Inspiration/innovation in weaponry

[Eventorizon]

So would anarchy's walking mechanism be considered a shuffler by today's standards?

Yes, Anarchy is now classified as a Shuffler.

A bristle-bot would gain you no weight bonus at all, not to mention the issues with getting the thing to reverse, a total lack of traction, how fragile the legs would be...

[RogueTwoRobots]

There are reasons why we have the weapons we have, and why they have evolved to the point they are at now. Rather than trying to think of different or new weapons, I think people are better off finding different ways to deploy or use the current class of weapons

Noooo. Current builders tend to stick to using the current class of weapons for their robots and finding different to ways to deploy them, but if you discourage new people or those with a different outlook from thinking of new or creative weapons, then the game will stagnate and become less interesting as everyone sticks to tried and tested. Those looking for and experimenting with new and different creative things are what helps drive the sport forward