This post will probably draw some ire. I will get comments like "not us! we are a good team and we like the game!". I know I am making generalizations, and my comments may not apply to you. So if you feel insulted, and my comments seem unfair, then just assume I wasn't talking about you and forget it, don't flame me.
WARNING: GENERALIZATION BELOW! IT MIGHT NOT APPLY TO YOU!
From what I have read, teams that traditionally build a competitive robot don't like the game. Teams that usually build a defense bot, or a non-competitive robot think the game is great.
I have not posted any positive or negative comments on the game itself. People who are familiar with me know that I don't like defense, and I don't like games that encourage defense. In my view, building a defensive bot is a cop out. It says "accomplishing this task is hard, it sure would be easier to just keep other people from doing it." I have been involved since 2008, and never experienced any of the bash bot phenomena of the earlier years. I liked Overdrive because it discouraged defense. I liked Lunacy because it made defense difficult, and made offense dangerous (when you approached your goal, you were taking your opponents goal closer to them). Each year, the GDC has been able to somewhat discourage defense. Last year, with Ultimate Ascent, we won an off-season event because during finals the other alliance used two robots to defend us. We didn't score, but our two alliance partners were un-hindered, and the other alliance had only one bot left to score.
I have not yet attended a regional this year. I have watched matches from other regionals every weekend. What I saw was embarrassing. Orlando was especially brutal. I saw bots screaming across the field at 16-18 fps and ramming another bot. Anybody can build a brute pizza box. That doesn't make you great or dominant, and it is not inspiring. A monster drivetrain with 6 CIMs and super traction wheels that can do nothing other than push other bots around is no better. What is inspiring, and is CHALLENGING is to build a bot that accomplishes the goals set out in the game rules. Note that attaining the goals of the game is rewarded with point values. Preventing others from attaining that goal is not mentioned in the rules, nor is it rewarded with points.
If your goal is to inspire the kids, then have them look at the challenge before them, and design a robot that can meet that challenge to best of their ability. Remember, it's not about winning by any means, it's about inspiring the kids to rise to a challenge. A team that feels they can only build a brute pizza box might instead build a bulldozer that can inbound well and push a ball into the low goal. Yes, you can play defense, but not battle bots. If you do that well, you would be tops on my third pick list.