I think the Robocoach was a great addition to the game. However, under the constraints that the four commands had to
always be the same, it pretty much limited the Robocoach's input to the hybrid period. There weren't many Robocoaches doing anything during the driver control period. At least the human player had the same two minutes as the drivers, not just fifteen seconds.
One solution is to have two different sets of commands one for hybrid and one for driver control periods.
Another solution would be to resurrect the human player by making the Robocoach perform the human player role during the driver control portion of the game.
Scoring Objects: I don't have anything in mind, but something that isn't inflatable would be nice for a change. I know that inflatables are easy to pack and ship for FIRST, but they are not enjoyable to get ready at competitions. Volunteers inflating these objects are in for some hearing loss doing this job year after year.
Goals: I like multiple goals spread around the field. This tends to spread out scorers and defenders, limiting over-aggressive defense. The concept of owning a goal in Triple Play was great. That year's game leveled the playing field because a match played with strategy could overcome a scoring frenzy. An alliance that played smartly could knock off a scoring powerhouse by owning more rows at the end of the game. This game also was exciting because the lead kept swinging back and forth during the match.
Mobile goals should make a return. FIRST Frenzy was also great. Several different robot tasks. The human player was really important to scoring, and by requiring a decent level of athleticism we had our best year ever for recruiting student athletes to our team. Those athletes had so much fun that they stayed on as team members in later years. Dean has always said he modeled FIRST after the sports playbook, so lets keep
some sport in the game. We haven't changed the country yet.
Just a few random thoughts.