[mathking]

I do think that if they want the basic rule to be as it is now, that you can't intrude into the other side's zone at all, then they have reached a reasonable compromise per the rules. I would simply prefer the "you can't make another robot get a penalty" rule. If I push you into my zone it is not a penalty. My intent doesn't matter. But it seems as though the GDC wants the zone to be inviolate, so this ruling at least prevents the cheesy strategy of disqualifying your opponents by pushing them into your zone.

I completely agree, however, that this is going to be difficult to adjudicate on the fly. Not impossible, but it is going to involve quite some difficulty. (Somehow I am seeing endless "instant" replay delays in my head right now.) Further, I am kind of surprised that they didn't see this coming. It is not as though the situation they said "has come to our attention" was difficult to see. And it was extensively discussed here on Chief Delphi when the update with that ruling came into being.

The oddly specific rules don't bother me that much. I guess that coaching track and cross-country for the last two decades has given me a much higher tolerance for weird rules than most. (I have seen a relay team disqualified after two officials spent five minutes determining that the black on one set of compression shorts was significantly different from the black on another set of compression shorts. And numerous athletes disqualified because the stitching on the t-shirt under there uniform was a different color than the t-shirt itself.) FIRST has had some rules like this in the past.

Honestly, I have found that regardless of my like or dislike of the rules for a particular game, my enjoyment of competitions has not been significantly altered by liking the game or not. Certainly the years when we have had a really good robot have been fun, but that has not correlated well with how much I liked the game. I loved Aim High's rules, and our robot was honestly not that great. I loved playing Triple Play (our robot was very effective) even though I really didn't care that much for the game/rules during the build season. I thought FIRST Frenzy would be awesomely exciting when the rules came out and it turned out to be one of my least favorite games, even though I had a ton of fun because we had a really cool arm and it was the first time we qualified for the Championships. So I guess my message would be no matter what the state of the rules, go have fun. The competition will be a blast.