Chief Delphi - [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

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Hallry

16-10-2015 11:25

[FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Posted on the FRC Blog, 10/15/15: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...five-for-first

Quote:

Five for FIRST

Blog Date: Thursday, October 15, 2015 - 15:38

Hello teams!

I hope most of you have had a chance to see the 2016 FRC Season Teaser released last night with the help of our friends at GameSense. If not, you can find it here. The GameSense crew and their guests seemed to be having a good time with the teaser, and I’ll tell you the FIRST staff who watched the show was having a good time watching the community have a good time.

As we have said before, one of the purposes of presenting the teaser in the way we did was to help get the attention of people outside the tent – those who are not already participating in FIRST or FRC. We recognize this teaser will not appeal to every individual outside the tent. However, with the funky mixture of high and low tech imagery in the teaser, the popularity of the medieval theme in general in our culture currently, and the popularity of stories of group quests or adventures throughout history, we think we have a chance at attracting the attention of folks whose ears may not automatically perk up when the phrase ‘robotics competition’ is uttered.

We are asking that you help make FIRST loud by sharing the teaser with five of your friends who know little or nothing about FIRST but should know more. You know that cousin in the other state who plays Clash of Clans every day, but hasn’t yet joined her FRC team? She could be one. Or that technology-minded co-worker with a child the right age. Or that person who thrives on competition. Or that thoughtful, quiet acquaintance who loves fantasy literature and the theater. We will never be able to predict with certainty who will get interested in FRC, but no one can be interested if they don’t know about it. You can be an instrument of a profound change in their lives by simply sending an email or creating a Facebook post.

Once again, here’s the link to the YouTube video for the teaser. You may want to consider mentioning to your friends, to help orient them, that this is a teaser for the 2016 season and that the game itself isn’t revealed until January. A great piece to accompany this video is the relatively new ”What is FRC?” video released in January, which you can find here. This a nice four minute introduction to what this whole FRC thing is about. Think about the teaser as the smell of cinnamon rolls intentionally directed into the walkway outside the restaurant. It’s designed to get an individual to the counter and take a look at the menu (the “What is FRC” video) even if they have never heard of cinnamon rolls before. Next step? Get them involved! The teaser landing page is designed for people new to FIRST to get involved in their own way.

Will you do five for FIRST? You can make a difference!

Frank

Michael Hill

16-10-2015 11:30

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hallry (Post 1500468)

...and the popularity of stories of group quests or adventures throughout history...

Interesting...

JesseK

16-10-2015 11:38

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Oh great. We go from tackling in 2014 to building in 2015. Will we need to bulldoze what someone else builds in 2016? Time to add some armor plating, battle-bots style :D

Pretty sweet video though.

mwmac

16-10-2015 11:43

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Did someone say "quest"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWS8Mg-JWSg

Drivencrazy

16-10-2015 12:04

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Teaser would have been much more effective (at least with the people I know) if it had focused on the competitive aspect with legitimate competition footage. This teaser would resonate with people at your local board game store, but not somewhere like my office.

For an organization that says it wants to emulate the sports model to get people excited, they are doing a seemingly great job of not appealing to the mass of sports fans. For what appears to be two years in a row they are going with games that are not sports related at all. #cutmorenets

If I'm gonna share anything, it would be the roboleague video as the emotion in that video would resonate with anyone who has won/lost a sporting event.

notmattlythgoe

16-10-2015 12:06

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drivencrazy (Post 1500476)

Showing competition video from a previous game as a teaser for the upcoming game isn't really a teaser. It's a promotional video.

EricLeifermann

16-10-2015 12:18

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe (Post 1500477)

Showing competition video from a previous game as a teaser for the upcoming game isn't really a teaser. It's a promotional video.

True, but this seems more of a promotional video than teaser to me.

The video did absolutely nothing to get me excited about the upcoming year.

I watched it with my wife and she thought it was pointless and even said that if she didn't know about FIRST this video would have done absolutely nothing to get her interested in it (and her interests are where they say they are looking to break into in this blog post).

Justin Montois

16-10-2015 12:19

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe (Post 1500477)

Showing competition video from a previous game as a teaser for the upcoming game isn't really a teaser. It's a promotional video.

Are the goals of a teaser and a promotional video different?

