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Off-Topic => Real Robotics => Real Robotics Discussion => Topic started by: RFS on February 10, 2012, 02:57:29 PM

Title: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: RFS on February 10, 2012, 02:57:29 PM
http://www.gatoraids.com/2012/02/most-one-sided-fights-in-battlebots/ (http://www.gatoraids.com/2012/02/most-one-sided-fights-in-battlebots/)


I wrote this article recently and I thought it'd be something you guys would be interested in. :) 7 laughably one-sided bouts in BattleBots plus a special bonus "Honorable Mention". :3
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Badnik96 on February 10, 2012, 03:09:20 PM
That was the funniest thing on combat robots I've ever read.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: ty4er on February 10, 2012, 03:10:06 PM
hahaha that was awesome
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: RFS on February 10, 2012, 03:29:36 PM
Quote from: Badnik96 on February 10, 2012, 03:09:20 PM
That was the funniest thing on combat robots I've ever read.


I also wrote some coverage of the 2011 "Killer Robots" special on Science Channel: http://www.gatoraids.com/2011/06/bbu-killer-robotsrobogames-2011/ (http://www.gatoraids.com/2011/06/bbu-killer-robotsrobogames-2011/)


The funny thing is it ended up being read by half the people I was making fun of in that article. But they were good sports about it.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Badnik96 on February 10, 2012, 03:34:00 PM
yeah I saw that too. This is funnier. Somehow.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: RFS on February 10, 2012, 03:34:40 PM
Quote from: Badnik96 on February 10, 2012, 03:34:00 PM
yeah I saw that too. This is funnier. Somehow.
Stewbot makes everything better.  :gawe:
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Badnik96 on February 10, 2012, 03:35:16 PM
yeah pretty much :P
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: MassimoV on February 11, 2012, 11:32:55 AM
This thing is hillarious. Great job.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Resetti's Replicas on February 11, 2012, 02:32:34 PM
Nice, I like it.  You should do one for RW too.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: MassimoV on February 11, 2012, 02:33:36 PM
If you ever do another one, you should do the biggest upsets.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: RFS on February 11, 2012, 02:49:55 PM
Quote from: Sonny_Resetti on February 11, 2012, 02:32:34 PM
Nice, I like it.  You should do one for RW too.


I thought about that, but the only issue is I have very little knowledge of Robot Wars, especially the UK series. It only aired on TechTV here in the states, which was a premium cable channel (meaning we never got it where I live because we had no money for stuff like "premium cable"). We had the US version on TNN/Spike (hosted by Mick Foley, which was god awful) and we had, of course, Nickelodeon Robot Wars which I never actually watched. I watched Robot Wars, but I never really caught onto it mostly because the show to me was always more flashy than literal combat.


BattleBots had a PPV special that I saw for free on my family's hacked cable box, back when descramblers were a thing, and their show ran on a basic cable channel so I was able to watch every episode and tape it and all that good stuff.


I feel like I wouldn't know enough about Robot Wars to sound educated on the subject which is one of the reasons why this article (and others) sound funny; I sound believable, like I know the subject matter. It adds to my credibility and makes the jokes flow better because the reader isn't constantly analyzing the article to see if I'm a moron.


If there was a place where I could see every episode and stuff in one concise and easy to navigate page then I'd definitely be up for it, though. I just wouldn't know the history of the robot teams and all that.



Quote from: MassimoV on February 11, 2012, 02:33:36 PM
If you ever do another one, you should do the biggest upsets.


