I was hoping that somebody would ask at Q&A about this, but I don’t see it, and as I’m not on a specific team and am just planning on volunteering, I don’t have a way to ask it myself. So, feel free to either point me to where this is clarified in the manual, or ask it of Q&A yourself if you want:
The Human Player Zones were not given the clarification given to the other zones that made them volumes instead of areas. They’re just listed as an area with particular bounds in section 2.2.3. So, I’m not quite sure how to interpret G5, that “Only one ALLIANCE member may be in each HUMAN PLAYER ZONE at a time.” Is that reaching into any part of the space above the carpet within the tape, or is that just making contact with the carpet?
If it’s making contact with the carpet, then perhaps something standing outside the Human Player Zone could load a Tote or Litter into their respective chutes? From looking at the Field Tour Videos, it appears to me that somebody with a long reach might be able to do so.
If it’s being anywhere in the airspace above the carpet, it seems like it might be tough for the referees to enforce, and easy to violate accidentally while passing game pieces to the player that is within the area.
At the very least, it might be nice for the manual to be updated to clarify either way.
It’s probably a Q&A worthy question, but I would assume that if two things have been clarified to be volumes, it can be implied that the other parts are all volumes as well, otherwise they would have consistency issues.
Q281 Q. In the Glossary, it is stated that the Human Player Zone is: “the area bounded by the white tape lines, HP Station and the edge of the carpet.” Is the Human Player Zone considered an “area” as written, meaning a 2d plane, or is it a volume like most other field zones? eg. If there was a human player standing in the zone, would it be possible for a different Human player to reach in and assist the first human player with lifting the Tote Chute, bypassing G5?
A. We don’t want the HUMAN PLAYER ZONE defined as a volume to avoid nuisance penalties (e.g. a person handing a TOTE to a HUMAN PLAYER in the HUMAN PLAYER ZONE could easily and accidentally violate this rule if it was based on volume). However, you bring up a good point. Team Update 2015-01-30 revises G5 to prohibit more than one person from interacting with HUMAN PLAYER STATION elements at a time.
I’m definitely more confused now than I was prior to the rule update. I feel like a better update would have been:
Only one ALLIANCE member may be in contact with the carpet in each HUMAN PLAYER ZONE or in contact with elements of that HUMAN PLAYER STATION at a time.
We have a strange question in the same vein that we may ask Q&A.
Can the Human player where an unpowered shoulder harness based device that allows them to receive totes from the human player in alliance station and keep them at the same level as the intake on the tote input ramp?