Hello,
The definition of Hoarding is
Hoarding – A form of Possession. A Robot is Hoarding if it is in Possession of any Mobile Goal in either of the two (2) corners of the field in their own Alliance Home Zone (i.e. positioned in the corner roughly the size of one foam field tile).
Emphasis mine.
The definition of Possession is
Possession – A Robot is considered to be in Possession of a Mobile Goal if any one of the following criteria are met:
The Robot is carrying, holding or controlling the movement of a Mobile Goal such that if the Robot changes direction, the Mobile Goal will move with the Robot. Therefore, pushing / plowing Mobile Goals is not considered Possession, however using concave portions of your Robot to control the movement of Mobile Goals is considered Possession. See Figure 18. The Robot is actively blocking opposing Robot’s access to Mobile Goals, such as by expanding horizontally and restricting access to a portion of the field. See Figure 19. Robots on the same Alliance working in tandem to block access to Mobile Goals would share the Possession of said Mobile Goal. See Figure 20.
<SG7> Hoarding of Mobile Goals is limited. Robots may not Hoard more than one (1) Mobile Goal at once.
Minor violations of this rule that do not affect the Match will result in a warning. Match Affecting offenses will result in a Disqualification. Teams that receive multiple warnings may also receive a Disqualification at the Head Referee’s discretion.
Note: Hoarding is not a time-based activity (i.e. a 5 second count, like Trapping). As soon as a Robot places multiple Mobile Goals in the corner of an Alliance Home Zone, they are at risk of causing a Hoarding violation.
The intent of this rule is to prohibit one Alliance from actively stifling gameplay by “locking down” Mobile Goals in corners of the field. Its intent is not to make the corners of the field an area of edge-case accidental violations, just as it is not to prohibit Robots from Possessing multiple Mobile Goals while playing the game offensively. In general, unless a Robot or Alliance is intentionally and blatantly utilizing a Hoarding strategy, violations of this rule should be rare.
Additionally, context was added in Q&A 940, https://www.robotevents.com/VRC/2021-2022/QA/940
In order to be considered Hoarding, the Robots in question must be Possessing the Mobile Goals in the "corners" of the field, where "corner" means roughly the size of the one foam field tile. If the Robots / Mobile Goals in question were not in this corner, then they were not meeting the definition of Hoarding, and were therefore not in violation of SG7.
Now my question is about the legality of a strategy implemented by a couple teams around our region which was deemed illegal due to violation of the intent of SG7 due to hoarding. The two teams on an alliance would shove all the neutral goals and their own color goals under their own platform causing the goals to become stuck under the platform, They would then block off access to the portion of the goals that are reachable. Example images of this strategy are attached.
So the questions are
1. If both teams on an alliance are blocking off access to multiple goals (neutral and their own color) by shoving them under their own platform and protecting them from the other alliance, would this by a violation of SG7?
2. If one team on an alliance is blocking off access to multiple goals (neutral and their own color) by shoving them under their own platform and protecting them from the other alliance, would this by a violation of SG7?
3. If both team on an alliance is blocking off access to multiple goals (neutral and their opposing color) by shoving them under their own platform and protecting them from the other alliance, would this by a violation of SG7?
If any of these are no, could you explain why this would not be a violation of the intent of SG7 as they are attempting to stifle game play?
As an Event Partner and a Head Ref, I believe that it is a violation of SG7 as by the intent of locking down game play and because Q&A 940 describes the corners to mean roughly the size of the one foam field tile.
Thank you.