I've thought about that, actually. I really want to pursue that one, but I don't want to write it immediately after having written a BattleBots article.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Resetti's Replicas on February 11, 2012, 03:01:52 PM
There's this, which isn't exactly compact, but is certainly complete.:


http://robotwars.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:Playlists (http://robotwars.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:Playlists) 


I might do it myself, except I don't really have the same harsh and merciless style of humor as you.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: MassimoV on February 11, 2012, 03:31:53 PM
Quote from: RadioFSoftware on February 11, 2012, 02:49:55 PM
Quote from: MassimoV on February 11, 2012, 02:33:36 PM
If you ever do another one, you should do the biggest upsets.
I've thought about that, actually. I really want to pursue that one, but I don't want to write it immediately after having written a BattleBots article.
That's fine, just giving an idea.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: RFS on February 11, 2012, 07:43:49 PM
Quote from: Sonny_Resetti on February 11, 2012, 03:01:52 PM
There's this, which isn't exactly compact, but is certainly complete.:


http://robotwars.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:Playlists (http://robotwars.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:Playlists) 


I might do it myself, except I don't really have the same harsh and merciless style of humor as you.


There goes my evening. XD
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Resetti's Replicas on February 11, 2012, 08:27:10 PM
You're actually going through with it?  I can give you some suggestions if it would make your life easier.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: NFX on February 11, 2012, 08:39:07 PM
I might suggest Hypno-Disc vs. RoboGeddon (or Stealth), Roadblock vs. Onslaught and Panic Attack vs. Toe Cutter. That's just me personally, though. Also Robot The Bruce vs. Wedgehog, I'd say that was the first example of a one-sided fight, if you discount Mortis and Leighbot.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: 090901 on February 11, 2012, 08:46:59 PM
Quote from: NFX on February 11, 2012, 08:39:07 PM
I might suggest Hypno-Disc vs. RoboGeddon (or Stealth), Roadblock vs. Onslaught and Panic Attack vs. Toe Cutter. That's just me personally, though. Also Robot The Bruce vs. Wedgehog, I'd say that was the first example of a one-sided fight, if you discount Mortis and Leighbot.
What about Hypno-Disc vs. Splinter :P
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: RFS on February 11, 2012, 08:52:43 PM
Quote from: Sonny_Resetti on February 11, 2012, 08:27:10 PM
You're actually going through with it?  I can give you some suggestions if it would make your life easier.


If there are folks here who know volumes about RW I'd be more than happy to check out specific fights if they're available to watch somewhere. Otherwise I'd be entering the article knowing almost nothing.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: NFX on February 11, 2012, 08:54:01 PM
Quote from: 090901 on February 11, 2012, 08:46:59 PM
Quote from: NFX on February 11, 2012, 08:39:07 PM
I might suggest Hypno-Disc vs. RoboGeddon (or Stealth), Roadblock vs. Onslaught and Panic Attack vs. Toe Cutter. That's just me personally, though. Also Robot The Bruce vs. Wedgehog, I'd say that was the first example of a one-sided fight, if you discount Mortis and Leighbot.
What about Hypno-Disc vs. Splinter :P
I actually thought that was a fairly even battle, persoanlly. Until the scoop came off.
 
And you can normally find the fights if you take a look on the Wiki for one of the robots, such as Roadblock, find the heat where it fought Onslaught (G, I think), and search YT for Robot Wars Series 2 Heat G Part 3, and it should appear, hopefully.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: System32 on February 11, 2012, 09:13:58 PM
Chaos 2 vs "anything without a wedge" or Razor vs "anything that looks like a box".
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: MassimoV on February 11, 2012, 09:32:52 PM
Spawn Again vs Evolution.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Resetti's Replicas on February 11, 2012, 09:44:43 PM
Quote from: RadioFSoftware on February 11, 2012, 08:52:43 PM
Quote from: Sonny_Resetti on February 11, 2012, 08:27:10 PM
You're actually going through with it?  I can give you some suggestions if it would make your life easier.


If there are folks here who know volumes about RW I'd be more than happy to check out specific fights if they're available to watch somewhere. Otherwise I'd be entering the article knowing almost nothing.


Do I ever!  Right now I would say I'm like Fluttershy during the "Find a Pet" song, except that reference would be lost on you.  It actually probably will work btter for you, not knowing every little facet about the robots like I do.