D_Price

16-10-2015 12:20

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

I am for sure going to show the Roboleague video FIRST (get it) to those colleagues of mine that know nothing of FIRST, I will then explain the teaser and show them the teaser video. That way not only do they get a little FIRST knowledge but also interested and guessing what this years game is.

notmattlythgoe

16-10-2015 12:24

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Montois (Post 1500482)

Are the goals of a teaser and a promotional video different?

A promotional video would be more promoting FIRST in general, the teaser is for something specific.

Would you want to see a teaser for a movie that had absolutely nothting to do with the movie but was just promoting the studio that made the movie?

D.Allred

16-10-2015 12:28

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe (Post 1500477)

Showing competition video from a previous game as a teaser for the upcoming game isn't really a teaser. It's a promotional video.

Might be semantics, but I believe FIRST was trying more to tease the general public, not us. The video to me has the opposite effect.

If you want Cinnabon attraction by teasing the "smell*" of FIRST, the passion of competition is the best way to do it in my opinion. Ending that video with the Stronghold picture would have been plenty of teaser for those in FRC.

David

* Any reference to Skunkworks was unintended...

Drivencrazy

16-10-2015 12:31

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe (Post 1500477)

Showing competition video from a previous game as a teaser for the upcoming game isn't really a teaser. It's a promotional video.

I'm not saying to show exclusively competition video, I'm sure we can all agree there are more ways than showing a corny animation to create a teaser.

But if I watched this teaser knowing nothing about FIRST, I would think FIRST Stronghold is a robot video game set in the middle ages. Does it get me excited enough to visit the website and learn what FIRST actually is? Absolutely not. The same way Game of War or Clash of Clans commercials didn't get me to visit the app store.

If FIRST wants to get people outside the tent excited about the coming season, they are going to have to show the excitement of the competition. This teaser gets the campers in the tent excited about the game, but utterly fails to engage people outside the tent. They would also do well to pay for mainstream media advertising as opposed to this social media approach they are taking.

mastachyra

16-10-2015 13:02

Stronghold - significance of FIVE

Ever since the video released the significance of the number five subtly lingered in my mind. Today, with the newest blog post, I have to post my thoughts.

The initial thing that got me thinking was the flag in the FIRST Stronghold logo. It consists of two red stripes surrounded by three blue stripes. The logo for a game has obvious significance, so I don't think this detail should be ignored.

Many people are speculating that one team would be defensive and another would be offensive, so perhaps these teams are not both 3 team alliances. I think there will be three blue offense teams and two red defense teams.

History shows that defending territory is easier than conquering, so unequal alliances would even the score a little. Plus, offense appeals to fans more than defense.

Today's FRC Blog post is Five for FIRST. Coincidence?

itsjustjon

16-10-2015 13:06

Re: Stronghold - significance of FIVE

Quote:

Originally Posted by mastachyra (Post 1500496)

It's a possibility, but the likelihood of FIRST designing a game with one of its mechanics based on one side having a numbers advantage over the other doesn't seem like something they would do.

I'm not completely on top of my FIRST history, but I can't think of any years where one side was stacked more than the other in terms of number.

Drivencrazy

16-10-2015 13:11

Re: Stronghold - significance of FIVE

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsjustjon (Post 1500499)

I mean, it's been 4v0 before. (Also 6v0 in some instances in 2010 but that's a whole different story)

itsjustjon

16-10-2015 13:12

Re: Stronghold - significance of FIVE

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drivencrazy (Post 1500500)

I mean, it's been 4v0 before. (Also 6v0 in some instances in 2010 but that's a whole different story)

But isn't OP talking about 3v2? 3 Offense vs. 2 Defense?

g_sawchuk

16-10-2015 13:14

Re: Stronghold - significance of FIVE

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrennanB (Post 1500498)

Do we really need another thread for this :eek:

We need five threads for this.

Bob Steele

16-10-2015 13:34

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by D.Allred (Post 1500486)

Perhaps this has a better smell...:0) enjoy!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9PvIsZL4cg

Ty Tremblay

16-10-2015 13:57

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drivencrazy (Post 1500487)

This teaser gets the campers in the tent excited about the game, but utterly fails to engage people outside the tent. They would also do well to pay for mainstream media advertising as opposed to this social media approach they are taking.

I don't think I could disagree with you more.

