Firstly i want to ask anyone with access to a Robot Events account to post this so we can get an official answer, if you can please let everyone know down below so there are not repeat threads.
Today it was brought to my attention that in the RECF Frequently Asked Questions document about worlds said that " Teams are randomly assigned to the Divisions. It should be noted that teams from the same organization/school will be split across the Divisions. While teams will be split into different Divisions randomly, we expect that most pit areas will be in sequential order for each Division. " It has said that for the current and previous season (and i assume seasons before but i have not checked). I am curious if they are ever going to actually act on what is stated in the FAQ, last season the divisions were sorted in order (1-6 down the list, not random like the FAQ says) and teams were organized in order (not by division, like the FAQ says).
I think that it would be interesting if they actually sorted pits by division, it would reduce walking distance for a lot of teams and would allow the teams in your division to be more easily found. It would also create more of a community inside of your division.
It would be much appreciated if the RECF could give official clarification or an update to the FAQ that is accurate to how worlds will actually be run.
As I recall if you were 23 A B C D. Then 23A was in the first division, 23B in the second and so on. On “pit row” all the 23 teams are together. Like a warm pile of puppies.
The issue is that they say they are going to sort randomly and that teams are going to be organized by division rather then team list, and they are not… like the original post stated.
I assume they mean random as in “not deliberately put into specific divisions based on scores/where they are from/what awards they’ve won/etc” rather than random as in “randomly generated selection without method”. Not, perhaps, the best word choice based on absolute definition but more succinct than “most likely based on numerical order of team number” and maybe covers more ably the “except in instances where we split it differently” scenario (allowing for potential changes without requiring them to commit totally to a specific method).
According to a later FAQ, pit is organized by both team numbers and division:
Q: Can we move to a different pit if it is not occupied? We have another team
that we want to share a pit with. May we move into their pit and share the
space?
A: No. Judges and other event staff use the official pit map to locate teams. Judges
are assigned to interview specific teams. Teams who have moved will not be
interviewed. Pit locations are organized by both team numbers and by Division.
Again, this leaves them some flexibility in terms of things having to be changed at the last minute based on unforeseen or unanticipated issues.
Honestly, I believe that organizing such a huge event has got to be plenty challenging on its own and leaving enough flexibility in wording of super-specific things like that allows for a bit more ease in making changes as they might become necessary (without having to worry about people feeling somehow misled).