which did more damage to itself than to its opponent.

Lesson to the Battlebots Rules Committee: Nerds will lawyer the rules. Either say "An official will tell you upon request whether your idea is within the spirit of the rules and will disqualify you if it isn't and you didn't ask" or be better at remembering what used to be in the rules.

Example: The Benedetto Amendment in Extreme Dodgeball: let a flagrantly unfair but legal tactic go through in a particular game and then declare it illegal going forward.

I'd love to hear some of the discussions/justifications on the wild card slots. I feel like Warhead got through on pure reputation.
posted by Etrigan at 4:55 AM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]


(Ugh, that "Example" should have been just after "(not to mention hilarious)", sorry.)
posted by Etrigan at 5:30 AM on July 1, 2015


Are you referring to Complete Control actually reading the rules or Ghost Raptor complaining about the spirit of the rules?

Mostly Complete Control pulling the dick move with the net in the first place, but, sure, the Ghost Raptor guys were kinda whiny about it.
posted by briank at 8:05 AM on July 1, 2015


I kinda wish that Complete Control had turned up to the rematch with a second mystery gift box.

(Didn't they give 2 other examples of things which were no longer explicitly excluded by the rules? Ball bearings and, um something else?)

That Tombstone looked unstoppable.

It did! Put most of your mass into your spinny weapon seems to be the lesson: the other bot's two spindly spinners were storing a lot less energy.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 10:58 PM on July 1, 2015


(Didn't they give 2 other examples of things which were no longer explicitly excluded by the rules? Ball bearings and, um something else?)

I heard it as something like fishing line and ball bearings are disallowed, but nets and other entangling devices are no longer specifically cited.
posted by Etrigan at 7:26 AM on July 2, 2015


Tombstone is legit.

One thing I've always liked about battle bots is you can get just catastrophic mismatches that would have been filtered out in nearly any other sport/competition.

Also it has history of bearing out simplicity over versatility, which I like about Tombstone as basically just a deathtrap-lawnmower.
posted by French Fry at 7:43 AM on July 2, 2015


Somehow that stupid net trick smelled to me like a pro-wrestling "heel" move. Are we sure it was as big a surprise as it seemed?
I think they could lose the flame weapons. Flashy but don't seem to be doing much damage to anyone.
Tombstone was cool. I wish the guy who built Biohazard was still competing but it looks like they have a good mix of vets and newbies.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 12:51 PM on July 2, 2015


Somehow that stupid net trick smelled to me like a pro-wrestling "heel" move. Are we sure it was as big a surprise as it seemed?

Okay, I'm about to go way too deep into heel-face psychology here.

It is absolutely critical that a heel gets away with an illegal move at least once and wins with it. "Winning" can mean not just winning a match, but putting his opponent out of action or somehow otherwise wreaking havoc beyond simply breaking the rules. It is only after it works that one time (or many times) that the virtuous face overcomes it, whether by avoiding it, countering it, or simply powering out of its effects.

With that in mind, Complete Control's net-box wasn't a classic heel move, because he ended up losing anyway. If the officials had said "Huh, yeah, that's not in the rules, so it was legal in this match, but now it's illegal" and CC had advanced, then it would totally be a heel move, because their narrative for the rest of the tournament would be Cheating Rules-Lawyering Weirdos vs. Hardworking Spirit-of-the-Game Builders (almost regardless of who they were facing). And the officials would be all over CC to ensure that they weren't pulling any more tricks like that (except that they totally would find some other way to skirt the rules).

Plus Ghost Raptor would have somehow made it to the next round, whether via wild card (the judges determining that it was more Aggressive, had a perfectly good Strategy, was in Control throughout, and did in fact inflict Damage on CC) or some other robot being too damaged to go on or somesuch, setting up a rematch deep in the tournament.

So yeah, I'd say that it was a surprise to the judges and GR. Plus rigging a competition like this is way illegal, like on a federal level.
posted by Etrigan at 2:58 PM on July 2, 2015


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