Team update 16

[Danny Diaz]

Originally Posted by Nawaid Ladak

My point is that update 16 will not stop the weaker alliance from creating a 6v0 situation, it won't stop the stronger alliance to score for their opponents to raise their own seeding score/cooperation bonus even more. after all. I thought that was the issue that everyone was struggling with. "scoring points for your opponent". We already knew that part of the system was flawed.

I have to agree with this. There is still no incentive for an alliance that knows they're not going to win to even attempt to "fight." All they really want to do (even with #16) is to keep the bleeding to a minimum - to prevent their alliance from scoring any points (whether scored by them or by the opposing alliance); there is nothing gained by fighting a battle you know you cannot win.

For instance, let's say a particular matchup brings 217-148-111 against 418-5000-5001 (where 5000 and 5001 represent mythical rookie teams that can only push balls around the field). Even after #16 I would still be correct to instruct my alliance members to not score (for our alliance), to not defend (against our opposing alliance from scoring in their own goals), and only to attempt to prevent anyone from scoring in our goals. It is in our alliance's interest to play like this during the qualifiers, if you know the cards are stacked against you, to prevent a "runaway" from the stronger alliance. This is where this year's game falls apart - where the scoring model inhales audibly. In this year's game I have the strong likelihood to do more damage to myself trying to play, than to sit on my keyster - WTH?

I do appreciate the GDC's stance on backing off the ball incursion penalty, and I also appreciate them cracking down on robots that don't pass inspection. However, their bread-and-butter (the game itself) is still sadly and horribly broken.

-Danny