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Alright...
Okay,
I guess I'll weigh in on this issue. All I know is that it is nice to hear some folks saying what we've all been thinking...this game is boring. I mean I remember Friday @ UTC...I saw things I have never seen @ FIRST competitions. People were sleeping....it was quiet enough for them to actually sleep @ a FIRST compeition...this blew my mind. Then I saw people with Palm Pilots playing games because they were so bored. Having attended 7 years worth of FIRST competitons I had never seen that kind of blatant disinterst in the game occuring in front of them. I was used to an arena that it was so loud in you could hardly hear yourself think...that is a FIRST competition.
One thing that most people will fight me on but I think hurt the game tremendously and added to boredom was the time multiplier and the ability to clock out. I personally felt that the matches in which the power came on, the robots booked for the end zone, and the power went off were very very boring. Some of the more exciting matches were when teams stayed in all two minutes and kept trying to balance even though they knew it wouldn't matter. Far to many teams however would just clock out once the time multiplier ran down becuase it wouldn't matter whether they balanced anyways. Somehow I'm not sure giving up is what FIRST intened to teach with it's game either.
There was another major problem with this years game as well. Egos...to many teams I think were trodded on by some of the bigger teams. Lots of times a team would get in a round w/4 four teams...and there would be a big team that would just take charge of the alliance. That team would promise the others that they could balance, and then 3 rounds later in the finals they still couldn't balance and cost the other teams a shot @ the championship. An even greater tragedy might be that one of those other teams maybe could have balanced but was never given the chance. I think that this bullying is a tremendous shame, and unfortunately has become a reality of FIRST. However I think this year's competition demonstrated that 4v0 is not the way to eliminate that. Truthfully I am not sure there is one. We all want to win, it is fun. Some teams have sponsorship hanging on the line and need a win. It is human nature to be competive. But just because there is a litle rivalry, a little pushing, maybe a part or two left on the field...that doesn't mean that we have to be like that off the field. I realize perhaps that I am the wrong persont to be preaching things but.
I favor a 2 on 2 style game. Because I think it is the best of both worlds. I has the coperation and it also has the excitement and defense of a more sports like competition. I felt that the 2000 game was probably one of the better I have seen. While I sometimes claim that I would like to see things go back to "ever robot for themselves" I surely wouldn't...for the following reason. Back in those days when there were no alliances...you couldn't talk to other teams...heck you barely looked them in the eye. Alliances have opened the FIRST community lots of ppl have lots of friends on other teams...which wasn't even thought of back then. I think that this is the edge that Dean wanted to eliminate. I really think 2on2 did that. To take away the rest leaves us with...well I'm not quite sure what.
Lastly, as I have said before I think that 4v0 takes a lot of the engineering out of these machines. I think it takes a little something more to make your robot battle ready, verstile, and good looking. I don't know...maybe that is just the side of me who would rather have the Jeep Wrangler than the BMW speaking.
By now this post is so long no one will read it...but for those of you who did I hope you got something out of it. I would like to see a return to something close to the 2000 style of competition. I thought the the field that year with the bar also added a lot of excitement.
Looking forward to BattleCry...and wishing ever rookie could be there...
-Justin
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