Re: IRI Rule Changes - 2012
 

As you were quite vocal before the competition, I am curious what your feedback was.
Per the rule changes:

The rule changes / refinements for the 2012 IRI are pretty simple.

1. +5 pounds allowed. Honor system, unless the referees question you.

2. No Co-Op points. Ranking based on win-loss and the existing tie-breakers.

3. Alliances may balance 3 on their alliance bridge during qualifications. Three robots balanced is worth 40 points.

4. Draft is 1 - 8, 1- 8, 8 - 1. Alliances select their own backup. Use of the back-up is at the discretion of the alliance.

1. +5 lbs allowed for Wildstang to put on their Fun Lights. That alone was worth it.

2. As far as the Co-Op switch up, initially I would have said that the traditional W/L structure did a poor job as there was very little inside top 8 picking. However, there were a ton of teams picked immediately outside of the top 8, so my reaction probably needs a bit of vetting with some math and analysis versus other events.

3. I missed most of Friday, but really enjoyed Saturday. I believe I heard there were 19 triples in qualifying. Doesn't sound like the game changer some were expecting, but again more analysis would be required to see if it was a bigger player.

4. Every year i think the 1-8, 1-8, 8-1 back-up will lock in a victory for the #1 seed. Once again, my fears have been subsided with some amazing strategy and play. There are so many top tier teams that this style of draft does work well.

Overall, great job (IMO) with the rule changes.

Re: IRI Rule Changes - 2012
 

Beforehand, I was worried that Rebound Rumble would not be as exciting without the co-op bridge. After seeing IRI, I wish we could play this game again next FRC season, using IRI rules.

My opinion now is that the co-op bridge overemphasized the endgame stunt, at the expense of last second shooting by robots.

To help Paul keep track of his prediction (30 triple balances in qualifying matches), I kept a count. I saw 19 successful triple balances in qualifying matches, plus three more that were awarded automatically (but not actually completed by the robots) as penalty for interfering with balancing. And there were several (five by my count) very near misses.

However, I was more excited by the ridiculously high hoop scores that IRI teams put up -- and excited to see the best hoop scorers at the top of the seedings. This game is more fun to watch when it is decided by shooting -- and of course by ball control, since you can't shoot balls that you don't have.

TL;DR: The IRI field showed us the way this game should be played. Thanks, IRI committee, for giving them the opportunity.

Re: IRI Rule Changes - 2012
 

:cool:

Re: IRI Rule Changes - 2012
 

Does anyone have all the IRI match results? I want to do some math on this event to compare with the regular season data.