There are too many facets to FRC to assume that showing exciting competition video is the only way to get people excited. Frank stated specifically in this blog that the goal of the teaser was to attract "the attention of folks whose ears may not automatically perk up when the phrase ‘robotics competition’ is uttered."

This video is literally not targeted at the people that already enjoy the thrill of competition.

"Mainstream media" is a whole other can of worms...

notmattlythgoe

16-10-2015 14:00

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ty Tremblay (Post 1500507)

I agree Ty. Pretty much every promotional video that FIRST has done has the same stuff in it. This was something different.

Medieval theme stuff is definitely only for nerds, because you know, Game of Thrones was only popular in the nerd crowd. Same with the Lord of the Rings movies or the Hobbit movies. Only nerds went to go see those.

Drivencrazy

16-10-2015 14:31

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe (Post 1500508)

I have no problem with the video itself. I'm just saying I don't think it is an effective tool to do what they want to do. I'm sure there is a group of people that will go for this kind of video (I mentioned a board game store earlier) and it may even get some more kids to join FIRST teams which is great. But as a way to get a lot people "outside the tent" genuinely interested in coming back, I think it fails.

I would never show this to a coworker or somebody with the means to sponsor an FRC team. And I sure as hell would never show them this. That's just not what "most" people are into. But I'd definitely show them parts of something like the Roboleague video. It's got everything about FIRST in it. The problem is it's too long.

I mean, look at Battlebots. It used to be a joke, run on Comedy Central. They made it more like SportsCenter and upped the production quality and it was the number one show on Sunday nights for a couple weeks.

And yeah because GoT, LotR and the Hobbit were all snow white and the seven dwarves production quality ;)

Drivencrazy

16-10-2015 14:36

Re: Stronghold - significance of FIVE

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsjustjon (Post 1500501)

But isn't OP talking about 3v2? 3 Offense vs. 2 Defense?

Agreed. Just pointing out it's not always 3v3, 2v2, etc.

JB987

16-10-2015 14:38

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwmac (Post 1500472)

Did someone say "quest"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWS8Mg-JWSg

LIKE...

AdamHeard

16-10-2015 14:42

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ty Tremblay (Post 1500507)

The problem with this video is I'm pretty sure the general Highschool population will laugh at my students if they share it with them.

cadandcookies

16-10-2015 14:58

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

While I'll agree that the teaser has some issues with regards to how effective it might be for its stated purpose, I definitely think they're going in the right direction in terms of intent-- bringing in people "outside the tent" is a commendable goal and I hope future attempts will be more effective in that regard.

Personally, I think it's a fun video, and I think that using it to explain a bit of FIRST culture to somebody outside the tent isn't completely ridiculous-- it gives a nice opportunity to explain the context of the video (game hints), which can lead into a discussion about the program. I'm looking at this as a small net positive thing on the part of FIRST-- it may not be exactly what they're going for, but it's definitely a step in the right direction attitude-wise.

Ty Tremblay

16-10-2015 15:06

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamHeard (Post 1500512)

The problem with this video is I'm pretty sure the general Highschool population will laugh at my students if they share it with them.

But that's beside the point isn't it? This video is targeted at the ones that will think this is cool, not the ones that will make fun of it.

MrBasse

16-10-2015 15:06

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadandcookies (Post 1500513)

I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, everyone I have shown it to hasn't understood what it means. I'm left with blank stares and a lot of people saying they don't get it. Not a single one has asked for more information based on the video. The only questions I've gotten so far have been "How does this relate to robotics?" and "Why is there a robot in the middle ages?"

I have some hopes of what the season may bring, but I have learned to not hold my breath until January. So far this teaser has lived up to being a teaser. What for, nobody seems to know...

MrBasse

16-10-2015 15:08

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ty Tremblay (Post 1500514)

But that's beside the point isn't it? This video is targeted at the ones that will think this is cool, not the ones that will make fun of it.

If thats the point then the whole "make it loud" idea has been a huge waste of time. We should appeal to the masses, not the secluded groups who already get it. I want to bring some football players and hockey players in again, they make the team more well rounded. I already have a group who gets this kind of thing.

AdamHeard

16-10-2015 15:11

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ty Tremblay (Post 1500514)

But that's beside the point isn't it? This video is targeted at the ones that will think this is cool, not the ones that will make fun of it.

