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Post by cole77000 on Jul 26, 2013 21:34:20 GMT -5
That NBC is actually making a few really fantastic logistical decisions this season? I'm really liking quite a few things:
1. Competitors are guaranteed to clear the qualifier if they pass the warped wall
2. The obstacles overall look really nice and are relatively well designed for difficulty
3. There is no obstacle that forces a competitor to be able to jump as high as in previous years in qualifiers
4. The focus on female compeitors
Anyone else kind of impressed? I'm particularly loving the obstacle design.
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Post by RiderLeangle on Jul 26, 2013 22:12:19 GMT -5
I honestly agree, Didn't care for the Frame Slider but they've been doing good (steps aside, but better than past years), especially their world premier obstacles, they feel like they belong in the world of Sasuke (especially the Circle Cross and Monkey Peg, Flying Nunchuks too but that's kinda a combo).
When I was in Baltimore to test I was really wowed, they looked great and with ANW in the past I was afraid of problems but when I got on them things felt great, my only complaint was the weight of a certain obstacle you guys may or may not see on the 4th on G4 and 5th on NBC.
And yes, I really like that rule about a clear means an advance in the first two rounds.
BTW while they focused on some, I'm not sure all the female competitors get the credit deserved, in Baltimore most of them got to the Swing Jump and many of those ones getting to the Circle Cross and didn't even get a FF (granted the day runs were completely ignored and many ran in the day...)
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SKC99
Ishikawa Terukazu
!EKUSAS evol I
Posts: 460 
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Post by SKC99 on Jul 26, 2013 23:05:30 GMT -5
That NBC is actually making a few really fantastic logistical decisions this season? I'm really liking quite a few things: 1. Competitors are guaranteed to clear the qualifier if they pass the warped wall 2. The obstacles overall look really nice and are relatively well designed for difficulty 3. There is no obstacle that forces a competitor to be able to jump as high as in previous years in qualifiers 4. The focus on female compeitors Anyone else kind of impressed? I'm particularly loving the obstacle design. Thanks for pointing that out, but I feel exactly opposite of you. I want the old American Ninja Warrior back, where it was a test of speed, more people per qualifier, no obstacle fusions (e.g. the Flying Nunchuks, a fusion of the Giant Swing and the Chain Seesaw), and MOST importantly, women running more fun fun NOT for show AND to make other women be on the show. (No feminist but I feel like it's NOT a good thing to defy your gender to be VERY honest.) |
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Post by thebobmaster on Jul 26, 2013 23:14:13 GMT -5
There is definitely room for improvement, but I have very few complaints about the course, which is a step up from last year. As for "defying your gender", I'm very against gender dynamics. I think the second you start saying "guys can't do this" or "girls can't do that", you are saying that one gender is automatically better than the other. The days of "this is what boys do, and this is what girls do" are in the past, and rightfully so. [/soapbox]
I have to say, when I heard the new rules for advancing, i.e. as long as you pass the stage, you are through to the next round, I almost starting clapping, before realizing I was sitting alone in my room. To me, that is what ANW should be about. Let them prove themselves on the timed course, but during qualifiers, don't bother. All it does is make people rush and make stupid mistakes.
As for the more challenging obstacles...good! Seriously, it's great watching and not knowing if your favorite is going to screw up and go out early. That's one reason I watch Sasuke: that sense of uncertainty. Sure, there are some people more likely to pass, but no one is guaranteed a pass.
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Post by Oti on Jul 27, 2013 0:16:08 GMT -5
There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that women will start crushing the course, if they start training accordingly.
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Post by cole77000 on Jul 27, 2013 1:11:14 GMT -5
Can of worms guys haha. I forgot to mention that the steps arent at water level anymore  |
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Post by RiderLeangle on Jul 27, 2013 9:21:15 GMT -5
You weren't the one who opened a can of worms really, blame skc for being sexist... lol
As for the steps, yes they're an improvement over past years but they're still too huge... for the steps, ob1 shouldn't be the most difficult thing in qualifying and one of the hardest in the whole course...
