Robot Wars Wiki talk:Community Portal/Archive 8

Qualifiers
What would people think of adding a "qualifiers" page? It would strictly be a brief description of how the qualifiers worked in each series, not a list of battles or rejected robots. I'm thinking it would be classified as "behind the scenes," the same category as the Storm 2 Controversy page. I don't have good information on Series 1 or 2, but I think I could do the other series quite nicely. What are people's thoughts? '''R A 2 ; [http://www.youtube.com/user/ResettisReplicas aka Resetti's Replicas. ] ( My Talk )''' 07:52, November 30, 2009 (UTC)


 * If you can do it, please go ahead and show us. Pick an easy series as an example and we'll have a look at how you go before we look at doing others.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  07:57, November 30, 2009 (UTC)


 * Here's a start to what it would look like:

http://robotwars.wikia.com/wiki/User:RA2/Sandbox '''R A 2 ; [http://www.youtube.com/user/ResettisReplicas aka Resetti's Replicas. ] ( My Talk )''' 20:17, November 30, 2009 (UTC)


 * It does need a section on discretionary places, as they are very important. When you get to 6/7, which feature up to 4 robots, make sure you note that any or no robots from a bout could qualify, like the entire group from Ewe 2's qualifier.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  05:57, December 1, 2009 (UTC)


 * Are you sure there were cases of the winner not qualifying in Series 6 and 7? R A 2 ; aka Resetti's Replicas. ( My Talk ) 14:59, December 1, 2009 (UTC)

I could be mistaken, but I don't think that the first three series had qualifiers. I think the teams had to show their designs to the producers and they decided which robots would take part. That's why SHARON didn't take part anyway. Christophee (talk) 15:07, December 1, 2009 (UTC)


 * In Series 2 and 3, the robots had to do some sort of a slalom or obstacle course. I remebmer seeing a video of Rottweiler 2 qualifying for Series 3. I'll go looking for it later, but they basically had it demonstrate its cotrollability, and there were some crates that they could smash up to demonstrate their robot's power.
 * However, I do suspect tha thtere were no qualifiers in Series 1, becuase they needed every robot they could get. R A 2 ; aka Resetti's Replicas. ( My Talk ) 15:15, December 1, 2009 (UTC)


 * The Slalom sounds right, particularly since it is in one of the video games. And you're definately right about the first wars - they still didn't manage to get the full 36 needed.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  11:51, December 5, 2009 (UTC)


 * The one where they smashed crates could well have been called "Collateral Damage", like in Arenas of Desturction. ManUCrazy 21:35, December 18, 2009 (UTC)

Reduction in Team Pages
I've come up with a solution to our massive reduction in needed team pages. The infoboxes are frustratingly long, in my opinion, so I've proposed an idea. We can have either the "Other robots" or a link to a Team page. Therefore, we don't need Robot the Bruce and Chaos in Chaos 2's infobox, nor do we need all of Adam Clark's machines in each infobox. It also means that useless teams like Team Disruptor, maybe Team Mace, some of the Universities, Team Vercingetorix, Team Bodgeit, and Team Desert Storm, to name a few, will no longer require pages just for the sake of having them. I really like this idea, and its more of an announcement than a suggestion, but can I have some feedback before I implement it?  TG    (t    c)  23:23, March 15, 2010 (UTC)
 * So for teams like Team Typhoon, we remove the "Other Entries" and simply link to the team page, but for ones that won't get a team page, just leave the Other Entries list in the infobox? Sounds good to me. I'll start going through the ones that currently have team pages.  ManU Crazy   (talk)  02:10, March 16, 2010 (UTC)
 * I'll carry on with this in the afternoon.  ManU Crazy   (talk)  03:29, March 16, 2010 (UTC)
 * Ok, it looks like you've finished them up.  ManU Crazy   (talk)  14:22, March 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * Yeah I like this idea, because as I've been slowly going through all the robots making little changes I've been putting in the < br/ > and its really annoyed me on pages that have the perfect length infobox to results table then having to make it look odd and long, just because of the house form. Llamaman201 (talk) 17:03, March 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * I've now updated UK Series Teams. Those pages that remain either exist, or will certainly be created in the future. Can someone now please suggest how we can alter UK Series Competitor Robots? And also, I want all of the robots pages audited, with links removed on the teams, and those who will have the teams, finish the job from above that ManU and I started.  TG    (t    c)  23:32, April 25, 2010 (UTC)

