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Come one, come all! It's time for another action-packed ARC season! The format for posting your team is posting your Team Name, a picture/link to picture of each bot and a breakdown of their stats. If your entry isn't right we can gladly help you fix it. If you're new to the game feel free to contact a staff member and I'm sure one of us would be able to help you orginize your team.
We're going to try and shoot for 16 entrants so we can divide into 4 divisions withen 2 conferences. The sign-up date could be flexable depending on if we meet our entrant quota (meaning it could be shortened if we get enough people), extensions are a possiblilty, and will be taken on a case-by-case basis (if you're lollygagging around, you'll get no sympathy from us mofo).
Now the rules:
GENERAL RULES
- Everyone enters 4 bots, one from each weight class (LW, MW, HW, SHW) and assigns them stats using the old point system.
- The battles will take place in a Round Robin style (as opposed to the traditional tournament style) in which each bot will face every other bot once with playoffs afterward to determine the champion of each weight class.
- No double entering the competition (that means no smurf accounts or anything like that).
- You€™ll be expected to follow proper role-play etiquette; no directly referencing others RP€™s or being completely arrogant (i.e. €œI€™ll probably pwn this guy all over the place€Â).
- Fight cards will be posted on Sunday usually, and you will have one week to post your RP€™s. If the fight card is, for whatever reason, late, you will still have a full week to RP.
STAT SYSTEM
As previously stated, the point system will be the same as the past three tournaments with 22 points being divided up between Speed, Armor, Torque, and Weapon.
Speed: This stat affects how fast your bot moves around. For thwack bots, including Y-drives, however this acts as your actual weapon power, when spinning.
Weapon: This stat affects how powerful your bots weapon is. If this stat is higher than your armor, then it is also reflective of your bots weapon armor. For thwack bots, including Y-drives, this stat indicates the bots actual floor maneuvering speed, while your bot is spinning.
Traction: Traction will govern pushing power, acceleration, the ability to turn your bot around, the recoil you take from getting hit by a spinning weapon or hitting someone with your spinning weapon, and how long it takes for you to come to a complete stop when moving around the arena.
Armor: This stat is how durable your bot is. The higher it is, the more damage it will be able to withstand. As with Weapon, if it is higher than your weapon power, than this stat will be reflective of the weapon armor.
IMPORTANT!!!!! The passive armor rule has been modified:
Passive armor is the main chassis of the robot, to include all wedges, plows, and plates that are a part of the chassis or frame, and will have the base armor stat. Passive upgraded armor includes wheel guards, plows, wedges, bars, spikes, weapon shafts and heads(thwacks) and plates that are solidly attached but obviously not part of the main chassis. As a default, all passive armor counts as the armor stat with no additional bonuses. HOWEVER, you can give plows, wedges, rams, etc. additional bonuses as long as you offset that bonus with a subtraction from all other areas. Here's an example:
Bot (Armor 8) with a plow on front and wedge on back. You give your plow a +2 armor and your chassis, wheels, wedge a -2. SO therefore, your plow have an armor of 10 but everywhere else, your armor is a 6.
A more in-depth explination of the rules can be found on the main site in the ARC section.
Simply put you enter four robots, one in each weight class, and give them points out of 22 in Speed, Traction, Armour, and Weapon. Yes, you must post a picture to accompany your robot so we can get a better idea of that stuff. Do not fret, we do have people who are experienced at CAD who would be more than willing to make your dreams a reality (:P) With that said, you don't have to make a beautiful CAD to enter in the competition. Even your crude paint bot can enter and do well. Just look at one of our resident veterans: Philip. He's entered a paintbot every single season and he's one of the most successful competitors.
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OLE PLAY RULES
In these leagues, we have always made it a priority to focus on both aspects of robotic combat: the design and the driver. It has been said before that a good driver with a poor robot can beat a bad driver with a great robot the majority of the time and I, personally agree with that notion. This is why it is important to know the proper way to strategize and win a battle against a formidable opponent. First let€™s go over the ground rules and the basic etiquette, if you will:
1. ROLE PLAY ON TIME - New fight cards are posted every week. Check the fight card to see when the due date for the card is. As long as you get your role plays in before then, you'll be fine. Always role play in Fantasy RP Room in the forum. If you role play AFTER the deadline, you still might be able to get your RP in before it's too late but do it fast because after the deadline, the writer's start to do the results and they aren't waiting on you. If they get around to your result before you have your role play in under the RP board, it goes in as a forfeit and you lose.
