[Jaine Perotti]

While there have been a number of threads where critical opinions have been posted, do you really believe that it is terribly different from just a few years ago? I've been a member of the ChiefDelphi forums for 3 years, and lurked for about 1 year previous to that. I don't think the frequency of critical posts has risen all that much. There have always been complaints about certain calls, rules, and team actions. There always will be.

Originally Posted by Arefin Bari

It’s given that lot of teams and people are frustrated after this season. It started with the Banebots, went to the algorithm of the match listings, ruling of not being able to use tools in the pit, then it was about defense… and we are still going at it. It’s always something new everyday. It has been said before and we are repeating over and over that something needs to be done. There is another thread where there is a moderated discussion about how to improve things that we have dealt with this past season. We have bashed Banebots, FIRST, Teams, GDC, but have any of us take a step back and think that there are over 1300 teams around the world, and not everyone is going to be happy with what is given. There are threads where people posted things saying “It should be done this way,” “or maybe they should handle it this way.” Before posting have you thought about if all those 1300 teams going to be happy with what you came up with? I mean come on, there are only so many active members on Chiefdelphi that come here and read this stuff that we go through. Keep in mind those suggestions only contains ideas, but I have yet to see enough posts where an idea was proposed with “how, when, where, why, who.”

There is nothing wrong with pointing out problems that need to be addressed, and I think you would agree with me on that. Suggestions about how things should be improved are needed in order to maintain the functionality of the FIRST organization. I don't believe every complaint needs to be accompanied by a perfect solution to the problem. Are you saying that if a team has trouble with their Banebots transmission, they have no right to complain because they can't come up with a solution to the problem by themselves? I doubt it. I think your (and my) main beef is with the uninformed, insulting, and destructive posts.

Originally Posted by Arefin Bari

It upsets me when I see posts by people in threads discussing incidents that have happened but they weren’t there to witness it themselves. I assume that they pick a “favorite side” and go at it (I am not saying everyone posts like this but structure of some posts makes me believe that).

It upsets me too. But I think the ratio of good posts to bad posts is not as high as you seem to think it is. Arefin, have you ever been a member/avid lurker on any other forums on the internet? I have, and believe me - the quality of posts here (in terms of respect, appropriateness, etc) is much higher than what you see most everywhere else. I'm not saying we should stop trying to reduce the number of bad posts, but I don't think the ChiefDelphi community is in any state of crisis either!

Originally Posted by Arefin Bari

What happened to the FIRST community I have joined 6 years ago? What happened to the times when we would do anything to help each other? What happened to the times when the opposing alliance would share 10 ft. of #25 chain so the teams can compete in the finals? We all go out there and talk about how great FIRST is, but over here we talk about is what went wrong, how this or that would have been better.

Again, I don't believe this aspect of FIRST has diminished at all. I have not seen a drop in the willingness of teams to share their resources. Likewise, I have not really seen a disproportionate increase in the number of critical threads for this time of year (as opposed to March/April of previous years). I think you are perceiving an increase only because this is competition season (so naturally the topics of conversation are going to be about the venues, the referees, the plays, etc.).

This is a forum - a means of exchanging ideas! The purpose here isn't to pat ourselves on the backs and proclaim how wonderful we are in every thread! It's human nature to focus on the negatives - just look at the news headlines. People want to discuss the problems so that they can be solved or prevented. That us why ChiefDelphi exists - to discuss and solve the problems we encounter, so that we can improve ourselves and our community.

Originally Posted by Arefin Bari

So, please before you post in any technical threads or any threads that has to do with the reputation of some team/person/company, think twice. When you throw an idea out there, please explain why it is better, how is it better. If you don’t have time to make a long post at that time, come back later and think and then post.

I agree that people should wait until they have gathered all of the perspectives/evidence available before they post. However, I must reiterate that I still believe the quality of posting here is quite good. If you reread the thread about Curie semifinals, you will find a large number of well thought out posts and only a small number of posts that were in poor taste. Yes, the bad posts are still there, but I don't think there is a whole lot more that we can do about it. We are never going to be able to eliminate them completely - that shouldn't be our goal. Our goal should be to continue encouraging people to make informed, respectful posts (and we have been doing a good job).

Originally Posted by Arefin Bari

I am very frustrated after getting the phone call from the parent. This is the first time in 6 years, anybody have ever talked to me like this about FIRST. Please stop bashing, help to come up with a solution for the problems we find everyday.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the reaction of the parent. ChiefDelphi is not meant to explain to outsiders/newcomers what FIRST is all about. That is what the official FIRST website is for. ChiefDelphi is about what goes on behind the scenes - and therefore is the perfect place to discuss problems and voice complaints. Perhaps you should not have referred her to this site if you felt that reading controversial FIRST topics would have discouraged her from becoming involved in the program.

I think most complaints here are voiced in a reasonable manner. For example, in the thread about what could have been better about championships, I don't think I saw a single post that was disrespectful or rude. I think it's perfectly ok to talk about the negatives. I don't think it's ok to stifle potential criticisms. Just because something is a complaint doesn't mean it's automatically rude. How is FIRST expected to ever make things better for us if we don't allow ourselves to bring it up out of fear? If anything, I think the real problem on ChiefDelphi is how quickly many members judge something as "un-GP" - just because it's not directly praising FIRST. Something is very wrong when people are put down for calling out FIRST on it's mistakes. FIRST isn't a totalitarian dictatorship... is it?

Actually, I think much of the reason why FIRST has "messed up" so many times this year is the lack of differing (and perhaps critical) perspectives within the organization. When I saw Paul Copioli at the social in Atlanta, he said something to Tytus which I thought was very profound. He said that part of the reason why FIRST was having trouble was the fact that it has no competition (i.e. for a better product). Everyone is so focused on patting ourselves on the back that we get a little bit removed from reality (and other, better options out there). We NEED to keep fresh ideas and perspectives flowing in. We can't be afraid to critique the existing system. If we don't, how will it ever get better? If we aren't allowed to speak our minds, how is FIRST any different from being a close-minded clique?

--Jaine