Hypno-Disc vs Robogeddon - big spinner vs flimsy armor

Razer vs Widow's revenge - A fight between the men and their "wives" (take that with the same grain of salt you take the drama on WWE.)  The armor looks to be held together with glue, they forgot to put an insulator between the casing and the electronics.
 


Wheely Big Cheese vs Axe Awe - Axe Awe is totally unequipped to fight WBC, its axe was not designed to pierce titanium, and its flipper won't flip such a long-bodied shape.
 


Storm 2 vs The Steel Avenger - Steel Avenger has a pretty useless weapon.  The arena is big and has very few hazards, making it very conducive to rammers
 


Fluffy vs 259 - A tantamount example of why people say that HS beats VS sure as paper covers rock.  Skip to 1:59
 


S3 vs Plunderbird 5 - Plunderbird was boned right from the start, its co2 canister exploded a few seconds in, and it looked like it was dragging shrapnel underneath.  Things get worse from there.  Skip to 4:14
 


Thermidor vs Napalm: Napalm is a machine from 2 years prior, painted black in hopes that it looks like an entirely new robot.  The frame shuddered when the captain slapped it, which should give you a sense of its durability.  Perhaps the most pathetic attempt at a weapon ever.  Skip to 6:51
 


Frenzy vs Detonator: Like Team Infernolab, Team Napalm couldn't stop at just one crappy machine. This is a special UK vs US episode, and after the Americans go 0-for-3, Detonator is brought in to ensure that one American gets past Round 1.  It has no weapons and its motor is gas-powered.  Skip to 8:53
 


Something from the Dutch Wars; even without subtitles it's easy to see what's going on.  PulverizeR vs √3.  Two tiny flippers and a wedge vs a robot that's impossible to flip.  They can't do anything but run, it's reminiscent of "The Most Dangerous Game"
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Mr. AS on February 11, 2012, 09:49:14 PM
any flipper vs no strimech/not invertible bot take a guess who wins
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: R0B0SH4RK on February 13, 2012, 02:11:35 AM
Another suggestion from Robot Wars - Dantomkia vs. Gravity:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgTrqRI4M6M# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgTrqRI4M6M#)
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: lloopp D lloopp on February 13, 2012, 12:09:16 PM
Hey, look RFS, these guys wrote about you! http://www.suicidebots.com/category/robot-combat/ (http://www.suicidebots.com/category/robot-combat/)
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Enigm@ on February 13, 2012, 12:13:58 PM
No RFS you need to write for cracked. The style you write damn near perfect to the way the articles on there are done, and heck, they'll actually pay you for it..
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: russian roulette on February 15, 2012, 05:21:33 AM
Ronin vs Revision Z
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: RammingSpeed on February 18, 2012, 04:49:20 PM
Where's Nightmare vs Son of Wyachi....?

Nightmare was cool, that's probably why.

hm.

Great article though.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: RFS on February 20, 2012, 11:56:43 PM
Quote from: RammingSpeed on February 18, 2012, 04:49:20 PM
Where's Nightmare vs Son of Wyachi....?

Nightmare was cool, that's probably why.

hm.

Great article though.


That's not really one-sided. Both Nightmare and SoW are incredibly well-built and formidable machines. The robots outlined in my article were pretty crappy overall, and yes that includes Snake. It might have looked gorgeous, but it fought like a burlap sack of kittens in a river.


Quote from: Enigma on February 13, 2012, 12:13:58 PM
No RFS you need to write for cracked. The style you write damn near perfect to the way the articles on there are done, and heck, they'll actually pay you for it..


Hell no. I'm not going to write for Cracked. I'm tired of them giving me the runaround with things and honestly I'm not signing exclusivity rights of my work over to an online magazine that time and time again does nothing but pander to the lowest common denominator of men.


