This is my third year in FIRST, and I would actually say I'm THRILLED with the game, and here's why:
1. I still remember the ridiculously complicated strategies we all put into Stack Attack, only to discover that stacks were SO easy to knock over that the game mostly came down to the best push bots and the occasional lucky stack. It was fun, but there was so little motivation to be good at stacking, so there were a lot of technical wonders we never saw the best of.
2. Raising the Bar ran into some similar difficulties (though not nearly so often) with the 2X balls, but mainly big point incentives like hanging often made collecting balls MUCH less important.
3. What I like about this game, is that every point will count, especially with six bots on the field, and the highest extra score being ten. I would not be surprised if matches are won on the efficiency of a team in simply placing tetra-hedrons under goals.
4. This game will require excellent strategy and tactics. Drivers and coaches will have to work together.
5. Lastly, (and this is a big deal for our team, though maybe not for others) there is a TON of incentive to be an incredibly reliable robot. There aren't a thousand different tasks to split our attention. Our team may actually build a stable, sturdy robot this year.
I know people are disappointed by the appearance of simplicity, but I can GUARANTEE that this game will give you a run for your money. It focuses on different aspects of building than any previous game I am familiar with, but that won't make it any less challenging.
Also! I think it will actually be super exciting for audiences to watch - like live tic-tac-toe on caffeine!
A bunch of matches are going to come down to the buzzer and the last moment cap.