[Kimmeh]

Originally Posted by Josh Fox

And as far as the "incapable partners dragging down good teams" thing, you can either complain about it or do something about it.

Instead of complaining about how other teams bring yours down, you can always focus on bringing them up. Sure, you're helping yourself to have a better chance to win a match, but you're also doing the same for them. Isn't that the whole point of this "coopertition" thing I keep hearing so much is about?

Originally Posted by DampRobot

We love to help out, but we barely have enough students to fix our own bot. [...] We simply can't help everyone we play a match with, even though we'd love to.

Why did we bother to do these things when we might have been able to win "independently" of the rookies? Because making these teams more competitive can help you in any game. And, at a more basic level, helping out the new kids on the block is part of what makes FIRST FIRST.

What if instead of you directly helping your parners, you ask another team?
"Hey Awesome Team! I see that Struggling Team is having some problems with their random component. We play with them soon, and then you play with them later. Unfortunately, we're busy fixing our robot/another robot and don't have the manpower to fully help them. Do you have a few people who can join our person/people in helping them get going?

No one is necessarily asking you to do it all. However, by definition, veteran teams have more experience and connections than a rookie team. Not to mention it can be intimidating for a rookie to go up to a powerhouse team to ask for help. Or maybe they don't realize that there are other teams willing to help them. Serve as a middle-man and help them get help.