New ideas
Can I have some thoughts on my new ideas?  TG    (t    c) 

Idea 1 - A succession box honour for the fastest robot each main series of UK Robot Wars

 * Demolisher (40mph)
 * Schumey (30mph)
 * Facet (48mph)
 * Terror Bull (40mph)
 * Spawn Again (25mph)
 * Sabre Tooth (70mph)
 * Tsunami (30mph)

Didn't Spawn Again move around at top speeds of 25mph? Rammingspeed


 * For Series 7, Shredder Evolution had top speeds of 25mph, slightly higher than Storm 2. They both appear to be good ideas.  ManU Crazy   (talk)  14:33, April 9, 2010 (UTC)


 * So far, I've guessed Schumey is for Series 2 - it reached 30 mph. Can anyone find anyone higher than that? Also, we still need Series 5 and 6.  TG    (t    c)  01:15, April 10, 2010 (UTC)


 * Does Sabre Tooth's 75mph count from Series 6? Llamaman201 (talk) 10:59, April 25, 2010 (UTC)


 * Tsunami reached 30 mph, higher than Shredder.  ManU Crazy   (talk)  17:10, April 30, 2010 (UTC)


 * 70 according to its page. Llamaman201 (talk) 17:21, April 30, 2010 (UTC)


 * Great work, guys. I didn't expect this idea to succeed, but well done.  TG    (t    c)  21:39, April 30, 2010 (UTC)

Idea 2 - A category called Seeds that lost in Round 1.
Hi guys, can I ask the opinion of Suicidal Tendencies (5) and Terrorhurtz (7) in regard to the seeds losing in round 1 thing. What do people think?  TG    (t    c)  01:07, April 10, 2010 (UTC)


 * I agree about Suicidal Tendancies. Less sure about Terrorhurtz. I'll need to think about it.  Helloher    (Death is not my phone number)  07:48, April 10, 2010 (UTC)


 * You agree about it being included, or excluded from the category? It comes down to whether we consider it a "loss" or whether we consider it as "going out in round 1". Interpret it either way, that's what we're deciding on. Personally, I think both should be in the category.  TG    (t    c)  23:43, April 10, 2010 (UTC)


 * Hello? Contribution as I asked would be appreciated.  TG    (t    c)  10:04, April 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * Whoops, didn't see this edit. I believe neither should be in. They went out for other reasons rather than losing a battle.  Helloher    (Death is not my phone number)  11:55, April 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * Any others? Its now 1-1.  TG    (t    c)  22:19, April 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * I feel that neither of them should be in the category, because their Wins/Losses records don't show or count them as Round 1 losses. Suicidal Tendencies won, and Terrorhurtz withdrew (well before the series) but the producers presented the situation in the way they did because they were desperate for "drama".  ManU Crazy   (talk)  23:12, April 24, 2010 (UTC)


 * Thats good logic. I think we'll stand by how it is.  TG    (t    c)  23:15, April 24, 2010 (UTC)

Idea 3 - Two categories on Wins/Losses

 * Robots whose final appearance was a win.
 * Subcategory - Robots whose final appearance was winning a tournament (Mortis, Pussycat, Storm 2)


 * Robots whose final appearance was a loss
 * Subcategory - Robots whose final appearance had them thrown OotA (Hypno-Disc, Behemoth, Panic Attack, King Buxton)

The category is only for robots who fought in more than one series. Thoughts below  TG    (t    c)  23:43, April 10, 2010 (UTC)


 * Come to think of it, is it actually possible to have your final battle be a win without winning a tournament? I can only think of Ultor, Suicidal Tendencies, Razer and some others who dropped out. I'm thinking that the categories should be:


 * Robots whose final appearance was a win.
 * Robots whose final appearance had them thrown OotA.


