The 'Pass' Concept in Scrum

#1 That is a good idea, but a shooting pass would be good for long distances. For example: If your opponent is almost dead, and he hits you, you stop. Leaving you open for an enemy attack. But with a shooting pass, your opponenent could drive alongside you, (they're protected) and shoot the scrum, and pull back. All this time you are moving closer to the goal, and since the enemies aren't any faster, they won't gain ground.
But! The problem with shooting the scrum is the enemy may be able to intercept it, and make a dash.
Every concept has it's flaws. Let's just leave scrum be. Why fix something that's not broken?


Nathan Gibney (Thinktanks ID: Nathan)
"Island hopping? What the hell for?"

#2 " ...a shooting pass would be good for long distances"

Imagine the endless scrumfights... You're almost dead, so you 'pass' the scrum as far as possible from the goal... or from your pursuers. The 'pass' would in effect be an 'escape' or 'scrum auto-eject' =)

#3 Passing wouldnt work it would change the game.
FP

#4 OK, limit the distance of passing to 1 tank length. That way you can only do a "driveby" (like I said above)


Nathan Gibney (Thinktanks ID: Nathan)
"Weentank is here too?"

#5 That is how I always envisioned a "pass" in TT.. VERY short.
One tank length at most.. simply a way to change the possessor without requiring you to ram them.. However.. there is nothing wrong with the current method.


"I'm open!"
Tank Dork

#6 I go in and out of thinking that a drop function is a good idea, but pass, ix-nay, at least not for scrum...


...but for what...

#7 The parallel in the history of (American) football is mildly interesting. The forward pass was originally not allowed in football. Just as it was not allowed in football's ancestor rugby. As the game evolved there were more and more bloody matches, and football deaths were common. This resulted in rule changes, one of the most important being the pass. (Originally only short passes were allowed.) The pass was introduced in large part to spread the players out on the field so there would be fewer injuries.

Okay, so maybe it isn't even mildly interesting... But that's the kind of useless facts you get when you read "Uncle John's Supremely Satisfying Bathroom Reader." I also like their definition of scrum: "In rugby, at the line of play, the ball went into what was known as 'scrum' or 'scrummage.' Neither side had possession of the ball; the ball was tossed in between the rushers on both teams, who heaved and butted against eachother as they tried to kick it forward toward the goal."

A somewhat apt description of our TT scrummage...

Regardless, I'd say no to pass.

A drop feature might be a good way to compensate for the fact that collision hand offs on a 56k connection aren't that reliable.

But I'm usually more in favor giving more time for new strategies to develop before changing the rules.

Plus, I don't like the idea of smoking tanks running away from the goal and dropping the flag so they can get a fresh tank and get back in time to get in on the goal. Without drop you have to hand off to a bot or a battlemoder to hold the flag until you get back...


-- 56k Lag Man (Who's driving hand is swollen from an unfortunate run in with a bee.)

#8 I'd like to try a passing shot that would be shorter range than bounceback, with no/minimal bounce. Can't shoot the ball to other islands, can't shoot it across the map to annoy every one. They could still shoot it off the edge to have it respawn, but they can drive off the edge anyway.

Tom

#9 As a heavy tank scrummer, I'd just like to say I tend to pass the flag off to team mates as much as possible. The tricky part is then getting out of the way to block opposition team members from grabbing it as well or shooting the tank (usually light) that I passed off to.

It's an excellent tactic.

I'm not sure if I would like to have a pass option, either long or short. It definitely would change the game pretty significantly. Plus, I can think of many other things I'd like to see before something like that was enacted, anyway, such as some new powerups or an ignore feature, etc...

--
Dementus

#10 A short pass controlled by the tanks turrent (can't fire a pass far enough to bother with the turrent's vertial aiming) with a pass button would be good. It'd cool to see servers with an option for Passing On/off on Team Scrum servers.

#11 What about a pass using "inertia"? Have a button to stop the tank abruptly, forcing the ball to fly a little bit foreward. (Yes, I like science) That way, to pass, you'd have to back out by stopping.
You could do the same in reverse for a back pass.

#12 Problem with that would be that everytime you slammed on brakes to avoid a collision with another tank your scrum would go flying =)

"pop goes the scrum"
Tank Dork

#13 Forget the passing thing... let's keep it at bonking.

#14 I'm not that sure I like the passing/shooting of the scrum, a 'drop' would work as a pass, as the momentum of your tank would be transferred to the scrum. If you 'dropped' and slammed on the brakes, you could send the scrum forwards. Obviously, the fast you are going, the faster and further the scrum would travel.

I suppose the main consideration is the fact that it would involve adding another key/button for the 'drop scrum' action. Maybe thats one of the main reasons Bravetree are hesitant on it.

-Z-

#15 You have to think with any "new rule" of ways it can be abused. I can see a formation of players in a echalon right or left formation "passing off" so they could make the goal.

if you want the ball, you need ot check.. regadless who's team you are on. A skilled scrummer should be able to do that with ease.