This whole things feels kind of wrong to me. Don't misunderstand me, I congratulate all attempts at creativity and innovation in this competition.
This however feels like another tape measure of 2002. Seriously, this design very specifically and deliberately breaks rules. It does not follow the definition of a hurdle as defined in the rule book.
If given the choice? I would have the rule book reflect the Q&A, but that has to happen from the beginning, or with an official team update. I understand teams have to check the Q&A, but that is not the easiest thing to do, and when it directly conflicts with the existing (as of now) rulebook something is wrong. It almost feels like an abuse of the GDC bombarding them with all of the questions that would allow certain designs to slip through the rules when really, it should be obvious that the design breaks the rules.
Yeah, people may say, oh your just jealous blah blah blah, but really I think these kinds of ideas crossed many peoples minds after kickoff to learn that the rules limit some of those options.
There is a part of me that admires picking a design that is on the edge. It is a very risky and tough decision, and can set you apart from the crowd and pay off in the end. This situation however does not seem quite there - I think that if people made assumptions about how the Q&A response would be interpreted (and ignored the rulebook!) then we would see a huge number of very cool, creative machines that additional freedom would have allowed. These creative advantages I feel are not in line with what the GDC I think originally intended. (Not to say they discourage creativity

)
Do other people feel the same way? I am one of the people who will advocate pushing the rules more than I think most, but the consistency of the rules, updates and Q&A has me a bit worried.
Anyway, I didn't want to be overly negative in anyway, and maybe a discussion about this belongs somewhere else... but either way, I do want to congratulate 190 for standing up for their design and have fun playing with your unique machine!