Originally Posted by Ty Tremblay (Post 1500322)

What's most important is that the robot is exciting, not that the robot plays with soccerballs or foam basketballs.

We don't need a sport themed game. We don't even need a theme at all. We need an exciting game that's easy for spectators to understand and fun for teams to play.

We won't know if we have that until at least January 9, so don't be so quick to write this game off less than 24 hours after seeing a teaser.

Originally Posted by Citrus Dad (Post 1500328)

I think playground games like capture the flag (seemingly the consensus for this game), dodgeball, four square, tetherball could be good alternatives that also can capture the public's attention. We don't need to stick to the "commercial" sports.

Originally Posted by EricH (Post 1500205)

Oh, right. Standard practice for taking a stronghold in medieval times generally involved some combination of three or four methods.
....(I'm ignoring #5, Siege, because that takes a tad too long.)

Originally Posted by rlowe61 (Post 1500330)

Who knows, maybe the GDC is reading this and many other forums for hints on how to alter their plans for the game. There's still plenty of time to change the game and cut the release video. Be careful what you guess it might come true. :deadhorse:

Originally Posted by Citrus Dad (Post 1500332)

I don't think they have time to substantially change the configuration of the game at this point. It's less than 2 months to ship date. They might tweak the rules, but that's it.

Originally Posted by Libby K (Post 1500291)

SO true - I'm not sure that's the introduction to mainstream culture we want for ourselves...

For an organization that wants to brand itself as the "Sport for the Mind" and reach 'outside the tent', I don't think this 'theme' is going to resonate outside of the nerd-crowd as well as they think it is.

I think it's heaps better than Recycle Rush, and I'm sure Disney's help will make it crowd-friendly - but here's how I see it:

In 2010 or 2012, for example, you're practicing in the school, kicking soccerballs or shooting three-pointers from the key, and one of the students on your school's best Sportsball team walks by. Guess what? You've got common ground now. This is something they already 'get', and maybe they'll come to a competition to see it. Once they're there, they're hooked and want to do more FIRST. You've converted someone who didn't see the value in the robotics team, to a STEM enthusiast. Isn't that the whole point of why we do this?

Engagement from even an already-enthusiastic audience at an FRC demonstration was like pulling teeth this year, at least for us. In the middle of our summer day camp expo, a first-grader asked me: "Why would you want to make a robot that just stacks boxes? What about the cool frisbee one?" (We bring our 2013 robot to play outside with the campers, and demo FLL/FTC/FRC inside.)

I hope Stronghold will be a little more engaging, if only because all the blog posts, teasers, etc. made so far have led us to believe there's some robot interaction.

But as far as bringing people from 'outside the tent' in to FIRST? I'd pick an actual sport any day.

Originally Posted by KeeganP (Post 1500327)

In other news, how might one pick up a 1"dia PVC pipe (flag pole) off the ground? A fast, accurate mechanism that does that would be potentially tricky to build robustly enough to survive being hit by other robots. during gameplay.

Originally Posted by GeeTwo (Post 1500335)

The manipulators on Gripper (the robot in the video) seem better adapted to pick up and position a flagpole than a ball.

Originally Posted by Libby K (Post 1500329)

Excellent point, you're totally right. (Though I'm certainly not 'writing off the game' - just expressing that I'm not a fan of the theme.) I only meant to speak to the idea that there's different ways to find common ground for a new spectator - and that FIRST's idea of branding as 'sport for the mind' doesn't necessarily combine with this super well.

I'm excited, as always, for something new - and I know sharing the trailer around the office has gotten a bunch of employees hyped for the season too!

Originally Posted by lineskier (Post 1500339)

I'm personally surprised by the theme as well. I've been very impressed with how Disney has handled certain assets (specifically lucasfilm and marvel) to make STEM seem cool and interesting to the masses. The cartoonish middle ages theme seems a little oddly positioned, especially given some of the current imagineering projects (iron man, star wars, etc). I realize FIRST wouldn't have rights to those assets, but the execution could be similar. I'm quite curious about how much creative direction for the theme came from FIRST vs Disney.

That being said, given the discussions of possible game play, I am optimistically anticipating a game that could be quite entertaining for spectators.

Originally Posted by Torvando (Post 1500215)

I painted over all the lines on the blueprint to make it easier to see any important stuff.
Attachment 19353

Originally Posted by EricH (Post 1500138)

Ya know, maybe they'll step away from the color-coded bumpers and go back to the flags of '06-'08 for alliance identification.

Originally Posted by Gibso23 (Post 1500355)

I was thinking the same thing until further looking at the video and there seem to be a hint that there will be bumpers in the game