 * That way, both a broader and better.  TG    (t    c)  10:19, April 25, 2010 (UTC)


 * I like the sound of both.  Helloher    (Death is not my phone number)  10:38, April 25, 2010 (UTC)


 * Same here. Llamaman201 (talk) 10:59, April 25, 2010 (UTC)

Is it only the second category that applies to robots that only competed in more than one series?  ManU Crazy   (talk)  16:22, May 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * I think it is both the first and the second.  Helloher    (Death is not my phone number)  16:42, May 1, 2010 (UTC)

Idea 4 - New line of Articles

 * Gentleman's Agreement
 * Seeds
 * Qualifiers (being worked on)
 * Youtube
 * Fanboy
 * Stock Robots (WYSIWYG, Grunt, Mouse)
 * UK Championship
 * US Championship/Dutch Championship
 * Grudge Matches
 * Tectonic Robot Wars


 * It is generally not good practice to write about fandom on a show's page. Gentlemen's agreement is good though, as our current list of terminology is somewhat obscure. R A 2 ; aka Resetti's Replicas.  ( My Talk ) 00:15, April 11, 2010 (UTC)


 * I do not understand what you are talking about, I'm afraid. The three other pages would just include some basic information about how they relate to Robot Wars. For example, Youtube would list the history of Robot Wars videos uploads, significant vloggers, and perhaps the Sunset and Vine incident with GladiatorsBoy. The Fanboy page could be a small definition, and examples of "fanboy acts" - I'm aware that this would be hard, and would be difficult to keep a neutral tone. The Tectonic Robot Wars page would be a tribute to the lost website, a list of its content and whatnot, and we would link it to the TRACIE page. Those are my thoughts, and I think these pages would benefit the Wiki, but I'll leave it to a vote.  TG    (t    c)  01:26, April 11, 2010 (UTC)


 * Those things would be good for a history of the Robot Wars Wiki, but contribute nothing for people looking solely for information on the Robot Wars TV series; the main purpose of the Wiki. R A 2 ; aka Resetti's Replicas. ( My Talk ) 07:23, April 11, 2010 (UTC)


 * They don't have to look at them. Things like this are always interesting to me. There's no harm in having them, but I think we'll leave the latter three ideas off for a couple of months.  TG    (t    c)  07:27, April 11, 2010 (UTC)


 * The Fanboy page shpuld probably be protected- we don't want to deal with random fanboys editing the page with flaming/vandalism. The other three are good ideas.  ManU Crazy   (talk)  23:18, April 24, 2010 (UTC)


 * Agreed. I do think these articles have merit, as other wikis have this sort of info as a sort of background thing.  Helloher    (Death is not my phone number)  10:36, April 25, 2010 (UTC)

I've added a few others to the list. RA2 is currently on his exams, but he still has a half completed page on Qualifiers that I'd like him to complete at some point. As for UK and US Championships, I think we should have one place to discuss the format of the championships across the Series. Eg. It started with 6 Heats, comprising of Gauntlet, Trial and Arena, with a six-way melee as the Grand Final. It was expanded to 12 heats of same format and a different final, blah blah blah. The US Championship would be similar, but shorter. We could do one for the Dutch Robot Wars, but the German Wars would probably just be added onto the same page. Volunteers please.

I've decided to write Seeding myself, and I plan to upload it upon completion. Youtube, Fanboy and Tectonic will be completed later, but I've asked RA2 to do Tectonic, because he knows it. That leaves Gentleman's Agreement, which I'd like a volunteer for.  TG    (t    c)  04:00, April 29, 2010 (UTC)


 * I still don't entirely understand it, but if I could have an example, I'd be happy to write this page up.  Helloher    (Death is not my phone number)  19:02, May 3, 2010 (UTC)


 * Why not just start with UK Championship. I may do Gentlemen's Agreement later. However, if you still want a go, just mention Razer v. Pussycat, or Hypno-Disc v. Raizer Blade.  TG    (t    c)  22:02, May 3, 2010 (UTC)


 * Does the UK championship article need to mention Extreme?  Helloher    (Death is not my phone number)  08:21, May 23, 2010 (UTC)


 * No, there was no UK Championship in Extreme. Shouldn't mention any side competition, either. It should, however, mention New Blood.  TG    (t    c)  08:47, May 23, 2010 (UTC)

