Replaying Events for 2021

[CPScienceDude]

Ooo I like the 3 target points idea

[MadCow2357]

As for builds:
Boomilever was to be replaced by Elevated Bridge/Bridge Building. The reasoning for replaying this year's events next year was for students to "retain and reuse their resources and devices," however bridges and boomis don't tend to be reused for multiple competitions. I'd love to see some event rotation happening in this category of builds... I know a lot of people (except Madcow ) were hyped for bridges.

Overall, great events, just some tweaks would make it a lot funner. Small things like Gravity with 3 target points which aren't centered on the track, or tweaks to boomi specs... I'd be excited.

No problem with doing bridges lol, in fact sounds very fun

But having your best event rotate out without even having the chance to "reach your goal" (speaking broadly bc everyone has different placement goals) bc of tournament cancellations is certainly disappointing. Ex:

Being honest, I was definitely trying for a nats medal in boomi. I thought that I might just have a chance this year, but suddenly sont was gone. It's the worst feeling ever when you lose the chance to even try to chase your dreams

My dreams were crushed once last year for buggy, and now this year's dreams have been shattered too

That being said, I also realize that it's not all that practical to keep boomi for another year if that many teams are at 2k+ (score distribution gets wacked up)
I would support event rotations as normal or major rule rewrites for certain events

[sciolyperson1]

As for builds:
Boomilever was to be replaced by Elevated Bridge/Bridge Building. The reasoning for replaying this year's events next year was for students to "retain and reuse their resources and devices," however bridges and boomis don't tend to be reused for multiple competitions. I'd love to see some event rotation happening in this category of builds... I know a lot of people (except Madcow ) were hyped for bridges.

Overall, great events, just some tweaks would make it a lot funner. Small things like Gravity with 3 target points which aren't centered on the track, or tweaks to boomi specs... I'd be excited.

No problem with doing bridges lol, in fact sounds very fun

But having your best event rotate out without even having the chance to "reach your goal" (speaking broadly bc everyone has different placement goals) bc of tournament cancellations is certainly disappointing. Ex:

Being honest, I was definitely trying for a nats medal in boomi. I thought that I might just have a chance this year, but suddenly sont was gone. It's the worst feeling ever when you lose the chance to even try to chase your dreams

My dreams were crushed once last year for buggy, and now this year's dreams have been shattered too

That being said, I also realize that it's not all that practical to keep boomi for another year if that many teams are at 2k+ (score distribution gets wacked up)
I would support event rotations as normal or major rule rewrites for certain events

I'd disagree with major rule rewrites, as others have said, some people didn't even get a chance to test their devices or take any tests. I'd be satisfied with tweaks and minor additions.

[TheChiScientist]

I support the change. I think that everyone’s hard work in their events should not go to waste. Many teams pick their events based on state schedules, and it’s devastating to spend hours working on them to end up not competing. While I know this probably was not an easy decision to make, I fully support it.

I agree. Every team has the same opportunity here to capitalize on this unique event. Don't miss out. The only people that lose in this case are the Seniors and 8th graders.

[SilverBreeze]

It's a tough topic. I know many people on the forum have had the chance to compete in at least one regional/invitational tournament, or maybe even states, but for a number of other teams, like mine, we have yet to compete, even at the regional level. While I agree that next year would probably be a lot less exciting and more competitive if the events/rules remain the same, I also would like at least some opportunity to compete in the events that I've spent all these hours on this past year, and I'm sure other people in the same situation as me would agree as well.

If there was some way they could at least postpone the regional tournament to a later date (maybe even during the summer?) when conditions improve I would be willing to have that and still be able to rotate new events for the 2021 season.

I do agree - many teams have had their year's worth of resources wasted. However, they could tweak the rules in order to accommodate both sides - those which want new rules and those which dont.

