Why does everyone hate this game so much?

[Arefin Bari]

Originally Posted by Anupam Goli

After Palmetto, my opinion of the game wasn't great, but I wasn't complaining too much yet. Now that Peachtree has passed, my patience with this game and the way its officiated is completely gone. Giving the refs so much to do, leaving the gray area for G27 calls, pedestal issues, and the fact that possession of a ball is still a gray area absolutely killed our shot to be in a picking position for alliance selection. (Ask 2415 about inconsistent rulings between regionals, they'd love to tell you about it). One of the finals matches in eliminations had to be stopped and redone due to a pedestal issue, and teams were cheated out of potential assist and teleop points in some quals matches due to 20+ second pedestal delays. I'm almost glad our season's over, so we don't have to deal with the headache that is Aerial Assist anymore.

Anupam, it was a pleasure to meet you and talk to you about different strategies at the peachtree regional. I wish we could have played with you guys again as you guys were sporting a great robot at this event. I am pretty surprised by your post as we dealt with a completely different situation.

In another thread, John V. Neun pointed out how 148 is always at the question box asking questions about the match they were playing in. We did the same. For most of the qualification matches we played, our student was at the question box to ask questions about close calls and possesions as to gain understanding of how the referees at the peachtree regional are going to make the calls. We didnt receive any fouls however we had problems with the pedestal lighting up in couple of matches and the referees took note of that. Unfortunately, referees dont have control over when the pedestal gets lit up. The referees made consistent calls in matches that we played in.

In one of the matches, one of the teams intake got tangled with our robot by mistake and tore apart our radio and some of the wires, they did run into us. This team felt that we were at the question box to complain. We were simply there to ask how the call is being made so our driver knows not to make that mistake. The team came upto us and was very apologetic and we explained to them that it wasnt their fault, it happens and its part of the game; we also encouraged them to play harder defense if needed in future against us. I have outmost respect for this team for coming upto us and clarifying the situation.

Another team attending the regional probably viewed this game as battlebots, they were on us the whole match ramming and pinning. They rode past our bumper perimeter bending our shooter frame and break some lexan covering. We were at the question box again and the head ref told us that she didnt see it so she cant make the call. We moved on and fixed what was needed to be fixed because the head ref made it clear at the driveteam meeting that she simply can not make a call if she doesn't see the incident. We were very surprised by this team's action. In our 20 years of existence, this is the first time our robot was broken after a match and the team responsible didnt approach us. Pretty surprising when you are dealing with a veteran team.

This game is brutal. Referee calls will be different from regionals to regionals. Teams who play this game like battlebots will receive penalties. Teams who know how to properly defend (ex. Team 1683) will do well.

Instead of complaining and picking this game apart, I strongly advise others to find ways to gain understanding of how the refs at the specific regional will make calls.

It took me 15 minutes to write this post which I could have spent watching matches from different regionals to see how the referees made the calls. Our driveteam spent four weeks watching webcasts, hundreds of matches, and collected data.

Play the game how it is meant to be played and I think that teams will enjoy playing the game. Watch matches after matches and strategize to find ways to win instead of going ballistic on opponents robot and receive tech fouls, and then complaining about getting a tech foul.

I am sorry if this post offends anyone but I am so sick of seeing so many negatives and so much drama unfold all over the place over this game.