high scored matches

[Adam Y.]

I watched some of the last qual matches over the web and in listening to the commentators and looking at the clock it seem that the human player period was 15 seconds and not the 10 that we had at UTC and BAE. I know at the UTC scrimmage that FIRST was thinking about 15 for safety reasons but is this official now or just implemented locally in FL.

You can go over 10seconds but autonomous mode will not activate. Maybe they did not have autonomous mode and used up more time becaue of that.

One of these years someone is going to put drive motors on a cement block and run that as their bot. Maybe that will be the wake-up call for FIRST to abide by their own rulings. The game may not be fair as Dean said, but they have established rules of play, and right now the rules are being ignored.

Hey I resent that remark about our robot. Anyway at the spbli regional there was no collusion what so ever.

[157#1Driver]

Originally posted by Matt Reiland
I can see how fixing could happen or appear to happen but it should be VERY clear to everyone that if you get to the elimination matches by fixing your score, you will be out of the running rather quickly and it will be obvious to everyone in the finals if you can't perform to the level that your score shows.

Exactly, you could fix all your matches in QM's and then be number 1 seed. Then you get into the finals and it matters to win or lose and you can't do it cause you've never been in a match that was COMPETITIVE. I just hope that teams will accept what happens in Nats and not fix matches. Its just wrong.

[Stephen Kowski]

Just to make it clear ALOT of teams were fixing matches in the florida competition, and it was just awful to watch....there was one team in particular that began doing it who I will not mention here (who I squarely blame for this situation at UCF), and they had such a lead most teams were just trying to stay competitive. My team talked to the head ref there about this and he says that FIRST is going to issue a statement about this before the Championship.

[futtrich]

While it's true corporations frequently collaborate on research projects, those collaborations are (in most circumstances) made public. At this point one doesn't know if a high score was genuinely earned or achieved through collaboration. Perhaps the teams who made agreements ahead of their match could step forward and tell us which matches they collaborated on. Those matches could then be marked with an asterisk so we could draw our own conclusions about what the scores represent.

[Wayne C.]

This issue goes on and on... I thought the thread was closed once already.

I personally spoke to a head referee at FIRST and was assured they would issue a statement. I am surprised it hasn't happened yet but that is their call.

Until they do something the problem is not going to change and there really isn't much point flaming about it. Even if a statement is issued condemning the game fixing there is really no way to know what matches are actually fixed.

As for pointing fingers at teams- please don't. Just turn down the offers when they come. And if their behavior offends you don't associate with them. And be sure to discuss the problem at the forum next summer when the game is discussed.

It is a shame that this situation can be lucrative for the fixers. But FIRST has always said that the game isn't important. I guess this proves that.

Hey have fun and do your best. Thats all we CAN do.



WC

[Dave]

Our team, #654 participated in collusion. It ended up with us having the highest score in the nation as of yet, 383 QP's (just wait for peachtree). In my mind, there is nothing wrong with co-operation over competition. It is in face HARDER to get a good mach with four robots going around the field. People after us tried to do it, but several unfortunate accidents lead to an all-out battle to take points away from everyone and a score of 1 to 2. If teams choose to co-operate instead of compete, and this is the best way to get the highest score, there is no problem with this. After all, 4 robots working together is much better than 4 robots breaking each other. Stop whining just 'cause you didn't think of it.

[Stephen Kowski]

Well I actually talk to friends in other team at UCF and they were up front with me about it and admitted to it. Frankly I respect them for their honesty. That is the reason I am not speculating I KNOW who was doing it and who started doing it. Once that team did began fixing their matches it swept through UCF like a virus.

[157#1Driver]

Originally posted by Dave
Our team, #654 participated in collusion. It ended up with us having the highest score in the nation as of yet, 383 QP's (just wait for peachtree). In my mind, there is nothing wrong with co-operation over competition. It is in face HARDER to get a good mach with four robots going around the field. People after us tried to do it, but several unfortunate accidents lead to an all-out battle to take points away from everyone and a score of 1 to 2. If teams choose to co-operate instead of compete, and this is the best way to get the highest score, there is no problem with this. After all, 4 robots working together is much better than 4 robots breaking each other. Stop whining just 'cause you didn't think of it.

If you dont mind me asking, why did you do it? To get noticed? be higher in ranking?

[Rich Kressly]

After witnessing these "offers" at a recent regional and following these threads closely, I think we do a disservice by pointing fingers. As much as I hate the arrangement, it's impossible to know whether a team leaves a stack alone as a calculated risk during the match or if they were a part of an agreement beforehand.

As Wayne said earlier, just turn down those offers and continue to play the competitive game the way it was designed to be played. Part of this learning experience has to do with making sound, ethical decisions. The goal of FIRST is to build a better future for all of us. It isn't about the game, it's about what you find out about yourself in the process.

Have fun and do your best now, then help FIRST improve the rules by attending the summer forum with suggested solutions to problems.