Talk:Robot Wars: Series 8

Restarted
Apologies that the archival happened before discussions may have necessarily ended, this needed to be done before the series started airing, and I'll be unavailable right up until Sunday. If anyone needs to continue an old discussion, move it over here, but only if necessary. Toast Ultimatum  20:17, July 21, 2016 (UTC)

Prof. Noel Sharkey article
Found quite an interesting article by Professor Noel Sharkey on some of his memories from his time on the show and the legacy of it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36866552 Combatwombat555 (talk) 09:00, July 24, 2016 (UTC)

Today: How will it happen?
Seeing as today is the day how exactly will we approach this? Will we edit articles and add results? Or will we wait until the series ends? Or wait for a week or so? Diotoir the  son  of  nemesis  (talk) 09:41, July 24, 2016 (UTC)
 * We would probably edit it during the gap between the episodes. --WolfwingandSlaveLeia (talk) 10:02, July 24, 2016 (UTC)
 * We have, I think we're fine to update straight away.  Toast  Ultimatum  11:49, July 24, 2016 (UTC)
 * Once it's broadcast, it should be fine to do everything we can from that one episode only. If you haven't seen it, don't look at the wiki basically. However, before we edit anything, we should all sit down and watch it. Don't add things in while it's being broadcast, then after it has finished, join the RWW chat and both go through our reaction, and work out who is going to make what edits there, to stop loads of edit conflicts and multiple write-ups of different things. Don't try to be the hero who does all the edits, if we work together it will be an easier, higher quality and less worked effort to update the wiki. J  im laa  d4   3 (talk) 14:09, July 24, 2016 (UTC)

3 2 1 Activate
Well it's now under 2 hours until this long awaited series of robot wars is on the television. I have the robot in my mind which I think will win today but I'll say after the episode is aired since I used teaser trailer to help my assumption. There is only one last thing to say... LET THE WARS BEGIN! 321Annihilate (talk) 17:25, July 24, 2016 (UTC)

10 minutes to go! I am going to get prepared. See you when it's over. 321Annihilate (talk) 18:50, July 24, 2016 (UTC)

I thought Carbide would win I thought Carbide would win! 321Annihilate (talk) 20:02, July 24, 2016 (UTC)

Glitch
There is a slight glitch on the robot wars website saying that Behemoth went through to the final. Just a glitch though. 321Annihilate (talk) 07:46, July 25, 2016 (UTC)
 * I've seem the glitch to. Also, Tiberius is misspelt as Tiberious on the website. --WolfwingandSlaveLeia (talk) 10:11, July 25, 2016 (UTC)

BBC Store
The new series has been added to the BBC Store, £1.89 per episode (each one available the day after broadcast) or £9.99 for the Series Pass. https://store.bbc.com/robot-wars Is it worth linking to it on each respective page or on the Merchandise page perhaps? --Voyanuitoa (talk) 08:35, July 25, 2016 (UTC)

Consistency of Head to Head/Round Robin
I've seen both of these used interchangeably at the moment (Behemoth and Nuts), and I think we should lock one down. As much as I agree that the Round Robin is the better name, I believe that we should use Head to Head because that is what the show format describes.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  03:05, July 26, 2016 (UTC)
 * Yes, I would use Head-to-Heads over Round Robin, as it's official. Round 2 can also be used where applicable. Toast  Ultimatum  13:41, July 26, 2016 (UTC)

Roboteers as users
More pressingly, now that the Wiki is 8 years old I think it is safe to say that we have acquired a reputation amongst the community. Obscure competitors like The Hassocks Hog through to Robot Wars giants like WJ Dijkstra and Ian Watts were invaluable in creating our website, and I'm sure that minor competitors have found their little articles by now. Those competing in the 2016 series will more than likely come and visit their pages and we've now seen at least two create accounts to help out.

Robot Wars Wiki was created by nostalgic fans, but unlike before, the Wiki is being updated with information as it happens. I believe that the way to proceed is vital. As such, I've compiled a list of things we should make wiki policy.

1. Identifying roboteers The "welcome" template should be edited and a single line added to ask roboteers to identify themselves. Talk pages should be monintored for responses.

