Do QP's matter?
 

Alright, I think I can guess what this poll will show, but I'm still interested in what everyone's opinion is.

I don't think so. Look at us, Team 5, at the GLR. We where 30-something, but one of the most saught-after teams for the pairings! Just make shure you have a robot that is "Special"...

<edit> Sorry, i voted never :p</edit>

It was kind of a wierd game this year, congrats to the teams that just mad a durable strong pushing/pulling bot you stand a very good chance of getting to the finals on that alone. While I believe you MUST get a bunch of balls for good qualifying, I would think 75% of the picks in the finals will go out to tank style pushing/pulling bots.

DQ's can severly impare you and also help your opponents. We were part of three, count 'em three, DQ's in the VCU regional. This brought us down to 39th. We could be up there, but so many things went wrong. If you were under the goal one inch, you were screw.

We had a simple 2 goal grabber at LSR, and seeded fourth.
I don't think our partner ever scored more than a few balls for us until the elims, when Beatty piled them in.

They're important if you are an unknown team
 

If you are a rookie or otherwise "unknown" team, Q points are important, at least if you are high enough to be a qualifier. A rookie team is at a definite disadvantage in getting "picked" no matter how good they are.

If you have been around a while and people know your capabilities, Q points don't matter. Team 71 did not qualify at the Chicago regional, but they had no trouble being picked, (and their alliance won.)

Re: They're important if you are an unknown team
 

My team (639) is not well known, though we aren't a rookiem, and seeded third to last at NYC. That said, we were the second picked for elim. I think we WON 2 seeding matches.

Re: Re: They're important if you are an unknown team
 

It sounds like there were some good scouters out there who noticed your capabilities, and/or you did a good job of selling yourselves. Congratulations on getting picked by a high-seeded team.

that depends on your definition of 'is'
 

well, QP may matter for some who weren't relying on being picked, but as for others, such as moe, they were inconsequential, as long as our alliance partner didn't mind risking a potential low score for the chance to win unconditionally. at least that's what we hoped. we didn't try for low QP, but as a team we decided that we wanted to be competetive in the finals. so, if you're an independent robot yes, they matter, but if you're a beast, or three-goal grabber, no they do not. simply to go by our team's strategy, i would vote that they are irrelevant, considering we were picked twice, and we aimed to win, not to score high.
-Dave, the self-proclaimed best student hack-sawer on 365...
Insanity is relative

"Like olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else."
-Catch 22

Re: that depends on your definition of 'is'
 

mmmmmmm.........
my favorite book......

oh yeah?
 

well, it's a bit off topic, but i love that book too, i'm actually reading it for the second time, and i re-discovered that quote like 4 months ago.

In the Lone Star Regional we were ranked 6th and were approached by many teams to be picked(Thanks team 57). At Philly we were ranked 32nd and we were still approached by many teams about being picked(Thanks team 21). It is about how you perform during the matches, and how consistent you are. Most teams scout the competition and can see beyond the scores.

Another thing that I have found to be important is to make your robot distinguishable. When I approached teams about our robot they were unsure about who we were, because our robot is kind nondescript. When I discussed a specific match where we performed well then they quickly remembered who we were.

In our strategy, QP are important but not our number 1 priority. If your bot is exceptionally well for the elimnation rounds nd you display that ability, being ranked or having high QPs is not necessary. But don't get me wrong, they do matter, and it is always better to be the team picking than the one that is picked.

I think the most important thing is to win as many matches as you can and put out a good showing. It is better to win a match 30-20 than to try to build your QP's up and accidentally lose 40-41. Any team that can consistently win matches and do well will get picked for the finals, and if you're always winning, your rank won't be that bad either. Teams like 469 and 71, while not seeded, were amazing finals machines. Their QP's were not amazing, but they were good, solid, winning machines and got picked because of that. In short, focus on doing well in every match, show other teams what you can do, and don't obsess over QP's.

I agree, my teams robot has cool looking goal grabbers (very unique) and we just about exploded on contact during our first practice match (maybe some NYC spectators might remember that).

Greg, Having pieces fly off your robot after contact makes people remember you.

Something Different
 

I think qualifying points are always important, but not for any of the reasons discussed. We usually seed anywhere from around the midpoint towards the top. Our sponsors like to know how well the robot they're helping pay for is preforming. It's nice to go home and say things like, "Well our robot seeded 22nd out of 39 teams and was the second draft pick for elimination"

Or in the case of Nationals last year, "We were ranked #2 for most of the morning on the first day but then fell to 16th place out of [how ever many teams there were in our division. it was alot]." All i could say was it was quite impressive to them, who were amazed to begin with what students can do [re: building robots etc.]

Funny you should mention that, we lost our final match in Cleveland 41-40 to the number one seeded HOT team. We thought we had won, and if they had gotten one less ball we would have because we had two goals. That would have given us some much needed QPs since we were not doing incredibly well (ranked around 20th). Oh well, :)

Anyway, yes QPs are important but only for the top 8 seeded teams, and if you can get #1 seed that gives you an incredible advantage. We were able to choose kingman in the first round of choosing at SV, and then 359, another great goal grabbing team, in the second round, all because of #1 seed.

Being able to pick first is especially important this year since both teams you choose need to be good because everyone will have to play. In both Cleveland and Silicon Valley, our alliances have consisted of teams with specific strengths and weaknesses, and in both cases each team would have gotten to play even if they weren't required to.

If you are not in the top 8 then it does not matter what rank you are. Teams don't scout by looking at the rankings, they scout by robot ability and if they feel you will be a good partner you will be chosen. Hopefully the teams that do the picking will look at every team, and not just the ones that pass out the coolest buttons.

Amazing...
 

I can't get over all of the people saying that qualifying points don't matter. We spend 3/4 of every event playing the qualification game. If you're not out there trying to qualify well, you are throwing away 3/4 of the fun. How can qualification points not be important when 1/3 of the teams in the finals are there because of their qualification points?

I'll tell ya...
 

It's fun playing and not worrying about QP, that's for sure, we were all stressed last year cause of them, and it's a bit of a relief, although the stress does return when picking begins... also, 2/3 of the teams are there and their QP had nothing to do with it, just to be the devil's advocate...
Dave- the self-proclaimed best student hack-sawer on 365...
Insanity is relative.

"Like olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else."
-Catch 22