[GeeTwo]

I did notice that they had intentionally added a dark background and white text, which definitely improves the clarity of the circle.

I suspect that the pieces are "thicker" to reduce the amount of black. Putting the old logo on a black background would probably be too dark. The larger FIRST also has the same lightening effect.

As for the orientation of the triangle and whether the triangle or square is in the front, and the change in font, I'm completely neutral. The red alliance has been in front for a few years, so let blue have a turn.

On the whole, I like #3 at least as well as #2.

Edit: the rotation of the triangle allows the logo to use a larger fraction of the black rectangle, again keeping the logo from being too dark.