The Fighting Vapourbots Association League II
(attempt 2)

Yes, it's here. The one you all wanted. And this time, the spots haven't been filled up via MSN, as in retrospect it was really the wrong way to go about things last time. Yes, certain people who would probably not have upheld the quality of writing or entries that such a showpiece tournament would be expected to have were excluded, but so were a lot of perfectly adequate people who happened to not be on MSN at the time or didn't have it, and as a result a bit of alienation and anger arose and it frankly turned into a big mess.

Many apologies to anyone who was offended or who wanted to enter the last one but couldn't, mistakes were made and I hope everyone can forgive and forget.

Now, let's see what we can do with a view to getting this going again

RULES OF ENTRY

1) This is supposed to be a showpiece of the community's very best battle writers' skills and vapourbot designs. Nobody is excluded from entering if they abide by the rules, but please attempt to be civil towards each other.

2) You do not need to write battles for the tournament, although of course we'd like it if you volunteered to do so. If you do volunteer it will be up to the organising committee (that is, myself, Andy, Martijn and Kody) what battles and how many (if any) are assigned to you.

3) This is a heavyweight tournament. Commonly accepted Fanfic rules apply;

-3a: Maximum weight for wheeled (including omniwheeled) machines shall be 100 kilograms. Tracked machines get an additional 10%, or 110kg; as do shufflers and other miscellaneous forms of mobility. TRUE walking machines (the organising committee shall have the final say on what constitutes a true walker; Anarchy, despite being awesome, does not meet true walking standards) will recieve a 100% bonus, or 200kg.

-3b: The FRA ruleset applies with regards to allowable weaponry and anything not stated in these rules - with the following exception:
--Any gas may be used in a pneumatics system as long as it isn't obscenely dangerous (nitrogen, helium, compressed air, argon, kryptonite, etc. are all A-OK)

Therefore the limit for compressed gas is 1000psi, and the hydraulic fluid pressure limit is 3000psi.

3c: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE attempt to be somewhat realistic with your stats. Pushing the boundaries of technology is fine; sticking twelve 50kj spinning discs in a 100kg heavyweight isn't.
Equally please try and be as detailed as possible with your stats; I believe most if not all of the community are very good at this and keep adequate stat sheets, but any details that aren't stated will be assumed by the writer, possibly to your disadvantage.

4) Twelve people are required to enter two heavyweight vapourbots each. The following spots have been reserved:

Myself (Joey McConnell)
Kody Kunz
Alex Holt
Daniel Stickler
Martijn Benschop

Reserved spots will be held open for a period of ten days; after that they will become open for others to use.

5) The format of the tournament shall probably look something like this:

- A first round of 12 one-on-one battles to reduce 24 to 12
- A second round of 6 one-on-one battles to reduce 12 to 6
- Two 'loser's melees' of four of the losers of the second round each, the winner of which go back into the competition to bring the number of robots back up to 8
- From then on in straight one-on-one knockout battles will be used to determine the ultimate FVAL II Champion

6) Other details such as arenas, determining battle writers beyond the opening rounds, house robots if any, schedules, and grand prizes are to be determined closer to the time.

7) Try not to let this thread degenerate into arguing like the last one did. The tournament is for the enjoyment of all; please raise any issues you have with the fight quality or technical issues with the entrants reasonably so we can all improve, but don't start attacking each other or flaming. Leave the fighting to the robots, not the drivers

8 ) Please be aware that most of us - me included - can't spend all our free time on writing fights, and delays are something you will just have to accept. Don't bump the thread needlessly, and please have some patience and respect for the writers as they find the time to write fights of epicness.

9) That's all I reckon...oh yeah, get entering (seven non-reserved spots left), have fun and let's see some great action.