Relevant rules/definitions:
Hoarding definition:
"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). See SG7 for more information"
SG7:
"Hoarding of Mobile Goals is limited. Robots may not Hoard more than one (1) Mobile Goal at once. 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."
Relevant QA: https://www.robotevents.com/VRC/2021-2022/QA/894
Interpretation A: If you hold a mogo in a defensive manner you are hoarding. Meaning if you hold 2 mogos and are stifling gameplay or preventing access to 1 mogo in the corner then you are only hoarding the 1 mogo. To be hoarding you must be preventing access to the mogo from another team. And the defintiion of hoarding only applies to the mogo that is being impacted by the defensive action taken. Meaning if you are hold 1 mogo and shove another in the corner and keep a robot away from it then you are only hoarding 1 mogo. This is based on the clarification of SG7 that
"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."
Meaning you must be playing clearly defensively and stifling gameplay and that calling all scenarios where a robot is in a corner possessing mogos would be contradictory to the intent of not wanting a bunch of edge cases or possession limits ("edge case" here refers to edges of the rules not edge cases in terms of infrequent occurrences of the action of being in the corner with mobile goals which happens pretty often) This interpretation means that a robot is only hoarding if it actively "stifles gameplay" (i.e prevents a robot, who is actively trying to get the mogo, from getting access) and that hoarding definition is only to apply to mogos that are being stifled not all mogos in your possession.
Interpretation B: Hoarding is purely posesion based. meaning if I am posessing multiple mogos and in the physical position where it is considered hoarding (corners). QA 894 says that the robot is hoarding more than one mogo and the picture shows it hold 2 mogos and preventing acess to 1 mogo. This means hoarding isnt just about preventing access but purely about posessing in a defensive manner. Posession no matter what is hoarding if its in your corner and you are not clearly trying to score or moving. This interpretation means that a robot is hoarding anytime it possesses mobile goals in the corner and is not moving with them. Also this means that the hoarding definition applies to all mogos Meaning if a robot holds 2 mogos and sits in its corner then it is hoarding those 2 mogos regardless of whether another team is trying to get access to them or not.
- Which interpretation is correct? or is the correct interpretation somewhere in between?
- In this video is the red robot in the bottom left hoarding https://youtu.be/ChNwvQ38fg4? If so, how many mogos is it hoarding and how were you able to come to that conclusion? Was it the action of sitting in the corner with the mobile goals and not moving, the action of preventing a robot from getting access to the mobile or something else?
I understand its impossible to issue a blanket statement for all hypotheticals but some guidance for what mental frameworks refs should use in this situation is appreciated.
Thank you