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What is a lobster and what is a lobster pot?

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I hear these terms a lot but am yet to hear a clear definition of what they mean, other than something along the lines of "newb" and "game full of newbs". Is that all there is to it? How did newbs even end up being called lobsters?
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https://zero-k.info/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:Shaman/ZK_Lore

Lobster pot is where you cook lobsters



it can also be the trap used to catch the lobster



Lobsters themselves



as to why nooobs are called lobsters, the most indepth explanation i got was that lobster ( the units ) trow/lob units,
so noobs are lobsters because they trow (games)


EDIT
this is subjective understanding
+3 / -0

4 years ago
The modern day writes history as we choose, apparently.
+3 / -0

4 years ago
Calling people lobsters predates the unit Lobster by several years.

Mostly it means "this is a word which the moderators probably won't mute me for using".
+9 / -0
4 years ago
Huh. That's a little strange because I have been playing Zero-K on/off for years but only heard this term on the most recent return, from a few months ago onwards. Last time I played, lobsters (the unit) didn't exist, as I recall.
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4 years ago
HAH !

I ALLWAYS THOUGHT THAT THE LOBSTER WAS THE MOST USELESS UNIT IN THE GAME... HENCE A LOBSTER !

OR THAT A LOBSTER IS LIKE A TURTLE (it has a protective shell so it just porc's)

C'MON GUYS I NEED THE ORIGIN.

#TAAANKS
+2 / -0

4 years ago
quote:
I ALLWAYS THOUGHT THAT THE LOBSTER WAS THE MOST USELESS UNIT IN THE GAME... HENCE A LOBSTER !


Am I a joke to you?
+1 / -0
4 years ago
Lobsters are actually pretty good, possibly even OP with chain jumping.

I keep hearing people talking shit about the Mason, so maybe newbs should be called masons from now on. Porcing is now "castling".
+0 / -0

4 years ago
quote:
I ALLWAYS THOUGHT THAT THE LOBSTER WAS THE MOST USELESS UNIT IN THE GAME... HENCE A LOBSTER !


i might introduce to you, the quake.
+3 / -0
4 years ago
quote:
Huh. That's a little strange because I have been playing Zero-K on/off for years but only heard this term on the most recent return
Mabye you were lucky for more civilized games.

Some proof it predates lobster unit:
+1 / -0
4 years ago
AAH
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4 years ago
I seem to recall the story as being that some plukky sorts of players kept getting muted for harassing noobs by calling them noobs, and hence, the term lobster for noobs came into use. I may be misremembering the story.

In any case, the term lobster for a new player is a very good analogy.

A lobster is sort of slow, armourplated and gets cooked.

New players tend to be slow, into porcing up at their base when threatened and get cooked.

Some folks might argue I am still a lobster ;)
+3 / -0
The term "Lobster" is very well fitting 4 this game because the RL-Lobsters and the 0k-Lobsters share so many aspects.

Basics:
Usually in smaller games the onlyst tactic is to spam units and try to supress ur opponent as early as possible the map is to big 4 static defences, units can walk and cover wider areas. Also Static stuff cant retreat (if more than half is dead, rest will follow and enemy gets 100% of the reclaim) This results in if you play defensive, you have less mexes, less metal and its only a matter of time till you lose. If you decide to struggle, once you lose a flank (and have no units to retake it from the weakened enemy cuz u spent all ur metal on statics which cant move) your enemy reclaims it and uses the 40% of the metal which u spent on statics to either bulid a overwhelming army or bulids something of the category "Big Bad Gun".
Another thing is you cant defend against all with similar metal investment than the attacker, one of the core of this game is some kinda of Rock-Paper-Sicors principle.

-> Defensive play and casual Zero-K isnt combineable with each other, if youre against capable opponents.

The Nature Lobster:
Hard shell which protects him from basic predators but useless against the big Predators.
Has claws which really hurt once they get the chance to do so.
Isnt the most agile creature in the water and cant swimm up which makes looking 4 food a bit more difficult.

The 0k Lobster:
Bulids Defence to protect himself from basic raids but useless against Big Bad Guns.
Bulids some strong weapon in the back which can really hurt the enemy team.
Isnt very agile on the map which makes looking 4 mexes difficult (early game).

Problem: Lobsters doesnt stand a chance vs a playstyle which reminds of Ants because they get supressed/raided before its done building (Nature and ingame Lobsters lose vs ants.) Lobster beeing mistaken for "Noob" - the loser is always the Noob and if youre still sticking to a playstyle which doesnt work in low pop games youre inexperienced (or very stubborn)

Getting cooked:
Once the enemy earns enough metal due to superior Map contol or by reclaiming sucessfull raids. He can just make an Army or build a Superweapon to "cook" the Lob.

About the Lobsterpot:
Once you increase the amout of players above a certain exent it suddenly becomes possible to cover the entire front with statics/defences which are often more (apm)+cost/hp+dpm+range effective than most units. That combined with a few unit building players can get a solid defence. - Resulting in a Stalemate until the claws of the first Lobster are ready to strike or a "Ant" manages to swarm a Lob (e. G. Factorys raided on a flank)

Its still possible to "Ant" the other team when everyone bulids units in these big team games BUT *see above*

that "BUT" paves the way 4 the Lobster Style to decide the big team games (Frustrating 4 the Ant players cuz they bulid so many units and in the end it only feeded metal to the enemy while the front moved.. not realy far... (The impact of the actual "Noobs" on these games is like playing roulete. "Noob" and "Lobster" isnt the same but its often mistaken to be.

The "Lobster" - Style shines brigter the more players there are. As of the "Ant" - Style its the opposite. This resultet in the Big Team Games beeing called the Lobsterpot (Pot full of Lobs).





+3 / -0
*Sigh* 51 seconds in.

+7 / -0


4 years ago
0k lobster.
+2 / -0

4 years ago
Additionally check out http://zero-k.info/Battles/Detail/811478 for proper Lobster gameplay
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4 years ago
The origin of lobster was discussed a few years ago in this thread:
http://zero-k.info/Forum/Thread/24082
Lobster pot seems to be more recent.
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