[LeelandS]

I love the co-op bridge. I think it's a great way to let teams who don't score a gajillion have a shot at ranking well in competition, as well as adding a fun and interest facet to the game, where you need to interact with more teams, including those on the opposing alliance.

What I don't like is it is a way for teams who are "less-than-gracious" to take cheap shots at the teams who build great robots and are in line to win the event moreso than they are. While it's well within a team's right to refuse to coopertitionate, to refuse to do so in an attempt to prevent a powerhouse team from seeding high is just not okay, and not within the spirit of FIRST at all. Moreover, to sabotage the balancing of a powerful team on the coopertition bridge is just disgraceful to FIRST as a whole (I am, of course, especially referring to the experiences of 1114 and 2056 this past weekend at GTR-E).

I love the co-op points, and I love what FIRST is trying to get teams to do. But we don't live in a perfect world. There are going to be teams who abuse the influence of the coopertition points to get at powerful teams. I still love the coopertition bridge, though. It's one of my favorite parts of this game. It's unique. It's new. It's exciting!