KISS

[Kevin Leonard]

This weekend's results were unsurprising, and mirrors results from other years. In 2012, most week 1 events were won by teams that scored in the 2 point goal and consistently got double balances. By the end of the season you couldn't win any respectable event with high goal capability and often with triple balances.

This game is going to change dramatically over the weeks, and I'm very excited to see it do so.

Congratulations to the teams mentioned who have been getting far without the high goal and without climbing. You're an inspiration to strategic minds the world over. But keep improving. No alliance (in my opinion) is going to win a regional past week 4 without high goal scoring, and no alliance (in my opinion) is going to win a world championship without scaling.

Stronghold is a strategic game, for sure, but strategy will get you so far.

[GreyingJay]

Originally Posted by Kevin Leonard

Congratulations to the teams mentioned who have been getting far without the high goal and without climbing. You're an inspiration to strategic minds the world over. But keep improving. No alliance (in my opinion) is going to win a regional past week 4 without high goal scoring, and no alliance (in my opinion) is going to win a world championship without scaling.

Our strategy was a simple, robust robot optimized for passively getting over defenses and a very simple intake/shooter for low goal shots. No high goal, no scaling, no extraneous mechanisms. We were very pleased to discover that we were one of the few robots that could consistently get over the ramparts, the moat, and the cheval de frise without getting hung up. (As one announcer said "Wow, those wheels are bouncy!")

However, we recognize that our shooting cycle time was not ideal and will be working hard to have that improved for our next regional.

Also, autonomous. There was a clear progression of improvements to team's autonomous modes throughout the weekend. Those are only going to get better.

[The_ShamWOW88]

Originally Posted by Kevin Leonard

No alliance (in my opinion) is going to win a regional past week 4 without high goal scoring, and no alliance (in my opinion) is going to win a world championship without scaling.

This.

I've been saying it over the last couple of weeks. Scaling has been relatively rare so far but it's inevitably going to become the one aspect of the game that determines Einstein.

Think the Can-Grabbers last year.

[throwaway]

Originally Posted by The_ShamWOW88

This.

I've been saying it over the last couple of weeks. Scaling has been relatively rare so far but it's inevitably going to become the one aspect of the game that determines Einstein.

Think the Can-Grabbers last year.

Just in week one a lot of the elimination matches ended with very close scores and the endgame was what determined most of the point difference. Hanging is key.

[Dezion]

Originally Posted by throwaway

Just in week one a lot of the elimination matches ended with very close scores and the endgame was what determined most of the point difference. Hanging is key.

The semi-finals and finals at Guilford District were determined by the fact that 3506 (YETI Robotics) were able to scale. Once, in the finals they won by four points. Had they not have scaled, it's possible they could have been defeated. Their only loss in eliminations was when their robot started scaling just late, causing them to lose by three. But, their ability to scale the tower helped their alliance win the eliminations.

[*Rachelle*]

Originally Posted by The_ShamWOW88

This.

I've been saying it over the last couple of weeks. Scaling has been relatively rare so far but it's inevitably going to become the one aspect of the game that determines Einstein.

Think the Can-Grabbers last year.

I know this is true for at least the second finals match at PNW Auburn Mountainview, and I believe also true for the first match, but the winning alliance was behind in points at the end of teleop and won because Skunk Works was the only robot to scale.