Ok I did this last year and it was well received so I am going to do it in this style this year:
Early Game Announcement:
I actually liked this, will go into more about it on the positive thread
EDIT: Putting this here, I also hate the new website especially when I was trying to figure out stuff for Championship
Preseason:
Ok I said it last year but for the teams hosting kick-offs please release the designs earlier, since we basically only had the drawings the night before. I know you are trying to make it fair for everyone but we were lucky to get the field built that we did.
Game Announcement/Kickoff:
I have no real complaints but this is related to the above and the game in general but please make sure next year that the team designed elements and real field elements are actually the same or close enough not completely different.
Build Season:
One again no big complaints but can we please not have $30 game pieces made of foam.
Palmetto Regional:
No complaints this event was amazing even with the Cheval being taken out for a chunk of the time, and the refereeing left a little to be desired but that will be discussed later
Orlando Regional:
I decided to put my money where my mouth was and wanted to referee at Orlando but it was full so I did field reset instead. No complaints here either it was a fun event go to it.
Rocket City Regional:
I am going to cut the regional some slack since it was the inaugural event but a few things. Why were seats on each side of the field different, as in one side had hard plastic chairs and the other had cushions. Certain decisions about how team traffic flowed could have been improved. Lighting on Thursday being different then Friday was an issue that was quickly corrected. Finally
why did we not receive chairman's feedback forms? I gave it to my team to turn in and got it back folded up inside our video case. If they were not going to provide the feedback why take the sheet in the first place?
South Florida Regional:
This event should have been my favorite, a regional 7 minutes from my house, get to sleep in my bed, see my dog, it should have been my favorite, it turned out to be my least enjoyable event of the season. The venue had little to little to no food or drink options, heck Thursday at 1:00 I went to get a bottle of water and the concession was already closed. The parking was at the back of the venue then had to walk all the way around to the front, I get the idea was to attract foot traffic but any local would tell you that you get 0 foot traffic in front of the convention center and actually get more near the back. A lot of the volunteers were
rude, I have never said that about a FIRST event but here it was true, volunteers appeared more concerned with getting home then letting teams enjoy themselves. Not all volunteers were like this but enough that is warrants mention. After Fridays award ceremony when they announced pits closed in 5 minutes most teams filed out to leave which blocked off the entrance to the pits, when I tried to walk in to put away the things my team uses in the stands I was told the pits were closed and I would not be allowed entry, despite seeing teams still working, I had a collapsible table, giant green wooden 1, 7, 9, and a box filled with stuffed alligators, I clearly am not going back there to work and actually had to have a friendly safety adviser escort me to my pit to put the stuff away. I have never been more embarrassed to be a Florida team then when interacting with the volunteers and realizing that to many of the out of state and international teams attending this is what they think most people involved in Florida FIRST are like and frankly that is unacceptable behavior, volunteers are as much, if not more, representatives of FIRST and especially the event then the teams are and should be held to and act with a higher standard. Finally once again
why did we not receive chairman's feedback forms? Seriously we attended 3 regionals this season and 2 did not give feedback forms, and the one that did was the earliest and had the most teams, so I see no excuse for the other two.
Championship:
I did not attend this year due to my home needing emergency repairs but I watched the live stream the entire time since I was still running my teams scouting group. From what I hear it was lovely, and I much appreciated the change over to closing ceremonies happening on the same side as Einstein but echo the sentiment that instead of random dancing I would much prefer some of the speeches and awards that happened at the closing ceremonies to instead of happened in between Einstein matches.
Stronghold as a Game:
I have very few negatives about this game, my only major gripe is the same as it was in 2014, Referees are not score keepers, stop making them so. I know for a fact that if next year they make a scorer position which is different from a referee teams would easily provide volunteers to fill the role.
Good job FIRST last year I said this at the end of my negative post:
Quote:
Originally Posted by MARS_James
Overall:
I love FIRST, it has shaped my entire adult life, given me life long friends, and memories I will cherish forever. That being said if this is what the new FIRST looks like I am not worried about leaving FIRST as I think FIRST may be on the track to just leave me. Please don't let Recycle Rush and the entire 2015 season be a sign of things to come, let it just be a small bump in the road to a much greater future.
|
You proved that 2015 was not a sign of things to come, and I am glad you are not leaving me behind keep up the good work.