Quote:
Originally Posted by Grim Tuesday
I absolutely don't think this years game needs any more protected zones. The field is already cramped enough with the pyramids taking up huge swaths of space and robots trying to travel around them to feeder stations. Teams who planned (notably not mine) to travel under they pyramid to lower the traffic jam should be given their requisite bonus in not being penalized.
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Simon, we actually utilize the same strategy. Being able to move under and through the pyramids essentially makes the field something like 20% larger than if you couldn't. Not to mention that discs have a tendancy to pile up inside and in front of the pyramid, leaving them as easy pickings for a good floor loader.
All of that being said, a line on the floor wouldn't really do much to hinder that, I think. All it does is make it easier to tell when an ally or opponent is being protected by their pyramid, and increases the amount of protection a robot receives from the pyramid by a marginal amount, unless you're one of those teams that likes to live dangerously and play defense within an inch of a protected area...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman
...or defensive strategies based on the correct, to the letter interpretation of the rule.
Contact is contact. They don't count "touching air" for level incursion determination while climbing. Why would they count touching air for G30 penalties? You're protected if you are touching the PYRAMID.
"PYRAMID: the Red or Blue steel structure on which ROBOTS CLIMB for points."
Don't see "the air or carpet surrounding said steel structure" anywhere in there.  |
Travis, I think we all know that no matter how the rules are written, you'll be playing defense on whatever fine line there is to play on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me
I am very sure that Dustin and his team read the rules to the letter. He is not proposing a rule change because he screwed up his own design. (edit: my apologies, this came out way harsher than I meant it to...)
Even if you do play to the edges of the tower, there is significantly less protection than you'd expect. Touching the corner of the tower, and then aiming while still clearly touching it, are both non-trivial. Lots of teams would drive up and touch or almost touch it, but then started to aim, drifted a half inch away, and then were completely vulnerable to defense. Not to mention referees seem to err on the side of no penalty when contact is ambiguous.
The pyramid is no 2012 key.
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Chris, no harm no foul, I know what you mean.
At the end of the day, I was just making a suggestion, I still don't see the reasons to not increase/make more well defined the protected area around the pyramid. That being said, we now know what we have to do to use it's protection and we will move on.
I predict that 2013 may be the year of the soccer flag, foam finger, random noodle, and whatever other stuff people come up with to be 'contacting' the pyramid while shooting.