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I totally agree with John on this one. I don't think there is a particular reason to do it because it will usually just come back to bite you. And I'm not talking about choosing a tie over a win.. but maybe a tie over rather guaranteed loss...
As was mentioned, what about telling an opposing alliance exactly what you are going to do so they will do what maximizes their points in that situation (or just doing some good scouting HW so you know that info). You might not tell them exactly what to do, but you are definitely 'leading the horse to water...'
Basically, I think the choice should be there for any team to make.. the choice of ultimate cooperation on the entire field to achieve higher points all around. You can choose to heed the advice of your 'opponents' or not.. you can choose to scout or not.. you can choose to give them bins, let them on the ramp, or not knock over their stack. To me, these are all just strategy choices.. all within the realm of gracious professionalism that should be left to the teams to decide.
As a coach, I likely wouldn't advise my team to 'take the deal' because they tend not to work.. because everyone wants to win. However, I would advise my drivers to take good notice of what is occuring on the field and if they are winning by say 40 points... then 'hey, let one of their robots get on the ramp' or 'someone push a bunch of bins into their zone' without a second thought. I wouldn't risk the win, but when you're counting points in this competition, it's a shame to win by too much rather than maxmizing your points.
But, no matter what, I think it should be the choice of the teams involved and they shouldn't feel they are acting outside the maxim of FIRST by doing what they think is in their best interest.
Great points John and EvilInside, both well taken. Although EvilInside, I think your analogy might parallel more what happens if a "super-power" alliance is created for finals... but that's why enough of the game depends on sheer luck..
[And my apologies for starting a new thread.. I tried to find posts that were hitting this from the same angle and I thought it was worthwhile posting this. As well, sometimes threads get very overrun with short off-the-subject posts that make them hard to read or follow. I've been posting on this forum since, well, pretty much the beginning and I thought this angle would be of some interest to people and worth a new thread. If Brandon would like to move or close it, that's fine.]
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Colleen Shaver (Traitor) - Assistant Director, WPI Robotics Resource Center
FRC190 WPI/Mass Academy (2001-Present) :: FRC246 BU/O'Bryant School (2000) :: FRC126 Nypro/Clinton High (1996-1999)

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