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Post by Badalight on Jul 27, 2013 14:47:08 GMT -5
You weren't the one who opened a can of worms really, blame skc for being sexist... lol As for the steps, yes they're an improvement over past years but they're still too huge... for the steps, ob1 shouldn't be the most difficult thing in qualifying and one of the hardest in the whole course... The steps were the easiest obstacle I attempted, personally. I was on this years and last years steps, and good god they were improved. Whoever thought it was a good idea to put the steps IN the water should be shot. Anytime someone failed the obstacle the wake of the water would naturally soak the steps. Having them outside of the water kept them extremely dry and the grip on them was far better this year. Also changing it from 4 steps to 5 steps was a big improvement. In my region it was probably the least failed obstacle even though it was the most attempted. |
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Post by gtoneko on Jul 27, 2013 19:43:05 GMT -5
I definitely see much improvement that they've been doing by far big time. Especially since having now more regionals in different locations to cover more ground and opportunities, they've definitely gotten things better located for it all. Plus, despite my complaints about certain degrees of difficulty for different regions, they're really making a huge step in the older styles of Sasuke for keeping all competitors on their toes.
I can definitely see this continuing on for a good while, as long as they stay true in that respect.
Only thing I guess I will complain about is still the steps. At least they've improved definitely, but it's still looking a bit haphazard for the angle of it.
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Post by RiderLeangle on Jul 27, 2013 22:43:12 GMT -5
You weren't the one who opened a can of worms really, blame skc for being sexist... lol As for the steps, yes they're an improvement over past years but they're still too huge... for the steps, ob1 shouldn't be the most difficult thing in qualifying and one of the hardest in the whole course... The steps were the easiest obstacle I attempted, personally. I was on this years and last years steps, and good god they were improved. Whoever thought it was a good idea to put the steps IN the water should be shot. Anytime someone failed the obstacle the wake of the water would naturally soak the steps. Having them outside of the water kept them extremely dry and the grip on them was far better this year. Also changing it from 4 steps to 5 steps was a big improvement. In my region it was probably the least failed obstacle even though it was the most attempted. Yeah compared to past years they're greatly improved, but still far from perfect, I mean in venice they took out over 25% of competitors, I dunno, maybe it was the angle, I was told that in Baltimore the angle was reduced by 4 degrees after uhhm... something happened... And yeah they do get less wet than before... It rained all morning for testing but dried out by the time we started. I dunno... Maybe I'm bitter because of the size since I couldn't grab the sides from the low middle after a Quad Steps technique forgot one crucial part and slipped off the 5th step... I guess my fault for letting them get to my head... knew the Venice slaughter and the rain and worried, I should have one-steped them... All I know is next year if they still have oversized f***ed steps I'm just grabbing the top and doing that since I aced everything else (aside from one that needed fixed anyways due to its overkill...) |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2013 4:01:09 GMT -5
Not to me. I'm still annoyed that only a few people are shown and that PRACTICALLY EVERYBODY gets a freakin 2-4 minute profile, not to mention unnecessary commentary from the announcers, which just drives me to no end crazy. So honestly, no. However I never really liked ANW to begin with, in fact I hate ANW.
