[DougHogg]

This thread has been opened to take an anonymous survey. Any replies past mine below will be deleted. --brandon



Hi,

The idea of this poll is to survey teams on the following basic competition formats:

a) 2-on-2 competition, alliances do not make agreements

b) 2-on-2 and alliances agree to "preserve stacks"

c) 2-on-2, "preserve stacks" and "let all 4 robots on the ramp"

d) 4 teams cooperate fully

e) Completely unspecified

Please do not post comments and opinions. That has been done (some would say "very over done").

If we get a clear majority, then we can work on getting agreement among all the teams that will be competing at a particular regional/championship division to stick to that format.

Why not just let the teams vote with their actions at the event?
In Arizona, there was a disagreement among some teams on how the game should be played. Some teams felt that basic agreements on the format presented at the kickoff had been broken. Other teams felt that cooperation among the opposing alliances was in keeping with the rules and the philosophy behind the game. It seems like a good idea to try to get agreement on how we are going to play the game ahead of time, thus avoiding upsets at the competition.

Why not handle this at each event?
We have enough to do at the events without debating this matter. If we can arrive at a consensus and agreement ahead of time, we will be able to concentrate on the competition and enjoying meeting other teams.

Why not have just one person per team vote?
Within each team, there are often different viewpoints. Waiting for each team to get a consensus and then vote might take a long time in some cases. This way, everyone can vote. The idea is to find out what formats are most popular for this year's game with FIRST team members.

(I have posted a question on the FIRST forum requesting clarification on whether agreements between alliances is in keeping with FIRST's intent for this year's game. While we are waiting for a response, we can work on sorting it out ourselves.)