Hobbyweights anyone?

[blazerbotics]

Robots need the public, they pay for the events to be put on. Without live events around the country what are we supposed to do with our robots, drive them around the garden? Recently weve seen alot more featherweight fights been included into events, and alot of the time these arent entertaining enough.

I have no problem with people building 6kg bots, if alot appear i may make one. But at the moment i dont have time, why do i have so many robots to look after?

[grant_ploughbot]

I didnt mean it to sound quite so nieve, but you seem to think the public dominate robot combat, and thats not true, we do, the roboteers.
And obviously the public do matter, but its what we want. If we want to start an official 6kg weight class then the public shudnt be able to stop us. 6kg weight classes will be simple to build, anyone could from a remote control car, and so wouldnt that be an extra for the public, to know they can build a competative robot chaeply?
And Ed, you seem to thing its us Coopers making a huge fuss over things, its not, we want just what Ian and many others want, a new class at low prices, and its a good way of testing out new feather designs without spending much money.
thats exactly what we want to be able to do without people like you complaining that the public dont want us to, Im sory if its not just want you want, if you dont want one dont build one! What is the point in having robot vcombat dominated by the veiwers? Yes Some people might earn money from it, but when its dominated by what people want to see, then its not always what the roboteers want to do. and isnt that by any chance why we fight robots? To build and fight what we want?
Well my answer to that is yes...
And i bet many others think the same, just dont want to speak out.

Grant

[grant_ploughbot]

And yes Alan, the public do pay for events, but if they didnt would that mean that there wouldnt be any held?
Rc Wars holds practice events without paying public dont they. Although they are only small there events.
I would rather pay to enter an event where the robot classes and fights are what the roboteers want than get into an event for free and only do what the public want. I think its amasing at the moment how poeple such as RR pay for you to come and do your hobby, thats great. But i hope you can see what im trying to say, its not purely about the public like some of you make it sound out to be.

[blazerbotics]

but grant, your event is one of many throughout the year and my understanding is that you arena is going hired out to be used at public events.

[storm]

Yeah, I thought that was slightly ironic given those two back to back posts as well Alan ?????

Grant, Ive not said people shouldnt build them, Ive said think carefully about fragmenting a finite number of builders. Please read what Ive written before making sweeping statements about my views.

Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com

[grant_ploughbot]

Yes it is, but i mean the sport of fighting robots isnt purely based around the public, they are a big part of it, but it could survive withought pubilic veiwers.
Im saying that I would rather pay to go to an event where you do what everyone wants to do than go for free to an event where what us roboteers want is just thrown out the window.
Do you understand what im trying to say? That why should we be almost punished (iltho not quite the rite word to use) by not being able to fight a new weight class at most events because the public don;t want us to.
As Ive said yes Rc Wars will run them t almost any event aslong as there are enough because its what people want to do, i mean who will want to go to an event where there not able to run one or more of their robots when they have spent time and money making it to fight? Fair enough smaller robots most likley wont be very entertaining to watch, but atleast you have fun fighting them. And thats what mostly matters, If a roboteer doesnt have fun, then they wont want to go will they.........
I hope you all understand what im trying to say, the public shouldnt stop an official 6kg weight class, or any popular weight class for that instance!

Grant

[fwsorg]

Big weight classes are a spectator sport I agree. Featherweights and below could probably survive pretty happily without the public. Thats not to say having the public isnt a good thing- FW.org wouldnt spend so long trying to organsise events with the public if we didnt think that. But 6kg weight classes could work perfectly happiliy without the public. Its not the be all and end all! There may be an eventual demise of heavies (I hope not, but it been widely predicted for a year or so), but small weight classes can exist perfectly well. Its nice to show off what are sport and hobby is all about from time to time, but I know of several roboteer only events for feathers in the pipeline- they should be more fun and more relaxed, certainly from an EOs point of view, and may set the tone for future events. Im sure there would be more non public events if it werent for the fact that some members of the community rely on paying public for their income.

Grant, no-one is saying the public are stopping us from doing anything. What Im trying to say is that :

There are a finite number of builders in the UK, with a finite amount of money.

They more weight classes you encourage people to build, the fewer people there will be in each class.

The fewer people there are in each class, the less fights you get, the fewer robots can take part in competition, and thus the less innovation you get per weight class.

My post was a warning to people to think carefully before setting a precedent that extra weight classes can be added at will.

Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com

[stu]

Also it depends on the type of event/show you have. You take an event like Preston which you went to Grant - you would have know the Feather Weights were not really a good crowd pleaser for over 1500 sitting paid public, if im honest, the heavy weigths only just did them selves justice.
At Feather Weight Smash 2003 and 2004 - we gave the ant weights a bigger than normal role there given at a live event, and the public loved it, thats only coz there wasnt over 1500 people at our event.

Ed didnt say that public or other roboteers would stop anyone building a 6kg robot. This is geting silly - do what you like in all honesty. Some people even build 250g robot,s i built one before. If an event has arena time, yeah go for it. I think this topic has just been blown out of poportion due to people mis reading and taking other peoples views the wrong way.

Mr Stu

[grant_ploughbot]

you sat im not listning to what you have written, i think its quite the other way around.
people wont stop using a robot from one class just because there is a newer class.
i wouldnt stop using my feather just to fight a 6kg robot, i dont see why you have this thought locked in your head that this wil happen, 6 kg robots may influence newcomers to build bigger and better robots, but i think its a very good starting point for people to learn.
from reding posts that roboteers say to newcomers to build an ant weight rather than a feather at first i really think these 6kg robots will take their interests more than ants and as feathers are possibly too hard to build at a very competative level.
I think Eddy understands what im saying, Ed, just try and look at it from all sides before trying to immediatly string out a new weight class.
thanks, grant