[EricH]

Originally Posted by DampRobot

Because it appears as if the GDC uses the FTC endgame to test out FRC endgames (probbably in order to promote collablration between FTC and FRC teams). Take last year for example: we saw ramps being balanced. Saw that in the 2011 FTC endgame. The lifting the crates for bonus points was a huge crowd pleaser in 2012 FTC, and the GDC has done similar things for FRC the past. I'm guessing a return of the 2007 style lifting of other robots.

How do you know that last year's balancing act wasn't based partly on the 2001 FRC game? (And the FTC endgame the previous year wasn't also based on that?) Lifting the crates for bonus points--1999's main object was to lift game pieces for points (other than getting multipliers for lifted game objects, which occupied most of the game).

I wouldn't say that the GDC uses FTC to test anything--as far as I know, we're talking about two completely separate GDCs. Now, it might be that the FRC GDC looks at past FTC games and says "Why don't we do that but put a twist on it?" and the FTC GDC looks at past years' FRC games and says the same thing. But all that does is make things confusing for anybody insisting that there's a connection, because they can't show any connection.

I'd also like to point out that the very first FTC game--back when it was FVC--was an exact copy of the previous years' FRC game, played at about 1/3 scale. Just to confuse you even further, a year or so later, elements of the 2004 game appeared in another FVC game...And then the scale of the large ball on the field appeared in the 2008 FRC game.