I know this was discussed to death back in 2019, but I have an idea for how it could work. I read through all of the threads, and I believe this satisfies every objection brought up by EP’s and Head Refs.
Restrictions for Video Review:
Only in Elimination matches at VEX Worlds:
The only matches that are eligible for Video Review would be Worlds elim matches.
Referees have the first choice whether or not to review footage to edit a call.
If a referee wants to examine a possible violation, they could choose to review footage without taking either alliance’s time out.
Teams would have the ability to request a review. The referees can choose to accept or deny the request.
Only certain rules are eligible for review
If a possibly rule-violating scenario is consistently difficult to call, it will have a bullet point in the game manual that deems it eligible for review. In the past, match loading/descoring rules in Over Under and corner protecting/possession in High Stakes would have had this.
Video Review should be a last resort
Footage should only be reviewed in edge cases where it is not clear to the referees what happened. For instance, a referee not looking at the event in which a possible violation was committed or a ref is unclear on a call that relies on seeing a timer such as sg11 from High Stakes.
Teams use their time out for the review
If a team does not have a time out left, they cannot call for reviews. If a decision is not made by the time a time out is finished, no changes are made to the ruling. After the match ends, the members of a drive team can go up to the Head ref and request a review. The team must find the time of the possible violation in the live stream on their or a referee’s phone and show the ref within the time out period.
Only match-affecting violations should be reviewed.
I know that many EP’s and Head REfs have strong opinions against this. After reading through the longer threads, the following are the most common arguments.
Video Review would take too much time, and slow down events far too much:
As this would only take place in edge-cases, these would be a rarity rather than a common occurrence. If a team wishes to have the referees review footage, said team would be forced to use their time out. If a time out has already been used by an alliance, they are not eligible to request video review.
Footage could be unreliable:
As video review is only permitted for Worlds elims, all footage reviewed must be from the vexworlds.tv live stream. While it isn’t perfect, it is good enough to tell if a team has violated a rule. Additionally, I’ve gotten into the habit of watching previous game’s divisional elims. Out of nearly every elim match for MS and HS High Stakes and Over Under, maybe 3 matches have had patches where the stream was not showing the full match.
[insert passive aggressive comment about how I’ve never refereed, so I don’t know how hard it is]:
I truly wish I could. There isn’t much I enjoy more than analyzing matches, and I would sign up to ref in a heartbeat if the GDC/RECF changed the age minimum.
That’s my proposition for a Video Review system. I’m open to any objections or suggestions, and I know that this subject has already been debated. I recommend looking at these threads:
This is great. I had always thought it should be tiered by event, since it doesnt make nearly as much sense for a local qual than a dome finals match.
I agree with the using the 5 minute break for your review, which by default limits it to Elims and once per alliance. Additionally, I would think it should tier like this:
Video review is allowed in:
The Final Match of a Local Tournament
Semifinals and above for a signature event/State Championship/World qualifying event
Semifinals and above for Worlds divisions
Every dome match, but with the contingency that all applicable referees agree and its not being used as a time waster.
This seems very interesting. While reading I do have some notes:
Wouldn’t this incentivize teams to bait a time out from the opposing alliance, to put them at a disadvantage by no longer allowing them to call a review if it becomes necessary?
I agree but there can be a software in place that makes it easier. One way could be a simple software that has a rolling camera in RAM and if you click a physical button (similar to that of like a trivia button with a long wire in shows) that a referee can have in their hand, it creates a timestamp 5-10 seconds before the button is pressed. After the match, all notable timestamps and the video gets saved, and a software can let you skim and jump to timestamps.
This not only is time efficient by making these trivial matters typically be resolved in 10-20 seconds, but it also allows events to automatically and dynamically save match footage for teams to review and improve post-event.
On another note, I am in that disqualification video (1814D) for U.S. Open. I can’t believe it’s been seven years! Man am I starting to feel old.
(although this would have allowed us to win or at least get a replay against platt1 and make division finals and potentially dome in Vex U last season)
