FIRST...Taking Broad Steps...

[Greg Perkins]

Hey guys,

I know how many thank yous have gone around about the new kit...But you really have to give credit to FIRST for really leveling the playing feild. There has been so many games in previous years that the experienced teams have WAY more of an advantage than the not so financially/experienced teams. For instance, in 2002 we had the "pushers" and the "ballers"; to be a good "pusher" you had to come up with a really great drive system that was robust, yet elegant. To be a good "baller" a team would have to prove themselves worthy by having the BEST ball collector...In an example (and please note, i am not bashing anybody/team) RAGE, they have been using a similar drive base for years, and heck, its proven them good. And teams like this had found something that works, and kept using them to their advantage. Now for the rookies, some schools who come into this program with little more than a cordless drill and a bandsaw, sometimes just cant compete with teams who are far better off, and have the resources.

Now for my point,

THis year FIRST has genoursly taken broad steps to level the playing feild for ALL TEAMS. with a great gearbox, and a great chassis, Rookies will be able to come to a regional, and prove themselves. I myself have witnessed first hand how hard it is for rookies, yet, dont let that get us down. I think the threads on this forum are also a great way for rookies to learn, however, these threads are also littered with spammers and useless crap.
I see going to a regional this year will be such a huge suprise, with rookies proving themselves, and experienced teams in the same ball park as rookies.
So good bye to domination and the "powerhouse" teams, and hello to a level playing feild.


thanks,

greg

[Joe Menassa]

I could not agree with you more Greg.

I think what FIRST has done this year will certainly be remembered and repeated. I love how everyone will be able to at least be driving, and for a rookie, that is a great accomplishment. It also allows teams with low funds to concentrate their money on manipulators and other projects instead of the usual expensive drive train. It also saves everyone a lot of time.

I also think that this is a great game for FIRST to introduce with these new kits. The game is more reliant on strategy, than on the robot, which will really help level the playing field and make it more exciting.

However, I do believe there will always be a few powerhouse teams. This in my opinion, is OK. It allows for more drama, and realism. As long as the gap between rookies and average teams stays reasonable I think its all good.

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I think the leveling of the playing field will lead to extensively balanced collaboration within alliances, rather than the domination of, as you call them, "powerhouse teams". I agree that this is an awesome move, but there will likely always be teams that do have that power. I think that is also a good thing. When I am asked a question that I can't answer at a competition, or over a pm, that I can't answer, I think of names. Teams, especially. There are many teams throughout America: each regional has them, that really provide a strong base of support.

Without these teams to turn to as role models and goal teams, there wouldn't be such a strong drive to compete and suceed time and time again for this year's advantaged rookies.

With that said, much luck to all of you first year members! You are making a new tradition :). And from what I've seen of this year's rookie teams, it will be a strong tradition.

- Genia

[sanddrag]

I would agree that it levels it out to a certain exgtent, but it also raises the entire leve of competition. As peviously stated, nothing FIRST does will stop the really good teams from being really good. At least on my team the "step" will be huge compared to the level.

[Ryan Foley]

So good bye to domination and the "powerhouse" teams, and hello to a level playing feild.


thanks,

greg

Well I do hate to be devil's advocate here, although I do enjoy a good debate. I agree with you Greg, FIRST did a great job leveling the playing field this year. However, I don't think we are going to be saying goodbye to powerhouse teams. Just because every team has that great gearbox and tranny doesn't mean teams that have gotten really good at drives (45, 111, 217, 1114, etc) are going to stop building amazing drive trains. So I think we are still going to see the innovative drive trains we see every year.

However here is what I hope happens:
The past few years (2002, 2003, 2004) a lot of emphasis has been on building a good drive. If you didn't have a good drive train, you were at a disadvantage. Hopefully with the introduction of this KitBot, the importance will shift. Instead of drives being so important, arms and manipulators will start to be the important part. I would love to see the competition shift a bit in that direction, and I think that this year might be the beginning of that paradigm shift.

But as you said Greg, the KitBot is great, and definitely helped give the lower-resource teams a fighting chance.

[ChrisH]

... Without these teams to turn to as role models and goal teams, there wouldn't be such a strong drive to compete and suceed time and time again for this year's advantaged rookies....

The really good teams are that way because of good management and experience as well as technical expertise. They also do much more than just build their own robot. No matter how the playing field is "leveled" certain teams will still perform better than most, because it is the people as much as the machines that make them excel. Give Wildstang or the TechnoKats a robot identical to yours and don't let them change it. They will still have a good chance of beating you because of the way they approach the game. The same is true of many other teams, but they are two of the best known.