[Cothron Theiss]

One interesting thing to consider is that the Ri3D reveal videos may be the first FRC-style robots a rookie team ever sees, barring the animated robots in the game reveal. I think that's a bigger deal than most of the people on here might realize, just because we're so used to what an FRC robot should look like. I distinctly remember watching the Ri3D reveal from 2013 and learning so much, not about the specifics or exact engineering, but just about the general scale and proportions of a robot. The KOP chassis also does a good job of giving rookies this sense of scale just off of how the chassis is made, but it's just a chassis.

[Transitioning from an anecdotal and reasonable argument to a completely contrived and unsupported argument.]

I do understand the arguments about Ri3D possibly making things too easy or providing a big chunk of the design element to teams. But as mentioned above, we're still seeing a significant portion of FRC teams fielding a robot that competes at lower level than an Ri3D clone might have. So either teams are too proud to just copy Ri3D and hone their reliability and driver skill to field a competitive robot, or teams aren't able to translate the design they see in a video into an equally competitive robot. Or both, plus a whole bunch of other, more complex reasons.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I also think that as FRC spreads, more and more teams are being founded without:
1) a solid base of technical mentors,
2) a solid base of financial support and sponsors.

Now, if this is completely incorrect and the same percentage of teams in the early to mid-2000's were started without either or both of those two things, please tell me. That's just an impression I've gotten from reading around on here. But if it is somewhat true, I think that shows why the existence of Ri3D is more important and beneficial now than it might have been in earlier years.