[Mrcope9]

Yes, the amount of defense this year was unreal. Last year, defense was a "happy accident" and was only when robots got in each other's way. It rarely lasted more than a few seconds. Two years ago in rebound rumble, there was very little defense because traveling across the field wasn't a major part of gameplay and there was a big barrier dividing the field. This year, we went through entire matches of gridlock where trapping and defending were very important. Compared to last year's game, the robots did not get too advanced in the amount of tasks they had to perform. Last year, there were only a handful of robots that could pick up frisbees from the floor, shoot across the court, or climb to the top of the pyramid. This produced a game that everybody was measured against and that there were only an elite few that did everything. This year, nearly all veteran teams could pick up a ball, shoot it, and score consistently. Yes there were other factors that separated the average joes and the powerhouse teams, but in basic function, we were all very similar. And instead of being able to score nearly unlimited amounts of game pieces, there were 2 on the floor at the same time, and if you had trouble cleaning up missed autonomous balls, it was not your match.
The other main drawbacks of Aerial Assist were the insane foul points and the complexity of officiating. Do I believe that there should be foul points for when a foul is committed-Yes. But 50 points? Still shaking my head at that. Have you ever been to a basketball game where a player is given 50 free throws after being fouled? My team was even a part of some where 100+ points were slashed out. A 95-40 win became a 140-95 loss, which looks awful in the rankings. Now, I absolutely understand that this was the most complicated FRC game to officiate ever. The refs had to be watching all three robots from both teams making sure everything was clean at the same time. The dispute over fouls was due to the great deal of defense.

That is about all of my cons of Aerial assist, but it was good in some ways. It did focus on all 3 robots, giving each a way to contribute to the score despite how they functioned. A single powerhouse team had to rely on the other two teams to reach a score that could win every match. This was a very exciting game for spectators.

All in all, can't wait for next years game. Hopefully the GDC comes up with a something we will all love.