Then it's targeting too small of an audience.

notmattlythgoe

16-10-2015 15:14

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamHeard (Post 1500519)

Then it's targeting too small of an audience.

I think its difficult when you are trying to make a teaser to get people excited about the upcoming season, but can't really show them anything because the game doesn't get announced for another 3 months.

Jessi Kaestle

16-10-2015 15:15

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drivencrazy (Post 1500509)

I would never show this to a coworker or somebody with the means to sponsor an FRC team. And I sure as hell would never show them this. That's just not what "most" people are into.

I showed both to a coworker who isn't really familiar with the program but is in the STEM field.

For the StrongHold video she felt it was cheesy and childish and said that she would have no interest in looking into what the program was for herself or her children based on the video.

For the What Is FRC video, she was instantly intrigued and commented "Wow, you got Will.i.am" she then made various other comments about how she liked how the opponents were random and varying. Her end assessment was that she was interested in the program for her daughter.

I know some might argue that she was not "outside the tent" but isn't anyone who isn't in FIRST "outside the tent"

Ty Tremblay

16-10-2015 15:21

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamHeard (Post 1500519)

Then it's targeting too small of an audience.

Possibly, but this isn't FRC's sole effort to grow.

notmattlythgoe

16-10-2015 15:23

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ty Tremblay (Post 1500523)

Possibly, but this isn't FRC's sole effort to grow.

I've kind of always thought this was more of a substitute for a hint. Instead of giving us something to figure out the name of the game, they gave us the name and something a little more interesting to show people than a picture of a fish.

Citrus Dad

16-10-2015 15:28

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drivencrazy (Post 1500509)

But I'd definitely show them parts of something like the Roboleague video. It's got everything about FIRST in it. The problem is it's too long.

Roboleague is definiitely worth promoting further. If FIRST could cut it down to a typical movie-length trailer then it could be quite powerful.

Jacob Bendicksen

16-10-2015 16:17

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Maybe the whole "outside the tent" thing is referring to the tents in the video itself...hmmmmm.

/s

In all seriousness, I don't think this video does quite as good a job as RoboLeague at promoting what's great about FIRST. To me, that's the teamwork, energy, and hard work that everyone puts into it, and this just isn't evident in the Stronghold video.

XaulZan11

16-10-2015 16:56

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe (Post 1500508)

Medieval theme stuff is definitely only for nerds, because you know, Game of Thrones was only popular in the nerd crowd. Same with the Lord of the Rings movies or the Hobbit movies. Only nerds went to go see those.

I don't think the issue is just that it features a medieval theme, but it looks like it is targeted more towards grade/middle schoolers than high schoolers.

EricH

16-10-2015 20:20

Re: Stronghold - significance of FIVE

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsjustjon (Post 1500501)

But isn't OP talking about 3v2? 3 Offense vs. 2 Defense?

That's been done before, too. '06, second and third periods were 3v2 followed by 2v3. (The 3rd robot for either alliance had to stay on its offensive side of the field.) 3 offense, 2 defense. 1st period was auto, 4th period was 3v3, score wherever you like (preferably in your own goals).

Mike Schreiber

17-10-2015 11:46

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ty Tremblay (Post 1500514)

But that's beside the point isn't it? This video is targeted at the ones that will think this is cool, not the ones that will make fun of it.

I don't think I'm in the target audience then.

Also since I haven't seen this anywhere else yet. Castles have moats. Water game confirmed.

TJP123

20-10-2015 22:00

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drivencrazy (Post 1500509)

And yeah because GoT, LotR and the Hobbit were all snow white and the seven dwarves production quality ;)

Why do I feel so old all of a sudden?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077687/?ref_=nv_sr_4

Sperkowsky

20-10-2015 22:36

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

If I showed that "What is first" video to my friends they would probably laugh and never come to robotics.

Its really cheesy.... Cant they do better?

Or cant we do better?

Daniel_LaFleur

21-10-2015 08:31

Re: [FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jacob Bendicksen (Post 1500534)

I believe that Roboleague and Stronghold have different audience targets.

While I would not show stronghold to a director of a company (with a few exceptions) I would show it at DragonCon or ComiCon. Both have many people 'outside the tent' but have similar interests (As a whole)

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