[Lavapicker]

Aloha,
We ended up seeding 2nd in the Hawaii regional after putting in an average of 34 points per match (10 points in hybrid 17/17 times, only missed one shot the entire tournament, could easily bridge every time) but did not qualify for Worlds. We have an OPR rating over 28 which puts ranked 10th in the World right now at last check. I'm OK with not making it because I was not looking forward to raising $15,000 in four weeks to get my team there. I had to add credit limit to my credit card last year when we made it. Its also something I see every year when top scoring teams don't make which is why you are suggesting this I guess. Having said all that, i would love to see how we'd do at worlds this year with this robot which is much better than the one that finished 14th but was knocked out in the quarters last year on Galileo. We could only afford our home regional this year so our season is done. The part about not knowing how well we could have done with such a good bot and not being able to show a couple of features that are very unique does have me a little disappointed. We certainly would have tried hard to make it if we had qualified under the system you are proposing. I know we could have added a lot to this years tournament.
One big problem I see is that the field is just about maxed out at Worlds already. In order to give everyone there a good experience with maximum matches I understand the need to limit who goes. If there was a way to add wildcards I know you could up the level of competition.

Plus look, we need all the help we can get to qualify over here...we have to go up against Glenn at 359 and the team at 368 every year and hope they don't pick each other or its lights out!