Least Important Aspect

[Steve Howland]

There are a few forums out there that ask what the most important part of the game is. My question is, what is least important? Does capping mean nothing, or is it hanging? How about autonomous mode - is it less significant than in other years? Enjoy!

-Diobsidian

[c-squared_2006]

The automonous mode is really not that important. I mean it does help, don't get me wrong but it really should be lower priority. Since the other things listed could actually directly determine the outcome of a round.

[Jason Kixmiller]

I honestly don't believe that any aspect of the game can be viewed as unimportant...at least in a manner that could apply to every match.
For example:
2 Robots that hang = 100 points
10 Balls in a capped goal = 100 points
etc.

In regards to autonomous: it is easy to disregard your opponents autonomous mode until it completely shuts down your teams strategy. One prime example might be the teams that block the entire bar in autonomous (190, 85, etc.) If an opponent of one of these teams relies on hanging to guarantee points, these autonomous modes can be devastating.

[David Bridge]

Originally Posted by c-squared_2006

The automonous mode is really not that important. I mean it does help, don't get me wrong but it really should be lower priority. Since the other things listed could actually directly determine the outcome of a round.

I disagree... I think autonomous might actually be the deciding factor in the finals. When you think about it there are multiple teams in every division who hang well, do small balls well, and cap well... so it may not be a competition of who does those better, but who does it the most and with those extra 30 seconds for small balls a lot could happen. For example, even the really good small ball teams take a while to fill the goal all the way to the top, and the goal can't be capped if it doesn't have any small balls in it. On many occasions I have seen teams who are able to cap and hang only cap because that was all they had time to do after waiting for the goal to be filled.
Another reason auton is important is for the basket bots. I expect defense to be very extreme during eliminations and it will be INCREDIBLY hard for basket bots to catch their balls unless they do it in auton because as soon as opponent drivers have control they will be gunning for the baskets.

my $.02 ::shrug::

[Yan Wang]

Autonomous is important for the reason that so many people think it's not. They don't fully develop their autonomous mode and aren't able to fully take advantage of it. If 254 and 33 weren't able to get both 10pt balls in auton, would they get nearly as many points? And in most matches, if a goal is pushed into a corral, it never gets removed. Autonomous is a great time to do that, when most robots are ill-adapted for any defensive action. And if you watch Thunderchickens' robot, it grabs the mobile goal (FAST) in auton, pulls it back to the ball drop, and decaps it.

In most regionals, I think capping ties autonomous for least exploited aspect of the game. Both are extremely useful. Using the teams from the example above, 254 relies on herding balls early and getting a hefty amount of points by capping. Team 33 gets the ball early (they could pick up at 5-15 balls in that 30 seconds gained from early ball release) and then relies on herding a ton (70-100+ points worth). Auton is 15 seconds of the game. That's more than 10% of a match. There's so much that goes on that could change a game if a robot is built for it.

[CrazyCarl461]

Originally Posted by David Bridge

I think autonomous might actually be the deciding factor in the finals.

I completely agree 100%. There are a lot of good robots going to Atlanta and the finals will be extremely competitive. When it comes down to it, every alliance will have a hanger, capper and small-baller in various combinations and mixtures. The team that can have that extra 35 to 45 seconds to exclusively eat up balls will win almost every time. Autonomous is also important for the defensive reasons Yan mentioned. I noticed this in Evanston and our team has since developed a bonus ball knocker.

[Greg Needel]

i also think that autonomus mode is important but not for the previous stated reasons......defence....after seeing many regionals this year i think that the most common stratagy is going grabing your goal uncapping and either puting it under your ball drop or your apponent's then recapping these extra 30 points have changed a winner to loser quickly....the team i can think of the most that does this is team 67. if in autonomus mode you can knock off both balls every time (like the cheesy poofs) you defend from this stratagy.


also for teams which sole purpose is to gather and deliver balls an extra 30 seconds of balls being on the field can change the fait of the game.....all aspects are important at the right time and none can be discounted, the game was designed that way......

[Jake177]

I think that if you are going by the regionals, then yes autonomous was the least important part of the game. But the teams that are going to Nationals are the best, most of them will have an autonomous mode, maybe several. Autonomous mode is the only time when you don't need to worry about your opponents playing defense against you (unless they have anticipated your strategy and have a program to counter it). Given the choices, I picked hanging, since any alliance with a robot that has a flat side and decent human players can get 10 balls in a goal (making a doubler ball on it worth just as much as a hanging robot).

The autonomous mode is nice, but it's not a necessity. For example, finals match 1 of the Midwest Regional, no balls were triggered....yet our alliance scored 210 points in 1:15 sec with only one robot hanging...you'll have to work quit, but you don't really need the autonomous mode...

[Steve Howland]

I agree that autonomous really isn't that important in quite a few cases. Sometimes it can even be a problem - at UTC some bots were disabled or points were lost for going outside the boundaries. One advantage to remaining in the original position is that if somebody releases the 5-pointers on your side, then you are in a prime position to pick them up (as pointed out by our drivers). If a bot could hit the bonus ball then get back before the round started, that would be a very effective program. It may make a bigger difference in nats then it did at our regionals, though.
-Diobsidian

[George A.]

This year, the autonomous mode was important in the fact that it gave teams an extra 30 seconds with access to the small balls, where that might be the deciding factor. However i feel that autonomous mode last year was far more important. Due to the nature of the game, if you can control the top of the platform, you bascially controled the match. Therefore if you could get on the ramp in autonomous (hmm... Wildstang rings a bell), and control it, then you won. So it depends on the nature of the game whether or not autonomous is all that important.

Also there is no real least significant part of the game, because each part had its role in canceling out another teams strategy.