Is it horrible in baseball that you intentionally throw crappy pitches in order to walk a really good batter?
I realize this is different, but in essence, 1 player is intentionally not doing his/her best in order to support a larger goal of the team. Walking was not always considered reasonable. In many old fashioned baseball leagues, not throwing a fair pitch meant that you had to keep throwing fair pitches (which slowed down an already slow game).
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/rulechng.shtml
In Freakanomics, there is a discussion about how Sumo Wreslters cheat. Within that culture, Wrestlers are divided into an upper and lower class system by having abetter than 50% season (see
controversies section). Wreslters often come from the underdog position well above the statistical expectation. This article also talks about motivational issues.
Having played with many teams that have forgotten to connect batteries, had code issues, coms drop, minibot misfires, and just plain old bad luck... it would be difficult to prove a team intentionally losing unless they started playing defense against their alliance.
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On a tangential note, all of you that feel there is a moral issue involved with "not doing your best", how would this play in with partners not doing what is best for the alliance? If your team has a 2 tube auto that is 90% on the first tube and 50% on the second tube, and you partner is 0/8, shouldn't they then be forced by moral obligation to allow you to run your 2 tube? This past weekend teams often wanted to demonstrate that they finally got their Auto "working". Even though they had no chance of seeding top 8, even though they were 0/X (6, 8...) they insisted that it was a moral imperative that they give it another shot. Wouldn't this be considered throwing the match when they miss and it causes a loss?
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Overall, I agree in doing your best. Even last year, we only did 1 6v0, and that was before the update clarification and that the GDC did not intend for 6v0 matches. After that update, we played all of our matches straight even though it would have been in our best interest 2 times to do a 6v0, and not doing the 6v0 ended up costing us quite a bit. I would warn against trying to apply your moral views to other teams. If the other team views the "tournament" as the game, and each match just a subset of the larger event, they could share similar morals, and just differ on the definition of what constitutes doing your best. For teams that would then take this team "off their list", aren't you now not doing your best because you have added in an additional requirement that the team must subscribe to your view of the game and its moral obligations? Where do you draw the line? Should you cross off every copycat minibot because it is morally objectionable to steal someone elses design?
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I really like this discussion because it is out in the open. You should have discussions like this one with your team before presented with the situation. Discuss the Pros/Cons and get peoples opinions. When we discussed it as a team last year, initially most did not want to do a 6v0, but through discussion we decided if it was truly in our teams best interest, and both alliance partners agreed to it, we would do it. After the update, we felt less comfortable as FIRST mentioned it was not their intent. We also though decided we would not hold it against anyone as it was a reasonable strategy, and that many smart teams would use it if necessary.