Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

Much similar to last week’s thread this one is based on similar things except these are all different questions. The point of this "series of 7 threads" if you call it that, will be reviewed upon to help understand the game even better. To sum up what Dave said during the Bayou Regional Friday night, this game is on a totally different level than games in the past because it makes teams think ahead of whom they will play with and against and will make teams cooperate very closely to get their task completed efficiently.


How do you think that the flow of the games was? How did you guys think the flags were called and how penalties were handed out? How was regional coordination and the flow of the regional itself was? Also, what do you think about what you saw over the past week compared to the first week of regional? What do you think are the keys to scoring and how easy or hard is it to stay consistent with scoring from what you have seen and what do you think about scoring and how it has played out so far, including spoiler, keeper, and ringer usage? Finally, what do you think are some debatable calls by referees?

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

**Warning, this post is pretty much just how I feel gameplay needs to change from what I have seen.**

Overall, gameplay has improved a bit from week 1, as is the trend from year to year. Here are some things that I think a lot of teams need to improve on. It is just my opinion take it as you will.

Strategize strategize strategize. Have a cohesive gameplan going into a match. Each match is different so strategies may or may not vary depending on the type of bots involved. Make every cap count. Make sure ramps (if available) can be attained and not just are not just a waste of effort and time. I have seen so many instances of poor decisions by coaches in the past two weeks. Oh, coaches: the drivers are YOUR hands. YOU make the calls, THEY do the work. They are the link between you and machine. In a good drive team, drivers should not have to think, just react.

I have seen a lot of great defense being played and only a little bit of pick and roll. If the situation fits, help a bot out.

One last thing: I saw a little more of this here in week 2, but still not enough against the power houses....OFFENSIVE DEFENSE!!
All coaches go home right now and play connect 4.

Thats all I have for now,
-Henry

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

at vcu, the debateble calls were definently on the ramps. the call was wether the robot was supported by a piece of the playing field while on a ramp.

in one of our qualifying matches, there was a tube on the ramp, our robot drove up and landed on the tube. our interpretation of the rule was that if the elimate of the field was taken in out, would the robot in question still be on the ramp? so we thought it wouldn't b a problem. we lost that match because of that rule.

if someone really knows this rule well, would they please give us a clarification.

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

The end game reminds me too much of Stack Attack. Teams could work thier butt off all match long and the other teams don't have to do much of anything and if they have a ramp can steal the match in the end. Thyey should have made it 15 per robots for 12 inches instead.

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

i agree, 15 points for 12in. and 5 for 4in.

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

I agree with the ramp points. 30 points is way too much. Mainly for the reason listed above. It's dumb for a team to just shove you all over the field for a min and thirty seconds, and then to just climb a ramp, or be lifted and get thirty points.

Other than that, the game seems to flow pretty well. However, the scoring of refs is questionable...but i'll leave it up to someone else to fill in the blank about that one.

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

The only Q&A uling I found was this, http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=5292
, which doesn't exactly match your scenario.

However, IMO (which is worth nothing) if, by transitivity, a Robot supported by a robot supported by a Game Piece - is supported by a Game piece, then, also by transitivity, a Robot supported by a game piece supported by a Robot - is supported by a Robot.

You should ask the Q&A if they agree.

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

God give me strength to face a fact though it slay me.
Thomas H. Huxley
English biologist (1825 - 1895)

PS: Just copy paste this as my opinion of the game in the following weeks.

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

I dont mean to break ice here or anything... but Great Lakes was AWESOME, knowing that the full potential of the game was realized as the days went along.

Progressively from friday to saturday, the matches got more rigorous, and the competition increased. It just so happened that the one time our team lifted for 45 points, the other alliance had a row of 6 for 64, that was the caliber of competition, it was amazing.

That said, the system for choosing qualifying match alliances NEEDS TO CHANGE, PERIOD!!! I love the FIRST people for what they do, but my Lord, they screwed up big time with that. With 59 teams, 80 matches, we shouldn't be paired up with the same teams twice.

From there, I really cannot wait for nationals, by then they should have the kinks in the 'randomization' figured out and fixed, and the dynamics of the game should be fully realized.

Good luck to everyone in the next few weeks. :cool:

-Joe

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

Agreed. We played 1503 3 times in a row. that really shouldn't happen. It should be totally random for the best experience.

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

The last 30 seconds was the most insane part of the match. With the penalties given for being in the opponent's home zone at 15 seconds, defending against ramp bots is almost impossible to do.

Way to many points that cannot be defended against during a match. As a driver, it is painful to watch a team load two robots onto another and know that there is nothing you can do to stop them from getting another 60 points.

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

Matches are getting a lot more aggressive. Some folks are saying the ramps are worth too much, but as the game goes on, the tubes are worth more and more. In week 1, until late Friday and Saturday, it seemed like most matches had 5 tubes on the rack. We're starting to see the racks get a lot more full. High scores are attained with tubes, not the ramp.

In my opinion, by the time Atlanta rolls around, we'll see consistent bonus points, where you don't win by getting on a ramp, instead you lose if you can't get onto a ramp (or make up for it with a valuable tube)

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

I'm not too sure about Week 1 regionals, but after getting inspected on Thursday night and seeing the board of inspected teams, there were still quite a few (like more than half) left to be inspected Friday morning. I'm just curious was the issue that teams were just not finished repairing in time, or were there just many teams that failed inspection the first time around?

I also agree with the chance winning of the game being based around the ramps. I remember seeing several matches tied with ringers, or even with more ringers than the opposing alliance, but then having that all crushed because the other alliance got at least one bot up 12".

-No L

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

on thursday when we weighed our robot it was a whopping 20 lbs over weight. so we spent the whole day shedding weight. we passed our inspection minutes before our first match.

Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
 

They should've seriously made a requirement that before any robot from a single alliance can score by bonus points, they must atleast score one ringer for their alliance (or two), in order to qualify for bonus points. This way If an alliance of all three ramp bots can't just pick and choose a ramp before the match, defend via one-on-one defense, and then just ramp up to win.

Requirements, and Qualifying for bonus points.

my two cents.

Rameez