Where are you placing ringers? (Poll)

[astephen68]

This poll talks about Where you want to put your Ringer Bottom, Middle,top?

[TravisE]

I think the middle ones are the most important because that can affect the game the most but in my opinion that makes them all the more harder to score on so I think that that makes the bottom and top rows prime real estate

[T3_1565]

I think we will go with whats aviable to us, both in the way of making rows, and if people are blocking us

[TravisE]

yea but if you could go any where you wanted to where would you go?

[MrForbes]

yea but if you could go any where you wanted to where would you go?

wherever the opposing alliance could not put a spoiler....

[T3_1565]

I would go put it in the audience somewhere if I could.. on someone I know ;) if I had anywhere to put it, thats where it would be

[TravisE]

lol nice

[astephen68]

LOL Yeah. I think the best stragerty is to put them on as fast as possible everywhere and then concentrate on moving spoilers :)

[12345]

i dount know whear we r puting r ringers whear is ever one els puting them

[Ericgehrken]

I think most teams will place ringers where they help increase the alliance's score (to form the longest row) because the formula for the point value of each row is 2^X(number in row)= value of row.

[astephen68]

Yeah that' intresteing about that. I think that wouldn't work though because the Spoiler could mess the points up majorlly if you did that. I think if you put them around the whole place and then near the end connect them that could work but...

[JamesBrown]

There have been alot of posts like this recently, and again I have to say it depends alot on what your partners and opponents are capable of, there is no one strategy(other than scoring all of the ringers) I really don't know how much info these threads can give you.

-James

[astephen68]

Everybody knows about aliance partners but you could still make up your own teams stratgergy!!!!!

[JamesBrown]

Everybody knows about aliance partners but you could still make up your own teams stratgergy!!!!!

It is impossible for you to develop a winning strategy with out knowing what the teams you are with and against can do. You will notice that teams that adapt their game plan to there opponents will finish much higher than teams that develop only one strategy.

In this game the top robots will all have the same capabilities, winning will be determined in most cases by the alliance that can develop a strategy based on their strengths that exploits the weaknesses of their opponents, that may mean one robot plays defense for the entire game. SCOUTING IS KEY.

If your robot can score on all three rows I garuntee at some point you will need to, unless you are lucky enough to have amazing alliance partners every match.

You may want to think of general match strategies but make sure they are adaptable, they will need to change every match.

-James

[astephen68]

I am not saying that you should keep one game plan becuase it wouldn't work. but you should have a general game plan of what you want to do. But chaging stragery is a key to sucess!!!!

[Ansem Retort]

Personally, I think you should concentrate them in one area. You'll get more points if your rows are together than if they're all over the place. I kind of think of it like Go (japanese chess/checkers). Rows that aren't together can get cut off from each and aren't worth as much that way.

[KingBK]

My team is heading for the middle and the top but the middle row is going to be the most important.

[astephen68]

If you put them together one spoiler could screw up all yourpoints... just what i am thinking. You could put them near each other and then at the end put the one piece on to complete the rows and score them. That is what i would want to do...

[Ansem Retort]

That's true, but spoilers can be moved and each team gets only 2 of them. maybe you should have one 'bot on 'spoiler patrol' and have one still hanging ringers (alliance strategy).
and less spoilers placed on the field means less spoilers to worry about being put on your own ringers. So maybe use those conservatively...

[astephen68]

Yup you've got a point!

[Mike Schroeder]

i plan on having our team place the ringers on the rack ;)

[Eric W. Jones]

i plan on having our team place the ringers on the rack ;)

Well said.

If you concentrate on placing all of your ringers on one row, spoilers become exponentially more dangerous because they can spoil more points the longer the row they are covering. If you place a spoiler over one ringer in a row of eight, your opponent would lose 128 points. If you place ringers in a centralized area on two or even all three of the rows, you would lessen the effect spoilers have on your score.

[Pankowgears]

As a mere student, I believe that it is not important to place ringers on any single level; rather, construct a robot that can place on all three! That would completely end any dispute over ringer placement. In my eyes, where you place your ringers is not important, but finding all three levels open to you is the key.

