[Official 2006 Game Design] Game Elements and Subtasks

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

I don't mind the ever popular "big ending element" so long as it doesn't become the main attraction ( like in 2003 which was basically King of the Hill and forget the stacks or last year where teams looked only to hang and could care less about dealing with the balls). Perhaps if they weren't worth such a huge amount of points or you get the large amount of points if your whole alliance accomplishes the task.

I'm inclined to agree here--50 points is a heck of a deficit to overcome when you can't hang. Last year, that was ten balls, five if you capped, per robot. If both of your opponents hung, you had to score more than a ball dump's worth of balls, or have a capper. Slightly skewed, if you ask me.

This year, ignoring rows, an end zone was all but neutralized with three stacked tetras, and was overcome on a fourth. Result? Not everybody went for the end zone. Factor in the Vex competition, where the 20-point bonus was four balls, or two capped. Perhaps I'm misconstruing this, but I believe that's a further acknowledgment of the ginormousness of the bonus last year. So, with that, I present...

Originally Posted by Billfred's Theory of FIRST End-Game Bonuses

As the amount of points awarded for an end-of-game bonus moves beyond four scored gamepieces, the focus will significantly shift towards achieving that bonus.