[pfreivald]

I agree with the general sentiments expressed here.

FIRST has, by and large, done a pretty good job throughout the years in designing feats of robotty goodness during teleop that have tiered difficulties, with correspondingly tiered points.

What makes Ultimate Ascent different is the tiered value of what-most-of-us-probably-still-think-of-as-the-"end game"-but-isn't-technically-the-"end game".

A ten-point CLIMB is non-trivial for inexperienced teams, but very doable. A twenty-point CLIMB is going to be a challenge for a lot of experienced teams, and the thirty-point CLIMB is going to be very tough... But it's even better than that, because you now have another trade-off. The pyramid is NOT the end game, it's just another thing you can do during the game instead of playing defense or scoring frisbees.

There's an additional challenge for "elite" teams of designing a robot that not only climbs, but climbs fast enough that it's worth your while to do it instead of something else. (Is a thirty-second thirty point CLIMB "worth more" than a ten-second twenty-point CLIMB or a two-second ten-point CLIMB?)

I think that the GDC did a great job with the technical and strategic challenges of Ultimate Ascent.