[Dan Petrovic]

Okay...

Autonomous
It has the potential to be effective. This game is about speed and what's better than using the first 15 seconds of the game to score when your opponents might not be scoring?
However, it's a very difficult challenge for something that isn't really worth a whole lot.

Gameplay
Overall, the matches were intense. There were many possibilities as to how a team could play the game. There is still a lot of defense, which gets annoying for those who can actually score, but the fact that there is a giant structure in the way makes for some clean defense since there isn't as much room to pick up speed.
Some of the rules were rediculous. The 72"x72" was my least favorite from day one.
Also, I think teams should not be allowed to pass tubes directly to their robots over the alliance station wall. It pretty much eliminates the use of the chute. If you want tubes to be handed directly to the robot, design it to grab from the chute. I don't mind if a team holds their gripper close to the alliance station wall and sort of throws the tube on as long as the human player and the robot aren't touching the tube simultaniously.
There was no incentive to score on the top level. It takes longer to score up top (depending on where you get the tubes, most teams picked up from the floor).

Endgame
The lifting was too large of a bonus. With the swinging rack and unpredictable properties of the tubes, defense was very easy. Lifting wasn't too difficult either. It's no fun to watch teams play merciless defense the whole match and end the game by having both robots lifted 12". This is just like the King of the Hill from 2003, only less violent.

What I do like about this game is that you can't win alone. Unlike last year, if you had one strong robot and two duds, the alliance can still win. This year, one strong robot can't carry the weight of the two duds with the immense amount of defense being played.

I'll be blunt. Rack and Roll is a stupid name. It gets a 7/10

As far as FIRST goes...

Radio issues
Wrong parts in the kit? We got the wrong FP motors
Stupid rules. 72x72, power distribution block, etc.
Radio issues
Pairing algorithm, we've all heard it before
We are not going back to Banebots for parts. The encoders were a poor quality, the carrier plate problem speaks for itself, they were very pricey, the CIM motors required a home-made part to support them well.
Radio issues

Some of the rules made halfway through the year were kind of intense. Nothing quite like telling the teams who payed to have their machines shipped that they now can't use them in their pits. A drill press is actually safer than hand drill. A band saw is actually safer than a Sawz-all.

The entering and exiting the pit at GSR was painful. There were two entrances closely guarded by volunteers who keep an eye open for anyone without safety glasses. Those people are sorted into two categories.

1) Those who do not have them at all
2) Those who have them on their person, but have them in their pocket, or their purse, or bag, or whatever they use to carry them in.

The first one is okay, they just hand that person a pair of safety glasses. The second one, however, stands in the middle of the aisle blocking the path for those who didn't even take off their safety glasses when they left the pit and are now trying to re-enter the pit while they search for their own glasses. I say this is a fire hazard if there ever was one.

The people without safety glasses should be sent to another entrance where there is a bucket of safety glasses. This would mean no congestion at the entrances and an extra set of entrances incase there were an emergency and everyone needed to get out.

I'll stop there...