[DougHogg]

Okay, here is a shot at an idea for changing this year's game to improve it.

I think the game's designers did intend for stacking to be useful.

Problem:
When a robot made a stack, it was too easy for the opponents to knock it down. Why bother if it takes 90 seconds to build a stack and 10 seconds to destroy it.

Solutions:
a) Stacks that wound up outside the scoring zone on your side would still count. A robot could then put a stack in a corner and it would count, and be easier to protect.

b)There could be a couple of alcoves a little wider than a bin with walls on 3 sides, so a robot can stack in them. They would stick out beyond the field boundaries . A robot, but not a human, would be allowed to build a stack in there and it would count.

Advantages:
It would be harder for opponents to knock down stacks in corners and in the alcoves, so stacking would then be more viable, which would then provide for more variety in the ways to win the game. More variety = More interesting because the outcome is not as easy to predict. (How many people would watch a movie if they knew exactly what was going to happen?)