Ball Hogs

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Swampdude

So now when it comes to determining who on your alliance gets to do the bulk of the handling. How well do you think teams will stick to the plan? the term, ball hog comes to mind.

If the plan involves one bot playing defense/herding the opponent's trackballs, that leaves 1 ball per alliance bot. It's an unheralded job, but sometimes, someone just has to do it.

I could see the ball hog concept being more of a problem when you get 3 capable offensive robots together, especially when the teams are used to being the "point man", the center of attention. Who will swallow their pride and relegate themselves to more of a support/defensive role? Or how will they concoct a devious strategy where 2 robots manipulate one of the trackballs in glorious coordination and the other bot is free to use the 2nd trackball at will?

I view the best gameplay arrangement to be like football played with two balls - the quarterback and receiver bots work in tandem playing pitch and catch with one trackball, while the "running back" bot is free to use the other trackball as he pleases. But watch out, because if you fumble or throw an incomplete pass, the defense will be there to recover and slow down your offense.

It will be interesting to see how this game and this season plays out, no doubt!