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Posted by colleen.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Coach on team #246, a FIRST-aholic, from John D. O'Byrant High School/Boston Latin Academy and NSTAR/Boston University/UTC/Raytheon/MassPEP.

Posted on 7/23/2000 9:20 PM MST


In Reply to: QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!! posted by Andy Grady on 7/23/2000 11:49 AM MST:



anyone that knows me.. knows i looooove the physical game.. i think that, more than anything, keeps people interested... it's the direct interaction of robots with each other that makes the close-games and awe-striking matches..

i definitely think that the two years have brought more agreesiveness to the game.. making one central 'goal' that all teams have to battle for makes for good matches... '97 had a little interaction.. '98 was less.. '99 i think was the best year for it.. because it was a game that offered the aggressiveness but also made rooms for strictly offensive teams (to score, you didn't HAVE to be on the puck... you could sit in the corner and raise floppies if you liked..).. it made for some awesome matches fighting for space and poles.. and it catered to any type of robot you could build... this year was also aggressive, some more some less because you tripled the losers score.. but i think the game didn't allow for majorly defensive robots to do as well...

so i think FIRST has made moves to not make, but ALLOW the game to be more aggresive.. but more importantly FIRST has taken strides to make the game more strategic than anything.. it's not more about who can build the fastest, strongest robot but who can use what they do have to out-wit and out-play the other teams.. this factor makes for good matches and breath-taking moves.. and it also allows for every team from the ones with all the $$ and/or veteren designs, to the teams with less resources and/or rookie at the game to have a viable chance at winning if they play with a bit of thought...

i think FIRST is making definite moves in the right direction, and i look forward to seeing that continue in 2001....