Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunshine
I had been concerned from the beginning about this game having no audience appeal. I talked with several people who attended our first regional. Half had never been to a FIRST competition before, the other half had not been to an event for a couple of years. Both groups loved this game. One engineer (never been to event b4) commented on enjoying seeing a real engineering challenge versus a sporting like event. Two indicated (had been to events before) that they liked not seeing defense where inferior robots just try to get in your way.
I get the fact that predictably may concern some. But always knowing that a 16-17 year old is in control of the bot indicates that anything can and will happen. The human factor is still there giving unpredictable outcomes.
For those who complain about knowing outcomes when two great alliances get together............ Same complaint we hear year after year. It gets old.
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I guess my biggest complaint about this game is just what your first mentor liked about it. Sports are popular. There's a very good reason professional athletes get paid astronomically high salaries. There's also a very good reason why little kids grow up saying I want to be a professional baseball/soccer/football etc. player. It's because sports are popular. I want little kids to be saying: "I want to grow up to be a(n) engineer/welder/architect". I'm sure that's something everybody on CD can agree on, which is a rare thing. I want the reason for them to grow up saying this thing because FIRST has accomplished it's mission of bringing STEM to the popular culture. I just believe that a sports-like-game does a better job of this.
Is there a reason teams still use their 2012 robot when doing showcase events in big arenas, specifically at basketball games? Could it be because the purpose of the robot is instantly recognizable by anybody within a matter of seconds? Now the important question: Will teams be able to showcase their Recycle Rush robot in front of large crowds with as much, or more success than they could with their 2012 robot? I severely doubt that they can.
So in order to infiltrate the popular culture it is my strong belief that FIRST needs to emulate the games which people already know and love.
On the other hand... I completely understand the purpose of Recycle Rush. We can't do the same thing (throw objects into goals) every year. We need to mix it up. With that said, there are so many different recognizable sports out there which can be emulated in a way that they do provide a unique engineering challenge, and a different viewing experience for the crowd.
Edit: A lot of the same sentiment ^^^ I was sniped.