Pay attention
I've recently archived this page, but I've left on the important things. Would people please get involved in these ideas?  TG    (t    c)  23:03, April 24, 2010 (UTC)

Dutch Series
I just received an email from WJ Dijkstra. He informs me that he just finished digitalising Dutch Robot Wars, and the link is somewhere in the Dutch Forum to all of these battles. Happy searching to those interested.  TG    (t    c)  09:36, April 29, 2010 (UTC)

Please can a link to it be posted?-- Deadbot uliza   (talk)  16:14, April 29, 2010 (UTC)

Here's the link: http://easy-upload.nl/f/8t5Avx9o. A couple of caveats:


 * 1) I have not gotten it to work myself
 * 2) It's in torrent form, which I do not know how to use
 * 3) The total filesize is just under 25 gigs, and the download will take about 9 hours

If anyone can figure it out, good on them, and please tell me how to do it. '''R A 2 ; [http://www.youtube.com/user/ResettisReplicas aka Resetti's Replicas. ] ( My Talk )''' 20:10, May 2, 2010 (UTC)


 * Have you never downloaded a torrent before? You need to get a torrent program like BitTorrent or uTorrent and they'll download it for you when you click on the link. Then it will all go into the folder you specify as separate files (unless WJ has saved it as one long video) and you can watch it all. Christophee (talk) 11:05, May 4, 2010 (UTC)


 * Right, I did all that but the progress bar never went above 0. Anyways, I just got word from the uploader himself that the link is in fact broken.  He'll be able to restore in about a week.  I only managed to grab Series 1 before it went down, but I'll get the rest when it comes back. R A 2 ; aka Resetti's Replicas.  ( My Talk ) 15:30, May 4, 2010 (UTC)

New Category
Can we pick a category named Robots that committed suicide? Not that phrase, but along that idea. The idea is robots that eliminated themselves - Grunt, Disconstructor, Killerhurtz and Wild Willy come to mind instantly. It doesn't count for Thermidor 2 or Disco-Inferno, both of whom were just avoiding taking further damage. It has to have been unintentional - Grunt being the exception because we know the truth, but to roboteers at the time, it was unintentional.  TG    (t    c)  05:24, May 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * I like this. I presume T2 would be included as well?  Helloher    (Death is not my phone number)  06:51, May 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * No, technicalities (such as winning regardless of its being pitted) would make it invalid. According to what RA2 told me about Dutch Series 1, however, Philipper belongs in the category.  TG    (t    c)  07:19, May 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * I think I understand. Last question, would Shredder or Major Tom be included?  Helloher    (Death is not my phone number)  08:07, May 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * I think so as they were unintentional. Llamaman201 (talk) 13:18, May 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * What about robots like Wild Thing who were unlucky enough to be standing on the pit square right as it descended? R A 2 ; aka Resetti's Replicas. ( My Talk ) 13:37, May 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * Shredder and Major Tom, yes. As for Wild Thing....we'll just go for the majority decision. My vote is no, for the record.  TG    (t    c)  14:55, May 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * Seconded.  Helloher    (Death is not my phone number)  15:39, May 1, 2010 (UTC)

Dutch Series link. VERY TIME SENSITIVE!!!!
The link to download the Dutch Series is available again, but only till Sunday, so hurry! Here's the link: ftp://drgdownload.endofinternet.net/ Username is DRG password is DRG@Download  The files are very large; you will need about 21 gigs of space to store them all (you don't need 2003 part 3 since Heat E and and the Grand Final of Series 2 are on Youtube.), and the download will take approximately 10 hours. Since the files are in ISO, they can't be viewed in Windows Media Player without taking some special steps. Please read this tutorial and download the application they instruct you to: http://techie-buzz.com/how-to/mount-iso-files-as-a-virtual-cd-dvd-drive.html?rel=seboost.

I expect everyone who is able to download the videos to contribute to the Dutch Wars pages.

