[archiver]

Posted by Warren Boudreaux at 2/4/2001 9:25 PM EST


Engineer on team #180, S.P.A.M., from South Fork & Martin County High School and Pratt&Whitney.


In Reply to: Are the Semis & Finals worth playing?
Posted by Joe Johnson on 2/4/2001 7:59 PM EST:



: I am torn in my mind about the way the Semi-Finals and
: Finals are going to go.

: CONSTANT SCORES => REDUNDANT SEMIS & FINALS
: Part of my brain can see alliance scores being more or
: less constant from round to round. That is, an
: alliance that scores 520 in the first match of the
: Quarter-Finals will score 520 in every round they play
: from then on.

: When I think this way, I think to myself that by the
: time that teams get to the elimination rounds at the
: Nationals, only the best of the best will be there. AND
: all the confusion about how to maximize scoring will be
: resolved to a few key moves that almost everyone will
: understand clear.

:
: VOLITILE SCORES => SEMIS AND FINALS MUST BE PLAYED TO
: KNOW WHO'LL WINS

: The other part of my brain sees the scores in the
: elimination rounds as anything but constant.

: When I think this way, I think that all 4 teams will
: each have to perform everything perfect to get the
: alliance's highest possible score. Beyond this there
: is the risk factor. Because time figures into the
: score, teams will rush themselves and take chances in
: order to shave precious seconds off their time. Teams
: may take the ramp at higher speeds or try to balance
: the goals in a hurried fashion. All this leading to
: uncertain scores as the risks sometimes payoff and
: sometimes panout.

: One final wild card that makes the Semis and Finals
: more than a repeat performance is the limited
: availability of stretcher tickets. Think about it.
: Suppose an alliance gets their highest scores in the
: Quarter Finals by using a stretcher ticket for a
: particular team. The question is then when to use the
: second ticket? If they use it in the Semis, they may
: not have it when they need it in the Finals. If they
: don't use it, they may not make it to the Finals.

: BOTTOM LINE:

: I can see this breaking both ways, with the volatile
: score version being a bit more likely (I'd place the
: odds at 60-40)

: Which way do you think it will break?

: Do tell.

: Joe J.
You are missing out on one of the basic premises of these competitions. You don't know who you are matched up with in the qualifying rounds, therefore, you really won't know who the best teams are. You might have a good idea from looking at the rankings, but I guarantee that there will be a few teams that are much better than their qual scores indicate.

As for the elimination rounds, you are expecting all four teams to operate flawlessly, in perfect synchronization, to reach a maximum achievable score WITH NO PRACTICE. I expect each round by an alliance to achieve higher and higher scores.

The secondary and tertiary considerations, such as when to use your stretcher ticket or having a bot go bonkers in mid-round or having an operator sneeze at the wrong time and not perform a critcal task, are going to be what determines the winners.

In short, I would say that while there will be one or two dominant alliances in the elimination rounds, you are likely to find a darkhorse alliance that, for whatever reason, is able to win.

It looks like Dean and Woody have, once again, come up with a game that challenges the triad. Man, Mind and Machine.