[waialua359]

Originally Posted by jman4747

I will respond to the whole post but to save space I'll only quote the beginning to reference it.

I didn't say teams ought to do any thing. I don't care if they do or not but they did/do seem to want to do it and it is great work so how is splitting championships contrary to said work or a direct hindrance to it? Adam asked why did I link inspiration to championship structure and the answer is I didn't. Everyone saying lack of motivation at the top will hurt their other efforts suggested this.

I honestly don't care how good you do until it's time to make strategies and play matches. I'm not going to spend all my time comparing us to them. Just get the skills, get the knowledge, get the tools, build a robot and go play. Try to win as much as you can but don't get mad if it doesn't go your way.

Also don't act as if this is completely noncompetitive because then it will be, for you. I personalty will not quit or become "demotivated" if elite teams actually just started leaving. All that is is quitting because you can't be the only winner. We are builders not buyers here. I don't need to see the viper just show me the track and give me a budget. When my car is on the start line next to it I'll worry about it.

While this may be your sentiment, its not one I would personally agree with.
Companies like AndyMark, VEXPro, BaneBots, and many others have catered to what teams are looking for. Many of what teams want are based on what previous inspirational and trendsetting teams have done in the past.
When I look at robot designs from 10 years ago, what was rare and advantageous for elite teams back then are common today.
If we expect FIRST to grow as a program, the inspirational designs have to grow as well.