2. The Roboteer knows more about everything than you do. Don't contradict what a roboteer says. Ask for references or clarification where necessary.

3. The Roboteer may have never used a Wiki before Expect edits to sometimes be raw text, in dire need of formatting, editing and perhaps even culling. Be patient and helpful wherever you can.

4. Be polite, warm and welcoming to roboteers This Wiki was built to honour their contributions. Do not insult them. We are privileged to have their input. We want a good reputation amongst roboteers, not a bad one.

Other suggestions welcome.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  03:05, July 26, 2016 (UTC)


 * As a fan/contributor turned roboteer, I think these guidelines would really benefit both sides and prevent a lot of the incidents seen recently. Thanks for suggesting these changes! Craaig Team Nebula/Snappy Robots (talk) 12:28, July 26, 2016 (UTC)
 * Absolutely. At this point, I think there's only one person left who hasn't yet adapted to this mentality, and now he's received his first block over the matter, we will hopefully see change. Let us never see rollback used on a roboteer again. Toast  Ultimatum  13:41, July 26, 2016 (UTC)


 * I think though that should be clear that roboteers are still bound by the same rules as all Wikians. I also think that there should be blocks for every breach. 1 day, 2 day, 4 day, 7 day, 14 day, 28 day, so on, doubling with repeat breaches.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  13:59, July 26, 2016 (UTC)


 * Further to the "roboteers are wikians too", I think it needs to be clear to all roboteers that the Wiki is not their personal journal. The Wiki takes a position of impartiality and should not be imbalanced in the version of events by virtue of one side editing the Wiki whilst the other does not. The Wiki is not their personal journal. With those principles, I'm going to draft the policy today.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  23:20, July 26, 2016 (UTC)

Spoilers
So I think we need to talk about when something is a spoiler, because I don't believe that something should cease to be a spoiler on the date of being aired. Some of us have to wait a few days. I've had pieces of Episode 2 ruined for me, and I'd like to avoid that. So I propose that everything should have the spoiler tag until seven days passes from the air date. All competitors should be spoiler-tagged, as well as the episodes, team pages and articles like UK Finalists and Judges. Obviously, some pages like UK Finalists will be spoilered until the finale airs.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  06:55, August 2, 2016 (UTC)

I do agree Toon since I also got spoiled about Episode 2. But are we really going to mnage to get the message to everyone on the wiki. Surely someone would ignore it? 321Annihilate (talk) 07:23, August 2, 2016 (UTC)


 * It's not about sending a message to the whole wiki, it's about putting the spoiler tag on each article and not removing it until a certain point.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  07:28, August 2, 2016 (UTC)
 * That's three people now who've bad bits of Episode 2 spoiled. I've got to be blatant... why would you risk going on Recent Changes before you've watched the show? That just seems unwise. Honestly it was my plan to remove spoiler tags everywhere about two weeks after the entire series has finished. Somebody might want to binge-watch the whole series or something. Toast  Ultimatum  13:01, August 2, 2016 (UTC)
 * I agree with Toast, why risk going on the Recent Changes anyway? Diotoir the  son  of  nemesis  (talk) 14:51, August 2, 2016 (UTC)
 * We've made it clear that we'll be editing as soon as the episode is over, so until you've seen the episode, don't check the wiki. J  im laa  d4   3 (talk) 15:37, August 2, 2016 (UTC)
 * In all fairness, though the new series is the big thing right now, it's not like episode summaries are the only thing that need work. It doesn't seem like too much trouble just to leave the spoiler tags on a little bit longer. Besides, there'll be a fresh round of editing with each new episode, so we can just delete the old tags during that.  /M|ddle Eye\  (Talk)    18:26, August 2, 2016 (UTC)