-Nick, Pankow Robotics

[astephen68]

Truw. A good robot at this game could put a ringer on all three but where mainly are you going to put the ringers, thats the question!!!!!!!

[1359th Scalawag]

This poll talks about Where you want to put your Ringer Bottom, Middle,top?

I want to place the ringers everywhere. That is the point of the game... So I say everywhere! ... But sadly, there is no option for everywhere on the poll.

I guess the top would be one of the best places to put them because, I can imagine, more teams will be able to put ringers on the bottom than on the top. The bottom will most likely fill up faster. Ahh, it's such a confusing game!

[astephen68]

yeah The game is hard I think but it's a challenge. maybe try and look for game plans that teams used in the 1997 game which was almost like this years game!

[Ian Curtis]

maybe try and look for game plans that teams used in the 1997 game which was almost like this years game!

There were inner tubes in '97 that got put on a central structure, those are about the similairities. Pretty much everything else is different. The central structure was different in that the foot of the arm was significantly smaller, so effective designs from that year may not be so effective this year. There was also a pole sticking out of the top of the structure that tubes could be scored on, that was very important to game play. Also, all the tubes were laying on the floor, or could be handed to the robot in whatever orientation the human player wished. Just a word to the wise.

[astephen68]

Where you a part of the 1997 game and maybe they do simliar games around the same ideas, who knows! :)

[astephen68]

The key is where and when you place your ringers cuz spoilers can your total scoring at once right!!!!!!!!!

[waiakea11]

We can put tubes prytty much anywhere

[astephen68]

Where do you think you guys are going to put them the most. I think most people will try high or the medium rows!!!

[waialua359]

doesnt matter, can do all equally.:D

[RoboMadi]

I think this is the most fun about this years game. Its simple, but requires a lot of strategy.

According to the poll, a lot of robots/teams are going for the middle goal. So i think robots with the ability to score top goal are going to be really valuable. On other hand, there are few bots that are capable of taking the black spoiler off and put it somewhere else. This move is going to be the key in the very last minutes.

I know its really late and I can't think of any other strategy.
Good Luck to all the teams!
w00t!


Imad

[Stvn]

Interesting fact: Two in a row at the end of the match is no better than two unconnected at the end of the match.

[ALIBI]

All three rows of course! The bottom row will fill up first, no matter how you look at it, it will be faster to place a ringer on the bottom row than any other and from the robots featured, most can place on the bottom and middle rows. The exception seems to be robots that can place on the top row. Not everyone that can place can place on the top row, save it for last. In auton.... three keepers, then in driver op. two spoilers plus two ringers equal thirty two points that no one can take away and you set your alliance up for five colums of three. It's will be rare to see an alliance get three keepers though and two keepers will eventually become the norm. Or, if your opposing alliance can not effectively place on the top row, can anybody say 256 points!

[=Martin=Taylor=]

The other side.

As I see it, if your able to cover the other side of the rack the opponent alliance will be unable to see your side, and will be virtually incapable of scoring.

[Michael Corsetto]

I would start the match by putting a couple strategic ringers where your opponents can score. Take an example: If you know one of your opponents can only score on the bottom row, maybe start the match by putting two ringers on column 1 and 5 on the bottom, leaving the maximum value of points that team can score on the bottom row at 16. Then take your time on the top or middle, its all yours. Don't even worry about the bottom row for the rest of the match, because even if they do fill out every possible spot on the bottom, you're only down by a net loss of 12 on the bottom, something that could easily be made up on the top and middle rows if you play smart.

Man, this game is gonna be FUN! Only 4 days until week 1 begins!

[Scott Perry]

My suggestion is make a match scouting sheet that will tell you not what the teams do, but how they think. IMHO, a spot-by-spot diagram isn't paramont in qualifiers. Instead, see which station they stack more often near, which row they prefer, if the prefrence lies on offence or defence.

Also, rate attributes like speed, driver ability, scoring speed/consistancy, and teamwork/knowledge of the rules.

[ericand]

Experience at the PNW regional showed almost exclusive placement on the low and medium legs. I didn't see any high scores, but I didn't see every match.

Our team could score high but decided not to because:

High score raises the center of gravity (more likely to tip)
High takes more time to get to (increased score/score time)

[astephen68]

Oh How was the compitition