[smurfgirl]

Originally Posted by Nibbles

You are right, I did almost completely neglect the strategy element (I only really study the qualification numbers, I should put up a disclaimer, actual implementation will vary by needs). For instance, knowing a robot has Ackerman steering is an exploitable weakness that can reduce its overall effectiveness during a game. Knowing the different autonomous modes it has can help too. I have found it difficult to come up with objective data that would be useful, and have tended to ignore those points altogether and leave strategy to someone else in the pits. In any case I'll be sure to keep a better eye on strategy this season

Yeah, I don't know if only going by qualification rankings is really the best way to determine the best robot... actually no, I know that it isn't. The fact that you haven't been running strategy this way and have left it to someone else is good, but you seeing the light on the importance of strategy is even better.

Originally Posted by Nibbles

It does happen to affect how well the robot performs, yes, but knowledge of it it isn't necessary to select the best robot, since accuracy isn't an economic good in this game. If a robot can only score 5% of the time, I wouldn't choose them not because of the 5% number, I wouldn't choose them because they simply fail to score enough points period....

Ok, I can definitely see your argument here. I would figure that accuracy and performance are generally related, but I think we're basically arguing the same thing; ultimately, robots that score lots of points are good.