[jtrv]

I'll xpost what I made in the rumor mill subforum.

I think it could be field hockey, rather than the typical puck-based hockey. With some durable foam-ish (whatever material, just not something that will be shredded in four seconds) balls, they could put goals at different heights for varying points, much like years past. Ground goal 1pt, mid goal 3pts, maybe a high goal (with a net over that area for safety or whatever) for more points.

I think hockey would really allow for more diversity in strategy and builds. Defensive bots can try to be a powerhouse, with a 6 CIM west coast drive and just push people out of the range of the goal. There could very well be goalies, if the goals are wide enough. Offensive bots could either try to be powerhouses and move defense out of the way (us in 2013...) or agile and try to move around the defense, with something like a lightweight mecanum drive.

Some rules would be you can't have the ball touching your robot more than X inches off the ground for N seconds or more, shooting from beyond half-court is extra points, human players can inbound C amount of balls at a time, robots can only possess or control Z number of balls or less at a time, etc.

I think the strategy involved in beating an alliance would be a VAST improvement over 'strategy' in 2015.

I strongly believe this will happen in the next few years. If it does, i'll only be sad I won't get to be with a team for it.