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Post by TCM on Jul 28, 2013 22:13:09 GMT -5
That NBC is actually making a few really fantastic logistical decisions this season? I'm really liking quite a few things: 1. Competitors are guaranteed to clear the qualifier if they pass the warped wall 2. The obstacles overall look really nice and are relatively well designed for difficulty 3. There is no obstacle that forces a competitor to be able to jump as high as in previous years in qualifiers 4. The focus on female compeitors Anyone else kind of impressed? I'm particularly loving the obstacle design. 1. Love the "win and in" rule, hopefully they keep it. The other three points blend in for me. I don't mean aesthetically obviously, because they're masters at making the obstacles LOOK good. But function to me is very important and since Sasuke has had a higher success rate than ANW in terms of function (at times, ANW4 Vegas in particular considering the Stage 2 onslaught) I hold ANW under the Sasuke standard which might cause me to scrutinize a little bit more. No reason to have built a terrible balance tank like they did and I still dislike having the Metal Spin nearly skim the water but that's something to deal with and hopefully the former is built better for this year's Vegas. I like how obstacle four outside of the Nunchuks didn't provide a mini-tramp. I also like the new focus on female competitors (it helps when they come out and don't all fail the first two obstacles). But I still think they should start building for the obstacles that can provide a practical adjustment. If Sasuke's wall(s) can have a default height and an additional piece to add on for a typical run but for females/older competitors having that top piece taken off giving them a better chance at completion, I don't see why ANW can't. Yes, I prefer everyone having enough proper training to circumvent this themselves, but I always will have an issue when they build obstacles and just tell those who aren't that tall "Deal with it" and that's with either show. Anyone who feels that that method is "cheating" or "undermining" anything is being daft. But considering how many women we've had on obstacle four and beyond this season (and the one girl from Venice who actually made it through to city finals), maybe we will eventually get the female talent to circumvent the disadvantages. I still think the adjustable obstacles would still be best, not every will be obviously, but the important ones that CAN, namely the wall being the ONE. In general, I will have to see Vegas to see how that difficulty is, but with making the qualifying stages harder, I wonder what will happen for next season. I know the report we got on Vegas, but I never consider it gospel until I see it aired on TV. If no one beats Vegas, I can only wonder if they'll make it subtlety easier in some fashion for next season. This is ANW season five and the ninth attempt at having an American beat the course if you count the ANCs as predecessors (which I do). I know the course is meant to have a 0% overall success rate, I know it's world's toughest obstacle course, I know wins are supposed to be scarce, but how long will NBC keep the show going with no overall winner in America? If this is to be taken more seriously as a sport here, a winner needs to happen sooner rather than later (if nothing else for casual fans' sake, I'll always watch being a hardcore fan). That's another discussion for another topic though. But yeah, for what ANW has gotten right this season thus far, they deserve all the proper praise for. |
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Post by RiderLeangle on Jul 28, 2013 23:26:53 GMT -5
The flying nunchuks were ob 5, the only ob5 with a mini tramp, the ob4s didn't have one aside from the Jump Hang Kai.
As for functionality I think they did great, in Baltimore everything felt good to me (note: I did not attempt te Warped Wall or Body Prop and no testers did the Spider Climb) aside from RD weight, even the Downhill Jump being a wet ramp instead of a series of rollers still felt fine to me honestly. I'm personally not happy with the steps size but they were grippier than I expected and have no one to blame but myself...
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dch
Watanabe Mika
Posts: 68
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Post by dch on Jul 29, 2013 19:28:33 GMT -5
I really like win and in.
I also feel like the profiles are better done this year and the tone and subject matter much more to my taste. It feels like they are moving quickly and not dwelling on them as much. Last year they REALLY rubbed me the wrong way both on length and content and so far I am generally happy with the context and limited breaks to the action that they provide.
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Post by RiderLeangle on Jul 30, 2013 9:16:56 GMT -5
They're better than last year but still need improvement
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Post by droid327 on Jul 30, 2013 14:26:46 GMT -5
1. I do like the "win and you're in"...though it does mean that more runners get relegated to FF
2. I liked the creativity of Rope Maze (is that from Sasuke or is it new?). I thought Denver looked easier than other qualifiers this year and previous years, and it definitely had the best completion rate - was that on purpose, to compensate for the altitude? Was it a test run for future years, to see if it was better TV if the qualifiers weren't quite as selective?
3,4. I like them promoting females (I'm confused why they're trying to create a "parkour vs rock climber" narrative, though). However, I feel like a lot of the females they highlighted were just wives/GFs of other runners, particularly vets...very nepotistic feel to it. Given how many of them flamed out early, I thought it was a little unfair if someone's GF was taking a spot if they were clearly less well-prepared than other applicants. Also, I'm not sure how much they're actually encouraging women to join the sport if they just show vets' GFs falling on the Steps, and then show "their man" completing the course...