Quote from: lloopp D lloopp on February 13, 2012, 12:09:16 PM
Hey, look RFS, these guys wrote about you! http://www.suicidebots.com/category/robot-combat/ (http://www.suicidebots.com/category/robot-combat/)


They offered me a job as well, but I had to turn it down because I'm not at a point where I'd be able to take their offer and work at it. If I were 16 or so I'd jump on it, but the time/money ratio was a little off, which is understandable because the site doesn't make much in ad revenue.


Their parent company, ComBots LLC, though, hired me.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: HurricaneAndrew on February 21, 2012, 12:05:09 AM
Quote from: RadioFSoftware on February 20, 2012, 11:56:43 PM
It might have looked gorgeous, but it fought like a burlap sack of kittens in a river.

Best analogy ever...
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Enigm@ on February 21, 2012, 12:09:35 AM
Quote from: RadioFSoftware on February 20, 2012, 11:56:43 PM
Quote from: RammingSpeed on February 18, 2012, 04:49:20 PM
Where's Nightmare vs Son of Wyachi....?

Nightmare was cool, that's probably why.

hm.

Great article though.


That's not really one-sided. Both Nightmare and SoW are incredibly well-built and formidable machines. The robots outlined in my article were pretty crappy overall, and yes that includes Snake. It might have looked gorgeous, but it fought like a burlap sack of kittens in a river.


Quote from: Enigma on February 13, 2012, 12:13:58 PM
No RFS you need to write for cracked. The style you write damn near perfect to the way the articles on there are done, and heck, they'll actually pay you for it..


Hell no. I'm not going to write for Cracked. I'm tired of them giving me the runaround with things and honestly I'm not signing exclusivity rights of my work over to an online magazine that time and time again does nothing but pander to the lowest common denominator of men.


Quote from: lloopp D lloopp on February 13, 2012, 12:09:16 PM
Hey, look RFS, these guys wrote about you! http://www.suicidebots.com/category/robot-combat/ (http://www.suicidebots.com/category/robot-combat/)


They offered me a job as well, but I had to turn it down because I'm not at a point where I'd be able to take their offer and work at it. If I were 16 or so I'd jump on it, but the time/money ratio was a little off, which is understandable because the site doesn't make much in ad revenue.


Their parent company, ComBots LLC, though, hired me.
that lowest common denominator happens to be me. :(
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: RFS on February 21, 2012, 02:12:05 AM
That's fine and dandy. I read Cracked for Seanbaby's column. I've read everything he's written for almost a decade now. Would be nice if he wasn't on Cracked all the time, but whatever. I enjoy his style and Cracked doesn't edit that out because he's a columnist. I'm simply not fond of Cracked's editing standards and practices and I do not wish to participate with them anymore.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Natef on February 21, 2012, 08:09:24 AM
I like Dan O'Brien.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: J on February 21, 2012, 01:02:37 PM
Skimmed it a bit, thought it was humorous.
.....
How the heck is Ziggo's builder a closet-furry?
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Scorpion on February 21, 2012, 01:21:09 PM
Wow, RFS came back? Didn't see that coming.

Great article as well, I really enjoyed reading it, even as somebody who has yet to watch any battlebots episodes.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Resetti's Replicas on February 21, 2012, 05:53:41 PM
RFS, would it offend you if I took a stab at writing the 7 most one sided Robot Wars Fights? Not for posting on your site, just for fun and distributing to friends.  I've just been sitting at my computer and writng stuff and I really like how it's coming together.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: RFS on February 21, 2012, 06:16:50 PM
Quote from: J on February 21, 2012, 01:02:37 PM
Skimmed it a bit, thought it was humorous.
.....
How the heck is Ziggo's builder a closet-furry?


The guy loves his cats and lives in San Jose (furry capital of the world), therefore he's a closet furry.



Quote from: Sonny_Resetti on February 21, 2012, 05:53:41 PM
RFS, would it offend you if I took a stab at writing the 7 most one sided Robot Wars Fights? Not for posting on your site, just for fun and distributing to friends.  I've just been sitting at my computer and writng stuff and I really like how it's coming together.


