Official Q&A: VRC 2021-2022: Tipping Point

Usage Guidelines

< G22 > All Teams must adhere to all VEX Robotics Competition rules as written in this Game Manual, and must abide by any stated intents of these rules. Officially registered Teams have the opportunity to ask for official rule interpretations in the VEX Robotics Competition Question & Answer system. All responses in this system should be treated as official rulings from the VEX Robotics Competition Game Design Committee (GDC), and they represent the correct and official interpretation of the VEX Robotics Competition Rules.

Welcome to the 2021-2022 Q&A system. This system has been designed to provide an easy-to-use, integrated user experience for navigating game and rules questions. To ensure that the GDC is able to provide answers at the level of quality expected by our teams, we ask that you please review these suggestions prior to hitting "Submit".

Note 1: The Q&A system is for rules clarifications only.

• For event, registration, or other competition support questions, please contact your REC Foundation Manager.
• For questions related to judging and/or awards, please visit the official Judging Q&A.
• For VEX technical support, contact [email protected] or [email protected].
• For game questions, suggestions, or concerns outside of specific and official rules questions, contact [email protected].

Note 2: Only registered teams may ask questions in the Q&A system.

• In order to ask a question, you must be logged under a RobotEvents account that is either an Event Partner, or a Primary, Secondary, or Financial Contact for a team that is registered in the current VRC season.
• If you wish to ask a question but are not one of these, check with your teacher or other team leader responsible for managing the team account. If you are a volunteer, such as a Head Referee, check with the Event Partner for the event at which you are volunteering.
• If you are the Primary Contact and have any questions about this process, please contact your REC Foundation Manager or [email protected].

1. Read and search the manual before posting.

• The Q&A is not a replacement for the official VRC Tipping Point Game Manual. Many, many of the questions asked each year could be answered by simply pressing Ctrl+F and searching the manual (or using the search feature in VRC Hub). The VRC Game Manual is a relatively short document and a valuable tool - please use it!

2. Read and search existing Q&As before posting.

• This is a corollary to the first item. As the season goes on, we tend to see a great deal of repetition in the Q&A posts. This repetition clutters the forum and makes it harder to find the real precedent-setting posts in here. If everyone followed items 1 and 2 before posting, we would see a significant reduction in the number of posts, which makes it much easier to follow item 2!

3. Quote the applicable rule from the latest version of the manual in your question.

• Often, you'll find that by quoting the rule, you'll answer your own question. Similarly, if your question can be answered by a direct quote from the manual, that is all that we will answer it with - so, you can save yourself the time and waiting by checking the manual first.

4. Make a separate post for each question.

• If you have three questions on three separate topics, please, make three separate posts. This makes it easier to tag and search for specific topics. Of course, if you have multiple questions that are all highly related, then feel free to ask them all as part of one post.

5. Use specific and appropriate question titles.

• The more specific your question title, the easier it is for people who are searching to find relevant posts.
• "Goals", "G12", and "I have a question" are all very poor titles. "Does SG4 apply in Driver Skills", "Is a Raspberry Pi a non-functional decoration", and "Is this Platform Balanced” are all better titles.

6. Questions will (mostly) be answered in the order they were received.

• We know that your question is important to you, and you want the answer as soon as possible. Most questions submitted by Wednesday evening will be answered on or before Friday of the same week. Most questions that are submitted on Thursday or Friday will be answered on or before Friday of the following week.
• However, some questions may take additional time to review internally, and responses may take longer during high-volume times of year. In order to ensure the consistent quality of all answers, there are no guarantees that questions will be answered before a given date. Therefore, if you need an answer before your competition, we would advise posting it 1-2 weeks in advance, not the night before, to ensure a higher likelihood of a response.

7. This system is the only source for official rules clarifications.

• Please do not privately contact the Game Design Committee to ask for rules clarifications. They will simply point you to this Q&A system or ignore the inquiry entirely. This includes via email, social media, forum private messages, etc.