[logank013]

It'd definately be really cool to have a regional like IRI. Have an application process and accept teams. There are a few issues with it though. FIRST would have to help a little bit.

First of all, the entry fee at IRI is $750 and a backpack with school supplies if I remember correctly. The entry fee for many regionals is $5000+. First would have to work to make a reduced cost since almost everyone would come from a distance.

Secondly, the IRI qualification rank is pretty messed up. They use the same rankings as first uses during the regular season usually. The only issue with that is that when you have an event full of powerhouses, a lot of your rank can be determined by your schedule. It evens out very little during the event. So if every match I have is with 1114 and 2056 and 254 and 118..., then I will have a really good ranking. Where if each match, I only have an alliance with 1 of those bots, then my ranking won't be as well. It's sort of hard to explain but ranking are pretty inaccurate at IRI. That's why this year, 2122 was ranked really low an ended up being the "value pick" of alliance selections

Third of all, IRI tries to make it so only the top alliances can win. It's near impossible for an 8th alliance to advance to the next round. This year was a rare occurrence where 2122 and 107 were really really good picks for their alliance. I don't think that first would want to have an official season event where the bottom alliance isn't equal to the top alliance as far as picks go.

Rule changes would probably be an issue to FIRST. I don't think they'd let anyone advance to world from an IRI like regional because IRI rule changes make the game essentially a different game.

But I really like the thought behind this. I think you were mostly talking about the caliber of teams at an event. The only thing that would come in apply are points 1 and 2.