[Jardanium]

I will flat-out say it, the game was boring. It was missing the defense and the high-flying action that games of years past had. Stacks of boxes aren't nearly as impressive as robots hanging from pyramids or a bridge balanced with three bots on it. Recycle Rush just dropped the ball when it came to creating an exciting spectator sport.

This year just had a different atmosphere during the competitions. Our bot was a mid-low ranger this year, and due to the average score rankings, many times we felt like a hindrance to our alliance partners rather than a help. At least in previous years when our robot had an issue with performing a task, we could make it up with another. (i.e last year when our robot's catapult system broke, we played defense) This year however, it was either, you stack, or you're in the way, and that definitely needs to change for next year.

The early season was riddled with problems. The Northern Lights Regional during Week 1 ran so far behind because of problems with the field, that members of my team fell asleep in the stands on several occasions. I understand this is a problem with Week 1 in general, but it became quite ridiculous having practice matches end an hour and a half later than they should have.

Livestreams were a real let-down this year. It was real exciting last year to have won an award at a regional, and then have people from back home watching the stream wishing congratulations. This was missing this year, as the quality at many of the events, especially the Championship, was poor. I've heard a lot about the PNW having fantastic A/V, and if that is the case, that sort of quality should be the standard for events. (and I stress this again, especially the Championship.)

Now I move onto the biggest let-down of all, the Championship.

FIRST certainly didn't prove to me that they could handle 600 teams, let alone the 607 that ended up attending. The event was unorganized, chaotic, and half the time my team and I had no idea what was going on.

It started with the identification badges, which my team had no idea about. It wasn't well publicized that these were required, and could be picked up on Wednesday, so most didn't bother. The reason for these (as we found out later) was security reasons, as a week ago there was an apparent bomb threat at the Old Courthouse building. If anything, they're a great souvenir!

Next came a problem several other teams in the Hopper/Newton area faced, as several things were stolen after the pits closed on Thursday. We specifically lost a drive computer, (thankfully Team 1816 graciously helped us out!) but other teams reported missing laptops and other personal items that were left in the pits, areas you'd think would be safe and secure.

Then came the divisional award ceremonies, which for reasons I still don't understand, were lumped together. In every right of the word, the eight groups of teams were divisions, as they had their own fields, finals, and representation on Einstein. So why place the two nearby subdivisions together strictly for awards? I understand the reasoning when it comes to an award like Engineering Inspiration, as that qualifies you for next year's championship, but for other awards like Team Spirit and Excellence in Engineering, there is no reason why they couldn't have been sub-divisional awards. I don't feel this combining of subdivisions was communicated very well either, as many people seemed to be surprised by this.

The merchandise lines were way too long. (sometimes an hour or longer) The clothing area of the store was a real let-down as all you could get were $50 jackets, or iron-on custom t-shirts.

The paper airplanes need to stop. It got way too out of hand this year, as people draped toilet paper from the top level, ripped up programs into tiny pieces and dumped them over, and threw other objects like water bottles and glowsticks. It looked nothing more than a massive spring break concert, and created a huge mess. Having sponsors encouraging this activity isn't good either.

I don't know about anyone else, but this year Einstein kind of lost it's charm for me. Not having the massive LED background, and trading it for two fields sort of made it seem like the qualification rounds with everyone watching. Last year they had a lot more going on between matches, (Awards, Speeches, Performances) and that seemed to be missing this year by separating everything. I personally wished the Einstein field was located on the side with the stage, as then you could have had performances, speeches and awards in-between the action.

The finale was a let down. Last year, we had a carnival, free food, dance lounge, and a game lounge. This year, a DJ that stayed on stage way too long, and two acts performed that very few people even knew about.

This ends the long list of complaints that grew over this season. I feel of all things the Championship really needs to improve. If FIRST cannot prove that they can hold 600+ teams and maintain "championship experience", then how will they be able to maintain two championship events with a total of 800+ teams in years to come?