Throwing Noodles, is it Worth it?

[electroken]

In our 2nd finals match the opposing alliance scored 44 litter points and won that match. Fortunately for us, Cy Young wasn't around for the 3rd finals match.

An anomaly? Maybe, but that kid could throw.

[MooreteP]

Originally Posted by electroken

In our 2nd finals match the opposing alliance scored 44 litter points and won that match. Fortunately for us, Cy Young wasn't around for the 3rd finals match.

An anomaly? Maybe, but that kid could throw.

I think the GDC did a good job with the point values this year.

[donnie99]

Originally Posted by electroken

In our 2nd finals match the opposing alliance scored 44 litter points and won that match. Fortunately for us, Cy Young wasn't around for the 3rd finals match.

An anomaly? Maybe, but that kid could throw.

Litter points being in both containers and the field! Don't forget that 558 was able to get litter into almost every single container that we got onto our side of the field! But throwing the rest of the litter all the way across proved to be the real game changer that match!

[Sanchberry]

I think whether or not you should throw litter depends entirely on the skill of your human player. At GSC, we averaged 23~ LP a game, and our final QA was ~52 iirc. We had more litter points than any other team there and finished seeded second. In Qualifying matches, we threw the litter usually with 60 seconds left. Our human player (aka noodle jesus) didn't have any problem getting 6+ noodles across to the other side in 40 seconds. In playoffs, we threw the noodles immediately because we knew that the noodles would get in the other alliance's way. In our second quarterfinal match, not only did our human player score all ten noodles by throwing them to the other side, giving us 40 points, he also inherently slowed the other side down, which gave us a huge advantage and allowed us to qualify for the semifinals.

After participating in a week 1 regional, I am convinced noodle throwing is a great strategy.

[Riverdance]

This is going to be an extremely unpopular opinion, but my captain has implemented a no-noodle policy that we as strategists are supposed to ask our alliance partners to respect if possible during match planning. He would like to avoid the possibility of the noodles getting stuck underneath the other alliance's robots' wheels and preventing them from functioning properly (as mentioned earlier) or getting stuck whilst driving (a side effect that we noticed at Suffield Shakedown), even to the effect that we gain four points per piece that they do not manage to corral into the landfill zone.

There's also the point that a lot of times the human player put in charge of noodle throwing can't throw it as far as they think they can, and it ends up hurting our alliance by cluttering up our side of the field and giving us more obstacles to maneuver around. Less of an issue for us with our sick H-Drive, but an issue nonetheless.

[Citrus Dad]

Originally Posted by Riverdance

This is going to be an extremely unpopular opinion, but my captain has implemented a no-noodle policy that we as strategists are supposed to ask our alliance partners to respect if possible during match planning. He would like to avoid the possibility of the noodles getting stuck underneath the other alliance's robots' wheels and preventing them from functioning properly (as mentioned earlier) or getting stuck whilst driving (a side effect that we noticed at Suffield Shakedown), even to the effect that we gain four points per piece that they do not manage to corral into the landfill zone.

There's also the point that a lot of times the human player put in charge of noodle throwing can't throw it as far as they think they can, and it ends up hurting our alliance by cluttering up our side of the field and giving us more obstacles to maneuver around. Less of an issue for us with our sick H-Drive, but an issue nonetheless.

I absolutely agree that throwing noodles needs to be an ALLIANCE decision. If you can show that your HP can hit the other field a very HIGH % of the time then it can be worth it, but it also is risky both in scoring on the wrong side and impeding higher value stacking.

If you're alliance isn't productive elsewhere then throwing is a more viable strategy, but with a good alliance it probably isn't worth the risk.

In watching a half dozen regionals last week I saw only two HPs who could get 80% over to the other side. The rest looked to be mostly haphazard.

I think we're playing in an arena this week where the air conditioning will affect the noodle flight. It was a problem in 2013 with the frisbees. Supposed to be in the mid-70s so expect the AC will be on.

[Riverdance]

Originally Posted by Citrus Dad

In watching a half dozen regionals last week I saw only two HPs who could get 80% over to the other side. The rest looked to be mostly haphazard.

I concur. At our district event (Waterbury) last weekend, there was one human player that was consistently extremely impressive. Other than that, the noodles just kind of seemed to make a mess on the alliance's side of the field that was throwing them.

[Siri]

As a ref who got very used to pressing the "unprocessed litter" button at Hatboro, we had a few Noodle Apostles and at least one Noodle Jesus.