[BenB]

It's great that we found a way to deal with the problem should it occur, but I think it is more important to try and prevent the problem from happening in the first place; by playing more matches and maintaining a ranking system that rewards the best performing robots (ie no coopertition points or qualification score sorting). Maybe FIRST is already taking this into consideration, but it would have been reassuring to see Frank mention it.

I'm also concerned that the line 'Would you prefer to join or form your own alliance?’ is going to be over used, and this will be said to teams ranked outside the top 15 that have no chance at forming their own alliance (unless several teams robots are broken beyond repair and choose to withdraw from the competition). MCs are going to have to be on their toes when to use the line, especially as alliance selection progresses and teams ranked 9-15 start to loose their eligibility to form their own alliance as teams outside the top 15 get picked.

Perhaps the alliance selection screen could be updated to highlight teams that are currently eligible to form their own alliance with one color, and also highlight teams that may still become eligible depending how alliance selection progresses. This would also make it clear to these teams that they are taking a risk by choosing to form their own alliance, as they may not become an alliance captain. The different color highlights would help both the MC and the general public follow along. Adding an asterisk or something to that effect beside teams that have chosen to form their own alliance would also be helpful, to prevent another alliance captain from trying to pick that team again.