2. Be polite - It€™s usually common courtesy to extend a wish of good luck to your opponent at the end of an RP, although not necessary. The main idea here is that you do not talk down to your opponent, that you do not regard their robot or their stat allocation as idiotic or anything of such. It is perfectly possible to say that the opponent is poor without resulting to poor manners.
3. DO NOT REFERENCE YOUR OPPONENTS RP - This is one that I cannot stress enough. Even vaguely referencing them is frustrating and completely ruins the system of trust. Waiting for your opponent to RP in order to get an idea of what they are doing, and then just €˜happen€™ to defend yourself against that tactic is frustrating as well. Try not to read your opponents RP at all, until you have finished yours if you can avoid it.
4. Do not be arrogant - This is an extension of being polite but is way more important. Even if you€™re fighting a Y-Drive spinner that has an omni-wheel drive, just simply state your tactics and how the opponent will succumb to them.
5. Be concise, but specific - This is one I have a problem with doing. Sometimes you just don€™t have the time to write less, so you end up writing more to be more specific. This isn€™t saying that you shouldn€™t be specific, but simply that it€™s easier for the result writer if you restrain from being verbose. Try to say the most in the least number of words.
With that said let us look at a sample role-play (RP):
€œFor this fight, I'm gonna go for all out aggression, but maintain enough control to avoid hazards. I have a slight advantage in speed, equal torque, and a one point disadvantage in armor. Armor should not be a factor here, as if he reads this before posting I offer up a challenge of a ram bot duel. Nothing but slamming each other into the walls like a drunken hillbilly abusing his kids. Either way that will be my strategy. I'll come at him full speed with the plow and try to juke him. His narrow wedge should afford me a shot at getting under his wheels and turning him to the side for a big slam. My fangs should catch on his wheels and hopefully when we hit the wall the force will damage his wheels or drivetrain. If I can't juke him out after a few tries, I'll reverse and bring the wedges at him. they should have no problem sliding under him, and then I can to a maximus style backslap into the wall, let him drive off my other end, then use that end to slam him into the opposite wall. All the while I'll be careful to avoid the nail. If he gets under me I'll use my superior speed to escape and get back on the offensive. Let's face it, it's simple, but Copperhead doesn't require that much strategy, I'll just be aggressive and slam him into everything I can.
Good luck and may the best bot win.€Â
This is an example of a great RP. It€™s concise, yet it hits all the important parts that the writer wanted to emphasize. He mentions the advantages he holds in the stats, while downplaying any disadvantages. He uses his robot€™s statistic advantages (high speed, and torque) to the full extent, mentioning how exactly they work and how he uses them to defeat the other robot. He then uses the robot€™s design advantages (the shape of the wedge, his €˜fangs,€™ etc.) and how they will make a play to give him the upper-hand. Lastly he takes about specific strategic decisions that he will make, such as trying to juke-out the opponent, and to get under the opponent and slam them.
This RP, I feel, hits the basics of what an RP should be. He mentions the advantages he has, both in stats and design, and downplays any disadvantages that he may have. He talks about specific strategies and how they will play into him winning. He is nether arrogant, or presumptuous. It is concise, but talks about everything that needs to be talked about.
The important thing to remember is that an RP is an argument. You are trying to debate and convince the result writer why exactly you should win, through use of statistical, design, and strategic advantages.
One other thing before I forget. If you really are strapped for time but really do want to enter, you can just do what Dan and Joey did last season. Enter together! You enter LW and MW, and your friend enters HW and SHW. Even though Joey dropped out a couple of weeks in, Dan made it to a semi-final and a final! Hell if push comes to shove, we'll even accept a team that has four people entering one robot each (but I would prefer if you each entered your own teams of four robots, or at least entered in groups of two.) 