2015 Scouting
 

I think this year is the easiest year for scouting because the ranking system will put the teams in order of OPR rather than win-loss which you can get lucky, i think that it is not perfect but i do think it is easier than previous years.

Re: 2015 Scouting
 

I'd be careful there. OPR is the offensive power ranking, which isn't particularly consistent with the average score. It will still be able to point out teams who had an better-than-average alliance partners, allowing them to seed higher than they should.

You should also consider that, like last year, the best alliances will not be made up of twins and triplets. Each robot will fit into roles the others cannot in order for success.

Re: 2015 Scouting
 

With no defense OPR might actually be decent. Huh. I hope FRC tracker still keeps defensive power ranking as a sorting option just for the lulz.

Re: 2015 Scouting
 

From the '13 and '14 data I looked at, OPR had a very very high correlation with the new QA ranking system. Chart below shows OPR vs the old "Qualification Score" based on WLT, and the new "QA" system.

Note how events with more matches and fewer teams yield better data (all MAR events were 12 matches, '13 Archimedes was 9 matches, '14 Archimedes was 10 matches)

Re: 2015 Scouting
 

People would still be able to play defense assuming the human players will still be able to throw noodles by Wednesday, or that the robots are good enough stackers to fight over the stuff in the middle. It's not the optimal strategy to be a defense bot in this competition though, as the opportunities for defense are limited, but a good defensive hybrid would probably make it far.