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Originally Posted by majorFIRSTnerd
5) FIRST.org has severely dropped in quality... just look at the Q&A section. And what happened to the Forum?
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This is the one thing that I have not seen addressed by anyone else yet, so I thought I would answer it. At the Team Forums over last spring, one of the issues that came up was how inconsistent the rules had been over the previous two years. Issues such as what constituted a valid extender were hot on the list. One person at FIRST would answer a question one way, and another person would contradict that answer in their response to a similar question.
My understanding (albeit a vague one based on a very small amount of information) is that FIRST heard us loud and clear. To attempt to alleviate the inconsistencies in the rules, they created the Q&A page that only a few people would actually respond to. By limiting the number of people that would respond, it is reasonable to think that communication of how a rule was interpreted would remain fairly consistent, both internally at FIRST and among the Q&A page.
While the current Q&A page has its faults, such as not being listed in the order asked, it is a far better solution than the forums, imo. I personally like that I can now quickly reference what section the rule is referring to. I also like that everyone can quickly see what other questions have been asked that are related to the section. It has *severely* limited the number of questions that are asked repeatedly.
Finally, please remember that since this is the first year of the Q&A, there will be kinks to work out of the system, just as there are in any software system. If you have specific issues with how the Q&A is run and can offer FIRST constructive criticism about it, then I suggest that you write them down so you can either 1) inform FIRST at the Team Forums in late spring or 2) have your coach inform FIRST at the Team Forums.
indieFan