I'm going to say the same precursor as Francois; my analysis here is based off of only the Detroit regional. Also, without seeing any of the videos from above (my view from behind the player station is somewhat tunnelled), I may be making some incorrect calls here. However, this is what I, as the driver of a primarily offensive robot, emotionally feel about the game now.
I think the ramps have destroyed the point of the Rack n' Roll game. They have become not a bonus, but a requirement for elimination matches. I think that the GDC was expecting more rack scoring to be done and fewer matches like in the
brutally defensive Detroit finals, which is why the ramps are worth so many points. Think about Aim High last year; the
maximum bonus you could get (excluding auton) was 25 points, and that was if
all 3 robots could make it up a 30 degree incline with barely enough room. Now, you have more than double that (pointwise) for two robots to get up a nice shallow ramp with plenty of room (look at the ramps on 469 and 27 for what I mean).
However, I'm going to have to disagree with ya, frenchie. I now have a personal stigma about the whole offensive vs defensive issue, and anyone who was at Detroit knows why. Defense is absolutely key in this game. In one qualifying match, 703 pushed us literally in a circle around the rack, and in the elims obviously 247/903 were dominating (more about that in a second). Defense doesn't just mean stopping ringers anymore; it now also means stopping the opposing defense from getting to your scorers so that they can be given the chance to do what they do best.
Segway-ing from that last line, there is NO scoring robot that can make it through a double team from the other alliance's two defensive bots. This was proven wholly at Detroit. The double team of 247/903 was able to easily shut down 217, and were together able to give 469/302 a ridiculously hard time. I like to think of us three as being fairly good scorers. If it was my own alliance, I would still prefer 2 offensive + 1 defensive ramp as always, but 2 amazing defensive can really frustrate the other alliance (especially if that other one only has one scorer).
Finally (and this goes along somewhat with the defensive notes), driver skill is an enormous asset to have in this game. For defending teams, being able to hold your ground against a squirrelly offensive bot can be tough at times. For a scoring team, being able to drive around a team like 247 or 703 is key. You have to try and make best of whatever is happening; things like picking up a tube while being pushed, or placing the tube on whatever ringer you're pushed into (regardless of what your original plan was).
Disclaimer: My head is kind of scrambled with a lot of thoughts about the insane weekend, so there may be half-finished statements here and there, but I stand firm (for now at least) about everything said here.
Edit: wow, you guys reply fast
a lot of the stuff in here was said above while I was typing this, I guess
Is that the match where the pushing was moving the entire rack? That was unbelievable to watch, and I was stunned when there were no penalties called. I grabbed a quick picture of it on my camera, I don't think I've ever seen the rack (or a robot) being mangled so much.