Thread for silly questions about rules!

[Remote-Controlled Dave]

I think you're right Peter, except for the fact that I didn't suggest it originally because I didn't like it. I use the rule myself and am happy too. I suggested it as I thought it might improve the sport, but as originally stated I was in two minds about it.

[Rapidrory]

As I said before, I don't think uneven clusters are enough of an issue yet to justify a rule about them. Hopefully roboteers take this discussion as an incentive to try something more creative (like dan is doing). I'm considering it, though since I'm just finishing up 4 rollers it will depend on whether my latest grabber thing is underweight enough to cluster something with... Next AWS I'll try be more original

Toys were banned partly because AWSs are already getting to the point where there are too many entries to run a tournament in a day; considering the last Reading AWS had almost 100 robots entered, and I've sold around 80 ESCs since then, this year's AWS could be a little tight.. little things keep getting suggested to try and fit it all in, but at the current rate of growth something more drastic is going to need to happen soon... bit of a tangent I know, but just another thing that could do with discussing in advance..

[limpet]

Some sort of qualifying rounds going on concurrently then on to the main event with the qualified ones.
You could even do it with the current set up by running two or three arenas with specific groups in each, then go to one arena afterwards for the group winners.

[EpicentrE]

We've discussed that before, and it raises a couple of issues;

> Venues will need to be bigger to accommodate the extra arenas
> You'll need more arenas (and with the average arena size increasing the costs and complications of constructing and transporting them are higher than they've been before)
> You'll need more judges, organisers, and people calling fights to keep things running smoothly
> Unless the arenas are identical, people will feel unfairly treated if they end up fighting in an arena which more plays to their opponents strengths (for example, I'd rather not fight Anticide in an arena with lots of drop off and low walls, and I'd rather not fight a spinner in an arena with very few pits or drop-offs)

Three things that would definitely speed up events are;

> Dropping the warm-up competition. This is a shame, but I think it's probably becoming necessary. However, losing the warm-up competition may well leave more time at the end for extra events, so I think overall we won't see a decrease in amount of fights people can have
> Doing the sign-ups faster. This has a few facets; firstly, roboteers need to sign up accurately and on time. Hopefully the new sign-up system will help any issues relating to this. Secondly, EOs should be looking to get people signed-in and tech checked as soon as possible after they arrive, rather than waiting until most people have arrived to start trawling through the entries. You can assign an extra person to this if the EO is still busy with other aspects of the event. Thirdly, we need to set a strict cut-off time. It's OK if you're a bit late; we know traffic and roadworks are a pain. But if there's no sign or contact from someone by a pre-decided time it should be assumed that they are not attending. A phone number of an EO or someone who's involved of the running of the event should be given on the forums so that, in the event that a competitor is running late, they can call ahead and let the EO know to include their entries in the draw.
> Doing the draw faster. As much as I love Dave Lawrie, doing the draw and creating the brackets manually takes far too long. EOs should definitely be using Antlog or some similar tool for this.

I failed on basically all of the above on my last event which is why it overran so much. I know the above sounds demanding, but I think it's necessary to start being more strict and organised at the beginnings of events as the number of entries increases. I know all of the above are certainly things I'll be doing if and when I run another event in the future.

Also people need to be realistic if they're not ready when called for a fight. If you're called to fight, and you need anything more than 10 seconds before you're ready, tell them to call the next fight. If fights are being called well, those people are probably already waiting at the arena ready to go. It wastes everyone's time if we're standing around waiting while you go "almost ready, just a little longer, I'm almost done" etc. rather than just allowing us to run the next fight.

[Remote-Controlled Dave]

I think the speeding up of events thing is being blown slightly out of proportion. We have overrun twice, once was the Reading one with the two rooms where the final stages had to be rushed, and the other where Scott had to withdraw and leave early (though the rest of the event ran fine and even Scott admits his double booking was a bit ambitious). There is a whole list of stuff we can do to speed these up.

