Teams are always at a disadvantage when their alliance partner is a no-show, but this year, it’s worse than ever. Although in past seasons, you could somewhat make something out of a no-show by running a skills run, Rapid Relay relies on BOTH robots being there, as without a second robot, their score greatly diminishes! What could have been an 80 could easily get bumped down to a 12! What are you thoughts on this?
I think the GDC should reverse this ruling. This is not at all fair and I think this violates the spirit of the game. Just have that match be scored as skills and it would be (mostly) fair.
1 Like
That is exactly what I thought while reading that QnA. The ruling for it was outrageous, and definitely unfair.
I agree, it should be scored like a Driving Skills run in the absence of another team, given this year’s scoring format. Literally dropping a brain on the field in place of the no-show robot would be better than the current ruling. At least then you could roll/throw a ball at the brain to make contact with it and that would count as a pass and you’re on your way! 
Put your torches down. There is merit behind this rule.
Just because you don’t like the rule doesn’t mean it isn’t fair.
What happens when the really good team tells other teams to show up but not bring their bot so they can get an even higher score? What about when all teams realize this is a superb strategy when paired with lower-performing teams?
3 Likes
I agree. A team should not be punished for their alliance partner not showing up for a match.
Isn’t that literally against G1?
When Teams are getting ready for an upcoming Match, it is not okay for one Team in an Alliance to ask another Team to sit in a corner during the Match or to intentionally play beneath their abilities.
1 Like
That’s my point. This rule aligns with G1.
Or at least that’s my opinion
1 Like
Correct, G1 handles those teams that attempt to intentionally undermine the integrity of the game. However, if a team no-shows because they just up and left the event or worse they were DQ’d from the event earlier and will miss all remaining matches; that’s where this rule adversely effects the other teams. Heck, you could even argue that this could discourage teams from reporting rules violations for fear that they may hurt their’s or other team’s chances if they’re paired with the DQ’d team later in the tournament. Now, the pendulum swings both ways…if they change the rules to make the scoring more like a skills run then perhaps that would encourage teams to report rules violations…or worse yet abuse the reporting process.
With all that being said, I actually don’t recall our team encountering a no-show last season. So maybe we’re making a mountain out of a molehill. 
5 Likes
Sounds like a good incentive to check in with your alliance partner before the match, to make sure that they’re ready to play.
9 Likes
I disagree completely.
Skills runs are almost certainly easier than teamwork, and whilst it’s not exactly a skills run, it’s still similar, and would just make it easier for that team.
Would it be fair if a team gets a higher ranking because their alliance partner didn’t show up, and thus they were able to score more points?
It’s a HUGE advantage, and just not fair.
No shows are gonna happen, so we sometimes just need to take the loss, rather than giving people a huge advantage.
I could see a team that won’t get into high rankings for finals just no showing to make it easier for a team that could.
Especially if they’re from the same organisation.
So yeah, Tl:dr don’t punish everybody else because of 1 team
2 Likes
I just remembered that the average score for alliance paring takes away your two lowest scores. I think this is fair.
I’ve had a partner that I had to call out of an intreview because they didn’t check their schedual. Thankfully, the Head refferee (or EP) delayed the match.
3 Likes