I wonder sometimes if there should be a division between men's and women's courses - or at least, obstacles that could be slightly adjusted for female runners. It just seems like, being realistic, women tend to be on average smaller, with smaller reaches and smaller hands. You can really see the difference in obstacles like the Grip Hang, where its built too wide for them to get their elbows bent, making it really hard to get enough upward momentum to clear the gaps. Conversely, if they built it with 5'1 female runners in mind, then the 6'1 male runners would make it seem like monkey bars at the playground, they'd be able to bridge the gap just going hand-to-hand.
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Post by Badalight on Jul 30, 2013 14:28:46 GMT -5
1. I do like the "win and you're in"...though it does mean that more runners get relegated to FF 2. I liked the creativity of Rope Maze (is that from Sasuke or is it new?). I thought Denver looked easier than other qualifiers this year and previous years, and it definitely had the best completion rate - was that on purpose, to compensate for the altitude? Was it a test run for future years, to see if it was better TV if the qualifiers weren't quite as selective? 3,4. I like them promoting females (I'm confused why they're trying to create a "parkour vs rock climber" narrative, though). However, I feel like a lot of the females they highlighted were just wives/GFs of other runners, particularly vets...very nepotistic feel to it. Given how many of them flamed out early, I thought it was a little unfair if someone's GF was taking a spot if they were clearly less well-prepared than other applicants. Also, I'm not sure how much they're actually encouraging women to join the sport if they just show vets' GFs falling on the Steps, and then show the "man" completing the course... I wonder sometimes if there should be a division between men's and women's courses - or at least, obstacles that could be slightly adjusted for female runners. It just seems like, being realistic, women tend to be on average smaller, with smaller reaches and smaller hands. You can really see the difference in obstacles like the Grip Hang, where its built too wide for them to get their elbows bent, making it really hard to get enough upward momentum to clear the gaps. Conversely, if they built it with 5'1 female runners in mind, then the 6'1 male runners would make it seem like monkey bars at the playground, they'd be able to bridge the gap just going hand-to-hand. [/quote] Rope Maze is from Viking. |
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Post by greenday61892 on Jul 30, 2013 17:39:42 GMT -5
I think the reason they did Rope Maze (Viking) instead of Pole Maze (Sasuke) is because to me at least it looked like PM would've been impossible to implement directly following SL and PM was a retooling of the RM anyways
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Post by cole77000 on Jul 30, 2013 18:48:13 GMT -5
" ...I hold ANW under the Sasuke standard which might cause me to scrutinize a little bit more. No reason to have built a terrible balance tank like they did and I still dislike having the Metal Spin nearly skim the water but that's something to deal with and hopefully the former is built better for this year's Vegas." Yes, of course last year's ANW stage 2 obstacles were not well designed, and we will have to see if the production team learns from those mistakes. However, so far it seems like ANW is really learning from past experience. As far as the obstacles we have seen so far, none of the obstacles are too difficult, have a prevalent luck factor, or vary in difficulty greatly from one body type to the next. Although ANW last year didn't do the best job, it really seems like this year they are getting their stuff together with obstacle function. Unfortunately, on the flip side, the original Sasuke in Japan seems to be going in the opposite direction. My main example being one particular obstacle in Sasuke 29. |
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Post by RiderLeangle on Jul 30, 2013 21:35:56 GMT -5
I've not seen it but from what I've heard Stage 2 was improved but the DSL got more awkward due to metal notches instead of wood and the bar didn't leave much room for error but I've heard the Balance Tank was fixed and the Slider Drop was replaced by something new (no results, just course info that may or may not be true  ) As for regionals they're doing great, the RD was too heavy but everything else I got on in Baltimore (everything minus the WW, BP and SC) felt perfect difficulty, even the Circle Cross (then Ring Chain) which I think was mental for everyone failing it, I tried it when it was tubed chains but the ropes were the same spot (on friday it looks like they moved them forward but saturday they were back in place), I felt it was fine in difficulty, I was surprised seeing the slaughter in qualifying |
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