[MrJohnston]

Here is where I feel the WCP robot and the Ri3D robots differ:
* With Ri3d, it is understood that they are merely examples, ideas - not something that teams are meant to copy.
* With the WCP robot, it is meant to be sold in a kit as a competitive robot. From their advertisement: "A Minimum Competitive Robot is a robot specifically engineered to be a vaulable asset to any alliance, while still being simple and accessible to any team, regardless of experience or resources. The WestCoast Products 2016 MCC robot is designed with the intent of ensuring teams have a greater chance of not only being chosen for an alliance in the eliminations routs, but also leading their own alliance as a part of the top 8 seeds." And later, "We show that teams can build a competitive robot in a matter of days."

This fundamentally changes FRC. I've been to enough district and regional events to say that I agree with the assessment of the ability of this robot: It will be one of the stronger ones at most events. (Think top ten, but generally not top three or four.) In other words, with zero engineering skills, a team can build a robot that is better than the vast majority of their competitors - without having to spend six weeks working their tails off designing the thing. Instead, they can build it "in a few days" and have several weeks to practice driving. most teams hoping to qualify for Champs will find that their most effective path is through purchasing of a pre-engineered kit.

"It inspires kids." No, it excites them. It's like the kid in my math class who wants extra credit for an "A" when he's really earning a "D-." Moreover, I would suggest that teams who worked hard for six weeks and build a solid robot would be very "uninspired" if beaten by a team that bought the kit and qualified for Champs. The true benefit and value of first comes in the engineering that happens over the six weeks of build. The time the kids and mentors exchange ideas as to how to best engineer a robot to solve the game.... It's the time that the kids have to work in high-stress situations and yet still function as a team... It's the repeated failures that ultimately lead to success.... The events? they are nothing more than the fun reward at the end.

I recognize that I may think very differently than many folks about this - I have plenty of personality flaws and I don't mean to insult anybody... However, in my mind, this just seems fundamentally wrong...

Consider the next steps:
* AndyMark, a competitor, produces a better MCC robot.
* WCP, to outdo AndyMark, produces a kit for a high goal shooter - that integrates perfectly with their kit..
* Etc.

"It raises the floor for all teams." I disagree. It makes the robots on the field prettier. It does not do anything to raise the level of engineering on FRC teams.