paper: Spanking the Children

[AGPapa]

Originally Posted by Pi3th0n

I hadn't really thought of it this way before. Wouldn't it suck if your robot was holding a 30 point ball, lining up to shoot in the last ten seconds of the match, and then was pinned for 8 seconds? If the value of the fouls was significantly lower, it would be "worth it" for the other team to draw that foul. Intentionally fouling isn't "in the spirit of FIRST," and the point value of these fouls makes a lot more sense now.

In what proportion of matches would this occur? We already know that a 50pt tech foul would swing 53% of matches.

Lets assume for a moment that all tech fouls are now worth 30 points. In your case, in order for it to be worth it to take the foul an alliance must be down less than 10pts (40-30). In what proportion of matches is the winning margin less than 10? Very few. In what number of those does an alliance have a 30point ball in the last 8 seconds? Even fewer.

Originally Posted by RallyJeff

I think it's important that point values for fouls and technical fouls be high enough that it's never in a team's rational self-interest to commit a foul. IMO, the values should be high enough that the foul will cost the team at least as much as the scoring opportunity they prevented by committing the foul.

Would you be in favor of reducing the value of a tech foul to 40 points?