Tweaks to the rules could be tweaks that affect how you test the vehicle, but not how you compete in it. If rules for Gravity, for example, said that the track had to have 3 target distances which are at different places along the track (9m straight, 1m right, 10m straight, 0.5 left, and 11.5m straight, .75 to the right, for example), you could use the same ramp and car that you built, while having a larger gap between top placements in order to minimize luck in the event.

Or for PPP, they could give a limit on say the psi used, or a limit on the weight of the rocket.

Study events could incorporate an extension of this year's topics. This would allow for this year's resources to be used, but could incorporate a larger variety of topics to ease boringness to those who had enough of this year's rules.

This effectively gives a chance for those who did not compete yet to still use their resources, while allowing those which did compete to add and study more topics.

For study events, one relatively easy way I would consider is to add some aspects of older topic rotations, for example, adding freshwater to WQ or glaciers to DP. This aggravates issues with benefiting more experienced competitors, of course, but replaying events already makes it hard for new people to overcome the advantage. This has the additional advantage of taking less time for the rules committee to redraft.

[builderguy135]

Or for PPP, they could give a limit on say the psi used, or a limit on the weight of the rocket.

Study events could incorporate an extension of this year's topics. This would allow for this year's resources to be used, but could incorporate a larger variety of topics to ease boringness to those who had enough of this year's rules.

This effectively gives a chance for those who did not compete yet to still use their resources, while allowing those which did compete to add and study more topics.

PPP - Needs some kind of bonus. Could be payload bonus, weight bonus, psi bonus, no idea.

Sounds - Make it 2 instruments again!

Code - New ciphers please. Code is fun but the 10 or so ciphers are getting kinda old to be honest.

In my opinion, builds have to be more interesting (different bonuses/goals) and studies would have to be a little harder to compensate for the extra time everyone has to practice.

[Unome]

Or for PPP, they could give a limit on say the psi used, or a limit on the weight of the rocket.

Study events could incorporate an extension of this year's topics. This would allow for this year's resources to be used, but could incorporate a larger variety of topics to ease boringness to those who had enough of this year's rules.

This effectively gives a chance for those who did not compete yet to still use their resources, while allowing those which did compete to add and study more topics.

PPP - Needs some kind of bonus. Could be payload bonus, weight bonus, psi bonus, no idea.

Sounds - Make it 2 instruments again!

Code - New ciphers please. Code is fun but the 10 or so ciphers are getting kinda old to be honest.

In my opinion, builds have to be more interesting (different bonuses/goals) and studies would have to be a little harder to compensate for the extra time everyone has to practice.

It's worth noting that it's not really plausible to just make a study event harder, since that's mainly the result of the test writer rather than the rules.

[builderguy135]

PPP - Needs some kind of bonus. Could be payload bonus, weight bonus, psi bonus, no idea.

Sounds - Make it 2 instruments again!

Code - New ciphers please. Code is fun but the 10 or so ciphers are getting kinda old to be honest.

In my opinion, builds have to be more interesting (different bonuses/goals) and studies would have to be a little harder to compensate for the extra time everyone has to practice.

It's worth noting that it's not really plausible to just make a study event harder, since that's mainly the result of the test writer rather than the rules.

Hm, that's true. Could topics be added though?

[Name]

Code - New ciphers please. Code is fun but the 10 or so ciphers are getting kinda old to be honest.

Hm, just wondering, what new types of cipher would you propose?

[Name]

Code - New ciphers please. Code is fun but the 10 or so ciphers are getting kinda old to be honest.

Hm, just wondering, what new types of cipher would you propose?

Polybius Square ciphers, XOR ciphers (or other binary ciphers?), Columnar/Rail Fence ciphers, ASCII ROT ciphers, 3x3 Hill Decryption given encryption matrix, Playfair cipher, Bifid cipher, or Vig/Morbit/Pollux/Affine/Hill with more emphasis on cryptanalysis.

Also xenocrypts in languages other than Spanish? (/s) lol

Maybe even a combination of ciphers such as morse+aristocrat?

My partners would hate me for suggesting these things haha