[LeelandS]

At high levels of competitions (finals in a division, Einstein, maybe even some occurances at strong regionals), I can see slot loading being the main way of acquiring balls, as well as a necessary tactic to survive.

Imagine your opposing alliance consists of the two most dominant teams at an event. Hypothetically, let's say that means they have somewhere between a 66% - 100% accuracy shooting at the top basket (so 2 or 3 balls every full load). Teams with that kind of potent scoring are likely to have a strong acquisition and loading system to back it up. So they'll be firing shots all match, until it's time to balance. Your alliance inbounders can hold 6 balls that are coming through. If the opponents are that dominant, that 6 balls capacity is going to fill up REALLY quick. As a result, balls will need to be returned to the field. Unless it's the last 30 seconds, those balls will falls into the field, fair game for any robot that fancies to pick them them, i.e. your dominant opponents.

In this situation, having the ability to load from the inbounder station could be paramount in surviving high levels of competition. In my humble opinion, only being able to floor load is almost shooting yourself in the foot. While you could collect balls from the inbounder by letting them drop it on the floor, there is a chance to lose control of that ball if it doesn't come out of the station right, hits something on the way down, or the robot accidentally pushes it out of the alley.

Having some way to ensure the balls gets safely from the inbounder to your robot could be a very desirable, effective trait in a robot.

Just my opinion. It just seems to me that being able to load from the inbounder is just as important as loading from the floor.

I hope this helps!
-Leeland