Why I love the coopertition bridge

[gyroscopeRaptor]

Judging by the meltdown at GTR East, the bridge is bringing out the best and worst in teams.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by gyroscopeRaptor

Judging by the meltdown at GTR East, the bridge is bringing out the best and worst in teams.

I have a bad feeling the Bridge is gonna really cause some desperate measures by some teams come championships. Everybody is gonna want to hit that bridge and only a third of the field can. Not everyone is gonna be happy about that.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

I have a bad feeling the Bridge is gonna really cause some desperate measures by some teams come championships. Everybody is gonna want to hit that bridge and only a third of the field can. Not everyone is gonna be happy about that.

Perhaps I'm not understanding what you're saying, but you do realize that all six teams get the coopertition points, right? Not just the two on the bridge.

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Perhaps I'm not understanding what you're saying, but you do realize that all six teams get the coopertition points, right? Not just the two on the bridge.

You're correct. I think what Koko means is everyone is going to want to balance on the bridge, but only 2 robots can.

Which (no offense) doesn't make any sense, because there is another bridge besides the coop bridge for each alliance.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Perhaps I'm not understanding what you're saying, but you do realize that all six teams get the coopertition points, right? Not just the two on the bridge.

Oh. My mistake then. I thought the two team balancing ont he bridge were the only ones getting the Co-Opertition points.

[LeelandS]

I love the co-op bridge. I think it's a great way to let teams who don't score a gajillion have a shot at ranking well in competition, as well as adding a fun and interest facet to the game, where you need to interact with more teams, including those on the opposing alliance.

What I don't like is it is a way for teams who are "less-than-gracious" to take cheap shots at the teams who build great robots and are in line to win the event moreso than they are. While it's well within a team's right to refuse to coopertitionate, to refuse to do so in an attempt to prevent a powerhouse team from seeding high is just not okay, and not within the spirit of FIRST at all. Moreover, to sabotage the balancing of a powerful team on the coopertition bridge is just disgraceful to FIRST as a whole (I am, of course, especially referring to the experiences of 1114 and 2056 this past weekend at GTR-E).

I love the co-op points, and I love what FIRST is trying to get teams to do. But we don't live in a perfect world. There are going to be teams who abuse the influence of the coopertition points to get at powerful teams. I still love the coopertition bridge, though. It's one of my favorite parts of this game. It's unique. It's new. It's exciting!

[Steven Donow]

When it was first revealed, I hated the coopertition bridge. I thought it would totally mess up the ranking system and just be a terrible thing.


After competing in my first competition of the year, I absolutely love it. As mentioned already in the thread, talking to teams on the other alliance was new, fun, and an excellent twist. It definitely makes qualification matches that much more exciting to watch.

[tsakshaug]

Watching the drive teams talk to each other in their alliance and then with the opposing alliance was great. It became a part of the queueing routine for may of the better teams. Watching the balance was perhaps the best part of the matches, the feedback from parents and students of my FLL team tended to agree with this. One thing for sure, you needed a robust robot to live through some of the near misses in balancing. Getting turned over during the process, and then being ready for your next match was a telling sign of a well designed robot.

[Andrew Zeller]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Oh. My mistake then. I thought the two team balancing ont he bridge were the only ones getting the Co-Opertition points.

[G41] If a Robot from each Alliance is balanced on the Coopertition Bridge when the final score for a Qualification Match is assessed per Rule [G37], each Alliance earns 2 Coopertition Points. If the Coopertition Bridge is not balanced, but a Robot from each Alliance is fully supported by the Coopertition Bridge, each Alliance will earn 1 Coopertition Point.

I thought only the two balanced robots got the coop points too, until I reread the rules. This certainly changes things. I'm sure this is a rule that many teams do not understand.

In an elimination match the best strategy would be to have the two weaker robots immediately go and double balance and have the best robot score balls and then go balance on the coopertition bridge at 60 seconds.

[Sean Raia]

Originally Posted by boarder3512

In an elimination match the best strategy would be to have the two weaker robots immediately go and double balance and have the best robot score balls and then go balance on the coopertition bridge at 60 seconds.

In an elimination match, the co-op bridge does not count for anything.
My opinion: If your alliance is outgunned you should send your weakest balancing bot to try and co-op while your other two bots balance on your bridge and secure a win.

[470-RBTX]

I love the bridge because it forces opposing alliances to interact in a positive way in a game where without it there would be no interaction. It's a spawning point for chemistry between drive teams before eliminations, and when all the teams start working for a common purpose as one unit, it strengthens FIRST as a whole. The bridge is just a microcosm of it.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Sean Raia

In an elimination match, the co-op bridge does not count for anything.
My opinion: If your alliance is outgunned you should send your weakest balancing bot to try and co-op while your other two bots balance on your bridge and secure a win.

You should send your best driving team to climb to assure the bridge will be successfully balanced.

[Grim Tuesday]

Strategically, the Co-Op bridge is more important than the alliance bridge, and thus you should send your best bots to balance. Ranking wise, it is identical, except for the fact that 3 other teams in an event of 60 move up faster. It also helps build good will, which is not to be underestimated. In general, it is more polite for both alliances to send their best scoring bots to the bridge so that the other one doesn't see it as a ploy to win the match by pulling away their scoring capabilities.