Be my guest! I've got my hands tied with this sudden job at ComBots so I won't have a lot of personal time to write non-RoboGames articles for a while XD


If the article comes out well I'd be happy to cross-post it to GatorAIDS under your name for you. :)
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Resetti's Replicas on February 21, 2012, 06:29:10 PM
Quote from: RadioFSoftware on February 21, 2012, 06:16:50 PM
Quote from: J on February 21, 2012, 01:02:37 PM
Skimmed it a bit, thought it was humorous.
.....
How the heck is Ziggo's builder a closet-furry?


The guy loves his cats and lives in San Jose (furry capital of the world), therefore he's a closet furry.



Quote from: Sonny_Resetti on February 21, 2012, 05:53:41 PM
RFS, would it offend you if I took a stab at writing the 7 most one sided Robot Wars Fights? Not for posting on your site, just for fun and distributing to friends.  I've just been sitting at my computer and writng stuff and I really like how it's coming together.


Be my guest! I've got my hands tied with this sudden job at ComBots so I won't have a lot of personal time to write non-RoboGames articles for a while XD


If the article comes out well I'd be happy to cross-post it to GatorAIDS under your name for you. :)


Oh Awesome!  I've been trying to capture your style, but I'm having trouble figuring out where to draw the line on what's appropriate.  My rough draft had a joke that someone's wife was his sister, an that seemed lie too much.


Also does GatorAIDS have an objection to me ridiculing the Battlebots announcers?  I talk a lot about how they're dumb and make too many sex jokes.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: RFS on February 21, 2012, 06:36:12 PM
>unsure if incest joke is appropriate on a site whose title is an AIDS joke
YOU CRAZY BRO XD


Basically, unless it is just blatantly and tastelessly racist, homophobic, or simply hateful it'll fly. GA is snarky and we nit pick and make fun of things that are stupid, kitschy, or strange whether it be a TV show, a toy, a video game, a person, a website, or anything else. If they act a fool they should be ready to hear from someone who wants to take the piss outta them. :)


You can try to emulate an existing style if it makes you comfortable and it's a style you're used to, or you can have your own voice.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: Resetti's Replicas on February 21, 2012, 06:38:16 PM
My own voice is boring, factual, and sometimes mistaken for a British guy, that's why I was concerned that I would hav etrouble fitting in.
Title: Re: The 7 Most One-sided Fights in BattleBots History
Post by: RFS on February 21, 2012, 06:50:28 PM
Quote from: Sonny_Resetti on February 21, 2012, 06:38:16 PM
My own voice is boring, factual, and sometimes mistaken for a British guy, that's why I was concerned that I would hav etrouble fitting in.


I wouldn't worry about it too much, when you write about robots just let the words come naturally. For example, when I was doing some preliminary research on Towering Inferno to write about it for the site I remembered that the creator built the first version in Lego. That's worth mentioning. Most people use some form of CAD software to fine-tune and measure out parts. This guy used Legos. Just from having this fact and comparing it to how other drivers design and build their robots you can already see how the humor is starting to form. Legos are for kids, it's ridiculous to build a test model of a BATTLEBOT in it. From there the only point is coming up with an appropriate way to present the information that lines the reader up for a punchline/quip, deliver the punchline, and go back to telling about the fight.


Humor in graphical form is like a line graph. You start at the bottom with information. This can be preliminary story or simple background info so the reader becomes familiar enough with the subject to understand what is being talked about. Then the line curves up with the build-up. You mention something that isn't inherently funny, but strange, like an observation or an additional fact that seems out of place. The line hits its apex and you make a joke at the expense of the odd-ball fact/thought. Then the line curves downward as a follow-up joke or funny statement is made (optional) and the reader goes back into getting some additional information to prepare themself for the next joke. Lather rinse repeat. :P


:)
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