Carve up the competitors, or change the game?
The latest mini-tempest brewing in the Robot Fighting League is Robogames plan to divide the 1-lb (Antweight) competitors into a two competition trees based on the age of the competitors, with age 17 being the dividing line. 17 and under fight in the "Junior League" and over fight in the open competition. Robogames already does this in the 120-lb (Middleweight) class. The idea here is that the "younger competitors" need robot combat that is less destructive and thus more attractive to new players, and that dividing the pool by age will accomplish this.
Does this work? Maybe yes, maybe no - it remains to be seen. Many of the competitors in the 1 lb class have been at it for years, starting at age 9 or 10. By the time they reach age 16 or 17 some of them are producing well-crafted, extremely destructive robots. Age is no guarantee of experience, either - there are always a handful of older players with their first robots at an event.
Since the rationale for making a division is because "new players don't want to get their robots destroyed the first time out" it makes more sense to divide the pool based on the experience of the robot builder, rather than their age. There is sufficient infrastructure for tracking events to keep track of this, should anyone care to try this approach. Dividing by experience is generally called "Pro" vs. "Amateur" or "Veterans" vs. "Noobs" or something similar. This raises the whole issue of whether anyone actually wants to be classified this way. Many builders are willing to go toe-to-toe with the current generation of KE Death Machines, others are ...less willing.
Perhaps the solution is to provide a different game for people to play. Enter the "Sportsman Class". Instituted in 2006 by the Northeast Robotics Club (NERC), the idea of the Sportsman Class is to encourage novel designs, interesting weapons, driving ability, and above all fun. The rules are not all that complicated - its a 30 lb class, with active weapons required (e.g. no wedges or pushy bots) and highly destructive spinning weapons banned.
The first event where this class competed was at Motorama 2007, with 12 entries, and a rousing good time was had by all. The robots in the class were a mix of flippers and hammers - bots that can do damage to an opponent, but are unlikely to leave nothing but a pile of scrap metal behind. NERC officials expect an even bigger turnout for the next Motorama event, in 2008.
The RFL is currently considering adopting the Sportsman Class, with rules based on those composed by NERC (with a few changes, but nothing earthshaking). This will give people interested in competing but not wishing to bring their robot home in a body bag more places to compete, without attempting to divide them up by age or experience.
Does this work? Maybe yes, maybe no - it remains to be seen. Many of the competitors in the 1 lb class have been at it for years, starting at age 9 or 10. By the time they reach age 16 or 17 some of them are producing well-crafted, extremely destructive robots. Age is no guarantee of experience, either - there are always a handful of older players with their first robots at an event.
Since the rationale for making a division is because "new players don't want to get their robots destroyed the first time out" it makes more sense to divide the pool based on the experience of the robot builder, rather than their age. There is sufficient infrastructure for tracking events to keep track of this, should anyone care to try this approach. Dividing by experience is generally called "Pro" vs. "Amateur" or "Veterans" vs. "Noobs" or something similar. This raises the whole issue of whether anyone actually wants to be classified this way. Many builders are willing to go toe-to-toe with the current generation of KE Death Machines, others are ...less willing.
Perhaps the solution is to provide a different game for people to play. Enter the "Sportsman Class". Instituted in 2006 by the Northeast Robotics Club (NERC), the idea of the Sportsman Class is to encourage novel designs, interesting weapons, driving ability, and above all fun. The rules are not all that complicated - its a 30 lb class, with active weapons required (e.g. no wedges or pushy bots) and highly destructive spinning weapons banned.
The first event where this class competed was at Motorama 2007, with 12 entries, and a rousing good time was had by all. The robots in the class were a mix of flippers and hammers - bots that can do damage to an opponent, but are unlikely to leave nothing but a pile of scrap metal behind. NERC officials expect an even bigger turnout for the next Motorama event, in 2008.
The RFL is currently considering adopting the Sportsman Class, with rules based on those composed by NERC (with a few changes, but nothing earthshaking). This will give people interested in competing but not wishing to bring their robot home in a body bag more places to compete, without attempting to divide them up by age or experience.
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