Libby,
I don't believe that the OP was intending to insult the hard-working people that make FRC happen, I think he was merely trying to suggest a possible improvement to the system that is in place. I think we are all very grateful for what they do, and don't say thank you enough. So THANK YOU FRC staff!
Most people would probably agree that FIRST Choice as a concept is a really good thing, and has a lot of tangible benefits. However, there were many perceived problems with the implementation this year. The technical problems were handled very professionally by AndyMark, however, the underlying problems with the system are the current concern.
The OP is trying to help FRC staff by adding an idea that may or may not solve the problem. I for one think that it is good when the Chief Delphi community begins to brainstorm a problem, as often time a solution is found. It's no secret that at least one person in FIRST leadership reads these forums (Frank). And if I were running a company, I would find it very helpful to know what my customers were dissatisfied with. Here, however, we don't just have people complaining (well, sometimes we do
), but we have people trying to help generate solutions. Will every solution work? No. Is every solution feasible? No. But, the OP posted here so that he could get other points of view, which could possibly point out flaws in or improvements to his proposed system. And to be fair, the OP probably didn't know how few people work in just FRC; I sure didn't.
To get back on topic though, I like the idea behind the system, but can see significant hassle in actually maintaining this. Others may know of simple ways to implement it though. I still am in favor of a slower release of credits, quantity limits, or more accurate pricing on high demand items, all of which I see as positive tweaks to the current system (and all of which have been debated in other threads). Feel free to disagree! In the end the decision comes down to FIRST and AndyMark.
$0.02
Alex
Edit: Well I clearly missed the boat on this one! haha