Quote:
Originally Posted by johnr
i may not express this right,but no matter what first does it will still come down to "luck of the draw". you will never make everyone happy, unless you plan to extend championships a few days to play every possible combination. or make sure there is a climb-able ramp on each team each match, since that seems to be the most important thing this year. or if you score keeper that would multiply your rack score by 2. or,or ,or. when all is said and done it will be the quality of your robot, your ability to sell yourself and other teams scouting that will get you to the big show.
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You can go out and perform well individually during qualifying regardless of match pairings, as we've been fortunate enough to do at Buckeye and GTR, but your chances of getting picked are directly affected by the quality of the scouting the Top 8 seeds employ. More youngins in the Top 8 may increase the risk of poorly-assembled team pick lists. We've also been fortunate in that area at our regionals this year, as have many other veterans who've finished outside the top 8 who've been picked by the top seeds.
However, these events aren't only played on Saturday. The overall experience can be greatly enriched if you get to play with an against a greater of variety of teams during qualifying on Friday. Right now, a lot of lower-numbered teams are artificially being forced into less than fun situations on Friday.
If FIRST wants to find a way to balance alliance pairings based upon team quality, I'm game, if they can find a way to make it WORK - I've actually suggested it in other threads in the past. However, the method they've chosen to implement that desire in 2007 is just plain ineffective and misguided. If a new and truly effective method can't be found, then going back to a plain old random algorithm is the way to go.