A different perspective on disrupting coopertition bridge balancing

[MisterG]

Seriously though; there are plenty of gray areas but there are some areas that are not gray. Some may be:

• I cannot see any situation where collusion between alliances can be excused or condoned.
• I cannot see any situation where putting robots at unnecessary risk can be condoned

Probably an oversimplification but if you think its a bad strategy to balance don't do it.

I think balancing at the expense of winning (e.g. you are down by 5 pts and you balance on the middle bridge rather than on your own) is about the dumbest idea ever but that is just me.

[bduddy]

Originally Posted by MisterG

Seriously though; there are plenty of gray areas but there are some areas that are not gray. Some may be:

• I cannot see any situation where collusion between alliances can be excused or condoned.

Really? How do you plan out a strategy to balance on the coopertition bridge then? Or do you mean something else by "collusion"?

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Chris86

I was under the impression that the change to the scoring system was because of how many lower quality robots were ending up in the top 8 that resulted from the original ranking system.

Unfortunately Team Update #16 from 2010 is no longer online, but if I recall correctly, the wording of it specifically described that the intent of the game was to be played to win.

Originally Posted by bduddy

I understand that FIRST eventually came out against 6v0, but they have never taken action to prevent teams from scoring on their own alliance while (in the past) maintaining systems to encourage it. I guess we'll learn their intentions for this year tomorrow... at least, I hope so!

You mean, aside of 2007, 2008, and 2011 where it was illegal to score for your opponent? Can't recall if you were allowed to in 2005.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

You mean, aside of 2007, 2008, and 2011 where it was illegal to score for your opponent? Can't recall if you were allowed to in 2005.

Loading from your opponent's loading zones was a penalty in 2005, IIRC. I don't remember a penalty for picking up dropped tetras and scoring them, but there was the risk that you'd ruin rows, which could have a potentially disastrous (to you) point swing. (Depending where exactly you placed a single tetra, you could easily gain 13 points while depriving your opponent of 10. The 2005 Championship was won at least partially by just such a 23-point swing from a tetra landing on a row, breaking it up, while creating a row for the other alliance.)

I don't recall any rule for this year saying that you can't score in your opponent's hoops; however, the bridge bonuses make such a strategy risky in the extreme.

[MisterG]

Originally Posted by bduddy

Really? How do you plan out a strategy to balance on the coopertition bridge then? Or do you mean something else by "collusion"?

I meant this:

col·lu·sion/kəˈlo͞oZHən/
Noun:
Secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy, esp. in order to cheat or deceive others.
Such cooperation or conspiracy, esp. between ostensible opponents in a lawsuit.
(source Google dictionary feature)

If two companies get together and agree that they should work together cooperatively to reduce air pollution in their industry that is cooperation.

If the same companies agree that they are going to artificially lower prices for two years until they drive competitors out of business so that they can then raise prices, that is collusion.