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Re: Boring Game
It occurs to me that having "two different games" has always been an issue. Even when the winning strategy was just "win", things always step up a notch in the elimination rounds. So perhaps this is something like the introduction of alliances: we can't prevent it, so let's make it mandatory.
During qualification rounds, the goal is often mostly to show off what you can do. Unless all you can do is defend, that's perfectly consistent with the seeding scheme this year. The actual qualification match play might not be terribly exciting, but so what? You get a chance to watch some interesting robots doing some impressive things without being distracted by the intensity of game play.
I think everyone agrees that the elimination matches are not a problem for spectator friendliness. That's not where the complaints have been directed. So instead of bemoaning the lack of action during qualifications, it would probably be more pleasant overall to simply adjust expectations and recognize that the qualification matches should be different. Winning is not the ultimate goal in those matches...though from what I saw at DC, and from comments I've read about other regionals from people whose viewpoints I respect, teams who played to win rather than trying to "play to seed" did end up seeding well anyway.
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