1) setting a sign in deadline and an event start deadline and making it strict. "If you're not there and ready by so and so time, you'll miss the draw". Slightly harsh maybe, but some people don't half dawdle! If you get delayed or stuck there is no reason you can't phone ahead and say "I'm still coming, please include my robots in the draw" then we can put the fights back as much as possible.

2) Automated draws. Not quite ready to be available to all people yet, I still can't work it, but getting there, and saves a LOT of time.

3) Smaller arenas. Not a popular solution maybe, but a solution nonetheless. Smaller arenas equal shorter fights. Of course there are other factors here too (no one wants 90% of fights ending cos of driver error) but I would say Peter's arena with the new extra walls is a perfectly acceptable fighting surface whilst considerably shortening fights.

4) No warm up. Simply no time for it anymore.

5) Moving fleas and nanos to the end of the day. As much as we need to be running them, these competitions should take secondary place. If left til nearer the end of the AWS they can be ran whenever the majority of their combatants has nothing left to do, freeing up a lot of time. Last time the fleas alone took an hour and a half, this can be time moved to run parallel with the later stages of the AWS, or after if there is only one arena.
If you plan to enter multiple events with the same robot, that's your choice, but if you get mangled in the AWS then you can withdraw from the other comp before the draw is done, thus only affecting yourself.

6) Event organisers acting more authoritative. This one is a bit...controversial maybe, but if you're going to run an event, you need to do more than simply mumble the next three fights into a microphone no one can hear. It is not people's job to stop all they are doing and listen to you, it is your job to make sure they hear you. Now you all know I'm able to project my voice across a room (AWSs are the only time in life I am known as loud) but that's what you need to be doing, three/four fights in advance! The last event was slowed whenever we were waiting for someone who wasn't even aware they were supposed to be going in, despite the fight being called several times. Shouting is essential! If you'd like me to do it, just ask, but you need that degree of urgency and authority in place from fight one.

7) Dual arenas. Not always a practical or doable solution but a solution nonetheless.

8) If you need more time to get your robot ready, ask for it! I agree totally with Scott here, too many people go "just a minute!" without being specific.

9) Have the fight order available to see on a secondary source. Again not always possible but a solution.

10) Does anyone really NEED a "lunch break" anymore? This used to be so the committee could meet but that's no longer as possible so why not play it by ear? If you find time is going well after the first few rounds, announce a short break. If time is getting tight, you always get time to shove a sandwich in your face between your own fights, so make your own time to. And don't go off to the pub like Krissy did!

There are 10 easy ways to improve speed at these events, all of them reasonable. By implementing just a few of them we can save a good hour or so, leaving more than enough time to get everything done. The sport is swelling nicely in terms of numbers but we are in no way at dangerous levels yet. We just need to be more conscious of it.

[teamocean]

I've spent a great deal of time working on most of these points to speed up our AWS in Reading after we overran the first time.

Last year was considerably smoother and we still had time for breaks during the competition which I feel was down to the following.

1. Having the sign in and tech check linked to the draw (we used a google doc running on the Ipad for sign in which linked to Mark's laptop where he was updating the draw as people signed in) this worked very well.

2. Removing the warm up competition. A practice arena was provided for anyone who wished to use it though.

3. We had a stict deadline for sign in which worked well.

4 Using Antlog for the draw instead of doing it by hand.- also allowed us to print the groups so that people could estimate when they will be called as well as see potenital opponents

5. The smaller arena. This drew some complaints but did help to keep things running smoothly.

6. Annoucing the fights four at a time. As you all know I spent the entire day shouting at everyone to queue up so that all four fights were ready to go at any one time but this did mean that if anyone was held up we could quickly switch with minimal delay

7. Giving people 5 minutes to get into the arena when their fight is called before forfeiting the match. This was in place at AWS 43 and worked well as an incentive to get into the arena. Also no one actually fell foul of this on the day.

The next AWS will be run the same way and should be even easier since we are all going to be in one room with multiple projector screens showing the running order. If this doesn't keep things running smoothly I give up