Safety in Game Design

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by MVCI

2016:
-Would the game be any different with tape instead of the tripline around the secret passage? How many people have tripped walking backwards carrying a 150lb robot over this thing?

The game would be VASTLY different. The tube contains the balls rolled into it unless the balls are intentionally rolled at a high speed. This also establishes a clear separation between courtyard and secret passage balls. This tube is very, very important to the dynamics of the game and it would be a much worse game without it.

And quite honestly, I haven't seen anyone trip over this stuff.

-Climbing is exciting and all, but 150lb robots will hurt when they fall. Its only a matter of time before a major foot injury.

150lb robots hurt when they are dropped too, so we shouldn't pick them up either? Eliminating climbing because a robot might fall is extreme - if a robot is going to fall, it is going to fall long before humans are on the field. It would take a pretty spectacular edge case for a robot to only fall off the bar in the split second between a human entering its vicinity and maintaining control of it.

Robotics will never be risk free, and honestly I think you're applying too much scrutiny to these games. Go back and find a game that doesn't have "safety issues" as you define them, because you can't - we're dealing with 150 lb, 5 foot tall robots, it will never be totally safe. We just need to be aware of all potential issues and take reasonable precautions to mitigate them.