'''R A 2 ; [http://www.youtube.com/user/ResettisReplicas aka Resetti's Replicas. ] ( My Talk )''' 17:05, May 6, 2010 (UTC)


 * I tried downloading the first one but it was going to take over six hours so I decided to cancel it. Sorry I won't be able to contribute to the articles. Christophee (talk) 13:33, May 7, 2010 (UTC)


 * As much as I want to see Slicer in action, my computer is a bit sensitive to mass downloads, sorry. Llamaman201 (talk) 15:07, May 7, 2010 (UTC)

It's alright, don't worry about it. Just one more important thing to everyone who does download it; the picture in the Seires 2 videos is a little bit "squeezed", you'll notice that it doesn't look wide enough. When you take a snapshot of a Series 2 video, increase the length to 130% to preserve the proper ratio. '''R A 2 ; [http://www.youtube.com/user/ResettisReplicas aka Resetti's Replicas. ] ( My Talk )''' 20:56, May 7, 2010 (UTC)

I managed to download the three 2002 ones (and will convert them from VOB to something like MPG), however the last three haven't worked today.  ManU Crazy   (talk)  20:57, May 8, 2010 (UTC)


 * Do the videos include the theme song at the start? If so, does it just use the regular Robot Wars logo or does it use a special one like Extreme Warriors? If it has a special one, could you possibly upload it so we can use it for the infoboxes? Christophee (talk) 10:47, May 10, 2010 (UTC)


 * Perhaps the Dutch spelling of Robot Wars?? Llamaman201 (talk) 16:26, May 10, 2010 (UTC)


 * Nope, it's just the regular theme song with footage of the House Robots attacking, and a series of MST3K-style doors. The logo is the standard Robot Wars logo. R A 2 ; aka Resetti's Replicas.  ( My Talk ) 17:02, May 10, 2010 (UTC)

Could WJ or someone that downloaded this reupload this, please?

Failed US Pilot; significant?
I recently learned about the first attempt to bring Robot Wasr to the US, before the days of Extreme Warriors. They invited 8 US teams to come to England and fight a mini-tournament for the US pilot episode (which ended up falling through, sadly). The prize for winning was to represent the US in the First World Championship. Several of the robots were ones we're familiar with, including FrenZy Mangulator, Rammstein, Mjolnir (Todd Mendenhall's robot before the Panzer MK line), and the eventual winner Mauler. So, what do you think? Does this merit an article? '''R A 2 ; [http://www.youtube.com/user/ResettisReplicas aka Resetti's Replicas. ] ( My Talk )''' 01:18, May 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * If we get enough info about it, it does in my opinion.  Helloher    (Death is not my phone number)  07:24, May 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * It does sound like some that would help to complete the encyclopedia, so yes.  ManU Crazy   (talk)  16:46, May 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * I agree.  TG    (t    c)  23:10, May 16, 2010 (UTC)

reduction of excessive hyperlinks.
As there are already hyperlinks in the results pages, should we remove hyperlinks of competitor robots that are in the battle summaries, like I did with A-Kill? Obviously, we must keep hyperlinks to other bots to help navigation around the wiki, but do we need them twice? If you disagree, feel free to do so. I don't really mind.-- Deadbot uliza   (talk)  16:37, May 21, 2010 (UTC)
 * TG mentioned in the job list that we should be removing links from level 3 headers, so yes, take them out. R A 2 ; aka Resetti's Replicas. ( My Talk ) 16:43, May 21, 2010 (UTC)

Categorising table templates
It seems that since I categorised the templates used to form tables, it has added an extra line to the end of those templates, making the results tables and some of the honours tables more spaced out than they should be. Does anybody know any way we can fix this problem without having to remove all the categories again? Christophee (talk) 23:45, May 28, 2010 (UTC)


 * I removed a line between the code and the category to try and fix it. It still looks too spaced out for the most part, but oddly, when you look at the changes between two versions of a page and scroll down, the top of the results table has gone back to normal. Hopefully the wiki is just taking its time to sort this out. Christophee (talk) 00:02, May 29, 2010 (UTC)


 * The two templates that I edited seem to have gone back to normal now, so I'll do the same with the others and the problem should hopefully be solved. Christophee (talk) 00:12, May 29, 2010 (UTC)


 * When I arrived on Typhoon's page, I saw the spaces, but after editing the page (not touching the table) it was back to normal. So, as edits are made, the table will be restore, I presume.  TG    (t    c)  00:54, May 29, 2010 (UTC)