Declawed games

[archiver]

Posted by Kevin Sevcik.

Other on team #57, Tigers, from BT Washington and the High School for Engineering Professions and Exxon, Kellog Brown & Root, Powell Electrical.

Posted on 1/13/2000 12:58 AM MST


In Reply to: Declawed games posted by Marc DeSchamp on 1/12/2000 11:04 AM MST:



Well. Far be it from me to beat an issue into the ground, but as long as everyone else is doing it, I thought I'd voice my opinion. :^) First, I think that while the games may be getting 'wussy' they've been developing in other ways. They have been becoming more complex with more scoring options and strategies to consider than just scoring as many times as possible. True, 'additive' scoring may be simpler, but cumulative scoring makes games richer and more varied. They allow for more strategies. While multipliers may have brought some luck into the equation, they also brought in a whole lot more strategy. My team tried to capitalize on this in Ladder Logic when we started sucking opponents multipliers away. When our opponents started knocking balls off the rails, we realized we didn't choose the best strategy in the world.
The new scoring system is the same. Instead of seeing teams being beaten horribly, we'll see many more close games and yes, maybe even teams scoring for each other. We could even see teams lowering their own score if they were feeling particularly malicious. All of this means more strategy. More planning. More thinking.
Yes, FIRST is moving away from a football kind of game and towards something else. But these teams are sponsored by the likes of Compaq, not the New York Jets. Compaq isn't looking for someone who knows how to push other people around and knock them over. They're looking for someone who can look at a problem and come up with an effective strategy to win. In my mind, gracious professionalism doesn't even come into play. It's the simple fact that it's far better to solve a problem with careful planning and thought than with a large mass of brute force.