 * Because quite bluntly, that's what a spoiler tag is for. I've got no sympathy for anyone who reads the 2016 series page, but people should be able to come to Recent Changes at least. There are almost a dozen series of Robot Wars that people should be able to write about and the spoiler tag is to warn them that they might want to back off slightly. You guys have asserted your knowledge of 2016 series to every single fan, which is simply preposterous. Not everyone knows that Draven entered 2016 series, or Infernal Contraption, or The General, or DisConstructor. We shouldn't have to avoid the website completely just because people can't be bothered coming up with a structured plan for the spoiler tag. I'll do it myself. No one is going to stop you from editing, but you should at least be conscious of others, otherwise we get a reputation for arrogance and "well you should've watched it" and people will stop coming to the Wiki. I mean, have you even considered the time delay that means that people outside the UK won't even know the airtime? To cover every contingency, I think one week of spoiler warning on articles is fair. Any disagree with that?  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  22:10, August 2, 2016 (UTC)


 * "You guys have asserted your knowledge of 2016 series to every single fan, which is simply preposterous." You do realise that's what the point of this website, a Robot Wars encyclopedia, is, don't you? Of course we're going to post as much information on the new series as we can, we'd be doing a bad job if we didn't. The spoiler tags are around. CrashBash (talk) 22:38, August 2, 2016 (UTC)


 * That's my point, the spoiler tags are not around, and there is no plan for them either. By all means include the information, but put the spoiler tag on. I'm going to start putting the tag on all the competitor articles of Episode 2.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  22:45, August 2, 2016 (UTC)

On a slightly different note, I've seen some inconsistencies with where the spoiler tags are actually placed within articles. At this point, I feel we should go with the tags being at the top of the page for new competitors, and above the 2016 part of the "Robot History" sections for returning robots, but I'd be game for another at the top of the latters' pages, just to be safe.  /M|ddle Eye\  (Talk)    23:21, August 2, 2016 (UTC)
 * The spoiler tag should be above the earliest spoiler on the page. The top section of the competitor pages have intentionally been written spoiler-free. Toast  Ultimatum  23:29, August 2, 2016 (UTC)

Wildcard
Can I just clarify on whether or not there is official confirmation that the wildcard will actually be one of the heat finalists? I know the website says that the wildcard will be selected from one of the "runners-up"...is that literally what it means? Just want to make absolutely sure. CrashBash (talk) 17:35, August 2, 2016 (UTC)
 * I think its Heat Finalists only, it's judged by how well they competed in the heat e.g. in the first two episodes, currently, Thor would be the wildcard as it has done better than Behemoth though of course this can change say if a robot gets a knock out in every battle but loses in the Heat Final, then that would be the likely choice. Diotoir the  son  of  nemesis  (talk) 17:39, August 2, 2016 (UTC)
 * I know from private sources that the wildcard is indeed a heat finalist. Toast  Ultimatum  17:40, August 2, 2016 (UTC)

Do we know if the wildcard will be announced at the end of Episode 5, or at the start of the Grand Final?--Voyanuitoa (talk) 06:25, August 3, 2016 (UTC)
 * Personally, I really hope it's announced at the end of Episode 5. It'll be easier to make another rank prediction that way. CrashBash (talk) 07:51, August 3, 2016 (UTC)

Withdrawn competitors
Seeing quite a few robot withdrew due to problems, wonder if this is why Chimera, Nuts and Gabriel were allowed to fight? Afterall Team Die Robotics claimed that Armakillo was meant to be in Episode 1 same heat as Nuts... This is just a theory. I wonder how these robots would have fared? Diotoir the  son  of  nemesis  (talk) 17:54, August 5, 2016 (UTC)


 * Another thought...if we're going to do this with the 2016 series, shouldn't we extend this to the other series? CrashBash (talk) 17:57, August 5, 2016 (UTC)
 * I can't think of any competitors that did knowingly withdraw after the end of the qualification process, apart from Sabretooth which would've done so at an undistinguished point in time. Daisy is probably on the template already. Do correct me if I'm forgetting robots though. Toast  Ultimatum  19:52, August 5, 2016 (UTC)
 * Why would robots withdrawing allow Nuts to fight? - Nuts was always qualified and selected to appear straight away. Chimera was a reserve, but Gabriel again was to my knowledge always selected to appear in the competition - and in Gabriels and Nuts case, theres no reason they should be allowed to (Chimera i understand, hence probably why it was a reserve) Garfie489 21:20, August 5, 2016 (UTC)