[Donut]

I actually think this chart is making gears appear better than they are, because it does not account for the reserve gear.

All robots should start with a minimum of 40 points for 0 runs, because the reserve gear allows every alliance to score the first rotor with no functioning robots. All columns for the gear robots would shift to the left by 1 (e.g. gears no auto would get 80 points at 2 runs), while the the fuel based robots need to have 40 added to all point values since they always score 1 rotor.

This helps illustrate something I think many teams are missing based on the poll results elsewhere showing the focus on gears; a robot that cycles 2 - 5 gears a match is worth the same as only 2 - 3 high goal fuel cycles or 4 low goal cycles. This is true even with two 5 gear cyclers on an alliance, since 10 gears scores only 80 points beyond the reserve gear (ignoring auto) which is still 40 points per robot. If you can't score at least 6 gears solo you are depending on your partners to score 7+ gears consistently for your gear scoring to be worth more than 40 points. Based on the frequency of getting partners that are broken or unable to score, and the typical scoring effectiveness of the majority of teams, I'm not sure I would take that bet outside of very deep events.

I applaud the GDC for how balanced this game seems to be the more we analyze it. Gear cycling has a high point potential but a massive dropoff in points if you don't get the magic 13th gear. Fuel has a more linear scoring progression but a cap in total processing capability that can hinder alliances that focus too much on fuel. And there is a high point potential autonomous opportunity for both styles of scoring robot available.